Deacpping 223 Crimped Primers

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I finished reloading all my handgun ammo and now am starting to reload my 223/5.56 ammo but have run into a problem. I am using a Lee universal decapper die and have already broke 1 pin on the decapper trying to decap the 223's. I have been able to decap some cases but most of them are so hard I'm afraid I'll break another pin. Is there another decapping die that would work better for 223 cases?

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I was going to say, "anything that doesn't have the name Lee on it," but thought better of it. RCBS has a good universal decapping die, as do others. I will say that crimped primers should not be that difficult to remove. I've done quite a few over the years but I stopped that over 12 years ago.

 

[Thumb]

It almost feels as if the pin is not lined up properly and not going through the flash hole. The ones that I can decap are pretty east but then the others are really hard.

I'll go see if they have any RCBS dies at Sportsmans, if not I'll order one.

 

[jpretle]

Don thousands w/ the Lee de-capper die. Never had a problem.

 

[wapiti25]

loosen the jam nut on top a little, then the decaping pin will push up if you hit the case head. I have done a lot of military cases with the lee die. go to lee's web site and order a new decaping rod.

 

[Willoughby]

also Done thousands w/ the Lee de-capper die. Never had a problem.
broke several pins in my rcbs before buying the lee

 

[navyrad8r]

I hate to say it but Lyman universal decap die is a pretty tough little die. the other choice is the Wilson punch/ base type system not as fast but works pretty good. with that said all the pins I have broken have been RCBS.
cheers,
doc

 

[broncman]

Never broke my Lee, but did my RCBS...... It has to be lined up or it will miss the hole...and break. Make sure case is fully inserted into shell holder as well.

 

[chuckbuster243]

I am in the same boat as the others... I have used a lee die for thousands of 5.56. You must keep it loose enough to slip if you hit the head or a berdan primer. If its hitting allot of the case heads your rod must be bent. When I order replacements I ordered a couple and have a spare. I use it over my RCBS it is cheaper and works better as well as parts are cheaper if I have an uh oh.. Matt

 

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I've made sure everything is lined up and all the way in the shell plate and still I'm having problems. I even changed the plates and decapped a few 30-30, 30-06 and 270's with no problems. Maybe my shell plate for the 223 is off center, I'll see if I have another one.

Oh, since I'm here, anyone have suggestions on what is the best way to remove the crimp in these cases? Or should I start another thread on that.

 

[dickn52]

I'm in the other boat. I have been using RCBS for about 5 years on 223's and never broke one yet. I think the poster who said make sure the case is fully seated in the holder had it right. You are using holder number 10 right?

 

[Thumb]

No, I am using holder #4, #10 is for 10mm/40S&W.

I happened to find a new Lee universal decapper and it appears to be working. It's still pretty hard to decap but it seems to at least be on the primer when the pin comes down on it. I did try another #4 plate I had from my .380 Lee die set and it didn't help so it's not the plate.

I'm thinking that maybe the other decapper pin is slightly off-center but still works on larger caliber cases because they use large primers and the flash holes are bigger and the pin still hits them.

 

[Killshot]

Sinclair makes a universal decapping die that uses two sizes of pins, the smaller of which is made for the small flash hole of 6BR brass, it might be just the ticket for those stubborn .223 primers.

RCBS now makes a lever-style crimp remover (similar to Dillon's Super Swager) that goes for about a hundred bucks. Worth it if you've got a lot of crimped brass to process.

 

[Juma]

Some are crimped or glued extra hard. Slowly pull your Lee thru on an even stroke i.e. don't bounce it.Does that make sense.Broken heaps of Redding pins on military so switched to the brick out house strength of the Lee.

 

[Thumb]

I just may invest in one of those Killshot, I have over 2K cases and another 3K factory loads still to shoot. With both my wife and I shooting the AR's we go through a lot of ammo especially during the summer.

My goal is though to find that special recipe for my go-to ammo for accuracy then load them to that.

 

[truman]

are there some berdan primed cases in the batch?? just thinkin out loud.

 

[bigedp51]

Oh, since I'm here, anyone have suggestions on what is the best way to remove the crimp in these cases? Or should I start another thread on that.

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Food for thought, reaming the primer pockets removes brass that can't be put back. Some people say the act of crimping the primer changes the diameter of the primer pocket. Meaning you may have more over sized primer pockets by reaming the primer pockets and more brass in the junk bucket.

Also you will find more people using the Dillon's Super Swager and being very happy with this unit. Swaging the primer pockets displaces the brass and doesn't remove any brass which may leave tighter primer pockets.

I'm saying this because I hate having to throw once fired brass away, and because I was cheap and didn't buy the Dillon's Super Swager. Below is my scrap brass bucket with Lake City and Federal .223/5.56 once fired cases with oversized "reamed" primer pockets. Don't be cheap and get the Dillon swager and don't look back.

I also use a pin gauge to check the primer pockets "BEFORE" priming the cases and finding out they are oversized. The pin gauge is 1/2 thousandths smaller than the average primer diameter (.1745) and is used as a GO/NO-GO gauge.

I first bought the primer pocket gauge below but the NO-GO end was .175 and the same size/diameter of the average primer. Using the .175 end you could seat primers with your finger, so I ordered a pin gauge 1/2 thousandths smaller for "MINIMUM" primer pocket diameter. (.1745)

Using the pin gauge will help keep your bolt face from looking like the photo below.

 

[jpretle]

Go w/ the Dillon Swager for primer pockets.

 

[OldDoug]

Are the primer flash holes true--i.e. in center of web area? I have used the Redding and RCBS depriming systems. The Redding small and extra small (.17 and .20) are fragile. The small shaft can bend if the web touched the stem. No problem with RCBS.

The alignment in the shell holder has been discussed. I found that if the screw holding the decapping pin or even in full length resizing and decapping is loose that there is possibility of misalignment of the stem and bent or broken decap pins.

loaded thousands of crimped 223, 308, 30-06 and .303. The Dillon Primer Pocket Swage is the only way to go.
Old Doug

 

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Thanks again for the heads up on the Dillon, I'll see what I can find because I do have a few thousand of the Lake City cases and others that I'd hate to throw away.

truman, I have no idea what berdan primers are, what do I look for?

bigedp51, Since I have a lathe I'll see if I can make up a go/no-go gauge. Thanks for all the info and pics.