decap by hand?

[Larryswn]

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good depriming tool? I'd rather not wear the progressive press out just to decap. .All I do is .223. Thanks Also, another question...........Why would the lube die have a decapping pin? Obviously you want to decap before cleaning and the case wouldn't be in the lube die unless it was clean. What am I missing?

 

[Wyatt]

I doubt you will ever wear out your press or die. My 10 year average is 11,500 on a Dillon 650 and I haven't notices any changes to the press. The majority of my sizing and depriming is with 3 dies/calibers.

If you are worried about damaging your expensive dies, you can drop in a cheap Lee deprimer if you are depriming before cleaning.

If you are looking to deprime low volume rifle, I prefer the Harvey tool.

I have never used a deprime and lube all in 1 die, but some people dont worry about dirty primer pockets (especially pistol), so they tumble before depriming.

 

[Tinybob]

I like the Lee Universal De-capping Die and a single stage press. I use the Lee hand press (looks like a big nut cracker) and De-capping Die to de-cap before wet tumbling with pins or ultrasonic cleaning. The set-up works great and it's portable!

Lee also makes a hand tool set in .22 or .30 caliber. That's a little stand the case sits in and a punch. Takes more than one wack of the hammer to get crimped primers out, but it works for low volume.

 

[Ej3]

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good depriming tool?

I use a Frankford Arsenal hand deprimer tool. It works well for me. I have only deprimed maybe 2000 so far without any issues. So I cannot say what the long term reliability will be.

 

[JO JO]

I have been happy with frankford arsenal hand deprimer works great for me,then I stainless tumble my brass I like that my press stays clean no spent primers or primer dust/crud build up

 

[Hokie_PhD]

I also deprime with a Lee Hand press like Tinybob.

In my case I clean the brass in a wash, let them dry, then deprime then do a really good clean. I swage and trim if need then prime on a hand primer.

The nice thing with hand depriming and primingbis I can do that relaxing anytime and almost any place.

 

[entropy]

You could use the depriming setup from a Lee Loader Kit. Basically a small punch and a small cup with the center drilled out. For that matter, it'd be easy to make something like that, or use sockets and a small puinch in an emergency. But as Wyatt says, you'll probably never wear your press out using it for depriming. My RCBS Jr. is over 40 years old, still going strong.

 

[hdwhit]

I use a Lee Universal Decapping die. No stress on the press at all.

My 1979-vintage RCBS Reloader Special has probably 10,000 rounds on it and has significant wear to all the the pins on the linkage, but I form 5.7mm Johnson brass from 30 Carbine cases on this press so it has seen heavy duty imposed on what the maker intended to be a light duty press.

I bought a 1978-vintage Reloader Special off eBay last year to have at the farm. It sold cheap because it was cosmetically a disaster. It looked like someone had used it as a boat anchor. Well, anyway, it cleaned up really nice and its actually tighter than my original press - apparently nobody formed a few thousand cases on it - so I'll be transitioning to it when I retire.

I toyed with the idea of getting a Lee hand press to decap anywhere, but I realized that I would probably end up some summer day deciding to do it indoors and I didn't think the wife would appreciate the lead dust in the house, so I use my Universal Decapping die outside in the garage where it belongs.

 

[cfullgraf]

I use a decapping die and a single stage press when I want to decap cases and not perform any other operations.

A single stage press is handy to have around to do specialized tasks such as decapping, primer pocket swaging, case forming, some case trimming, bullet pulling and other tasks.

 

[22250Rem]

I use a decapping die and a single stage press when I want to decap cases and not perform any other operations.

Me too...... I just screw the Lee Universal Decapping die into the small, inexpensive, Lee single stage press that I have for operations like that.

 

[Larryswn]

I use a Frankford Arsenal hand deprimer tool. It works well for me. I have only deprimed maybe 2000 so far without any issues. So I cannot say what the long term reliability will be.

Can it be done quickly? How long would you say for 1,500 cases?

 

[Ej3]

Can it be done quickly? How long would you say for 1,500 cases?

If I am focused, I can do about 10 per minute. But if you do it while watching TV, it will slow you down. About every 20-30 I empty the catch container.

 

[Demi-human]

I use a Lee hand press specifically for decapping. It catches about thirty primers, depending on size. It is the only operation I do sitting. It also lets me work different muscles than the bench mounted press. I like that my press does not get hard carbon residue down the ram. Completely worth the thirty six dollars.

 

[Larryswn]

If I am focused, I can do about 10 per minute. But if you do it while watching TV, it will slow you down. About every 20-30 I empty the catch container.

Hmmmmm......sounds the the progressive would be much faster. Maybe I'll just do it that way. After all, that is why I bought it. High volume. Just seems like a lot of wear and tear just to perform a simple operation but everyone keeps saying don't worry about it and just use the press.........Thanks for the info