Broke some equipment today

vranasaurus · January 6, 2009, 08:12 PM

I broke the decapping pin and bent the decapping rod in my lube die on the first round and then did the same in my sizing die on the 4th round.

I am sure RCBS will send replacements but it is still frustrating.

Is this a common occurence with crimped 5.56?

yosemitesamaz · January 6, 2009, 09:51 PM

the decaping pin broke on me after th 20th case i took it back to sportsman and they exchanged it for me. if your loadinf military brass have spare pins on hand . i learned that the hard way!

Sam06 · January 6, 2009, 09:57 PM

I keep 10 spares on hand and have been known to rob from other dies before I did. With spares on hand you will never break a de-capping pin again

Its like a law if your spare tire is flat you will have a flat kind of law. If you have a bunch of spares nothing will happen. The Zen of reloading................

vranasaurus · January 6, 2009, 10:02 PM

I think the worst thing is that I not only broke the pins but bent the threaded portion of the decapping/expanding rod.

Sam06 · January 6, 2009, 10:14 PM

That is bad what did you do get a piece of eurotrash brass mixed up in your brass? I have done that before.

I am not the biggest Lee supporter here, in fact I try to steer people away from lee stuff but their Universal De-capping die is plenty tuff. That and a old lee load all is all have of their stuff left(I have some 38 spl dies but I don't use them all to much anymore). Lee has good customer support though and they stuff is all over the place so its easy to find replacements and spares.

PDshooter · January 6, 2009, 10:26 PM

I've broken my decaping pins many times over the years.........RCBS send me replacement N/C every time!

Crankylove · January 6, 2009, 11:50 PM

I had a bent decapping pin/rod for my .270 dies, and my brother had a bent pin for his 220 swift dies. He called RCBS, they sent a new decapping/sizing assemly for the 270, and half a dozen pins for his 220 swift no charge. All my experiences with them have been good.

LHB1 · January 7, 2009, 12:22 AM

Quote: "I think the worst thing is that I not only broke the pins but bent the threaded portion of the decapping/expanding rod."

Do you have the decapping rod set so far down that it is hitting the inside of case and bending the rod or did it bend just from the pressure of pin breaking? Check to be sure the rod is not hitting inside bottom of case.

DEDON45 · January 7, 2009, 09:23 AM

If you bent the threaded portion of the rod, check out what LHB said... this is what happened to a buddy's 6.5/06 dies (took me a while to figure out what he did)... he took the dies out of the box, and didn't check that they were properly adjusted. RCBS mailed us a replacement expander / decapper assembly at no charge, class act.

The Lovemaster · January 7, 2009, 11:26 AM

vranasaurus, I use the Lee Universal Decapper die, and in a year I've broken one pin, It's a good die.

PCJim · January 7, 2009, 11:46 AM

The most recent lot of .223 range pickup brass I was working with had some brass with an oddball headstamp, "IX" if I remember correctly. It did not break the pin, but pulled the pin out of the neck expander rod. I thought the pin was broke and cussed a bit knowing that I had no spares, until I felt both ends of the "broken" pin and realized what had happened. The flash hole in that particular headstamp is smaller than the diameter of the pin, causing the pin to simply pull out. I tapped the stuck pin out of the flash hole with a nail punch then reset the pin in the rod with a couple of gentle taps with a hammer. I was back in business.

The Lee dies I have use a slip collet to hold the depriming pin/expander rod in the die. If too much resistance is encountered, the rod is pushed up in the die which both saves damage to the deprimer and becomes visibly evident as the rod will then extend about 1/2 inch above the top of the die. A quick two wrench loosing of the collet and resetting of the rod's position gets the user back in business.

I suppose I've been fortunate enough thus far not to actually break or bend a pin.

vranasaurus · January 7, 2009, 12:14 PM

Just got off the phone with RCBS. They are sending me the rods and extra pins.

They certainly have a no hassle warranty.

rcupka · January 7, 2009, 05:03 PM

I keep a universal decapping die as a spare as well, it can be used in a pinch

January 6, 2009, 08:12 PM	#1
vranasaurus Senior Member Join Date: November 16, 2008 Posts: 1,184	Broke some equipment today I broke the decapping pin and bent the decapping rod in my lube die on the first round and then did the same in my sizing die on the 4th round. I am sure RCBS will send replacements but it is still frustrating. Is this a common occurence with crimped 5.56?

January 6, 2009, 09:57 PM	#3
Sam06 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2008 Location: Fayettenam Posts: 1,086	I keep 10 spares on hand and have been known to rob from other dies before I did. With spares on hand you will never break a de-capping pin again Its like a law if your spare tire is flat you will have a flat kind of law. If you have a bunch of spares nothing will happen. The Zen of reloading................ __________________ The two most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

January 6, 2009, 10:14 PM	#5
Sam06 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2008 Location: Fayettenam Posts: 1,086	That is bad what did you do get a piece of eurotrash brass mixed up in your brass? I have done that before. I am not the biggest Lee supporter here, in fact I try to steer people away from lee stuff but their Universal De-capping die is plenty tuff. That and a old lee load all is all have of their stuff left(I have some 38 spl dies but I don't use them all to much anymore). Lee has good customer support though and they stuff is all over the place so its easy to find replacements and spares. __________________ The two most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

January 6, 2009, 10:26 PM	#6
PDshooter Senior Member Join Date: March 30, 2000 Location: Indiana Posts: 607	I've broken my decaping pins many times over the years.........RCBS send me replacement N/C every time! __________________ Life member NRA 20yrs guard . MOS 63H 11B 43E Shoot Shovel Shut-up!

January 6, 2009, 11:50 PM	#7
Crankylove Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2008 Location: 8B ID Posts: 1,753	I had a bent decapping pin/rod for my .270 dies, and my brother had a bent pin for his 220 swift dies. He called RCBS, they sent a new decapping/sizing assemly for the 270, and half a dozen pins for his 220 swift no charge. All my experiences with them have been good. __________________ The answer to 1984 is 1776

January 6, 2009, 09:51 PM	#2
yosemitesamaz Member Join Date: December 15, 2008 Location: az. Posts: 68	the decaping pin broke on me after th 20th case i took it back to sportsman and they exchanged it for me. if your loadinf military brass have spare pins on hand . i learned that the hard way!

January 6, 2009, 10:02 PM	#4
vranasaurus Senior Member Join Date: November 16, 2008 Posts: 1,184	I think the worst thing is that I not only broke the pins but bent the threaded portion of the decapping/expanding rod.

January 7, 2009, 12:22 AM	#8
LHB1 Senior Member Join Date: March 25, 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 1,545	Quote: "I think the worst thing is that I not only broke the pins but bent the threaded portion of the decapping/expanding rod." Do you have the decapping rod set so far down that it is hitting the inside of case and bending the rod or did it bend just from the pressure of pin breaking? Check to be sure the rod is not hitting inside bottom of case. __________________ Good shooting and be safe. LB

January 7, 2009, 09:23 AM	#9
DEDON45 Senior Member Join Date: March 24, 2008 Posts: 278	If you bent the threaded portion of the rod, check out what LHB said... this is what happened to a buddy's 6.5/06 dies (took me a while to figure out what he did)... he took the dies out of the box, and didn't check that they were properly adjusted. RCBS mailed us a replacement expander / decapper assembly at no charge, class act.

January 7, 2009, 11:26 AM	#10
The Lovemaster Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 416	vranasaurus, I use the Lee Universal Decapper die, and in a year I've broken one pin, It's a good die.

January 7, 2009, 11:46 AM	#11
PCJim Senior Member Join Date: July 11, 2008 Location: FL Posts: 570	If you are using Lee dies... The most recent lot of .223 range pickup brass I was working with had some brass with an oddball headstamp, "IX" if I remember correctly. It did not break the pin, but pulled the pin out of the neck expander rod. I thought the pin was broke and cussed a bit knowing that I had no spares, until I felt both ends of the "broken" pin and realized what had happened. The flash hole in that particular headstamp is smaller than the diameter of the pin, causing the pin to simply pull out. I tapped the stuck pin out of the flash hole with a nail punch then reset the pin in the rod with a couple of gentle taps with a hammer. I was back in business. The Lee dies I have use a slip collet to hold the depriming pin/expander rod in the die. If too much resistance is encountered, the rod is pushed up in the die which both saves damage to the deprimer and becomes visibly evident as the rod will then extend about 1/2 inch above the top of the die. A quick two wrench loosing of the collet and resetting of the rod's position gets the user back in business. I suppose I've been fortunate enough thus far not to actually break or bend a pin.

January 7, 2009, 12:14 PM	#12
vranasaurus Senior Member Join Date: November 16, 2008 Posts: 1,184	Just got off the phone with RCBS. They are sending me the rods and extra pins. They certainly have a no hassle warranty.

January 7, 2009, 05:03 PM	#13
rcupka Senior Member Join Date: June 19, 2006 Posts: 339	I keep a universal decapping die as a spare as well, it can be used in a pinch