So apparently I suck at reloading already. Problems decapping military crimped brass

[amlevin]

A simple tool like this works wonders on those military primers. For $6, a block of wood, and a hammer, the primers are knocked out with ease.http://leeprecision.com/xcart/Decapper-and-Base-30-Caliber.html

Then make sure you use some "REAL" case lube like Imperial or Unique. Otherwise you'll get lots of practice in removing stuck cases.

 

[rfwobbly]

So apparently I suck at reloading already. Problems decapping military crimped brass.

No, just the standard start-up woes. Hang in there. There's a bunch of products out there, you simply have to find what combination works for you, and sometimes it's painful.

 

[mrbro]

I hadn't seen it mentioned, but I understand that if you put the die in the deep freeze over night you'll be able to remove the case in the morning.

I've been using the RCBS spray lube on cases and the Midway/Frankford mica for the necks for a few years now and have no problems, well, except applying too much lube on occasion and putting a dent in the shoulder.

 

[DFWBioFuels]

Apparently I can't type a long message without the forum logging me out and losing the content. NICE...

Anyway. So you're having issues with military crimp on rifle brass. Welcome to the club.

With mixed brass, you should consider adding several steps to your case preparation before moving on to your reloading press.

Military crimps will likely be in the mix if you're recovering unknown brass. For me, I've got a cheap single stage press with an RCBS decapper die in it. This gives me the ability to individually decap each piece of brass. The feedback from the pressure the brass needs to decap will tell me if its crimped or not. Crimped brass gets set aside for swaging and other work prior to being ready for reloading. Non crimped brass goes in the "ready" bucket.

As others have stated, case lubing is crucial to rifle reloading. I use hornady Unique case lube and hand coat each case from base to mouth with a thin coating of lube. This will keep you from playing the stuck case blues. Lube them up and stack them in loading block to keep them clean of grit and lint.

Since you've stuck a case, I think I'd recommend you replace the resizing die for a new one. It's possible that you've damaged the die.

 

[1KPerDay]

DFW these are not .223. They're Military M2 .30 cal (.30-06). I've since knocked out 50 of the primers, including triple-staked HXP and ring-crimped LC and TW brass, using an old tool similar to the lee one recommended. The HXP ones seem to come out quite easily and I imagine they'd be okay on the turret.

And it irons out the crimp too... haven't tried priming any (because I can't size) but we'll see how well that worked. Bonus is the shaft is the size of the neck to it irons out the dings in the neck that some of my garands leave there.




Thanks for all the great advice. I have an RCBS stuck case remover (figure I'll need it again eventually), Heavy duty decapping die, and imperial sizing wax on the way from Midway. I have an old Bair single stage c-shaped press that I haven't used... I don't know if it will have the leverage required (simple handle/ram connection without any funky linkage) but we'll see.

 

[flashhole]

That's an interesting tool you have, you're on the right track. Good luck getting the brass out of your die.

If you go this route, the RCBS primer pocket swaging tool that works with your press works really well for removing the crimp in the pocket and you can generally pick them up on evilBay pretty cheap. You can do both large and small primers with the same complete tool set and they are dirt simple to use. A bit of Imperial on the sizing button goes a long way. Other tools like the Forster and Dillon cost a lot more but are dedicated tools that do not require a press to use them.

I like the HXP "Greek" headstamp brass. I reform a lot of it from 30-06 to 25-06. Same with LC headstamp 30-06 brass. Both are good.

I'm a brass rat and pick up any rifle brass I see at the range. I keep it cleaned and sorted and when I get enough of one headstamp to put into service I process it in batches. Over time you will find yourself doing the same thing.

 

[m33p0n3]

For what it's worth, I had a lot of problems with some .223 brass with TW 73 head stamp. It even pulled the decapping pin out of my Lee die, before I figured out that it has a much smaller than normal flash hole.

 

[sniper5]

If you have that easton tool and it works for you that seems to be the solution. See how they reprime for you and if it works then you are good to go. BTW, military primers are a BEAR for everyone who reloads. They slow down the operation and break tools no matter which way you go. So don't feel bad that they gave you a rough start. And you've already learned a lot. When I started out with my recent setup I bought 700 once fired Lake City 7.62 NATO casings and used the Lee hand tool to bust out the primers (pull out of one bucket, BAM-BAM, then toss in the other bucket), then another round of uniforming (pull out of one bucket, uniformer in a cordless drill-spin, toss in the other bucket) before I even started REAL case prepping. PITA. Something I learned about Lake City brass tho- Match brass isn't crimped and doesn't cost THAT much mored. One thing about reloading, you are never done learning.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

If the primer is in that tight maybe you could dial back the sizing part of the die and push the case out of the die with the priming pin. Just a thought. By the way,I had to stock up on pins myself when I started out reloading about a year ago. Good idea and not too pricey for a pack of 5.

 

[tabealer]

I use the Lee manual decappers as well. Only broke 1 so far. Reminds me of when I was a little kid decapping for my dad.

 

[RidgwayCO]

Use a Lee Universal Depriming Die to deprime your cases first (no need for lube), swage out their primer pocket crimps with a Dillion Super Swage 600 (only needs to be done once for each case), clean and polish them with whatever method you choose, then resize them with Imperial Sizing Die Wax. There... problem solved.

PS - It's a lot easier to deprime a military crimped primer if you're not also resizing the case at the same time.

 

[snuffy]

machine gun brass. ring crimp. needs a single stage press with standard dies to do it right. will damage your turret press if you do lots of it. throw it away or buy a cheap C-press or O-press at the next yard sale/gunshow you go to and use RCBS/Redding etc dies that can handle the stress of first go round. then be sure to ream primer pockets after first de-capping.

your lee turret press dies use a decapper/expander that is friction fit to collapse if excess pressure. this to protect your aluminum turret fitting from being damaged. you can tighten the fricton fit with a wrench. loosen nut on top, slide rod down flush with top of nut, and tighten nut with wrench.

i decap the occasional crimped in 9mm range brass with same press you have, but thats a different animal and circumstance.

this is why i do not recommend a progressive or turret as first press for anyone. should start with a RS2 or a rockchucker. i have 5 presses on the bench, including 1 just like yours, but use it for hi production handgun ammo only.

I've never seen such a bunch of nonsense before this one!

The lee turret press is every bit as strong as your beloved rockchucker. They have compound leverage, the same as the RC. The turrets may be aluminum, but since when is aluminum weak? You'd better not fly anywhere, those aluminum planes are gonna fall apart.

I'm tired of people bashing lee. Richard Lee has the most ingenious designs. Other companies copy his ideas, look at the auto prime. Who else has a factory crimp die? Or the collet neck die? If it weren't for lee, we would be paying a lot more for our presses and dies. Lee has allowed many people to get into loading their own who wouldn't pay the much higher price of RCBS, Redding or forster.

Everybody is saying to get a lee decapper. They work the same way as the FL die, the decapper stem is held in the same collet on top. This is made to slip instead of bending the stem or breaking the pin. It HAS to be real tight to work, Pliers won't do the job! Get a good box end ½ inch, and an open end ¾ inch wrench, Then tighten with as much force as you can muster. If after doing that , the primers don't budge, then you're not going to do any better with any other decapper die.

 

[GP100man]

I only have RCBS`s lubeII on my bench, it works & I can wash it off with a couple of baths of warm water !!!the only time I stuck a case is when I switched to summtin easier to clean off !!!

+1 for snuffy`s comments on lee products !! I started with the whack-a-mole loader & graduated to a lee challenger set up & eventually to what I have now !! not neccasarily better , just different .

For ya case removal just D&T it for a 1/4" bolt , use 1 with threads to the head & a flat washer.

Get a 1/4 drive socket the size to go over the case head , place the socket over the case & thread ya 1/4" bolt with washer into it , titen it down good (I use hi pressure grease on the threads) if it feels as if it`s gonna strip out just leave the bolt in tite & place it in the freezer for a bit it may "pop" out when cold !!

I`ll agree that milsurp brass is kinda aggrevating to get ready but it`s as tuff as it comes !! & I have some that I quite counting reloads on ,I just anneal when needed& watch for the primer hole to burn bigger !!!

Good Luck!!!! we`ve all started somewhere & been there !!!!!

 

[DFWBioFuels]

1K,

Thanks for pointing out what I didn't notice in the original post about the caliber of the brass.

I can't imagine that you'll need a TON of leverage to decap your brass even with serious crimps in place so the single stage press you mentioned should work fine.

Others have mentioned that prelubing isn't required in a specialized decapping die. This is true.

I too am a brass rat and pick up everything I can get my hands on. So I've learned the hard way and adapted my processes.

I'm using a Dillon550B. So now that I've prepped all my cases by decapping and swaging (as necessary), the progressive runs much smoother with less variation in each press stroke. The benefit I've experienced is that I have a nearly event free loading session every time I belly up to reload my mixed brass rounds.

 

[1KPerDay]

I made a quick vid demonstrating the use of the manual decapping/military crimp removing tool I have... here you go. Works a treat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9HetgTK3cs

FYI I tried putting the stuck die in the freezer... no dice. That thing may as well be welded in there. I'll be surprised if even the rcbs tool can get it out.

 

[flashhole]

The freezer method may require several thermal cycles. Freeze it overnight, dump it in boiling water for several minutes, freeze it, dump it in boiling water.... It will eventually break free.

 

[flashhole]

Nice tool, that's a keeper. Thanks for the video.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

Excellent video.

I believe the "SL" stands for Salt Lake (City). Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Ian Sean]

When depriming military brass the first time, use a dedicated decapping-only die. Lee and RCBS make them.

+1 on this, I prefer the Lee, the pin is very strong and have yet to break one.

I had similar problems myself with KA (Korean) surplus .30-06. They were a real pain to process.

I stopped using spray lubes on larger cases myself, unique or imperial makes for smooth press operation and does the trick on longer cases.

One thing I have made a habit of, is taking my dies apart and giving them a good cleaning every 100-200 rounds or so, really keeps the operation smooth. I also have purchased many used die sets, first step is cleaning before using them.

 

[1KPerDay]

Well I finished a couple hundred .30-06 and did some nato 7.62 today just for fun... they seemed to be less firmly crimped and I imagine they'll be a breeze once I get my universal decapping die. I also sized/deprimed a couple dozen .40 S&W just to make sure my press works. It does!

 

[sniper5]

Nice video. Now you know why we reloaders moan and groan about crimps. Lots of energy has to get devoted to getting the primers out and pockets uniformed. Once that's done it's all good. The key is to getting that primer pocket properly uniformed. Without that extra step the casings are a bear every time they are reloaded.

 

[1KPerDay]

Well the RCBS stuck case remover came today and it worked... I had to crank so hard on the allen key I was sure it was going to strip the threads but it eventually busted loose. Then I had to finagle a spacer to get enough distance to yank the neck past the decapping pin/internal expanding ball thing. But It's out.

I think I destroyed the pin in the process but that was to be expected.

 

[1KPerDay]

Well folks, these ring-crimped brass are a royal PITA.





I even tried reaming out the pockets with a chamfer tool... still having trouble. Do you think a primer pocket swager would sort it or are these beyond help? The entrance to the pocket is certainly relieved but there seems to be a lip or something that's still causing trouble.


The HXP is working great so far.

 

[flashhole]

A primer pocket swager tool will definately help and greatly simplify the task. The RCBS tool works really well. Others will make similar statements about Dillon and Forster tools.

 

[DFWBioFuels]

1KPerDay,

I agree with flashhole. A swaging tool is a "must have" if you're going to be working with mixed range brass.

But using a swaging tool isn't a one-size-fits-all solution in my limited experience. Usually they get metal out of the way by pushing it but they don't remove brass from the pocket.

I've got rifle brass that does the same stuff to me. But what I've noticed is that when I look at the problem brass, it all has the same headstamp. So some brass will respond well to a run through the swager. Some require a run through the swager plus a turn with a chamfer tool at the mouth of the pocket. With some brass, the primer pocket is just enough off center in the brass that my primers get snagged no matter what I do.