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Old November 12, 2002, 06:19 PM   #1
Pendragon
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Decaping pistol brass: fast, clean, cheap

I posted a month or two ago asking a good way to decap my .38 and .45 brass.

My Lee turret press was spilling the primers all over the kithen floor - not good.

I ordered the Lee hand press and the Lee Carbide decapping die - I think the whole deal was around $25 or so.

Anyway - the ram on the hand press is hollow and holds the primers untill it fills up - around 25-35 primers and then you pull the shell plate and dump the primers in a trash can.

I got al my brass decapped in about 2 hours - I was probably averaging 18 brass per minute and I did not get tired.

Hold the press in left hand, insert casing, flick lever (very little force required), drop lever, reach for new casing while tilting the press to let the decapped casing fall into a bucket.

Very fast, clean and much less arm movement than a regular press.

I actually put the decap die in all the way down so I only need 2/3rds of a stroke to decap - I do it lightly so as not to stress the press or die.
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Old November 14, 2002, 02:07 PM   #2
Poodleshooter
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The Lee cheap C frame press has the same recess in the ram to allow primers to drop. I cut a channel under it's mount, so primers go directly into the trashcan below. I load everything on that press, and commonly load in batches-depriming and sizing several hundred cases in one operation, then moving on to belling, then priming on the hand tool, then charging and seating as one operation. Batches of several hundred makes this fairly convenient with a small single stage.
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Old November 14, 2002, 03:01 PM   #3
ZeusOne
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I use my Lee hand press and Universal decap die when I want to get away from my reloading bench and just do a batch decap. I usually do this when it's time to trim cases or check/clean primer pockets.

My Lee Challenger press isn't real good about consistently catching primers. Sometimes a primer will exit the ram at Warp Factor 9 and bounce right out of the primer catcher. No big deal though, as my bench is in the garage.

My RCBS 2000 has a little catcher jar, which is really cool because it catches every single primer along with the debris that usually ends up between the ram and press frame of a single stage. Only drawback is that the jar is kinda small.

There are ways to address the above deficiencies, not that any of them are a big deal (unless you're talking kitchen floor!). IHMO, all three are great presses, and each has it's place in my little reloading world.
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Old November 14, 2002, 03:36 PM   #4
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So what should I use to lube the ram on the hand press?

I came with a bunch of grease, but its mostly worn off and it feels stiffer than it first did.

Can I use CLP or should I find some axel grease or what?
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Old November 15, 2002, 12:14 PM   #5
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Vaseline. Works pretty good, cheap, not real messy.
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Old November 15, 2002, 02:02 PM   #6
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I just use whatever moderately heavy oil I've got sitting around. Every so often I'll degrease it, and reoil it. But I've got one friend, who is a VERY competitive shooter, who takes his presses and loosens 'em up a bit (either opens the hole, or turns down the ram....), for a bit of slop so that things can self-center easier. Seems to work for him.
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Old November 15, 2002, 02:31 PM   #7
ZeusOne
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I use CLP on my press rams; clean them off first and then apply a light coat. Why CLP? Cause it's already there on my bench.

For the pivot pins I use Tetra gun grease, but that's just my personal preference. I'm sure that CLP or any other lubricant would work just as well.
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Old November 15, 2002, 03:04 PM   #8
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When I decap with the Lee turrent I pull the primer arm out (actually, I never put it back in!), set a trash can under the press and about 90% of the spent primers will end up in the trash.
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Old December 3, 2005, 10:04 PM   #9
college
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Decaping pistol brass: fast, clean, cheap

ZeusOne;
I just screwed on a larger plastic container on the bottom of the RCBS 200 press and it holds all the used primers I want.
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Old December 3, 2005, 10:31 PM   #10
rwilson452
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Spent primer scatter

It's not a problem for me anymore I use a Lee LoadMaster and a Lee Classic Cast press. They both catch and store those pesky primers. On the Lee Turret that I had before my LoadMaster I put a piece of folded posterboard in the groove for the primer lever to direct the primers and a small trash can below the press it would catch all but a few.
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Old December 3, 2005, 10:48 PM   #11
BigJakeJ1s
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I've heard that the ram on the Lee Hand Press can be drilled deeper to hold more primers before emptying, but I've not tried that on mine.

I also use the LHP with a universal depriming die (RCBS, since that's what Cabelas had on the shelf) to do all my depriming from the comfort of my easy chair.

I use a Huntington Compac hand press for the rest of the reloading, but it does not have any feature for catching spent primers at all. OTOH, if I used it over a bucket, it would probably work fine. It has a primer seating punch built in.

Andy
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Old December 4, 2005, 11:51 AM   #12
Russ5924
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I found mine at a Flea Market for a whole 5 dollers,bought the universal die for it and have been using it ever since. I decap, clean and reprime with a Lee hand primer.I gave up a long time ago with priming as I reload to big a PAIN on my Lee or Dillon press.
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Old December 4, 2005, 12:03 PM   #13
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I have another way. I load up abput 2000 rounds and then spend 5 minutes cleaning up all the primers that fell out of the press.
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