Broke my Hornady decapping pin.....Bummer.

[Josh45]

While trying to decap and resize some brass which was lubed quite well before resizing, One of the 30-06 brass I tried to deprime made an odd sound when it almost hit the bottom of the brass. Pulled it out of the die and I noticed the decapping pin torn right off.

I turned the brass upside down, Nothing came out. I put a flashlight to check inside the brass and there was the decapping pin. Staring back at me. Stuck in the primer.

Did about 10-15 cases before this happened. I was able to resize/decap with this die about 3-4 weeks ago nearly 200 pieces of 30-06 brass without much a problem really. I had the decapping pin tightened down well. Noticed the neck would catch the expander sometimes, So I tightened down a bit more.

Could that have lead to my broken decapping pin? I will call Hornady tomorrow and see if they can help me out with them.

 

[Blue68f100]

I went 30 yrs without breaking one. The I broke 2 in a short period of time. If the primers are crimped and sealed they can be real hard to get out. But they do not normally break the pins. With the slip shafts, that are suppose to prevent breakage when you have a higher load. Does not always work that way. The decapping pin clamp should not have any thing to do with the expander hitting except not being centered. Now if it's not centered it may not hit the flash hole and caused breakage. Not your case.

Just call and get a replacement. They are cheap if you have a LSG store that carries reloading supplies. It's always nice having spares.

 

[Mike 27]

I have had the same problem with my RCBS 30-06 die. I broke 2 in the same day. Ended picking up a pack of them at Sportsmans, and haven't broken another in over a year. Go figure.....Good luck.

 

[788Ham]

I inherited a set of dies from my Pop in '06, haven't any idea as to the age. Wanting to deprime some old cases, I reset the dies to my press. I went through about 25 cases, then it bound up, couldn't get it to decap the primer. I took the die apart and cleaned it, used some 0000 steel wool and oil, reassembled the die. I got about 15 more cases deprimed, then the same thing happened, pulling the case off the decapping rod, I noticed the pin was broken. I tossed the dammed thing in the trash and went and bought a new one, ended the problem! Pop's old die had some goofy looking pin set up, the RCBS has some better pins, haven't looked back either.

 

[JohnM]

I've never, knock on wood , broken or bent a depriming pin.
I've had some with the slip type collet get pushed up depriming tough military crimps out.
I like it that my Redding dies come with a spare pin so that if something does happen I don't have to go looking for a part.

 

[Bovice]

I had one bend slightly, and then finally break. They are cheap enough to have plenty of spares and very simple to change out when they do.

They aren't going to last forever, all good things must end

 

[Striker Fired]

I broke one back in the early '90s,bought a bunch extras and every time I get a new style die but so far havn't used any.I know if I ever loose my spares I'll break one.

 

[rcmodel]

If you run a case in the die and center the die in the press by wiggling it around, and the same with the decapping pin in the flash hole before tightening the lock-nuts on the die and the decapping rod,
I don't think you will ever break a pin.

There is enough slop in the threads of the press, die, and decapping rod to pull the rod off center when you tighten the lock-nuts without a case centering everything.
Then the pin has to flex sideways a little to go through the flash-holes.

It will only flex so many times, and then it will break.

rc

 

[Josh45]

Well, I called Hornady today and explained my situation to them and "Lori" was the one who helped me. Very kind and courteous in this experience.

She is getting me sent out a new spindle, expander and decapping pin just in case I do need all those pieces. I guess I should get them late this week or early next week. So far, I have a good Hornady experience, Minus the broken pin.

The brass I was decapping at the time was "FC" and I have done many "FC", About 200 before this. This was the only time something like this happened. I also notice that even tho I have quite a generous amount of lube on my cases, They are still quite hard to resize at the base of the case (web?). There is lube all the way around......

I have used Mink Oil and I have used Hornady One shot. For those who want to know, The pin broke while I used One Shot. I don't think that has anything to do with it tho.....But then again?

 

[Hondo 60]

I've reloaded 10s of thousands of 38 spl with a set of RCBS dies.
About 2 months ago I broke a decapping pin (first time that's happened).
Sent them an email & about 4 days later got a whole assembly & 5 new decapping pins

 

[mmay1]

I have broken a couple on Hornady pins, but on Berdan-primed brass, and destroyed the spindle once. Hornady replaced them free of charge, and promptly. There is probably an extra pin with the die set, if you bought a set.

 

[snakeman]

I did the same thing with a 8mm mauser brass and a lee die. I told lee I made the mistake of confusing a piece of surplus brass with a sellier and bellot case that I dropped on the floor. They sent me another anyway.

 

[Striker Fired]

Josh, don't use the One Shot for resizing rifle brass.That IS why they are resizing hard.Any of the other normal lubes will work,but not One Shot.It can't provide the lubrication needed for rifle brass.

 

[Tilos]

I've used a cut off finish nail, until I could get some replacements.

 

[Josh45]

I bought these dies used tho when I got them they hardly looked used.

Striker,

I have used it many times before with 30-30 brass and never had this issue. How ever, After this event I will stick to the mink oil or grab my self some from the LGS next time. I would rather avoid down time