556 brass

[RICHP]

Is there any special process to deprime crimped primers?

 

[TAJ45]

Sometimes a handfull of pins is needed. Sometimes. Or a Mighty Armory decapping system. They are TOUGH. How many you doing.

 

[RICHP]

Sometimes a handfull of pins is needed. Sometimes. Or a Mighty Armory decapping system. They are TOUGH. How many you doing.

Was thinking if it was not too much trouble I would do a lot. Maybe I am wrong but it seems to me it might be cheaper to buy already loaded.

 

[TAJ45]

Depends on the end use and expected volume. You WILL pay for anything suitable for small critters that comes apart on flesh.
Some reload so they can shoot and some shoot so they get to reload.
Accuracy usually is enhanced greatly by reloading.

 

[karrarararararar]

Nope, they deprime just the same for me. I use a Lee decapping die.

 

[snert]

Not hard to get out. But you have to remove the crimp to get a new one in. That is the PIA.

 

[TheCZKid]

I've used a regular Lee universal decapping die for everything for years, and it keeps going like a champ. I have decapped probably at least 8,000 - 10,000 5.56 Lake City, no problems. The hardest primers are some of the foreign made, with crimps from hell, I think they also have a primer sealer, but besides that, no problem.

 

[nakneker]

I switched to a mighty armor decapping die, it’s a great die and if you ever bend a tip it’s easy to replace. I’ve never bent one though and it’s deprimed 1000 of cases. Depriving us easy but like snert said, removing the crime can be tedious.

 

[SecondsCount]

They should pop right out. I've used Dillon, Hornady, RCBS. Lee, and Mighty Armory dies, and have broken a pin once when I missed a small piece of gravel stuck in the flash hole.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Was thinking if it was not too much trouble I would do a lot. Maybe I am wrong but it seems to me it might be cheaper to buy already loaded.

I very much doubt it. I decapped at least 2000 L.C. .223 crimped once fired brass about 2 weeks ago using a Lee universal decapping die without harming the pin. However I do have extra and in all my years of reloading I have only had to replace it once. That's a 2 -3 dollar bill.

 

[RegionRat]

When you are decapping, keep track of any that feel normal and segregate those under suspicion they are not 1X.

The only obvious benefit of those crimped primers is they prove it was once fired brass. After that, they are extra work to deal with.

If you are patient, Starline Brass cycles around to producing 556 brass which has harder head values than their 223 brass and it stands up to AR use.

Like the others, I just run a Lee universal decapper die on a progressive while being careful to detect any that don’t feel crimped.

 

[searcher]

Getting them de-primed is not an issue with most dies. As others said - you might break a de-capping pin once in a while (I manage to break one every 5,000 to 10,000 first-time de-cappings on mil brass). If you are doing a large quantity of them, you will definitely want to invest in a bench-mounted primer pocket reamer like an RCBS, Dillon, etc. If you don't ream the pockets or at least chamfer the opening a bit, you will have bad issues in seating your primers.

 

[GuitarmanNick]

I use a Lee universal decapping die and then swage the primer pockets to remove the crimp using the Lee Swaging dies with good results.
All once fired brass goes through it to insure none are missed.
I also check the primer pocket depth and address it if necessary.
Makes seating primers much less frustrating, and insures they are consistent.
It is a good idea to keep a couple of spare decapping pins on hand, just in case a Berdan primed case slips into the shell holder by mistake. Had that happen once and it bent the pin badly. Now I am more careful when sorting cases.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I use a standard RCBS decapping die, and a Lyman vld chamfering cutter head to cut the crimp out. If doing more than 50 I use a drill press. Flip the case and chamfer the case mouth. I have not had any issues with primer retention.