Busted my brand new decapping die

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JKilbreth

New member
I just got a universal decapping die from Lee in the mail yesterday so that I could deprime and clean a bunch of calibers that I don't necessarily reload yet. I also got the full set of "R" shell holders for my breech lock press for the same reason.

Everything's going fine until I put in one .308 case and raised the ram. Then, SNAP!
I figured I had simply busted the case somehow, as it was found brass that I hadn't fired myself, but when I lowered the ram, I noticed that the end of the punch on my brand new decapping die was missing, and the pieces were inside the .308 case (which still had a perfectly seated primer in it).

I initially thought that I must have completely missed the flash hole (I think that's what you call the hole leading from the primer pocket to the inside of the case), but when I tried another .308 case of a different manufacture in my .45 colt decapping die, it deprimed it with no problems. Adversely, when I got brave and tried to deprime the same case that broke my universal die on my .45 colt decapping die, it simply forced the punch upward through the die itself, resulting in a non-deprimed .308 case, but an intact punch.

So my question is, has anyone had similar weakness issues with the Lee Universal Decapping Die, or is there an obvious mistake on my part that I'm oblivious to?

I considered the possibility that the "buster" case that broke my die could have been utilizing a crimped primer...? I don't really know anything about crimped primers, but I know that crimped bullets are a lot harder to pull than non-crimped ones, so...I don't know. Please help! I plan on calling Lee today and seeing if they can replace my die.
 
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M3mh0g

New member
It could be the crimped primer thing, but being .308 if it was a surplus case it could be berdan rather than boxer primed. You can easily determine this be checking to see if there are two flash holes rather than the single boxer flash hole.
Pretty sure you can get new decamping pins from FSReloading.com for pretty cheap.
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
I assume it must be a crimped primer:

images


Crimped on left, uncrimped right. Some cases are more obvious, there is an obvious punch mark in one spot.

Also, you didn't break the die, you broke the pin. Just order a new pin, or 4 or 5. They're like $1 or something.
 
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JimDandy

New member
Can you paintshop a red circle over the obvious punch mark? For the life of me, I can't see what I'm supposed to be seeing.
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
Some cases are more obvious than the picture. In the picture, the crimped primer is a 360dg circle around the primer that is wider than the other case.

In the following picture, the "circular crimp" primer is on the left, the "punch crimp" primer is on the right:

images
 
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jimkim

New member
Call Lee and tell them what happened. The pin should be under warranty. Also you may want to adjust your dies, in the future, so that the pin will be pushed up into the collar. The collar on the decapping die was too tight.

Another possibility, other than crimped primers, is it may have used Berdan primers. What brand is the case?
 
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serf 'rett

New member
I had the same thing happen with a brand new Lee Universal Decapping die on the 28th piece of .223 brass. Left me sitting there looking at about 1400 pieces which needed the primers removed.

Mailed a note to Lee explaining what had happened. Enclosed the broken pin and a check for five additional pins (got the cost off their web site). They sent me the five pins I paid for, a pin to replace the broken one and paid shipping. No complaints.

Funny thing is this - since I broke that first pin, I haven't broken another one.

Operator error comes to mind? Or incorrect tension on the holding collet?
 
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jepp2

New member
I have deprimed over 30,000 primers with a Lee Universal depriming tool. Crimped primers will not break the pin. I have broken 1 pin during the 30K deprimed and it was 100% my fault. I was depriming a 40 S&W Speer case. I had the case off center and the pin missed the flash hole. On Speer, the opening is reinforced so there is a slope away from the flash hole. This side force cleanly broke the pin.

I bought 5 new ones from Lee since shipping was as much as the 5 pins. At least 3,000 were odd military brass with undersize flash holes. It will force it ways through and may pull out of the collet on the withdrawl stroke.

If you encounter a Berdan primer it just shoves the depriming rod up as the collet cannot be tightened enough to stop the rod from moving when it hits an "immovable" object.
 
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JKilbreth

New member
I stated incorrectly before that this was found brass. I realized shortly afterward that that's not the case. I purchased it from a Sports Authority here in Hawaii. The brand is "MFS" and you can see the specs from the attached images.

With me, user error is always a variable in the reloading equation;)

I suppose missing the flash hole is a possibility, but seeing as I can't successfully deprime even one of these cases to get a good view, I just don't know yet. Maybe these pics will help.

IMG_1202:1.jpg

IMG_1203:1.jpg

IMG_1204:1.jpg

Not sure why the TFL uploader insists on flipping my pics every which way. Sorry guys.

I also forgot to mention that the cases are made of steel. Would that prevent any reloading operation?
 
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Don H

New member
First of all, what you have isn't brass. The box states it's "zinc-plated steel case". Steel cases are usually Berdan-primed.

Edited to add: Berdan-primed cases don't have a center flash hole for the decapping pin to go through, they have offset holes. Trying to punch a hole through a steel case is what broke your pin. Berdan-primed steel cases are pretty much not reloadable for a number of reasons, one of which is the dearth of proper size primers available.
 
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wncchester

New member
"I also forgot to mention that the cases are made of steel. Would that prevent any reloading operation? "

Steel cases cause problems, they don't solve any.
 
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JKilbreth

New member
Wow. Live and learn, I guess.

Yeah, I apologize for my lack of specificity. I too often use the term "brass" when I should use "case" or maybe "cartridge." Thanks for the reminder;)

Guess I'll just fire these off and make a better purchase decision next time.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone make punch pins for these off-center flash holes common to steel cases?
 
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dacaur

New member
Yea you shouldn't even be trying to reload anything thats not brass. Its crazy your pin broke, I have had beridian primed 30-06 slip through and all they did was move my decapping pin up in the collet... not using the universal die though, it was a 30-06 sizing die.....
 
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capodastro

New member
The same thing happened to me with some 308 win brass I picked up at the range. I busted the deprimeing pin as well. That brass was military ammo with the primer crimped. So we learn as we go.
 
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Goatwhiskers

New member
FWIW, Berdan primers don't have an anvil, the anvil is a cone shaped device in the center of the primer pocket, it's part of the case. There are two small flash holes, one on each side of the anvil. Back in the day you could get a can opener looking device that would hook the old primer and pull it out, we would also deprime hydraulically with water in the case and a dowel rod in the neck the neck that you smacked with a hammer. Messy but it worked. Of course back then you could more easily find Berdan primers. GW
 
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