Depriming - Gotta Be Something Better Than By Hand...

thegazelle

thegazelle

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New reloader here...just bought some presses (RCBS progressive and an RCBS single stage). Also bought a Frankford Arsenal hand deprimer. I was hand depriming my 30.06 and .308. No problem. I would even say it was a pleasure.

Now I am moving to my .223 and 5.56...and of course I changed the collet and I started depriming by hand.

I am surprised I can even still type...

Most of the .223 was ok. The Hornady and Nosler ones took a lot of strength and many times both hands. I wish the hand deprimer had some padding on it. My hands are sore...

But it can't be worse to when I got to some of the 5.56 rounds. Yikes - it is two hands, straining with all my might - I may have blown some blood vessels as I was woozy at points. Honestly, I don't know why some are harder than others...none of the various brands of 308 and 30.06 were like this.

A buddy told me not to deprime using my press, so I decided to get the hand deprimer.

At this rate, my reloading experience may be short lived...

Surely there is something better out there - automated power deprimer? I see lots of senior citizens reloading so I can't see them all using this hand deprimer. I am middle aged, and the carpel tunnel and such are all now rearing their head...

Suggestions welcome...and remember, I am new at reloading, so if I am making newbie mistakes, please take it easy on me...
 
thegazelle said:
New reloader here...just bought some presses (RCBS progressive and an RCBS single stage). Also bought a Frankford Arsenal hand deprimer. I was hand depriming my 30.06 and .308. No problem. I would even say it was a pleasure.

Now I am moving to my .223 and 5.56...and of course I changed the collet and I started depriming by hand.

I am surprised I can even still type...

Most of the .223 was ok. The Hornady and Nosler ones took a lot of strength and many times both hands. I wish the hand deprimer had some padding on it. My hands are sore...

But it can't be worse to when I got to some of the 5.56 rounds. Yikes - it is two hands, straining with all my might - I may have blown some blood vessels as I was woozy at points. Honestly, I don't know why some are harder than others...none of the various brands of 308 and 30.06 were like this.

A buddy told me not to deprime using my press, so I decided to get the hand deprimer.

At this rate, my reloading experience may be short lived...

Surely there is something better out there - automated power deprimer? I see lots of senior citizens reloading so I can't see them all using this hand deprimer. I am middle aged, and the carpel tunnel and such are all now rearing their head...

Suggestions welcome...and remember, I am new at reloading, so if I am making newbie mistakes, please take it easy on me...
Click to expand...
What's wrong with depriming by press? All full size and neck size dies have a depriming pin. Also, there are dedicated depriming dies. That's how I've been doing it for years.
 
A classic lee loader kit has the decapping rod in it.
It's just a metal rod w a pin on the end.
Since you use a mallet with it to remove the spent primer, it's easy on the hands.
Maybe see if you can find a used set? I know budget shooter supply had some if interested in new.
Good luck
 
It's quite possible the 5.56 brass has crimped primers. You may see it either as a full ring around the primer or 3 individual areas where the brass has been "staked". After you have deprimed the brass the crimp can be removed by cutting a radius on the primer pocket or using a swager in the press. I have never used a swaging die, only a manual Lyman crimp remover tool.
 
apex survival said:
It's quite possible the 5.56 brass has crimped primers.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking.

OP why deprime and size as separate steps? Are you wet tumbling with SS pins? That is the only good reason I can think of for why you might want to do them as separate steps. (I'm sure there are other reasons I'm not aware of though)
 
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Some of the milspec factory 5.56 has the brass crimped around the primer so they stay put in machine gun use, so it's harder to deprime and a lot of folk will swage the brass too, to get rid of that crimp and have a normal primer pocket for reloading.
 
I'm reloader with 48 years experience in reloading. I've never deprimed with a hand tool, and always used my press with the appropriate sizing die to deprime. As others have stated some .223 and especially most 5.56 can have crimped primers. Occasionally I'll bend a deprimng pin or even break one, but they are easily replaced. Always have spares on hand
Don't get sour on reloading it is 50% of the joy of shooting.Just use your press and save yourself from stroking out!
 
skokie said:
If you load the cases with enough powder, they will de-prime themselves. LOL.


But seriously, why wouldn't you deprime with your press during your reloading sequence? I've never heard anyone say don't deprime with your press.
Click to expand...
Some guys who clean with wet tumbling like to deprime before cleaning so the primer pockets get clean, and wet tumbling can mess up case mouths a bit so they usually want to size after cleaning because they're going to have to fix up those case mouths either way.
 
I deprime & size in 2 operations. Depriming is done separately, nowadays with a Lee de-priming die, so I can wash the cases before sizing them. After they're dry, they get lubed, then sized. When I used to use military brass, I would proceed as above, but after the cases were dry & before they were sized, I would remove the crimp from the primer pocket. I used a L.E.Wilson de-burring tool for that as I was too cheap to buy an RCBS primer pocket swaging tool. Remember, you only have to do this once.

I've lately found that some Hornady brass have crimped-in primers, at least in 6.5CM & .308 W.C.F. Perhaps there are others so manufactured.
 
thegazelle said:
New reloader here...just bought some presses (RCBS progressive and an RCBS single stage). Also bought a Frankford Arsenal hand deprimer. I was hand depriming my 30.06 and .308. No problem. I would even say it was a pleasure.

Now I am moving to my .223 and 5.56...and of course I changed the collet and I started depriming by hand.

I am surprised I can even still type...

Most of the .223 was ok. The Hornady and Nosler ones took a lot of strength and many times both hands. I wish the hand deprimer had some padding on it. My hands are sore...

But it can't be worse to when I got to some of the 5.56 rounds. Yikes - it is two hands, straining with all my might - I may have blown some blood vessels as I was woozy at points. Honestly, I don't know why some are harder than others...none of the various brands of 308 and 30.06 were like this.

A buddy told me not to deprime using my press, so I decided to get the hand deprimer.

At this rate, my reloading experience may be short lived...

Surely there is something better out there - automated power deprimer? I see lots of senior citizens reloading so I can't see them all using this hand deprimer. I am middle aged, and the carpel tunnel and such are all now rearing their head...

Suggestions welcome...and remember, I am new at reloading, so if I am making newbie mistakes, please take it easy on me...
Click to expand...

Have you tried a wife?
 
Nothing wrong with depriming by hand with stuff that it works for. I hand-prime all my stuff, allows me to work on reloading without being tied to my bench.

But IMO there needs to be a reason why you'd NOT want to do it at the same time as sizing, otherwise you're just wasting time.
 
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Forever and a day I have done de-capping with the rods that came with the old time Lee Loaders - one was for 30-06 and another for 22-250. I use the one for the 22-250 on most any case. Set the case head on the de-capping washer (I had to make one, I think, after I lost the original, or maybe never owned one for a belted magnum size case) - then insert rod and tap with hammer - never broke one yet, but have to "feel" that the rod tip went into the flash hole - else poke an unwanted hole in the case head. My sit down reloading bench has a hole drilled through to allow the spent primers to fall free into a container below - there is a larger concentric hole that positions the washer thing.

I had heard some discourage inserting a fresh primer with a press, but I don't think I have ever heard of anyone discouraging de-priming on a press - is possible to get an off-centre flash hole, I suppose, or perhaps a case not fully pressed into the shell holder - I have broken de-capping pins in re-sizing dies - but not since I got a package of spares - you can "feel" when you have the de-capper into the flash hole.
 
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