Lee universal deprimer die

[richhodg66]

I just broke the second one in a month, depriming some .357 Magnum brass (no, not Berdan, a batch I had deprimed on an RCBS sizer before without issue). I'm pretty open minded and have equipment from all the major manufacturers, but this is contributing to a growing opinion of mine that everything Lee makes is designed to be cheap and is simply junk.

Gonna mail these to them in the morning and tell them their dies are excrement. All the Lee fan boys can chime in, but you'll have a hard time convincing me otherwise.

I wanted to start doing decapping as a separate step to keep things neater and still like the idea. So, what DECENT manufacturer makes a universal type of decapper die? Any recommendations?

[JimB..]

What exactly are you breaking?

I have several RCBS and Lee universal decapping dies. The RCBS with the spring loaded pin is a disaster, the spring lasts about 30 sec and after that it’s not as good as if it just had a solid decapping pin. The Lee work well except that the pins tend to be too short and slip in the collet with crimped or corroded primer pockets. I usually set up 3 or 4 dies and just rotate through as I break pins, pins are cheap.

I will say that my biggest problem is with fiochi rifle brass, it seems that they work hard to get the flash holes off center.

[poppy42]

No words of wisdom here. I can say that I’ve de-capped someplace in the neighborhood of 100,000 cases (over 40,000 using a Lee universal de-capping die and my Lee APP press in the last year) over the years. The only time I’ve broken the pin was because of my own neglect. I’ve had 22rimfire brass stuck inside brass that I was trying to de-cap, or berdan primed, etc. I’ve never had it just break. I guess I’ve been lucky

[abunaitoo]

Only time I broke a pin was trying to deprime berdan case.
Not a big deal. The pin is easy to find.
I had a Lyman universal. Could not find a pin for it.

[toallmy]

Get the 5 pack of squirrel daddy replacement pins for the lee die you will be good for years .

[2A-Jay]

I gave up decaping on my presses. I bought an FA Universal Decapping tool. I don't have any brass with Crimped primers any more. I have Lee, RCBS and Hornady Dies I don't have the Decapping Pins removed.

[Sasquatch-1]

I gave up decaping on my presses. I bought an FA Universal Decapping tool. I don't have any brass with Crimped primers any more. I have Lee, RCBS and Hornady Dies I don't have the Decapping Pins removed.

+1 on the Frankford tool. I have the Lee die and the only problem was the aforementioned pin slippage.

The Frankford tool has it's problems. When using it I have to keep a pair of Pliers handy. Some brass likes to stick. S&B seems to be the worst. I think it has to do with the size of the flash hole.

[jetinteriorguy]

I’ve been using mine for ten years+ and have broken/bent a total of three pins. Two were on Brendan primed cases, and the third I just didn’t have the case centered in the shell holder. Not necessarily a fanboy by any means, just my experience. I ordered six replacement pins to make the shipping cost worthwhile, three of them are still unused.

[jim147]

I have the Lee tool sitting beside me in a Lee hand press and I can't figure out how you broke two of them.

[MUSTANG]

Seems I break a Lee De-Priming pin on average every 3 years. Last time was Monday this week. Historically it is a Berdan primed European Case that sneaks into the "Range Pick Up" .308/7.62x51 brass. The one Monday was a "BOXER primed case from Europe. The flash hole was too small, I had deprimed probably about 15 of the same case manufacture - more resistance than other headstamps, but this one bent the Lee Depriming Pin.

Ten years ago I did what TOALLMY recommended in post #5 above and bought multiple decapping pins for the Lee Decapping Die. I am now down to one spare.

[jessdigs]

+1 on the squirrel daddy hardened pins. I bought a 3 pack 6 years ago and am still on the first one, after breaking several OEM pins decappng old crimped 5.56 brass. They sell them on Amazon

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[1hole]

I have the Lee tool sitting beside me in a Lee hand press and I can't figure out how you broke two of them.

Broke TWO?! Neither can I.

Lee's decapper is the most durable available, anyone who doesn't like it sure won't like the others.

No matter what tools we use, a little attention and finger finise goes a long way; slam-bang operators often have equipment troubles.

[high standard 40]

I bought a Lee Universal depriming die several years ago and bought two extra pins for it at the same time, expecting to need them at some point. I still have the spares. Never needed one. And I've processed many thousands of cases. I am not a huge advocate of Lee products as a whole, but I do see value in some of their items, of which I have several.
Are you using this die in a single stage press or a progressive? I'm trying to understand why you're having this problem.

[pertnear]

The best Universal Decapping Die is made my Mighty Armory. One of the best reloading items I ever bought.

MIGHTY ARMORY

[JohnFreeman]

I've recently had the pleasure of finding a brass .223 case that's Berdan primed. I've learned not to force things when it hangs up so I didn't break a decapping pin, but I sure have in the past.

[tunnug]

Been reloading since the early '80s, anytime I've broken anything it's been because of something I did or didn't do, either way it was my fault, I own ALL brands and have never found them at fault.

[richhodg66]

Broke TWO?! Neither can I.

Lee's decapper is the most durable available, anyone who doesn't like it sure won't like the others.

No matter what tools we use, a little attention and finger finise goes a long way; slam-bang operators often have equipment troubles.

Standard .357 cases, no berdan or crimped primers. Press is a Forster Co-ax.

Just basically have come to the conclusion I should have a long time ago; Lee=crap.

I did see the squirrel daddy replacement pins, hopefully they're constructed of something better than the chewing gum Lee uses. Cheap enough that I'll give them a try once.

[richhodg66]

Broke TWO?! Neither can I.

Lee's decapper is the most durable available, anyone who doesn't like it sure won't like the others.

No matter what tools we use, a little attention and finger finise goes a long way; slam-bang operators often have equipment troubles.

I've been reloading 35+ years, not a slam bang guy and can count the number of decapping pins I've broken in other dies over the years on the fingers of one hand, you know, the kinds that are designed to easily replace and don't claim to be "unbreakable".

You Lee fan boys say what you will, but anything that sets out to be the cheapest, usually is junk and Richard Lee seems to have made a career on it.

[richhodg66]

The best Universal Decapping Die is made my Mighty Armory. One of the best reloading items I ever bought.

MIGHTY ARMORY

Costs more than twice what the Lee does, but considering you can onlt get maybe ten or twelve cases done before the Lee dies, likely well worth it. I'll be ordering one of these.

[Finster101]

You do know if you send them to Lee they will replace them, right?