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Lyman carbide adjustable decapping rod ?
- Thread starter rebs
- Start date
NoSecondBest
New member
I'm not sure what you mean by "adjustable", but they work fine. I just got a .223 neck sizer with the carbide stem. What it does is reduce the drag on the neck when going in and out for sizing. They come in different calibers and I got the .223 Rem.
NoSecondBest
New member
The decapping rod can be moved up or down using the screw stem that it's mounted on.
NoSecondBest
New member
It's exactly the same size decapping rod you get with any other die. It can be taken out and put in an RCBS die as a replacement. It won't bend any easier than any other rod.
NoSecondBest
New member
Feel free to disagree. Just what is the temper on each rod? I and my friends must have gotten flukes, none have bent yet.
The only part of the Lyman carbide adjustable decapping rod assembly that is carbide is the expander button. That has an adjustable positioning sleeve. Can't imagine why they think that'd be necessary other than separating you from your money. The case is going to stretch anyway.
They work just fine . The carbide expander button eliminates the need for inside neck lubrication , in theory they pull through the sized down case neck easier. In theory and on paper this sounds good...But you know what Yogi Berra says about theory !
T. O'heir (post #10) probably nailed it !
Even when using them I still lube inside a case neck every 5-6 cases with a Q-Tip and Lee Case Lube , the wax lube dries and doesn't contaminate powder and makes bullet seating easier . Of course I've never had a problem using the standard steel expander buttons either .
Gary
T. O'heir (post #10) probably nailed it !
Even when using them I still lube inside a case neck every 5-6 cases with a Q-Tip and Lee Case Lube , the wax lube dries and doesn't contaminate powder and makes bullet seating easier . Of course I've never had a problem using the standard steel expander buttons either .
Gary
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NoSecondBest
New member
It does seem to make a small difference. It doesn't "pull" the neck as much when sizing the case. I've been playing around the last 2-3 months with different methods of sizing .223 Rem cases and adjusting headspace in the gun. I've gotten two pages of data measuring multiple loads shot under different parameters. Setting the headspace made a difference, bumping the shoulder for me didn't make a measurable difference, and using the carbide expander button seemed to improve groups a bit. I got my TC Encore pro hunter to where the last eight 5 shot groups were all at or under .65" at a hundred yards. When I first got the MGM barrel I was getting over an inch for about everything I put through the gun and sometimes one load would shoot .5" and the next time it would be over an inch. Keeping everything FL sized with adjusted headspace, using the carbide expander, and finally setting the bullet .005 off the lands got me to some very consistent groups. Not record breaking by any means, but I could see what was making improvements and what didn't seem to do anything. YMMV
Note: in fifty years of reloading I've broken exactly two decapping pins. Last one was probably twenty years ago.
Note: in fifty years of reloading I've broken exactly two decapping pins. Last one was probably twenty years ago.
NoSecondBest
New member
You're not reading the post. He never mentions Berdan primed cases even once.USSR is right - the rod bends the moment it encounters a Berdan primed case
The carbide expander balls are great. If you use them for rifle cases I recommend you still apply the traditional dry (motor mica or graphite) neck lube. That reduces the drag still further, essentially eliminating the pulled-off-axis neck tilt commonly associated with steel expanders.
The adjustability allows you to raise the expander to just engage the bottom of the neck before the case mouth has fully cleared the neck of the sizing die. This further reduces the chances of getting an off-axis neck by forcing the expander to center in the die axis. Just be careful you don't get the expander and sizing die neck too close together as making expander contact with the brass before it has got clear enough from the sizing die actually increases drag.
The adjustability allows the same expander to be set up as I described above for several different length cartridges that use the same bullet diameter.
What usually bends decapping stems is decapping cases with varying head thicknesses. You set up on a case you think has full head thickness, but you find out you were wrong when the thicker head of another case rams into the decapping pin chuck.
The adjustability allows you to raise the expander to just engage the bottom of the neck before the case mouth has fully cleared the neck of the sizing die. This further reduces the chances of getting an off-axis neck by forcing the expander to center in the die axis. Just be careful you don't get the expander and sizing die neck too close together as making expander contact with the brass before it has got clear enough from the sizing die actually increases drag.
The adjustability allows the same expander to be set up as I described above for several different length cartridges that use the same bullet diameter.
What usually bends decapping stems is decapping cases with varying head thicknesses. You set up on a case you think has full head thickness, but you find out you were wrong when the thicker head of another case rams into the decapping pin chuck.