prepping old cases before depriming ...

rmckeon

rmckeon

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hey there guys,

I've been reloading for a year now, and boy is it the way to go.... I'm always scrounging for brass, and I picked-up 50 cases that looked pretty old. anyway, last night I lubed them up and didn't the first few cases push the decapping pin out of my die... so I tighted up the die (gasp) and sure enough I broke the decapping pin by applying a lot of downward pressure while attempting to deprime a case ... grrrrr ... I figure there must be sedement or something at the bottom of the cases that's sealed-up the inside of the case.

ordering replacements depriming pins for the die is as easy as phoning Lee Precision - only $3 plus s&h.

anyway, here's my point: what can/should I do to prep old cases before attempting to deprime. would a good soak in TSP do it?

thanks in advance for your thoughts...
 
Old mate you do not need to be pissing around with old brass from God knows where..........buy some , it is cheap.
You will then start with new cases that you can prep from scratch, get back to us when you need some info on prepping new brass.
 
Sure they're not Berdan primed? Look inside - if there's two or three small holes just off-centre in the bottom they are Berdan-primed and you need to employ special techniques to deprime. If there's a single large hole, then they're Boxer-primed, but likely crimped in place. Lee sells a universal (Boxer) depriming die that is practically unbreakable.
 
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J Stuart said:
Old mate you do not need to be pissing around with old brass from God knows where..........buy some , it is cheap.
You will then start with new cases that you can prep from scratch, get back to us when you need some info on prepping new brass.
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Half the fun of reloading is scrounging for brass!!

The only time I buy brass is when I want Top quality like Norma or Lapua.

"Free range" brass is the way to go! I always toss my scrounged brass in the tumbler for a couple of hours before I inspect/use it.
 
As said before it's probably Berdan primed, If you feel a lot of resistance while depriming, look inside with a flashlight to see if it is indeed boxer primed as stated above or if there is dirt/mud/rock in the flash hole.
 
yeah, they look berdan primed as suggested. I cleaned out a few of them, and I see 2 small holes off centre.

so, having no experience with these, what do I need to do to deprime? ..and, once deprimed, can they be used just like my other boxer primed cases? or, am I talking about a totally different beast here...

cheers.

PS - scrounging for brass IS half the fun ;)
 
you shouldn't bother- the berdan is a slightly different diameter than boxer, and the reason your decapping pin broke was that you were trying to remove the ANVIL which is INTEGRAL WITH THE CASE- in other words you CAN'T USE THEM- removing the anvil does leave you with a "centered "flash hole , but there's no support for the anvil in your boxer primer- there's a couple of fancy tools on the market, but what i used to do was neck size the case, and use a hardwood dowel and water to drive out the primer- they make good dummy rounds or snap caps, but reloading them is an exercise in futility
as far as range brass, goes, unless you know your source, sooner or later, you're going to end up with a head separation, which can ruin your gun
 
rmckeon said:
okay t-star, my lesson learnt is: "don't buy brass unless I confirm it's boxer primed"...

:(
Click to expand...

Chances are you won't find berdan primed cases in a store, unless of course you are talking about buying once fired from someone. If that is the case, make sure they are of a known company (ie Federal, Remington, Winchester) Federal makes military rounds with crimped in primers but they will still be boxer primed.
 
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