Good grief! Is it me or is it Lee?

[Stopsign32v]

Been having some trouble lately with reloading. One step forward and 2 steps back it seems. Today I've decided to separate my once fired .223 from the other and wet tumble all brass. So I have my second batch cleaning today and I decided I would do some depriming. This is a less than month old Universal Depriming die, maybe 150 9mm through it and 100 .223 through it. Was depriming some crimped .223/5.56 and then this stopped me in my tracks. I can't win for losing!

Does anyone make good replacement pins for Lee? I'd rather not replace crap with more crap.

[wilecoyote]

chinese miracle, I suppose_
once the pin would have cleanly snapped himself in two, because they were supposedly recycled steel roller pins.
this pin seems a cheap iron nail...

[Hannibal]

Since the pin is bent it probably wasn't lined up with the primer when you operated the press handle. If it had been harder it would have broken and you'd still be dead in your tracks. I've never had to replace one but I believe replacement pins are available from Lee at low cost.

How did that die accumulate so much surface rust in a month? You might rethink your die storage practices while you're deciding what to do for a depriming die.

[Stopsign32v]

How did that die accumulate so much surface rust in a month? You might rethink your die storage practices while you're deciding what to do for a depriming die.

That's an observation I noticed as well. Both brand new sets of Lee dies have surface rust on them within a month where as my Lee dies from 3-10 years have none. All stored the same way.

[Hannibal]

That's an observation I noticed as well. Both brand new sets of Lee dies have surface rust on them within a month where as my Lee dies from 3-10 years have none. All stored the same way.

Very strange. Perhaps the cases were still wet from tumbling and the cleaning solution contaminated the die?

[Finster101]

Simply taking a picture of that and an email to Lee will get you a free replacement pin. You might buy a couple of spares to have on hand if it happens again so you are not dead in the water till you get a warranty replacement.

[super6]

crimped primers can be a booger to remove, Best to get a tool to remove the crimp. And at least a hardened pin. Looks as thou you have nut cutting on the threads, Most likely why it wont line up.

[Stopsign32v]

Very strange. Perhaps the cases were still wet from tumbling and the cleaning solution contaminated the die?

Nope, I use this die on range pickup brass before I clean it.

Here's a brand new set of 9mm dies I started using maybe 3-4 weeks ago which MAYBE have 150 rounds through them.








And here are my old set of 38/357 dies I got back in 2014 which have thousands of rounds through them. These have been exposed to the same climate as the 9mm cases, just 8 years more of it.

[megasupermagnum]

It's just a decapping pin. Crimped primers can be a pain. Nothing unusual here.

[Electrod47]

I bust decapping pins so much I keep several spares on hand. My dies (All Brands) pick up rust spots annually. I keep a stick " rubber eraser thing" that's diamond impregnated to polish up said spots. There's some pure titanium/carbide dies out there thats pure cost prohibitive for me. As long as the insides are buffed. Your good to go.

[Stopsign32v]

Does anyone make good replacement pins for Lee? I'd rather not replace crap with more crap and we all know Lee isn't the Rolex of reloading.

[dtknowles]

One problem with a universal decapping die is it does nothing to line the case up with the decapping pin. It is easy to miss the hole, you got to use some feel for are you in the hole or not, you can't just go slamming away at the brass. I understand that with crimped brass the feel might not be much different in the hole or not.

Tim

[Stopsign32v]

One problem with a universal decapping die is it does nothing to line the case up with the decapping pin. It is easy to miss the hole, you got to use some feel for are you in the hole or not, you can't just go slamming away at the brass. I understand that with crimped brass the feel might not be much different in the hole or not.

Tim

This is probably what happened.

[Stopsign32v]

Might grab a set of these https://www.squirreldaddy.com/3-Heat...p/sd24-112.htm

I like the stuff I've seen off that site before, just never purchased from them.

[turtlezx]

sweatly hands will rust in 2 days

[Hannibal]

Well, whatever the case if it's human error don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I just cut the decapping pin off of a Lee neck sizing die because I neglected to size the brass before priming and given the supply situation I didn't want to trash the primers. Oh, well. It's not the first mistake I've made and it won't be the last. Lee had nothing to do with my problem, just not enough attention given by me.

I've got a Universal Decapping die from Lee also so I'll be using it more often than before.

[Dusty Bannister]

If you are depriming dirty brass, sometimes you will build up debris in the shell holder that does not allow the rim to move into correct position. If you use more than three fingers on the press handle, you will break or bend pins. If there is any range dirt in the case or the case mouth is deformed, you could also have a problem. It sort of sounds like your original post suggests you cleaned the brass before trying to deprime the cases. My experience tells me that increases the resistance in punching out the primers. A light hand on the handle will save you a lot of angst.

[Three44s]

For just decapping in .223 (particularly brass with crimped spent primers), I have better luck with using the Lee collet die set high enough that the collet neck sizer is not sizing the neck.

Three44s

[Stopsign32v]

For just decapping in .223 (particularly brass with crimped spent primers), I have better luck with using the Lee collet die set high enough that the collet neck sizer is not sizing the neck.

Three44s

The full length sizer?

Edit: I see it's just a neck sizer? Is that the die that comes in the .223 set?

[Hannibal]

The full length sizer?

Edit: I see it's just a neck sizer? Is that the die that comes in the .223 set?

Unless it's the Deluxe die set in the yellow box you'll have to buy it separately. You might be able to decap with the full length sizing die also if you set it high enough. I don't know if that's possible or not as I never tried that.