Broken Lee Decapping Pin

[engineer401]

I finally broke a Lee decapping pin on some crimped 5.56 brass. I came across a case that was determined to hold onto the primer. The case won the battle. I tried to force it and got what I had coming. Fortunately, I bought two replacements when I bought the universal decapper. I deprimed thousands of cases with this one pin. It owes me nothing. Just in case, I ordered two more extras with another purchase from Midway. I'd add a photo but the site won't let me do it.

[upr45]

About 3 yrs ago, I broke a pin, it was before reloading components dried up (Covid, election results, etc) -- I realized that I was vulnerable to broken decapping pins. I broke 2 pins in the past 30+ yrs, so not real common, but enough to cause me to buy a few pins for each mfg's dies I have --RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, Dillon. I bought an extra Lee universal decapper die decapping stem as the pin is built into the expander and thought that was the best way to handle the Lee dies. I do use a universal Lee decap die prior to cleaning most brass, have also deprimed thousands of cases. I was pleasantly surprised that several mfgs offered multiple pin packs, which is what I got. Some of the pins were good for a few mfgs. I believe Hornady provides an extra pin with a new set of dies.

[osage]

I broke or bent a couple pins in my Lee universal decapping while working on a large amount of 5.56 brass. I ended up using Squirrel Daddy pins that are made for the Lee universal die. As I recall they are hardened pins. I bought them on Amazon and haven't had any issues with them.

[georgerkahn]

A few years back I broke a decapping pin and after going through (many!) boxes/pill bottles of "necessary spare parts" found none. My heart figuratively dropped! Then I got the possible use idea of a numbered drill bit section as a substitute? I simply used a micrometer to find diameter of broken pin, and then went out to garage... Bion, I very shortly found a numbered (e.g., #1-60 set) which was identical! I used a Dremel to "make" three pins from it; lightly filed the ends of each; put one in the die to put me back in business... and have TWO spares.
Sooo rarely I get "lucky" -- and this saved me lots of time, money, and...best of all :) ... WORKED!
geo

[Outer Rondacker]

I have broken a few over the years. Try to keep extras on hand. I have to admit I treat brass like gold and instead of just tossing one case will brake the pin.. I try to brake this addition but its hard. LOL

[Finster101]

If you decide to purchase more back up pins check out Squirrel Daddy.com. They offer some replacements that are a bit more robust and at a good price.

[Wayne Smith]

A few years back I broke a decapping pin and after going through (many!) boxes/pill bottles of "necessary spare parts" found none. My heart figuratively dropped! Then I got the possible use idea of a numbered drill bit section as a substitute? I simply used a micrometer to find diameter of broken pin, and then went out to garage... Bion, I very shortly found a numbered (e.g., #1-60 set) which was identical! I used a Dremel to "make" three pins from it; lightly filed the ends of each; put one in the die to put me back in business... and have TWO spares.
Sooo rarely I get "lucky" -- and this saved me lots of time, money, and...best of all :) ... WORKED!
geo

Yeah, but that won't work for Lee, the pin is machined into the rod and is all one piece. Works great for RCBS non-headed pins though.

[lightman]

I broke the pin in my Lee Universal Decapping die a while back and didn't have a spare. It wasn't Lee's fault. The case had a small rock in it and my theory is that the pin slid down the side of the rock and broke. I didn't really feel like I put any extra force on the handle. I just ordered 3 from Midway and have not broke another yet. I didn't know about Squirrel Daddy at the time.

The Lee is a real bargain for the price, $9.99 at the time. I think it came about as an add-on to my Midway order to bump the total up to qualify for the free shipping.

[elmacgyver0]

Yeah, but that won't work for Lee, the pin is machined into the rod and is all one piece. Works great for RCBS non-headed pins though.

I thought this was BS until I looked at the replacement pins, I have, and low and behold you are right!
The old ones were two pieces with a needle bearing used to knock out the primers.
I haven't used the new ones yet as I always replace the broken pin with a piece of stainless steel TIG rod.

[deces]

My decapping pin problems went away, when I started processing brass with the Lee universal decapper die.
I'm sure the Squirrel daddy pins are worth it, I'm just not there yet.

[NyFirefighter357]

I just bought 6 hardened universal & 3 hardened 223 de-capping/expander pins. Thanks

[n9tkf]

I use a dedicated Lee press with the Lee universal decapping die. Keeps the dirt off my main press.

[ddeck22]

If I feel any resistance, I remove the case and check the headstamp. That lets me know if I can push a little harder or junk it. Has saved me from a couple broken/bent pins since you know when to force it and when not to.

[deces]

I use a dedicated Lee press with the Lee universal decapping die. Keeps the dirt off my main press.

You might want to look into getting a Lee APP, it makes brass processing a breeze.

[n9tkf]

You might want to look into getting a Lee APP, it makes brass processing a breeze.That's a good idea. I looked at the Lee APP when it first came out but wanted more reviews before purchase. It might be time to revisit.

[deces]

Well, there is a newer Lee APP coming out soon. Might want to wait until then.

[Milky Duck]

I recently got older set of LEE dies for .222 but decaping pin was snapped off,used the one from my .223 BE very careful on depth you set the new rod,its too easy to pop primer then not be able to remove rod from inside case as the fat bit will be inside neck of case and neck of die...causing a mongrel of a jam up.....bought new rod...interestingly its fat bit is tapered,the old one is not.....so I did wee shifty on bench grinder and took fattest bit/furtherest from pin down a bit...makes it slide in and out easier and gives tiny bit more leeway with depth its set too.

[schutzen-jager]

many transmission shops have assortments of needle bearings that make great replacement pins

[jmorris]

I came across a case that was determined to hold onto the primer. The case won the battle. I tried to force it and got what I had coming.


If you don’t over tighten the collet holding the pin, it will slide up vs become destroyed. As the force that it can endure is set by the collet doing into the tapered 1/8” NPT threads. ~20ft/lbs of torque seems to work well for me.

Really crank it down and it’s just like all the others and it will be subjected to the full force, the operator can impart to it.

[rbuck351]

I broke two of the Lee universal deprimer pins and was going to order two more but they wanted more for the shipping than the pins cost.I poked through my stuff and found that the military cleaning rods for the 5.56 are exactly the right diameter. Digging through more stuff I found some old ujoint caps and one of them had pins the right size. I cut a couple of sections of cleaning rod to the right length and drilled both ends about .001 under size. Now I have two double ended depriming rods and can make a bunch more. Also if I'm lucky I can just replace the pin. By the way,using the Lee universal deprimer on a co-ax is a bad idea as there is no way to center the case in the die.