New to reloading, gifted 1000 pre-primed cartridges - looking for sage advice

[DizzyJ]

@DizzyJ

On the RCBS presses there is a large snap ring or m-clip holding the ram through pin in place. Pull that clip and push out the through pin, rotate the ram 180 degrees and then reinsert the pin and clip. It takes about as long to type this as to do the change.

The catcher portion straddles the press rear support and is held in place by a lightly snugged screw. That's it.

I actually use a small bar clamp to hold the catcher in place since the RCBS Case Kicker I have installed makes getting to the catcher screw a bit difficult and I store these clamps right on the end of the workbench within a few inches of the press. It's easier for me to grab the clamp than to fish a screwdriver from my roll away.

I do remove the catcher when not depriming. I wear XXL sized gloves, so my large hands brush against it when I'm trying to do other operations quickly and I prefer to have the extra room. It's not imperative however, so it sometimes stays in place if I'm going to use it again in the near future. It really only takes about 10 seconds to remove or reinstall.

The thing I like about this solution is that it catches darn near every primer, well above 99%. Instead of using the 2-foot long discharge tube provided I grabbed a 4-foot section from the hardware store. This way I can set a milk jug under my bench and back from the front so I don't kick it with my feet when moving around the bench. The jug sits there nice and happy and out of the way.

If doing marathon deprime sessions make sure there are not a lot of primers backed up in the tube when moving the jug. I once reached under the bench to grab the jug without looking. The tube was flush against the bottom of the container so the primers had backed up to about 18 inches above the jugs mouth instead of flowing into the jug itself. When grabbing the jug the tube slipped from the mouth and all those primers dumped onto the floor in about a nanosecond . I won't be making that mistake again … and this was operator error, not the devices problem.

I wish I had found this solution years prior when all I had was a single stage press. I now have a progressive, but I still decap rifle brass separately and use the single sage with case kicker to do this step.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[Lasers]

Bringing this thread back to life with updates and new question.

I went ahead and tumbled all 1k rounds without issue. I took 20 of them out and hand chambered them in my rifle, all 20 primers went off first strike.

So I started building a rolling reload bench in the garage, mounted my rock chucker and was set to start Dr-priming and sizing the other 223 brass I have.

Here's my current dilemma, every video I see, the casing goes all the way into the sizing die, but mine will not. I even tried a couple factory rounds, which had the same result.

I'm sure I'm missing something obvious or doing something clearly wrong, but I just can't put my finger on it.

Thanks for any help

 

[DizzyJ]

Bringing this thread back to life with updates and new question.

I went ahead and tumbled all 1k rounds without issue. I took 20 of them out and hand chambered them in my rifle, all 20 primers went off first strike.

So I started building a rolling reload bench in the garage, mounted my rock chucker and was set to start Dr-priming and sizing the other 223 brass I have.

Here's my current dilemma, every video I see, the casing goes all the way into the sizing die, but mine will not. I even tried a couple factory rounds, which had the same result.

I'm sure I'm missing something obvious or doing something clearly wrong, but I just can't put my finger on it.

Thanks for any help

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I assume you're lubricating the cases?

 

[elsie]

Your dies may need adjusting. Carefully read and follow the instructions. Just based on pic 3 your mandrel is to deep.
RCBS die instructions



elsie

 

[Lasers]

I assume you're lubricating the cases?

Just the empty brass, I didn't lube the factory rounds for the photo comparison. Is my logic flawed that the factory rounds should fit?


Am I over thinking this and just need to put some torque in my arm!?

 

[DizzyJ]

Your dies may need adjusting. Carefully read and follow the instructions. Just based on pic 3 your mandrel is to deep.
RCBS die instructions



elsie

I thought he was trying to resize the primed brass without the de-capping pin installed?

 

[Lasers]

Your dies may need adjusting. Carefully read and follow the instructions. Just based on pic 3 your mandrel is to deep.
RCBS die instructions

Printing this now, thank you very much!

 

[Lasers]

I thought he was trying to resize the primed brass without the de-capping pin installed?

I'd like to do both at once, but for ease of discussion, I did remove the de-capping pin for the photos to show that it wasn't causing the restriction.

 

[DizzyJ]

Are you trying to size the brass that still has the live primer in it, or are you resizing AND decapping the live primer at the same time?

 

[DizzyJ]

If you're actually resizing the brass, you'll need to lube the case. If you're trying to save the live primers, you'll obviously need to remove the decapping pin. If you're decapping LIVE primers, WEAR SAFETY GLASSES, BE VERY CAREFUL AND GO EXTREMELY SLOW so you don't set off the primer!

As mentioned, if you've got the decapping pin set too low, the pin nut will bottom out at the base of the case head before the case can be fully resized.

 

[DizzyJ]

Sent you a PM

 

[Lasers]

To clarify:

I have those 1k rounds, cleaned and primed with good primers. Still need to measure and sort out the ones that need to be trimmed

I also have about 2k once fired brass with spent primers. Those are what I was trying to take on now, de-capping and sizing those so I can re-tumble (they were pretty dirty, so I pre-tumbled with the spent primer so they wouldn't muck up the die).

 

[DLS]

Your decapping rod assembly is down way to far! The inside bottom of the case is hitting the neck expander button.

Screw the assembly back up into the die until the decapping pin extends out the bottom about an eight of an inch or so.

If that isn't far enough out to press out the old primer screw it back out a half turn at a time until the primers are reliably removed, the set the lock ring.

Set the ring as you begin extracting a sized case. You will feel the next expander button beginning to be pulled through the neck of the case. Stop here maintaining downward pressure on the button and snug the lock ring. This will ensure the recapping rod assembly will stay centered as you snug the lock ring. Otherwise It can tip a little off center when tightening the ring.

 

[P7M13]

Happy to swing by and help you set up.
If you're interested, PM

Your decapping rod assembly is down way to far! The inside bottom of the case is hitting the neck expander button.

^^ THIS ^^

 

[jekemi]

Those are live primers, I would not tumble. You will never get all that media out of the primers. It would most likely cause some failures. I would load and shoot. Nothing wrong with tarnished brass. Then get a Frankfurt arsenal wet tumbler.

TapRackNGo's advice is good, nothing wrong with tarnished brass. If you have access to compressed air I'd blow the dust, etc. out of the cartridges; looks like there may be some debris in them. The Frankfurt tumbler is good but you can get a much cheaper one from Harbor Freight. I have been using mine for three years now and it works well. I use the stainless steel media, water, and a little LemiShine. I tumble the brass for about an hour, perhaps a bit more. The brass is bright and clean. Be sure to dry thoroughly. You can put it in a mesh bag and put the bag in the clothes dryer. Here's my process: De-prime, resize, trim if needed, clean in wet tumbler, dry, re-prime all before going to my Lee Classic Turret press. Makes for a fast and consistent reloading operation.

 

[Lasers]

Your decapping rod assembly is down way to far! The inside bottom of the case is hitting the neck expander button.

That makes sense, but shouldn't my factory brass fit into the die when the decapping rod is removed completely? If you look closely in the pics, I removed the decapping rod and still couldn't get the case to insert all the way.

I ordered RCBS case lube, I was using an old (gifted) bottle of one shot, maybe that's the issue. New case lube should be here Saturday night

 

[DizzyJ]

That makes sense, but shouldn't my factory brass fit into the die when the decapping rod is removed completely? If you look closely in the pics, I removed the decapping rod and still couldn't get the case to insert all the way.

I ordered RCBS case lube, I was using an old (gifted) bottle of one shot, maybe that's the issue. New case lube should be here Saturday night

With one shot you want to make sure you apply plenty to the cases and make sure they've had ample time to dry before trying to resize the brass.

 

[DLS]

Are you trying to push the case into the die with finger pressure? Even a sized case won't enter that easily.

 

[Lasers]

Well, mystery solved. Amazon showed up early.

It must of been the case lube, either that or I forgot to eat my spinach before I tried the other day. I adjusted the decapping rod, used the rcbs stuff and went through 100 cases with no issues.

Thanks again for all the help

 

[Certaindeaf]

That makes sense, but shouldn't my factory brass fit into the die when the decapping rod is removed completely? If you look closely in the pics, I removed the decapping rod and still couldn't get the case to insert all the way.

I ordered RCBS case lube, I was using an old (gifted) bottle of one shot, maybe that's the issue. New case lube should be here Saturday night

("Fit")?

It's not a chamber, it's a sizing die.