Bent Decapping Rod - .38 Spcl - RCBS Dies
- Thread starter otisrush
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IWAC
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Not saying it couldn't happen, because of all the comments here, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around bending the decap rod in an RCBS pistol die, and I'll tell you why.
One evening, I was decapping some 357 Magnum brass, and felt it take a LOT of force to do one. I looked, and there was a.32 case of some sort inside the 357 Mag case. How it got there, I don't know, but the decap pin had gone through the flash hole of the .32, depriming it, then deprimed the 357.
No visible damage to pin or rod. That'll teach me to check before depriming!
Of course, the longer you hanadload, the more unusual circumstances you either hear of or participate in!
One evening, I was decapping some 357 Magnum brass, and felt it take a LOT of force to do one. I looked, and there was a.32 case of some sort inside the 357 Mag case. How it got there, I don't know, but the decap pin had gone through the flash hole of the .32, depriming it, then deprimed the 357.
No visible damage to pin or rod. That'll teach me to check before depriming!Of course, the longer you hanadload, the more unusual circumstances you either hear of or participate in!
rfwobbly
Member
2 things....
► It's not really if, but when this will happen again. So when you call RCBS and talk to the extremely nice CS person, simply ask for 2 stems and 5 pins. They'll be more than happy to comply. This will save you both time and effort in the future.
► I have owned quite a lot of RCBS equipment over the years and respect them highly. However, as a design engineer, I'm not overly impressed with the way they center their decapping stem in their dies. When you re-install the new stem, take the precaution of slowly rolling the die across a counter top. You'll instantly see any eccentric mounting of the decapping pin and can thereby help yourself prevent a recurrence.
Hope this helps.
► It's not really if, but when this will happen again. So when you call RCBS and talk to the extremely nice CS person, simply ask for 2 stems and 5 pins. They'll be more than happy to comply. This will save you both time and effort in the future.
► I have owned quite a lot of RCBS equipment over the years and respect them highly. However, as a design engineer, I'm not overly impressed with the way they center their decapping stem in their dies. When you re-install the new stem, take the precaution of slowly rolling the die across a counter top. You'll instantly see any eccentric mounting of the decapping pin and can thereby help yourself prevent a recurrence.
Hope this helps.
As rfwobbly said, the decapping rod can get a little out of center.
Besides installing them off center at the end of die, I have had the rod work loose, the pin gets off center and something gets bent. (I try to not consult the gorilla on jam huts any more than I have to.)
I think the newer dies have hex jam nuts on the decapping rod instead of knurled round ones. Easier to snug with a wrench.
Maybe that is just the seating stems. I am 400 miles from my reloading room at the present time.
Besides installing them off center at the end of die, I have had the rod work loose, the pin gets off center and something gets bent. (I try to not consult the gorilla on jam huts any more than I have to.
)I think the newer dies have hex jam nuts on the decapping rod instead of knurled round ones. Easier to snug with a wrench.
Maybe that is just the seating stems. I am 400 miles from my reloading room at the present time.
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