Mil Brass

[Chiller]

Need a bit of hand holding here.

Was doing some brass prep last night and started into some 5.56 LC. I am using a Lee Universal deprimer and every time I would raise the ram I was not popping the primer and was raising the pin. I tightened everything back up and it still was doing it. What is the trick to depriming mil brass?

I do know about the crimp and will swage the pocket once done. Just a new one to me

Help?

 

[Austan]

Re: Mil Brass

When I get into a batch of stubborn mil crimps, I take the depriming rod out and place the brass over a small hole I drilled into my bench. Place the rod into the brass, a firm tap or two with a hammer will remove them. If you dont want to have a hole drilled in your bench, you could remove the shell holder and try using that instead.

 

[J.Boyette]

Re: Mil Brass

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=297408

Done

John

 

[Chiller]

Re: Mil Brass

much appreciated.

 

[Jason280]

Re: Mil Brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I tightened everything back up and it still was doing it</div></div>

I ran into this same problem with a Lee die, and simply couldn't get the decapping assembly tight enough. Turns out the clamping nut and stripped a few of the threads, and wouldn't tighten down far enough to hold the assembly.

 

[jet_lagged]

Re: Mil Brass

Had problems with the same Lee universal die on some mil-surp .223/5.56

You REALLY need to torque the heck out of the nut on the top of the die to get enough friction on the rod to keep it from "stripping" out.

Wrench with an 18" handle did the trick, and no problems in de-priming many round since.

 

[CSI]

Re: Mil Brass

I use the Lee Hand Press with the universal deprimer. The trick is to bring the primer punch into contact with the spent primer and smack the ram up sharply. Going slow and smooth will just slide the punch up.
I don't know if you can run your press this way and it is a little hard on the hands but it has worked well through thousands of rounds with no damage to the pin.

 

[Clark]

Re: Mil Brass

I use the Lee decapping die a lot.

As stated above some potential problems are:
1) Stem is too high in the die. [fix it with 2 wrenches]
2) Stem is slipping [fix it with 2 wrenches]
3) The primers have been crimped. [Should come out anyway. The problem is getting the next primer in may require a swaging tool.]
4) The decapping pin may be missing the flash hole and bottoming out on the case web. [May have to wiggle the case around a little to get the pin to go in. Something in the press, shell holder, de capping, etc system is not square and concentric.]
5) The die is not screwed far enough into the press and the decapping pin does not reach the primer [ Screw the die in further]
6) The decapping die is screwed too far into the press and decapping takes too much force on the press handle. [Screw the die out further]
7) The decapping pin is too small a diameter for the flash hole. [This is trouble.]

I have found that some military .223 brass has a flash hole that is too small for almost any decapping pin.
One can modify a pin for this, or just throw that brass away.
It is a nasty process when the decapping pin gets stuck in there.
The best way to measure flash holes is with pin gauges.

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/cart.cgi?1283433072.4879=90783
One can get another de capping stem, put it in a drill, spin it, and squeeze the pin between two fingers with sandpaper until the pin is small enough for the troublesome flash holes.
Or one can notice what the offending brand of brass is, sort the brass and toss the small flash hole brass.