RCBS universal decapping die pin

IIRC you remove the knurled collar on top of the die the stem should screw down and drop out the bottom. Then you can unscrew the tip that holds the pin. Are the threads on the top of the stem screwed up so they won't unscrew fully out of the die? You decapped 2 cases and it broke? What brand cases were they? Could they have been Berdan primed? That would break a pin. As for Lee I,ve never had a problem with any of their products along with my old RCBS.

You should be able to unscrew the decapping rod out the bottom of the die.

If you have not already done this, remove the locking nut from the top of the decapping die.

It is possible that the threads on the decapping rod may be damaged a little which would make it seem like you cannot remove the rod. Get a screwdriver smaller than the rod diameter and power through what is restricting the rod from un-screwing. The decapping rod should easily screw out the bottom of the die.

As a side note, RCBS has two styles of decapping pins. The old style is just a small rod while the newer style has a "head" or "flange" on the pin. They use a different clamping system on the decapping rod and are not interchangeable.

I hope this helps.

Contact them. They have one of the best CS depts around. Good luck.

Get a Mighty Armory decapping die. They will punch through a Berdan primed case.

HParks said:

I screwed the die stem down as far I could. Couldn't get it to drop out but, with needlenose pliers got the tip that holds the pin removed. However, in the process, the flathead screw slot in the die is stripped out.

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You need better screwdrivers.

I'll be another that suggest calling RCBS.

But just out of curiosity, what did you not like about the Lee die? I'm not a big Lee fan but their universal depriming die has served me well.

even trickier is getting it to thread back again once you've got it taken out and serviced it and want to put it back in.

film495 said:

even trickier is getting it to thread back again once you've got it taken out and serviced it and want to put it back in.

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Thats the fun part.

I'm still trying to figure out how you messed up the screw slot. All of my RCBS dies that have the feature can be turned with finger pressure. I only use the slot for holding the stem in place when tightening the nut.

My first decapping die was the RCBS. After breaking several pins I bought the Lee. After breaking two pins, I learned they don't give away replacements. That's when I found a pin for the Lee that I haven't broken, yet!
www.squirreldaddy.com/Decapping-pin-s/336.htm. I have punched through some 223 primers that were corroded in place, but haven't broken the pin.

Contact RCBS either by phone or e-mail. They will likely send you a replacement die, since that one is FUBARed.

And a trick I learned from dad when I was in grade school. To turn a stud that is frozen, screw two nuts on the open end. Using two wrenches, tighten the nuts against each other. You can then use on wrench to turn the stud. Apply a light oil to the threads when difficult to turn. And stop to inspect and assess the situation, looking for what you are doing wrong. I have a head for of knowledge about these situations, with a doctorate from the School of Hard Knocks.

I did the same thing- got the Universal For 223 from RCBS and made it to 7 rounds before it snapped. I called and emailed CS as requested and to this date, I haven't heard back from them. I got the Mighty Armory Die installed now and am not looking back.
Mighty Armory Die is the way to go...though the lock ring is silly cheap, I replaced it with a forster ring and it's loving life in my Co-Ax.

I have never had a pin break on my RCBS universal decapping die. What kind of .223 brass are you trying to decap? Is it .223 hunting ammunition or military-style ammo with a crimped primer? That could be the reason why the pin broke.

not sure on OP Brass, mine was Wolf Gold 223 brass..not crimped,not berdan, just once fired 223 brass.

I have a RCBS universal decapping die and the only time that I have broken a pin is when I accidentally tried to decap a berdan primed case. Mine is an older die that does everything from small pistol cases to 30-06 based cases.

GoldieMI said:

For 223 from RCBS and made it to 7 rounds before it snapped. .

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You can get the decapping rod slightly off center when locking down the decapping rod. An offset pin combined with an offset flash hole or small flash hole can wreck the decapping pin or rod in a New York second.

My breaks were in military 5.56/.223. Some dated to leftovers from Nam.

I have never broken a lee decapping rod in all these years. I now use a Lee universal permanently mounted in my turret press and must have decapped half a million brass since I got it with no problems so far. I routinely will fill up a gallon windshield washer antifreeze bottle with spent primers every year or so. Guess I am blessed with good luck.

cfullgraf said:

You can get the decapping rod slightly off center when locking down the decapping rod. An offset pin combined with an offset flash hole or small flash hole can wreck the decapping pin or rod in a New York second.

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Totally believe it...and you may be right...RCBS dies still on my bench, just the one mishap on the universal die.

It's quite common to have a berdan primed case sneak in when dealing with range brass, especially 308/7.62 surplus cases. I was given a bunch of 7.62x51 brass cases one time and had quite a few berdan primed cases mixed in with the boxer primed cases. Well we all know what happened. I'm cruising along decapping brass and BAM I got a broken pin. Needless to say I stopped and checked the rest of the cases. Broken decapping pins happen, no big deal. Just replace and keep going.

FROGO207 said:

I have never broken a lee decapping rod in all these years. I now use a Lee universal permanently mounted in my turret press and must have decapped half a million brass since I got it with no problems so far. I routinely will fill up a gallon windshield washer antifreeze bottle with spent primers every year or so. Guess I am blessed with good luck.

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I'd say so...I learned to not over tighten the Lee universal die too...that will bend that pin in a heartbeat with 357 Sig...those are the bane of my decapping..even crimped rifle rounds are not as much of an issue to me.

FROGO207 said:

I have never broken a lee decapping rod in all these years. I now use a Lee universal permanently mounted in my turret press...

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Yes, the Lee mounting system for their decapping pins has some advantages and helps prevent damage to the decapping rod.

After a fashion, you get the feel of what it takes to decap an expended primer and if the force required gets too great you learn to stop. In forty years or so of reloading, I've only crashed a couple decapping pins, for the most part trying to decap a Berdan primed case by mistake.

For a variety of reasons, I don't pick up range brass any more or buy once fired brass. That pretty much has eliminated the instances of trying to process Berdan primed cases.

FWIW I find that some 357 SIG brass has small primer holes. So small in fact that I have pulled the decapping pin out my lee die a couple times. Then I got smart and used my electric drill and sandpaper to reduce the size a smidge. Now the universe is well again.

I bought the PUA from Mighty Armory for the 357 SIG and a couple calibers I have in Lapua brass that are smaller than normal
https://www.mightyarmory.com/products/the-pua-decapping-die-for-lapua-brass
plus now that I bought a 6PPC, I have 100 rounds of 220 Russian shipping to me as well...