Need tool recomendation

[Tn Jim]

What is the best (and cheapest) tool for depriming military brass? I'm not talking about removing the crimp. I've got a RCBS pocket swager for that. I need something that will push out the crimped in primer without breaking the decapping pin. Will a universal decapping die work or do I need the Lee tool that requires using a hammer? Or are there other tools I haven't ran across yet? Thanks for your time.

[beemanbeme]

Don't know what kind of milsup you're depriming but I've always found the depriming pin in a RCBS resizing die to be stout enough to do the job.  Also, you can buy a packet of replacement pins for little or nothing incase of an occasional failure. 

[Tn Jim]

Sorry, it's for 223/5.56.

[Castaway]

I also have never had an issue depriming military brass but it's been limited to 45 ACP, 9mm and 30-06.  The only problem I've ever had you have solved already with the RCBS swaging tool.

[Don Fischer]

Beemanbeme!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nuff said.

[gutshot_again]

I've had a couple problems using standard reloading dies to deprime military brass.  I've broken a few pins (not a big deal), but some times the spent primer won't drop free and hang up in the pocket.  Now that is a hassle.

What I do is take a stout nail and grind enough off the point so it fits in the flash hole.  Then place the case in the normal shell holder, place it on a piece of soft scrap wood and tap the primer out with a rubber mallet.  The Lee units work very well, and I've since obtained a set, but if you want the cases now and the nearest store is 50 miles, this will work.

[Chuck White]

Years ago (1975 I think) when I was in the process of depriming 2500-some-odd M-16 brass, I bent/broke a few decapping pins in my RCBS resizing die!

To remedy this situation, I removed the decapping pin, then took a drill bit the same size as the large decapping pins and drilled a hole through the pin hole in the expander ball and into the bottom of the decapping stem!  From that point on I use a large decapping pin!  The pin I installed then is the one that's still in the die! This pin has probably punched out somewhere around 5000 primers!

[Don Fischer]

I've had a couple problems using standard reloading dies to deprime military brass.  I've broken a few pins (not a big deal), but some times the spent primer won't drop free and hang up in the pocket.  Now that is a hassle.

What I do is take a stout nail and grind enough off the point so it fits in the flash hole.  Then place the case in the normal shell holder, place it on a piece of soft scrap wood and tap the primer out with a rubber mallet.  The Lee units work very well, and I've since obtained a set, but if you want the cases now and the nearest store is 50 miles, this will work.

I have that happen from time to time. What I do is just run the case back up and down. Usually the pin puncture's the old primer and the strength of the crimp keeps it from coming out. Either that or you need to set your decapping pin a bit lower. It may be that it's at a place where it will remove most primers but not all. I've had that happen too.

[quickdtoo]

What is the best (and cheapest) tool for depriming military brass? I'm not talking about removing the crimp. I've got a RCBS pocket swager for that. I need something that will push out the crimped in primer without breaking the decapping pin. Will a universal decapping die work or do I need the Lee tool that requires using a hammer? Or are there other tools I haven't ran across yet? Thanks for your time.

Try the Lee Universal decapper.

Tim

An absolute must for those who clean cases before reloading. Cases need not be clean nor lubed when using this die. Tough, almost unbreakable decapper easily removes crimped in primers. One size fits all.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2006/tworeloadingtools/index.asp

http://leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1165969532.5952=/html/catalog/casecon.html

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0000690292

[PlacitasSlim]

I have used the RCBS regular sizing die and universal decapping dies with no problems. Only done about 10,000 cases though. I also have one of the Lee's and use in on very small quantities.

[John R.]

Dillon makes an excellant tool for depriming military brass.

[skb2706]

Cheapest

Harbor Freight
1/16" pin punch
3- 3/8 " SAE flat washers

any kind of hammer you got laying around

doesn't get any cheaper than that

Never had any trouble with RCBS dies punching out military brass primers.