Broken decapping pin help

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marcodo

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After a full year reloading 38's 357's, 9's, and 45's I've had my first casualty. Looks like while resizing and decpping a 45 the "decapping pin" (i think thats what its called) broke and the whole insert was bent. I think the RCBS die itself is ok but the rest of it looks ruined. What is the whole insert and pin called and where can I go to purchase a new one without getting smoked on shipping cost's. Is it just better to buy a whole new die?

I bow before the reloading gods!
 
Your best bet is to contact RCBS for a replacement decapper, the die itself is probably ok. You may also want to concider replacing it with a Lee sizing die as the lee is designed with the depriming pin held in place with a collet which permits the pin to be pushed out when it meets heavy resitance. The pin is pushed up rather than breaking and is easily reset. I speak from experience, it is much easier to readjust a pin than shut down a session because of a broken pin.
 
If all your dies are RCBS,one of the decapping stems from your other dies might fit till you get a new one worth a try.Sounds like your lock nut worked loose.
 
Been there, done that! If you call RCBS, they will normally replace the whole decapping unit. Sounds like you may have tried to decap a berdan primed case. :)
 
Thanks Guys...that looks like the pin. It kinda looks big but thats prob just the way its photographed. The scew part (the part that screws into the die itself) is also bent and the front cap piece has the broken pin in it as well. perhaps I should call and try to descibe it to them
 
This is why I am switching to Hornady dies. If you get a berdan primed case it will just push the decapping pin up in the die its self.
 
Call RCBS. I did the same thing and they sent every part needed to fix the problem. They even sent lots of spares. All of this for free. RCBS is GTG!
 
I never did replace my decapping pin on my 40sw die. I got a Lee universal decapping die and then moved the stem a little high in the 40sw die and moved it to another position. The Lee decaps the brass and the 40sw still resizes.
 
Whats a berdan primed case?

Called RCBS and they are shipping a new set of replacement parts without charge...You guys are great!!!
 
marcodo,

the Boxer primed case has the flash hole in the center of the case. the primer has a small piece of metal, the anvil, pressed into the priming material from the open end of the primer cup.

the primer is pressed into the opening of the case. when the firing ping impacts the outside of the primer cup the priming material is trapped between the anvil and the primer cup and is ignited.

the Berdan primer has the primer cup filled with the primer material, the anvil is formed into the case between two small flash holes that are located closer to the perimeter of the primer pocket. the center of the pocket has the anvil occupying the space where the "normal Boxer primer" flash hole would be. thats why the pin broke and bent the decapping rod.

it requires special decappers for Berdan primers, most of the military surplus ammo of European manufacture, is Berdan primed, but not all. some ammo is produced in Europe under U.S. military contracts, and this ammo will be Boxer type.

if you shoot alot and with the price of reloading components being the highest of all time , scrounging brass from the range is a source of free brass, a small flash light is very helpfull for checking for Berdan priming as it is hard to detect from the out side . as Doug B stated look inside for the two small holes.
 
Thanks!
+1 to Dagger Dog

After reading the replies I pulled the offending case out of the trash and it was a winchester case. I cant see the flash hole because the decapping pin appears broken off in the flash hole. Based on what you guys are describing it does't seem likely to be a berdan primer. I'll see if I can figure out how to get it photographed but it looks like a regular boxed primer. Could it be thar the case was off center during the decapping? I've reloaded about 5K rounds without a problem, now this. I'd like to try to figure out if I did something wrong.
 
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