Primer Problem x 1000

[Drue]

Somewhere along the way I picked up a sealed plastic bag of 1000 primed USGI 223 brass. I finally got around to loading them and made up some test rounds. Ten in a row failed to fire. The primers all showed normal indentation and the rifle functioned normally with GI ammo immediately after the test round failure.

Normally I use a Lee punch and base plus a hammer to deprime GI brass with crimped primer pockets. Of course these are fired primers. Now I have a batch of 1000 seemingly dead but possibly not completely dead, crimped in primers to remove. Pounding away with a hammer and punch really doesn't seem like a good idea in this case!

Would anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

Drue

[Sevens]

Get a Lee universal decapping die. I suggest Lee even those others make it and I say this because Lee full length sizing dies have unbreakable decappers. Now I'm not completely sure about the universal decapping die as I don't have one, but it's a safe bet that it's very much like the decapper on the sizing dies.

Then, clear the bench and immediate area from anything combustible and put on the safety glasses. If you even consider doing this without safety glasses on, you've got a screw loose!

Then simply run each case through the universal decapping die. None should explode, and all should de-prime easily.

What you then do with the collection of old, un-spent primers is a question for another day!

[wncchester]

A second to Sevens suggestion. Nothing is truly "unbreakable", not even the Lee Universal Expander, but it is the strongest decapper I know of.

[Sevens]

Just to clarify (not to argue) but Lee calls their decapping pins "unbreakable" because of the design-- it's retained in a collet and if you over-stress it, it slides up in the die, out of the way and then needs to be reset. Other designs simply sit there, take the stress and eventually snap off and need to be replaced.

So yeah, it's not unbreakable, but it's designed to move out from under the stress rather than snap. Think of it like a circuit breaker being used in place of a fuse. You simply flip the switch on a breaker and you are back in business. But if it's a fuse... you need to buy a new fuse.

[Drue]

Thanks guys! A Lee Universal Decapper is on order. I plan on using safety glasses, hearing protectors and heavy gloves while doing these cases. The primers will probably go into the river.

Drue

[TexasSeaRay]

To date, I've broken several RCBS and Dillon de-capper pins, but not one Lee. As Sevens explained, the design is pure genius. Too much stress, and it simply slides up.

NOW. . . with that said, can anyone tell me why I ordered three extra decapping pins from Lee a while back???

(Answer: Because when I use the manual depriming pin and base, I have been known to break those. So I ordred--what I thought were the same things--but instead ended up being the Lee decapper pins. They work well--actually better in some of the small rifle casings where the larger circumference decapping rod/pin combo is too large to fit into.)

Good call with the safety glasses. I used to not ever use them when reloading. Then one day, I had a primer go off--totally and completely my fault 100%. Nothing happened except I wet my pants and sucked my thumb and thought, "If something happens to my eyes, my flying days are over."

Been wearing safety glasses ever since.

We are, after all, dealing with explosives when we reload.

Jeff