removing crimped primers

[2Tite]

I haven't had to do this in years. Tonight, I broke my "unbreakable" Lee decapping pin. Anything new out there? What's the easiest way to do this nowadays? Anybody got a "failproof" system for 308's?

[runfiverun]

i use an rcbs universal de-capper and some patience
at least if i break the unbreakable i can replace the pin. want two other lee broken unbreakables for your collection?

[madman]

Look in the bottom of the case is there 1 or 2 holes. 1 hole get the updated RCBS pins with the head on them, 2 hole toss'em a side and sell for scrap.

[Marlin Hunter]

I never had a problem removing the primers from 308's or the 223/5.56 shells. Putting the primers back in.....thats another story.

Like madman said. Make sure you have Boxer brass not Berden brass

[HammerMTB]

There's an article on this in this month's (September issue) American Rifleman. There are a couple ways to remove crimp.
You do still need to remove the first spent primer. Now you know one way NOT to do it. Not trying to have a laugh at your expense, it's just my own philosophy- we learn from our mistakes. Thanks for sharing, maybe I can make 1 less- MAYBE.....

[shotman]

RCBS has a heavy duty deprimer. Is made for that. It is spring loaded and wont break. [It will deprime the berden. If press is strong enough and dont punch through primer ,not to be used that way] Make sure you have glasses and a rag to catch the primers . They come out like a BB gun

[462]

Have to agree with those saying to check that it's not Berdan primed. Broke an RCBS pin, once, by not looking.

[Mike W1]

I've broken 2 of the Lee units and they replaced both free of charge. Can't beat that!

[2Tite]

Well, I wound up putting the cases in a collet and removing the crimp on the lathe. Then punching out the primers on an arbor press and reaming the primer pockets. The pockets were undersized and the primers were difficult even with the crimp removed. Labor intensive but effective. Total score was 3 RCBS decapping pins lost, 4 Lyman decapping pins lost, 1 Lee unbreakable decapping pin lost. Not to be defeated, it turned into some nice Lake City '92 308 brass.

[GabbyM]

Usually it's the burr on the flash hole that breaks the pin. Either by deflecting it away from the hole or jamming in with the pin.
Take a flash hole debur tool. ( #1 center drill in a holder.) then debur the flash hole inside the case.

After that you'll break very few pins in my experience.

[Shiloh]

I never had a problem. As stated make sure they are not Berdan primers.

I do have one of these tools http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=297408

Bought it years ago for depriming. Comes in handy for really stubborn primers.
They come in .22 and .30 cal for military primers.

Shiloh

[longhorn47]

this is another good use for mothers nippel cream works every time PS do use glasses for safty

[Fugowii]

Live primers - very carefully but I have done it. I just apply pressure slowly and
always make sure I have nothing else (powder or primers) in or around the press.
I always make sure I am wearing eye and ear protection as well when doing this.

Dead primers - not a problem - I have done thousands without incident, just making
sure it's not Berdan primed.

All my de-priming has been done on a Dillon 550 with Dillon dies. When I was using
RCBS .30-06 dies, I did break a de-capping pin. That was long ago...

[hobbylink1]

I have only had this problem when I try to remove a Berden primer. Besure to check you brass.

[Cadillo]

Wilson Tool makes a base and punch that are indestructable. I always use this tool to remove crimped primers. Easy and bulletproof! I got mine from Sinclair.

[Big Dog]

I keep a supply of extra pins on hand when I do crimped primers, Murphy visits me kind of on a regular basis .......

Years ago I bought a Dillion super swage to remove the primer crimps when they were still not too expensive, but you must sort by head stamp and adjust the swage pin depth accordingly for each headstamp, if you fail to do this you can easily destroy the base of the case or even open the primer pocket too large to be able to use the case

odds are you will destroy a few cases until you get the "feel" of swageing the pockets, it takes a bit of time and you must pay attention to what you are doing

[SierraWhiskeyMC]

I've de-primed a few thousand cartridges of WWII .30-06 brass using C&H and RCBS dies, and a few more thousand 5.56 NATO cartridges using Redding and RCBS dies.

I've only broken one decapping pin in a RCBS die due to trying to de-prime a Berdan-primed 5.56 case, which was my own carelessness. In my own defense, I'd already de-primed about a thousand cases that day, and those 5.56 cases are pretty hard to see down inside of...

Re-priming cases that were crimped is another story. You can use hand-powered pocket reamers, but they'll wear you out - and you have to be careful to line them up precisely. Get the reamer just a little off-center, and you'll have brass with over-sized primer pockets, ready for the scrap pile.

If you have a lot of cases with crimped primers, it would be worth your while to invest in a primer pocket swager tool.
I have one for .30-06/.308/.45ACP from CH4D that my Dad purchased many years ago. It works quite well, and is easy to use. Here's a web page that shows how to use it:
http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting...lay2/index.asp

RCBS and Dillon also make pocket swager tools/dies, but I have no experience with them.

[qajaq59]

I take it that you can't just replace the pin itself on a Lee die, like you can with the Lyman dies?

[madman]

I have reformed brass by using the hydraulic method. Mount the case in the press with the sizing die installed and the case seated in the die. Take a properly sized punch made to fit the case neck as close as you can get it. I used some plastic wrap once to take up the clearance and worm a seal I poured the case 1/2 full to 3/4 full and aligned the punch in the case neck and hit it sharply with a 1 lb dead blow hammer. The primer was forced out and the case was reformed. This can be done even with primer removed just put a small amount of hot melt glue and a tight wad of paper or plastic wrap using the same set up and you can blow out cases to different shoulder configurations then fire form them in what ever you are chambering them in. I have used every thing from water to 140wt gear oil, just make sure the case is clean and dry before loading.

[evan price]

New Lee decap pins are $2 each- free from Lee if you send in the old ones.

I use a Lee Universal Decap die for my crimped-primer rifle brass. Takes 'em right out. Then swage them with an RCBS pocket swager. Works like a champ.