General Reloading Process

[BigBolt]

I have used Hornady dies for many years, sort of like buying a auto. There many die manufacturers and Hornaday is what I prefer. I have their matched 4 die set for .500 S&W, matched die set for 45/70, 30/30 and 40 cal S&W.

No matter what manufacturers dies you use, I do recoment using a universal decapping die. I use this die for all my decapping, then I clean the cases and after the cleaning I use the resize die.

This process saves your dies by preventing scoring from crud, dirt especially using range pick up and extends their life. Hornady Universal Depriming Decapping Die (midwayusa.com

 

[Boudiepitbull]

Completely agree with the OP on going the extra step and decapping before cleaning and resizing. My brand of choice is RCBS and I've gone as far as to add a dedicated (and also relatively inexpensive) RCBS Partner Press with a universal decapping die just for that purpose. Of course it still flings spent primer cups and anvils everywhere, but despite that it keeps my other press operating much cleaner without all the carbonized crap mixing with oil on the ram.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I keep a soda straw tucked under the shell holder,in the slot, all the spent primers end up in the catch. Small rcbs press with Redding universal decapping(17,20), RCBS for .22 and larger.

 

[GLO123]

Agree on Decapping before cleaning and resizing. This saves a lot of wear and tear on my resizing dies. be sure to buy an extra pin or two for your recapping die. Those berdan primers will break or bend the pin.

 

[K22]

I have a different approach, not better, just different.

I have a universal decapping die and its one of my most used tools - very useful. However, I use it to remove the spent primer in preparation for measuring fired case head space to set up my dies for FL sizing.

I tumble my cases before sizing with the primers intact. The reason is that if I remove the primer before tumble cleaning, I get tumbler media lodged in the primer hole and it's a pain in the ass to remove it. Also, the only cases I deprime before sizing are a sample of about 3 from the group that I'm loading that I will use to measure fired case head space. For a guy who considers reloading a necessary "evil" , the last thing I want is another step in the reloading process.

With that said, I never broke a decapping pin in my FL sizing die or experienced any troublesome wear. Some of my FL sizing dies are about 50 years old, others about 40 years old. Perhaps the reason I haven't had wear issues is that I start with virgin cases. I stop using range brass many years ago. If I did use range brass, using a decapping die before sizing sounds like a good idea.

 

[powderbrake]

I agree with clean the brass first. I have been doing it this way for over 50 years. Tumble in corn cob media with some polish compound ( presently use Dillons), and the decapping pin removes any media stuck in the flash hole as it presses out the primer.

 

[BigBolt]

I have a different approach, not better, just different.

I have a universal decapping die and its one of my most used tools - very useful. However, I use it to remove the spent primer in preparation for measuring fired case head space to set up my dies for FL sizing.

I tumble my cases before sizing with the primers intact. The reason is that if I remove the primer before tumble cleaning, I get tumbler media lodged in the primer hole and it's a pain in the ass to remove it. Also, the only cases I deprime before sizing are a sample of about 3 from the group that I'm loading that I will use to measure fired case head space. For a guy who considers reloading a necessary "evil" , the last thing I want is another step in the reloading process.

With that said, I never broke a decapping pin in my FL sizing die or experienced any troublesome wear. Some of my FL sizing dies are about 50 years old, others about 40 years old. Perhaps the reason I haven't had wear issues is that I start with virgin cases. I stop using range brass many years ago. If I did use range brass, using a decapping die before sizing sounds like a good idea.

I hear you about the media getting into the primer pockets. I use to leave the primers in too untill my tumbler crapped out. Now I am using an ultrasonic cleaner and punch out the primers before cleaning. After clean then I resize. They come out purdy.

 

[PopCharlie]

Clean - corncob media
Decap - Sinclair universal decapper
Anneal - AMP annealer
After decaping, I chuck the cases and wipe them off with a paper towel to get the media residue and polish off. Then I clean out the primer pockets. Then on to the annealer.

PopCharlie