Fastest 9mm decapping tool

[pergoman]

I'm contemplating going to the wet tumble method as a means of getting new-looking, shiny brass. Yeah, my pretty shiny dry tumbled stuff looks good and functions perfectly but it's not a bright as factory new stuff. There are several different tools for depriming prior to wet tumbling and I am looking for advice on which is fastest and easiest. I have a Lee APP that I might try after placing my Dillon case feeder above it. Frankford Arsenal makes a hand tool that does the job for some guys I know. This sounds too slow for my purposes. I don't like the idea of just depriming on a 650. What are your thoughts for a high volume operation?

[lesharris]

I just purchased a Lee APP press for brass processing. A case collator kit should help speed up the process. I am waiting for mine to arrive.
YouTube had a video of a Dillon case feeder on a LEE App press, but I forget who made the video.
Les

[Finster101]

I use a Pro-1000 with a universal decapping die and case collator/feeder. Works real fast and easy to change the shell plate for different calibers.

I do not resize before tumbling, just remove primers.

[PNW_Steve]

I just purchased a Lee APP press for brass processing. A case collator kit should help speed up the process. I am waiting for mine to arrive.
YouTube had a video of a Dillon case feeder on a LEE App press, but I forget who made the video.
Les

I bought one as well.

I wish I hadn't. I have been a long time Lee customer. I started with a Lee single stage and then moved to a Lee 1000 and on to a Classic progressive. They took a little tinkering but it did serve me very well.

The customer service from Lee has always been beyond stellar. I do own an RCBS Rock Chucker but aside from that I have been a Lee fan since the late 70's......

Until I had a problem with my APP.

After 40 years of loyalty, I may never buy a Lee product again.

In fact I am removing the broken APP today and replacing it with a single stage press with a proper swage kit.

It makes me sad......

[dverna]

Try to get feedback from heavy users of the APP. It just looks a bit chintzy to me. I nearly bought one but decided against it. I wanted it for primer pocket swaging but it might be great for your use.

I hate when folks who process a couple of thousand cases a year give rave reviews because that does not tell me much.

It is like guys who shoot MOA with cast "if they do their part", and post a three shot group from 5 years ago.

[Half Dog]

I tumble my brass before sizing to help keep dirt out of my decamping dies.

[onelight]

I use the APP for de-capping and it has been a big time saver I use the 4tube case feeder and collator .
Not perfect but very fast and well worth the modest cost imho.

[XDROB]

I do a couple hour tumble in my dry tumbler with corn cob. Run them through my decapper/sizing die. Then put them all in my Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler with SS pins. I likem shiny too. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210611/945d4d15de56ac5962178fcc3dd79ece.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210611/2d04920e89bf0b4fd2107df707d8ac80.jpg

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[mfraser264]

To keep the primer pocket residue out of my RCBS press the primers are removed prior to resizing.

Another user of the Lee APP - suggest you clean up the cases a bit first. I've been doing a light corn cob media bowl cycle, keeps the dust and dirt out. Have run 9mm and .223's, my stepson was filling the supply tubes and had a hard time keeping up.

Took just a touch to dial it in but works great.

[15meter]

I still dry tumble, I just change my media a little more often than I used to. It's not completely black.

Harbor Freight special walnut media charged with NuFinish auto polish, capful or 2 every time I run the polisher.



Usually a minimum of 4 hours, polisher is on a timer, I run it when I'm not in the shed when I'm not there.

I think it comes out looking better than factory.

And I don't have to wait for the brass to dry.

That's the nicest part of dry tumbling.

[jmorris]

Fastest one I have is a 1050 with a rotary drive, runs about 4000/hr.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1ieGYpdr9I

[Dieselhorses]

Everything else gets done BEFORE the bathtub! I want shiny new cases, not full of fingerprints from sizing, trimming etc. If I suspect any "grit" or "dirt" I swish em around in a big cheese ball container with Dawn and water and rinse, dry, process then the suds for 3 hours.

284315

[jmorris]

That said, if it’s automated and fed by a collator, it doesn’t really matter how fast the cycle time is, as long as it’s faster than you can maintain a loading rate.

I threw this thing together for less than any case fed press costs.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJgU3-OXuUU

[rockshooter]

I've been working with the APP for the past couple of months. It took me quite a while to get the issues worked out, and now it seems to work well. Once set up, it is very fast for depriming 9mm before wet tumbling. The main issue, using the Lee collator setup, relates to the taper of the case. The "penny" modification works well with both 9mm and .32 H&r/.327 Mag. (drill hole in the exact center of a penny big enough to hold a fired .22 case. Use the penny centered in the collator tray to keep cases from flipping over- there is a good video out there somewhere.) another issue- never ever ever get a .40 case with your 9mm cases, or vice-versa- makes a real mess. Hang in there, it may take a while.
Loren

[2A-Jay]

I use the FA Hand Depriming tool I can deprime 300 to 500 non swaged 45 acp (LPP) in an hour It comes with collets forsmallerand largerr cases.

[rustyshooter]

Love the automated stuff every time I see one! Wish I had the know how or better yet wish I was your neighbor! Dad always said the 8th deadly sin was dirty primer pockets. Not sure about speed of decapping but you’ll be pleased with SS pin cleaning. And as far as drying…..make a “towel tunnel” with the hair dryer on the end and brass will be dry in 2 min or less. There should be no “waiting” for brass to dry. Best of luck!

[Sasquatch-1]

I have the Frankford arsenal and it generally works well. I don't know if it is something specific to mine or if they all have this problem, but every so often a case gets stuck and I have to use a pair of plyers to pull it out. It is not something where I have to use a lot of force, just a lite twist and pull. I am not sure, but I think it has to do with either the size or the centering of the flash hole.

Other then that I like it a lot. Also I lost one of the small plastic collets and they sent me a new one free of charge, including postage, and no other questions asked.

[JimB..]

I have the Frankford arsenal and it generally works well. I don't know if it is something specific to mine or if they all have this problem, but every so often a case gets stuck and I have to use a pair of plyers to pull it out. It is not something where I have to use a lot of force, just a lite twist and pull. I am not sure, but I think it has to do with either the size or the centering of the flash hole.

Other then that I like it a lot. Also I lost one of the small plastic collets and they sent me a new one free of charge, including postage, and no other questions asked.

I have one as well, decapped maybe 10k with it. Keep a pair of pliers handy because some brass does hang up on the pin. Even so, the thing is reasonably fast in use if you have the hand strength to stay on it. I do wear a glove now since it was giving me blisters. Did break the return spring, haven’t replaced it. When I have a large batch of brass, say a 5 gal bucket, I’ll rotate between using this tool and using the single stage with a universal decapping die.

I have a spare case collator, keep thinking about the Lee APP.

[rondog]

I also have an APP, it works well but it's a PITA to get it figured out and setup. Different sized tubes, gotta fabricate a bushing for smaller cases, gotta get a 4 tube case feeder and figure out how to make it work, gotta drill and tap to insert a tiny set screw to hold the bushing in - a real PITA. It should COME with all the parts to do it, but it doesn't even suggest what other parts to buy.

But now that I've got it set up, it'll feed 9mm's and .223's quite well.

[toallmy]

I use a loadmaster with that cheap case feeder to knock the caps out of all my handgun brass with a universal depriming die & proper shell plate - as long as I keep the case slide working smoothly - it doesn't take long to knock the primers out .

[Martin Luber]

Stealing an idea from another forum, process in a regular vibrator with dawn and lemishine, maybe some car wash soap if l remember, primers and all. Drain, Rinse in hot water, then dry in the sun. I never worried about primer pocket cleanliness before, not starting now, nor am I handling dirty brass anymore due to Lead contamination . The polisher has to have a one piece bowl that prevents water dripping down into the motor.

[Mr_Sheesh]

FA decapper, you can wrap with sports tape to get it to not chew your hand up (Tennis racket tape, bicycle handlebar tape, whatever you can find cheap.) And be sure you keep the allen screw that fastens the decapping pin in place, TIGHT, as otherwise it can fall out then vanish, had that happen and was a bit tough to find the right replacement.

[Green Frog]

What Mr Sheesh said. If I were doing what you describe, I would probably use my old Jake Simmons copy of the so-called “Pope style” re- and decapper; but unless you’re involved in the Schuetzen game it’s unlikely you would have one of these. There are several tools of this sort available in the Schuetzen and BP Cartridge Silhouette communities, and even a couple that the BPCS guys use before they throw their forced cases into the soapy water until they’re cleaned. It depends on how far afield you want to go with your search (and how much money you’re willing to $pend.

Froggie

[Gus Youmans]

pergoman,

Not sure why you don't want to deprime on the 650, unless it is the setup time and you are only going to do a few hundred at a time. Depending on which is not being used for something else, I use my 550, Lee Auto Breech Lock, or Hornady Lock N Load AP to deprime because they all have case feeders which is really the key to rapidly depriming a lot of brass in a relatively short period of time. I usually accumulate a year's worth of a fired cases of given caliber and deprime all at one time, so speed/time are important to me.

Gus Youmans

[rbuck351]

I do it the fast way. I clean the cases and then run them through the 550b. They come out clean and shiny on the out side (the only part you can see) and loaded ready to shoot. If I want really fast I don't bother cleaning the cases, just load and shoot. I don't care so much how they look so long as they work.

[Papercidal]

I run my brass through the wet tumbler for about a half hour to get the dirt off then I lube and run through a 650 with a fw arms decapping die followed by a sizer and a m die then I tumble for about a hour to polish and remove the lube. This is relatively quick and allows me to use a m die while loading on the little 650 I figure if I’m going to handle the brass to decap it before polishing I may as well size and flare it as well.

[Jack Spratt]

I use a Frankford Arsenal tumbler. It works great. But I would suggest buying the Media Transfer Magnet if you plan to use the stainless pins. It makes easier work trying to separate them from the cases and cleaning the pins.

[Lloyd Smale]

dont understand why you dont want to deprime on your 650. Size and deprime throw them in your solution and when there done reprime charge and seat a bullet. But then i dont see the fascination in brass looking better then it did right out of a box of factory ammo. Also dont see ANY need to have shinny clean primer pockets. I havent cleaned a primer pocket in 30 years. For pistol ammo i take my fired brass throw it in a tumbler tumble it for an hour or so to get it clean (dont worry about pretty) and run it through the dillion and shoot it and repeat. I guess when they start having brass beauty pagents maybe ill change. NOPE thats a bald faced lie.

[Liberty1776]

Totally agree you should decap before wet tumbling. Water flows through and stainless media cleans the primer hole and cleans the interior of the shell.

The shells drain faster and more completely after the tumble and the couple of rinses you do to clear off the Dawn and Lemi Shine. The water is filthy, proving you really did clean that brass. And they come out beautiful after 90-120 minutes. I like to heat the water to about 125 degrees, too.

Finally, the shells dry faster with deprimed holes. I dump them onto a towel and pat them dry, then let them finish air drying.

I have a lightweight open front Lee press permanently set up with a Lee Precision Decapping Die, if I feel like standing at the bench to decap. This of course requires a shell holder for the caliber you're working.

I also have the Frankfort Arsenal hand decapper tool, if I feel like watching a movie and sitting. Just be ready to have a few spent primers fall to the floor. Most get caught in the little clear container, but you need to empty the thing, and accidents happen. Also, for some unexplained reason, spent primers and loose anvils just escape the thing. Not a big deal.

The Frankfort Arsenal does not require special shell holders. It comes with three plastic collets that adjust to the size of the shell you're decapping.

The Lee press is probably a tiny bit faster, but I'm surprised how fast decapping goes with the FA while watching TV.

Either way, it's tedious.

I've had problems relying on the decapping pin in some resizing dies. Sometimes the pin holds onto the primer and pulls it back into the shell. No joke. It's a thing. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=primer+stick+on+decapping+pin&t=brave&ia=web

Worse, the pin pushes the dimple out so the dead primer looks almost okay. Attempting to put a new primer in just pushes the old primer back into the pocket. Now you have a dud round, even after inspection.

I've found my most reliable ammo starts with unprimed primer pocket holes.

[Valley-Shooter]

I bought a Lee APP several months ago and 3000 rounds of 9mm range brass. I also got the 4 tube universal case feeder. I topped that off with a American Accurate Collator from eBay.

I was having problems with the Universal Decapping Die, replaced that with a Mighty Armory decapping die. Much better results.

I tried using my old Hornady case feeder, that turned out to be a jam-a-matic with 9mm. (It used to work with 45 ACP.) It was jamming at the top of case feeder, not the APP. I'm sure my Dillon case feeder would work, but it's setup on another press.

I also upgraded to the Lee roller handle. Better grip and balanced on the press

It now works fine for decapping my 9mm. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. I think it depends on your brass quality.
I have enough brass now, I don't need to process any until I have 1000 or more sitting around. I pick up so much range brass with my own, it's easier just to decap and wet tumble all of it.

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