Hello there, I just started reloading recently. Today I ran into some trouble. It is my 30-30 sizing die. The decapper bounced up, So now the decapper is not long enough to de prime the primer. I read the manual saying I should use 3/4 and 1/2 wrenches to release the clamp. However it wouldn't turn at all. This is my first time using this die, so I am wondering is it a lemon? or I am doing it wrong? Because in Lee's instruction video, the clamp is very easy to release. But my clamp just doesn't turn at all with full strength. Any help will be appreciated. I loaded 40 rnds of 223 and 70 rnds 308 already, it is doing totally fine.
Help needed Lee sizing die
- Thread starter dz28
- Start date
- Location
- West Quebec
Very tight, extra effort needed with as big a wrench as you have..
And use the box end of the wrench on the little lock nut (collet) because they are darned tight from the factory. May want to investigate why the expander / decapper got pushed up as well. That's a safety feature of the Lee dies to prevent breaking the pin.
It may be extra tight because the rod was jammed up. Maybe the section that got pushed up was a couple-tenths larger and now it's extra tight. Short of twisting the head off the bolt/clamp there isn't much you can do to damage it.
Almost all Lee dies I buy are not tightened enough from the factory and the decapping rods can get pushed up after a while (or sometimes right away). I always disassemble the die, degrease it, and tighten it back up with what I know will hold it in place. Unfortunately that amount of torque for me is by feel, not with a torque wrench or anything, so I can't help much there.
Almost all Lee dies I buy are not tightened enough from the factory and the decapping rods can get pushed up after a while (or sometimes right away). I always disassemble the die, degrease it, and tighten it back up with what I know will hold it in place. Unfortunately that amount of torque for me is by feel, not with a torque wrench or anything, so I can't help much there.
- Location
- West Quebec
Buy extra pins just in case, eventually you will bend or break one..
OP, you have hit on the # One reason for me not liking Lee dies.
That has happened with every set I have had. Solution is to have two large, good wrenches to fit, with the top one being a box end. Loosen it off, place the decapping and internal neck sizing rod in the proper position, then tighten it down. TIGHT.
That has happened with every set I have had. Solution is to have two large, good wrenches to fit, with the top one being a box end. Loosen it off, place the decapping and internal neck sizing rod in the proper position, then tighten it down. TIGHT.
Yes, I do need two large wrench. My 1/2 and 3/4 are very small. Hard to push around when the die is tight like this. Thank you!
Installing it in the press helps hold it so you can crank on it. Use some lube on the collet nut. Antiseize works good, the oils don't really migrate out. It will help you get a good amount more clamping force with less effort.
Two big wrenches will solve the issue.
I like it as the pin doesn't bend and it gives you an indicator that something is wrong (unless it's loose).
The decapper is in the sizing die so you know the case is centered in the die.
So why did it push up?
In other calibers I have found the issues to be smaller primer flash holes.
So what would have happened if the decapper could not slide up in the die?
I'm thinking it would either be bent or jammed through a piece of brass...
I like it as the pin doesn't bend and it gives you an indicator that something is wrong (unless it's loose).
The decapper is in the sizing die so you know the case is centered in the die.
So why did it push up?
In other calibers I have found the issues to be smaller primer flash holes.
So what would have happened if the decapper could not slide up in the die?
I'm thinking it would either be bent or jammed through a piece of brass...
Step one: Remove all decapping pins.
Step two: Use a universal decapping die.
^ Bingo!
And now, Bruce, our long run of agreeing with each has stumbled. This is one of the reasons I like Lee dies, I'm not running around trying to salvage a decapping pin I just broke or bent beyond repair when I have to get a session done.
Case in point, I was in my LGS early this spring (not the greatest shop for reloading supplies, but the only one within a 45 minute drive each way to the next) and while I was chatting, a guy came in looking for an RCBS pin, he had just broken his and needed a new one so that he could finish working up a gopher load in a rifle he had purchased there the day before. Some of the brass he had was 5.56 and the crimped primer bent his pin which then broke when he tried to straighten it.
LGS didn't stock pins so he was looking at a 45min drive to the next one, but over an hour from there to his house. I brought him to my place and gave him a new pin because the same thing had happened to me about 8 years ago, so I stocked up.
I have never had an issue with a broken pin on a Lee, and I have run into LOTS of Berdan primed cases in my early days.
