The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > Handloading, Reloading, and Bullet Casting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old March 10, 2010, 07:12 AM   #1
Headgear
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 1, 2008
Location: Southeast, IN
Posts: 123
Breaking decapping pins?

I have a Forester press and just got an RCBS decapping die and keep breaking the pins. I think that the reason is that the universal decapping die does not hold a 30-06 shell and the jaws of the forester press float. Between the two, the pin is not necessarily centered in the case and misses the flash hole. Anybody had this problem?

I just got my first Garand about six week ago and been doing a lot of shooting and reloading. I've never had a neck size die and thought I would try one to see if I could get more rounds out of the casings. That's why I got the decapping die but it's not going so well. Any ideas?

Thanks!
David
Headgear is offline  
Old March 10, 2010, 08:11 AM   #2
steve4102
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 23, 2005
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 2,949
Quote:
Any ideas?
Yes, Do Not Neck Size for an Auto-Loader. You will be sorry.
steve4102 is offline  
Old March 10, 2010, 09:15 AM   #3
rwilson452
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 10, 2004
Location: Tioga co. PA
Posts: 2,647
Using Mil surplus brass? Did you remove the primer crimp?
__________________
USNRET '61-'81
rwilson452 is offline  
Old March 10, 2010, 10:31 AM   #4
Stick_man
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 18, 2008
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 241
I'd be more inclined to think either you weren't hitting the flash hole cleanly or you were possibly running into some berdan primers. The primer crimp is removed after the primer is, so that wouldn't be the issue here.

My guess would be that it is most likely an alignment issue. I have bent the pins before, but never broken them. When you are popping primers out, don't force things. If you feel a little extra resistance, thats a good sign that you are either out of alignment or there is some other obstruction inside the case.

Good luck.
Stick_man is offline  
Old March 10, 2010, 10:32 AM   #5
Lavid2002
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 6, 2007
Posts: 2,568
LOL
funny this came out!

Broke a decapping pin last night on some @I^#*&# berdan primed casings!

I have 2 more left : )

One of those things that you should always keep on hand ya know?
__________________
Math>Grammar
Lavid2002 is offline  
Old March 10, 2010, 10:38 AM   #6
Rembrandt
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 10, 2002
Posts: 2,108
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stick_man
...When you are popping primers out, don't force things. If you feel a little extra resistance, thats a good sign that you are either out of alignment or there is some other obstruction inside the case.
Dittos.......and keep a good supply of replacement pins on hand.
Rembrandt is offline  
Old March 10, 2010, 07:02 PM   #7
gearheadpyro
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 3, 2009
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 169
I broke a decapping pin on my forster bump die the other day (forster press). Funny thing is it was an unprimed case I was putting in it.

My guess is it's an alignment issue, but I'm not sure how you would fix it considering the die isn't holding the case. Just make sure the die is pushed all the way into the channel in the press.

Also +1 on Rembrandt and Stick Man
__________________
www.southernmarksman.com
Owner of & Chief Instructor for The Southern Marksman, LLC
NRA Life Member, NRA CRSO, Multi-Discipline NRA Certified Instructor
gearheadpyro is offline  
Old March 11, 2010, 12:18 AM   #8
medalguy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 31, 2009
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 1,033
Does your RCBS die have a spring pushing the pin down? The universal depriming die I bought a couple of years ago did, and I guess the spring was pushing the pin sideways because I broke several pins pretty quickly. After about the fifth pin breaking, I removed the spring and I have not broken another pin since then. Coincidence? Don't think so.
medalguy is offline  
Old March 11, 2010, 06:28 AM   #9
Headgear
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 1, 2008
Location: Southeast, IN
Posts: 123
Thanks guys. I forgot to mention that I am using new Win brass, third reload, all boxer primers.

steve4102, I was afraid they might get too tight. If they do, its not a big deal. I also have a bolt gun that I want to use the neck die for, so it won't be a total loss.
Headgear is offline  
Old March 11, 2010, 02:19 PM   #10
Taroman
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 15, 2010
Posts: 166
Another possibility is that the flash holes on the cases have burrs that deflect the decapping pin. If that is the case, clean them up with a flash hole deburring tool. Only needs to be done once.

One reason I prefer Lee dies is that the decapping pins are held by a collet and just push up if something bad happens. I do deprime crimped military brass with a manual punch setup.
__________________
-jwk-

Si vis pacem, para bellum
Taroman is offline  
Old March 11, 2010, 05:11 PM   #11
Headgear
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 1, 2008
Location: Southeast, IN
Posts: 123
medalguy wins!

I removed the spring, decapped 200, never miss a beat. Thanks a million!
Headgear is offline  
Old March 12, 2010, 06:51 PM   #12
greco
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 12, 2005
Posts: 125
Yep, here too. First I tried to push out some Berdan primers, and broke a couple here and there. Also, had a couple of cases that had skinny flash holes. On my old style expander ball/ primer pin (without the head on the pin), I kept trying to find the pin. I could tell when I had problems, because the next case will not drop a spent primer, which means the pin is pulled out because the flash hole is so tite. Then you search or install a new one.
greco is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:20 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.05605 seconds with 8 queries