Anyone else have trouble with LC69 primer pockets?

[jmoore]

Has anyone got a "review" of the Lee dies with the decapping pin assembly retained in the die body by friction, not a thread?

I've been using a Lee depriming die for a while now on an old, generally worn Hornady/Pacific O7 press. It often hits the web of stouter cases but has yet to shift or bend. I quit cycling the handle after hitting the web, but some cases are just the right thickness that the toggle will still "knuckle over" so the pin has survived numerous maximum leverage events. An especially useful dedicated system now that cases go through an ultrasonic cleaner rather than the old dry media mess.

As for the LC '69 cases, have been using the Dillon swager on 'em since day dot. No dramas. Did bend a .22 calber support rod once, though. My fault as it was grossly maladjusted.

[Aussie48]

Hi Bruce,

I use LEE dies exclusively for my reloading the Universal Decapper is the one you want as it is a friction job same as the Full Length resizing Die. Once de-primed and cleaned I then use the standard LEE Neck Collet Die for the calibre I am doing at the time. A great piece of kit and inexpensive although some reloading snobs look down their nose at them.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Hmmmm, maybe I was getting impatient: I tend to process once-fired, "Ex-Mil" cases in bulk lots, i.e. a five-gallon bucket at a time, about once a year or so.

---------- Post added at 07:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:28 AM ----------

Nothing wrong with Lee dies: About a third of my die-sets are Lee. Good value for money, especially the "exotica" like carbide pistol dies and "oddballs" like 7.5 Swiss.

[browningautorifle]

some reloading snobs look down their nose at them

Well, let's see...A dealer here that stocked Lee product talked them up for years. "They're just as good as anything else". Then he broke a de-capping pin. He couldn't get a replacement part...at all...now he doesn't say that any more...

I've had my share of Lee dies too. I think you may be wasting your time with small base dies though. I've never in my life used them and I've loaded military brass and stuff that's gone through MGs with no problem, used it in sporters and target guns... Certainly you don't need to add steps to your process.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

When I get a couple of new "centre" pins, I will try that technique.

Might also machine up a "30" cal sized pin from something a bit more robust than the originals.

[MZ5]

Thanks for the reply, Bruce_in_Oz. I have the press-mounted RCBS, too. I'll make sure I'm using the multi-stroke procedure another poster mentioned.

FWIW, I have lots of Lee dies, too. Their decappers work well, except that I've had one or two sets over time where the friction was insufficient to hold the pin, and I couldn't deprime certain brass. For my M1, I use a Forster FL sizer. For most of my reloading, I only neck size with a Collet die most of the time.

[Merle]

I've had good luck using a Lyman pocket reamer to cut away excess brass. That has worked better than swaging for me.

[TDH]

Has anyone got a "review" of the Lee dies with the decapping pin assembly retained in the die body by friction, not a thread? One issue is that I use RCBS Small Base dies to size /deprime 5.56 and 7.62 cases. Maybe I need to add another step before whacking them through these dies.

Yes and especially for the 5.56x45. when you hit a berdan primed case it pushes the decap rod up without bending or breaking the pin. And on the rare occasion you stick a case you can use the decapping rod to beat the case of the die. The rod will still be inside but since the cse is trash anyway I use a Dremel with a cut off wheel to cut the base off and get the rod out. The top of the decap rod will probably be flattened out but a file or sanding disc on the Dremel will take care of the burr. Oh and it is possible to change the decap pin but it takes some work.

---------- Post added at 01:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 PM ----------

another note on removing the crimp since you most probably already have one your deburring tool works just fine. A couple turns around the primer pocket and you should be in business and it's a lot cheaper too.

---------- Post added at 01:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 PM ----------

FWIW, I have lots of Lee dies, too. Their decappers work well, except that I've had one or two sets over time where the friction was insufficient to hold the pin, and I couldn't deprime certain brass. For my M1, I use a Forster FL sizer. For most of my reloading, I only neck size with a Collet die most of the time.

if your pin gets that use make sure the hole is a little superglue or epoxy will probably hold it. As it is I have to replace the pin in my decapping die.

[MZ5]

Thought I'd follow up to say that I went over to Dillon a while back and bought their swager. It worked. On a very few cases, the primers were still quite tight to seat, but they did seat and weren't shaved or deformed at all.

Ammo's all loaded for Saturday's C&R match now. :-)

[browningautorifle]

Well done...