decapping pin off center?

[anweis]

I have a RCBS  FL die for 6mm Rem, which i cleaned yesterday. Well, the decapping pin, expander ball, and central stem are visibly off center. If i screw the stem out and then replace it, i get various degrees of it being off center, but it is always off center.

The die decaps just fine, but does it deform the case one way or the other? Does this matter? Please advise. Thanks.   

[helotaxi]

Is it rigidly in place off-center or a bit loose but off-center?  If it's rigid, the thing is bent and I'd be slightly concerned if I was trying to wring every bit of accuracy possible out of my loads.  If all I was looking for was minute of animal, the tiny difference that adding a thou or two runout might make wouldn't be worth raising my blood pressure over.  If the expander ball is "floating" and off center I wouldn't be too concerned, retracting the ram and pulling the ball back through the neck will recenter the ball.  If you're really worried about it, get a different style of die like a collet style neck-sizer and resize/straighten the necks after the full length resize/decap.

[gray-wolf]

If you care enough that you noticed it bent,
and you want good ammo ( good being what you expect )
 Then bent is bent. How can a tool that is made to work correctly ( unbent ) still work correctly
If it shows to be out of round? We all have our own standards.
  Some decapping/expanders are made to float, IE, they do not sit rigid in the die, some use a small
rubber O ring or rubber washer under the lock nut, (HINT) to help the rod float, or self center
When it exits the case.
  Call RCBS and they will replace the unit if it is bent.
I must ask--How was it before you took it apart to clean it? How were the rounds shooting?
 Cleaning a unit like that does not normally bend them.

GW.

[anweis]

This die does not seem to have a floating stem - i can't see any o-ring. I can't really tell if the stem is bent, i can't see it, but it really is off-center. I will call RCBS. Now, it was not the cleaning that pushed this off center, but may have been an instance when a decapping pin broke.

[DANNY-L]

pull the stem and roll on a hard flat surface to see if you notice any wobble,if there is then it is bent. If you need a new one call rcbs they will replace it, no charge.

[sixshot]

  You might try loosening the stem assembly, then running the decapping pin down through the flash hole in the case to center it & then tightening everything back down, usually works.
  The O ring is an add on, you buy one at the hardware store & as mentioned, place it between the die & the top of your press, this helps a lot.

Dick

[necchi]

The O ring is an add on, you buy one at the hardware store & as mentioned, place it between the die & the top of your press, this helps a lot.

Just curious, but how's that sposta' help?
 I realize the Lee dies lock ring has an 0-ring, but I thought that was just to "lock" it in place, My RCBS have a set screw in the lock and I snug them both up to the top of the press.
 How would a rubber/flexing of any amount help when I'm useing the die to not only de-cap, but resize to a specific shoulder bump?

I think in this case the pin is/was bent and that issue needs to be addressed, but I'm still curious about the "flexing" needed some guy's mention when securing the die.?

[Catfish]

If the rod is bent you may be able to straighten it. I have been able to do this in the past. I have also broke several of them tring to straighten them. Make sure it is bent before you try to straighten it, if it is you have nothing to loose. Alwas make sure that the depriming pin is tight. It`s when they get loose that they get bent. The voice of experance.

[gray-wolf]

Let me clear up what I said,  I am not talking about an O ring or rubber washer under the die body lock ring.
  Expander balls on the decapping rod have been known to twist a case neck off center when it is drawn back out of the die.  We are trying to keep our case necks straight-- concentric, correct ?
 There should be a small nut on top of the decapping rod. This is the nut that locks the decapping rod in the position you have chosen in the die.  What is being said here is to put the small O ring over the decapping rod and then put the lock nut in place and snug it down.  This will allow the decapping pin, expander ball, and rod to have a little movement, it happens because the O ring will not let you make the assembly ridgid.  SOOOOO when the expander ball is pulled back through the case it can find it's own center. It helps in not pulling case necks out of round.
  Bushing dies help to eliminate this from happening because they use NO expander button.
But that is another whole topic and the jury is still out on this one.
 Some say it does and some say not, while others love Colet dies.
A case that has been fired from your rifle should have a straight neck ( concentric) Why ?
because your rifles chamber witch the neck is a part of, should have been made straight at the factory.
( we hope it has) Most rifles will show a straight neck if the concentricity is checked after fire-ing.
  Thats when we can start to check each step of the loading proses to see if and at what point we may be degrading the case neck concentrisity.
  Sorry for the drift, but why shouldn't you know Eh.

GW.

[LaOtto222]

+1 on gray-wolf. I have done the same thing by just loosing the lock nut just a little, so the expanding ball floats - but I like the idea of an O-ring. I got very accurate loads with a 222 Remington by partially (unscrewing the full length sizing die 2 full turns) full length sizing and floating the expander ball.

To expand on the bushing dies - I like them, but I think the collet dies work very well and much cheaper. I usually get a collet die, unless Lee does not make one. I custom ordered a 221 FB and they sent back the money saying, they could not make one. I ended up getting a Redding bushing die for it. One advantage the bushing die has, is the amount of neck tension you want. The neck thickness is important so the neck tension is the same from case to case. I usually turn necks when I am using bushing neck sizing dies. Just another side note - I think bullet run out happens more in the sizing of the neck than any other reason.

[necchi]

Hhmmm, interesting, good point, I'll haveta look at that, Thanks.

I actually de-cap with Lees Universal, there inexpensive, and it kinda seemed to me there is/was alot of stuff going on with that resize process,, and some cases kinda get shifted around in there whilst de-capping, kind of a "kathunk" sound and funny feel to the press handle, I thought it best not abuse a good the sizing die like that,,
 I'm still learning finese', I'm bound to screw up at least some cases in the learning process.

[LaOtto222]

I also use a Lee universal de-capping die. I have it set in a cheap Lee press for just this purpose. I also use the press for pulling bullets with a bullet pulling collet die. I have collets for the different sized bullets I reload for. That is all I use the press for. I usually remove the decapping pin from the sizing die and use my RCBS Rock Chucker for sizing and bullet seating duties.

[anweis]

I talked to RCBS and explained. They believe that the rod is bent. They will send a replacement.

I looked at my notes and targets: before the accident (i broke the decapping pin and probably bent the rod) my favorite load was shooting 0.3" groups. After resizing with the bent rod, the same load shoots 2". So, it does seem to make a difference.

[LaOtto222]

Thanks for the update - If your rod is bent, that is more than likely causing your troubles. it does not take a whole lot to pull your necks off center.

[anweis]

Thanks for the update - If your rod is bent, that is more than likely causing your troubles. it does not take a whole lot to pull your necks off center.

Yes, and i have exactly 93 cases that were resized with the bent rod. I probably will just use them as is until they are fired, this is a hunting rifle and 2" grouping is good enough for woods hunting.