Damned recapping rods

[Brad]

Am I the only one who bends the damned things? I dislike the RCBS as the rod becomes a little loose and the pin wanders off center. The Hornady is better but they seem to eventually have troubles too.

Is there a secret I am missing? I will say the Dillon dies have been trouble free thus far.

 

[Will]

Every single one I have ever bent has bent with RCBS dies. Specifically the cowboy dies. The good thing is so far they have always replaced them for free.

 

[smokeywolf]

Assuming you meant "decapping pins" in your thread title.

While I've not been anywhere near as active in the reloading room over the last several years as you gents, I've had little trouble with bent decapping pins. As most of my dies originated out of Hollywood Gun Shop, maybe there is a difference there. I have bent a few on crimped pockets in GI cases.

I have on one or two occasions, wondered if a piece of drill blank might survive better.

 

[Ian]

I bent an RCBS one on a rock one time. Last year, after like eleventy Zillion (or at least 50-75,000) I broke my Lee universal decapping die pin on of all things a Berdan-primed .308 case. Made me madder than a wet hen and I promptly bought two spares from Midway.

Several things I dislike about RCBS dies, mainly their nitride-coated stuff has such a hard finish that it won't stay tight unless wrenched, and then it seems like ten times as much force is required to break it loose again which means Bubba and his Vise Grips ruin the knurling.

I have a piece of rosined leather and a small pair of Vise Grips that ger used for unscrewing S&W cylinder pins...and tightening RCBS expander balls. Good thing is if you do break a pin, you can rob one from any other die set until you can get to Cabelas and buy more along with a 25-20 Marlin.

 

[Brad]

I meant the rod, usually right where the diameter changes above the pin retainer.
Pins are not as bad as they are easy to replace and cheap.

 

[Ian]

Never bent a rod myself but seen it once on a die set a fine gent sent me for free back in 2011 or so when a .223 die set couldn't be found anywhere. Warmed it a little with a propane torch and carefully bent it back, still using that die today to load all my .223 ammo.

 

[fiver]

you got the rod too low if your dinging that part of it.

 

[creosote]

Ill deburr the inside flash hole if it's happening on a batch of brass too.

 

[Intheshop]

Delete

 

[Winelover]

I keep spares on hand, though I rarely need them. Can't remember the last time I broke/bent one. All my dies are RCBS, except for several Lyman "M" dies. IIRC, RCBS has two different style pins...........plain ones and ones with a flared end.

 

[Rick]

I keep spares on hand, though I rarely need them. Can't remember the last time I broke/bent one. All my dies are RCBS, except for several Lyman "M" dies. IIRC, RCBS has two different style pins...........plain ones and ones with a flared end.

I think Brad was referring to the shaft that holds the decapping pin and not the pin itself. I have never bent one of them. I think Fiver's post above nailed it.

 

[Winelover]

Just can't fathom that scenario...............if one reads the decapping die's set up instructions.

 

[L Ross]

Over the years I just got a couple of Lee Universal decappers. I have been steel pin tumbling all of my brass before putting it through a sizing die after scratching a steel die with a dirty casing. Having the primers out before tumbling gets the pockets clean at the same time. I have never bent a RCBS decapping stem, but have bent a pin or two by not keeping them tight.

 

[Ian]

The "collet'y friction style" that Lee uses (1/8" National Pipe threads) is indeed engineered to slip in the event of excessive force....such as me trying to deprime a Greek 7.62 NATO case without suspecting it wasn't boxer-primed. However, getting the clamp load right is a thing and I don't know I ever have gotten it right. I have had zero trouble with the pins getting loose over time, but it might take an extra tightening to keep it from slipping after removing to clean or when setting up a new die.

Do any of you remember the "PB Blocker" debacle? The ONLY use I found for that stuff was of all things coating the Lee decapping rods to help keep them from slipping without having to crush the collet plug into oblivion. My Universal decapper was so treated, and cranked extra-tight for decapping military crimped primers, so I defeated the break-prevention feature and it bit me. I still have my bottle of PB Blocker and did wipe a film of it on the replacement rod, though I didn't set it quite so tight this time.

 

[Brad]

It isn’t set too low. Decal rod works loose of but that holds it in place. Pin now wanders and doesn’t enter flash holes. I get a bit aggressive on press handle and bang, bent rod.
Pin is very low as I am only partial sizing the cases. That means lots of rod hanging in space looking to wander.
I may make a replacement with a section close to case mouth size to help center pin in case.

 

[CZ93X62]

IIRC, I have only bent one of the center decapping rods in an RCBS sizing die. I don't recall the ultimate cause of the tweaking, it was in a 30-06 F/L sizing die sometime during the Reagan Administration--if my wool-gathering memory is dialed in and reading the gauge correctly.

I have bent/broken a few decapping pins over the years. I have lots of RCBS small, large, and headed-T-pin replacements in stock--far more than I will likely need during this lifetime.

 

[fiver]

ahh the jam nut is coming loose and letting the rod float around.
I bought some older dies back in the 80's and every one of them had plier marks on that nut.
I figured that little open spot on die sets was for the channel locks and have cranked that nut down like I was trying to break it ever since.

 

[462]

A lock washer?
A wee dab of blue Loctite?

 

[Intheshop]

I've made large diameter,round "jam nuts" for seater stems. They're larger than the die body O.D. It works very well for a list of reasons.

 

[Ian]

I've made large diameter,round "jam nuts" for seater stems. They're larger than the die body O.D. It works very well for a list of reasons.

Excellent idea!