First, I bought 2 decapping dies from RCBS. One was stated to be for .22 to .25 caliber and the other for .27 to .45 caliber. So, I was using the .27 to .45 for the very first time to decap 9mm Luger cases and on the first case the pull hit hard. I stopped and didn't force it, but I heard a pop. Took the die out and the pin kind of wiggles back and forth and moves up and down. Went to the closest sporting goods store to buy replacement pins and there were three types for RCBS. Having not brought the die along, and not knowing which were the right ones, I bought all three so I couldn't go wrong. Got home and tried to remove the pin on the die - holy hell, how hard do I have to clamp and torque it to get it undone? Not wanting to eff it up further, I thought I'd just try using the .22 to .25 die. It worked fine.
So questions:
1. It seems the .22 to .25 die would work just fine on all cases. Why would I need one for .27 to .45?
2. I didn't notice the pin moving before I started on the .27 to .45, but maybe it did. Is it supposed to move or did I break it?
3. I noticed the pin on the .27 to .45 is not concentric in the die. Maybe that is why it hit hard?
4. How in holy hell do you remove a decapping pin? I used a couple pieces of leather and squished the mandrel in a vise and squished some more leather around the mandrel with a vise grip and started torquing but stopped when I thought I might make things worse. Righty tighty, lefty loosey - correct?
So questions:
1. It seems the .22 to .25 die would work just fine on all cases. Why would I need one for .27 to .45?
2. I didn't notice the pin moving before I started on the .27 to .45, but maybe it did. Is it supposed to move or did I break it?
3. I noticed the pin on the .27 to .45 is not concentric in the die. Maybe that is why it hit hard?
4. How in holy hell do you remove a decapping pin? I used a couple pieces of leather and squished the mandrel in a vise and squished some more leather around the mandrel with a vise grip and started torquing but stopped when I thought I might make things worse. Righty tighty, lefty loosey - correct?