Lee universal deprimer die

[farmbif]

ive busted up stems, mostly on 308 berdan shells, but my lee decapper is still going strong after countless 1000's of crimped primers. after busting up a Hornady stem real good learned to look at each case careful and put berdan stuff in the scrap bin.

[mdi]

No offense intended nor trying to be snarky, but what's the purpose of your badmouthing Lee Universal Decapping dies? Are you "warning" us ignert reloaders of Lee's "junk"? (FWIW; I have been buying Lee dies since '77 and have had only one problem, a 45 ACP expanding plug that is too short). I normally allow Lee Haters to spew their vitriol, and chalk it up as ignorance (my very first reloading tool, in 1969, was a Lee Loader and I only reload 12 cartridges, with many of my die sets are Lee including a Universal Decapping die which I don't use a lot anymore because my standard Lee sizing/decapping dies work quite well, 80% of my molds are Lee, I have one unknown maker case trimmer but 6 Lee kits and a few more Lee tools that have worked quite well for many years. Perhaps the 22+ orders I have purchased of Lee tools I just got lucky or with my background I just know how to use tools(lifelong machinist/mechanic) and read instructions. The only Lee tools I have broken were my fault, I either did something stupid or had an accident (a small steel box fell from a shelf 4' above my bench and landed on my Lee Bench Prime and chipped the edge of the shell holder slot). I have read complaints from Lee Haters and tried to duplicate the problem but more times than I remember, I could not without purposely abusing the tool...

I rarely try to educate Lee Haters anymore (I dealt with "Tool Snobs" for 25 years in Heavy Equipment/Construction Equipment repair shops and learned it's like wrestling with a pig...) and I'll probably drop out of this thread and may not read anymore replies, but that's just my experience with Lee tools and I try to keep an open mind...

[MSUICEMAN]

have used my lee universal decapper for roughly 5k rounds (pistol get deprimed during sizing), never a problem. maybe i got lucky?

[Sam Sackett]

Yep. I have both the Lee and RCBS universal decappers. They both work as long as I set them up right. The RCBS is a pain in the butt to get the pin centered, but once you do it works well. I have a love hate relationship with the Lee design. I love the fact that the knockout pin will slide up and not break when it hits an obstruction (berdan primer or 22 casing) inside the case. But at the same time I hate that feature when it slips on a crimped primer.
I have other Lee stuff and don’t see where it’s better or worse than any other brand. I don’t know of any other brand that lets you go online and order replacement parts and only pay the shipping.

For what it’s worth,
Sam Sackett

[1hole]

I don’t know of any other brand that lets you go online and order replacement parts and only pay the shipping.

Roger that.

I suspect Lee makes us pay postage to help keep us honest and not claim more parts than are justified.

[engineer401]

I purchased the Lee die with two extra decapping pins. I haven't needed them yet. It seems to throw the primers in a few more directions than one I made from extra CH parts. I solved the errant primers problem using a classic cast press with the primer slot filled with a piece of plastic for decapping and sizing powder coated bullets.

[1hole]

Perhaps the 22+ orders I have purchased of Lee tools I just got lucky or with my background I just know how to use tools(lifelong machinist/mechanic) and read instructions. The only Lee tools I have broken were my fault, I either did something stupid or had an accident ..

Well said.

Nothing is fool proof to a sufficently talented fool!

[softwarejanitor]

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?

I have broken one pin in my Lee Universal Decapping Die in 20 years, so I know it can happen. I bought the Lee die after having run out of RCBS decapping pins after having gone through a couple of either the 3 or 5 packs of them. Sooo... I still think that the Lee product is good for what it is. In the case of the one I broke it was on a Berdan case or maybe an A-Merc which are often either drilled undersized or sometimes badly off center. The replacement pin for the Lee die was still cheaper than replacing the RCBS pins all the time.

[Ed_Shot]

My Universal Decapper is a spare Lyman M Die body with the decapping rod out of an old Lyman AA 38/357 sizing die. Works perfect and cost nothing. I use it mainly for 300 BO and 5.56.

[Alferd Packer]

LEE tools and all the other manufacturers tools were designed and made for human use ,not automated factory machines.
I would hope these people that do 20 thousand per batch will just have a machine shop make them a primer punch that can stand up to long hours punching out fired primers from shells that
sometimes have the flash hole off center which runs the punch pin into the web of the shell breaking or bending the pin.
These people as a factory business need their own thread to post to.
I reload to be able to shoot more and the affordability of the LEE tools has also kept the other
makers to keep their prices lower to be competitive.
Complaints from a high volume factory about a tool not standing up is not a fair evaluation.
Quality control is seemingly nonexistent today so when a tool from LEE or Hornady or RCBS fails right out of the box or soon after being put to use requires some talk to the manufacturer and then see what happens.
Every gun you buy says warranty nullified by use of reloads.
That's our own Quality Control.
I think I respect the reputations of the American companies that are trying to satisfy the Shooters and reloaders.
Just because a decapping pin breaks is not a good reason to say a company makes junk.

[Alferd Packer]

Another thing.
A broken decapping pin is the fault of the operator.
I started manually recapping all my shells several years ago and still do.
Sometimes I mislay or lose my decapping rod.
So I get a few ten penny nails and I start chucking them in my little Eimco lathe and turn down the nail end for a half inch to put a decapping pin on the nail.
Just fun for me and because I can.
The pins aren't hardened, but they hold up and i sometimes bend a pin in a Berdan range pickup, I can easily straighten the pin with pliers and keep going.
I always seek to 'feel' the primer hole before striking, but sometimes the Berdan inside hole gives you a false reading, then the pin is bent.
But ,no worries, it will sometimes never get bent or will survive five or six straightenings.
And I always make a couple at a time.
I have also turned 5/16
inch alloy steel screws and bolts.
The LEE decapping pin I have never broken despite hitting the occasional berdan primed shell.
I am always careful to use a lite tap when decapping shells.

Some military primers are crimped in and require a couple taps, but then you know and can set them aside for reaming the primer pocket.
After I deprime, I take a second to run the decapping pin into the pocket and clean out the ash.
Easy to do.

.

[358429]

I broke the decapping pin in the lee 357-38 die last year. I ordered another one. I totally got the money's worth out of that. I think that run was 20000? 30000?

In the time it took to break one 38/357 Lee de capping pin I have worn out two revolvers...

Many pounds of h110 and 2400 and unique and power pistol, sleeves of primers, etc...

I broke one 308 Winchester decapping pin. I'm not sure if it was operator error, or it was equipment malfunction. I was right in the middle of a big batch, I did feel disappointed, I had less than 500 casings through that die. So I ordered another one, and some spares, which I promptly lost in my reloading toolbox clutter.


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[Hossfly]

I broke an RCBS die decapping pin on a Saturday evening. Bad timing, called LGS said didn’t have any. Ordered pack of 5 from Midway i think. Takes about 4-5 days to get from them to me. Was in city about 3 days later and went into said LGS for something else, was asked if I needed help? Of course it was same voice that told me they didn’t have any RCBS headed de capping pins. Went to the RCBS display and there is 5 bags hanging on a hook.

Now after replacing that broken one still have 9 in storage just in case. That was 5 years ago.

Got the new Lee APP, with universal decapping die and extra rods, went thru 3500 45 acp no problem. Punched thru 1, 22lr that was inside 45acp and it pulled the rod down, now that was a sight to see that rod go that direction.

[358429]

Is that Lee App any good? It looks like a good idea surrounded with plastic. If it was made out of zinc or aluminum I would jump on it.

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[onelight]

Is that Lee App any good? It looks like a good idea surrounded with plastic. If it was made out of zinc or aluminum I would jump on it.

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I like the APP it is a real time saver for what I use it for and I would get another if it disappeared .
All the parts that work under load appear to be steel or aluminum the plastic parts go with the case feeder and are cheap and offered in kits (I ordered spare plastic kits when I ordered the press )
I use mine primarily for de-priming pistol brass prior to cleaning some cases I size at the same time.
You can process brass amazingly fast with the APP once you get used to it.

[dverna]

rbuck made an astute observation about the Co-Ax not centering properly with the Lee Universal die.

I have the Lee die, along with Squirrel Daddy pins to process military brass. I have a Co-ax but use the Rock Chucker for that task. Even with the RC, I have broken the standard Lee pins...so I suspect they are not as robust. BTW, I also get some Berdan brass slip through the sorting process and they will break Lee pins if not careful but have not broken a SD pin...yet.

I am not a Lee "fan boy" and have bashed some of the stuff they sell but the Universal die has done a good job so far. It is unlikely I would purchase a better decapping die as once I process the military brass I have, I am set for life. I will never purchase military cases again as I do not shoot enough justify the added work of having to swage primer pockets and size on the RC...at times with a lot of force. I prefer loading on the Co-Ax.

I can see selling the RC and Lee Universal Die during the next "panic". The only reason I bought the Lee die was that I got tired of replacing pins on my sizer dies due to processing military brass. There is no benefit to depriming and not sizing (that I can see) when loading "good" rifle cases so why have two operations? And I load pistol on Dillon progressives that work without having clean primer pockets so why cut production by 50%?

[rbuck351]

dverna

Our loading styles must be very similar. I'm not a Lee basher nor a Lee fan boy as Lee makes many very good products but has also made some stuff that is on the bottom of my list.

I have three of the early pro 1000 presses and although I have been able to make them work, they are a major pita to keep running right. The priming system is the worst I have ever seen . Yeah, you could deprime and prime off the press but that defeats the purpose of a progressive.

I like Lee dies, the universal deprimer works great on most presses, I started loading on a Lee hack a mole and their powder measures work great for me.

I no longer use mil brass as I have enough commercial brass to last me as long as I live and I sort brass for berdan before they go on the press.

Anyway, we all have our own way of reloading and mine works for me.

[jonp]

Thousands of rounds through mine with no problems. I mostly use it now with dirty brass before tumbling.

IMHO Lee makes the best value stuff out there

[Finster101]

Thousands of rounds through mine with no problems. I mostly use it now with dirty brass before tumbling.

IMHO Lee makes the best value stuff out there

I use one for this purpose as well. Set up in an old Pro-1000 it makes for quick work getting brass ready for tumbling.

[JimB..]

I use one for this purpose as well. Set up in an old Pro-1000 it makes for quick work getting brass ready for tumbling.

I tried this, but got the Pro-1000 used and could never get it to run. It found a new home for $0 and I have an APP coming on Friday. I’ve assumed that the Lee universal decapping die will work well in it.

FWIW, my least favorite decapping die is the spring loaded rcbs. The spring is dead after no more than 5 primers, so what’s the point?