how do you de-prime?

Mr. Friendly said:
do you use the press or have a hand tool?
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Lee Universal decaping die on a a Lee classic cast single stage press. No hand tool for decaping.
I clean the primer pockets with the same cutting tool that uniformed the primer pockets. No sense putting primer dirt in the tumbler.
Wet tumble with SS pins and Cascade dishwasher detergent and Lemi-Shine.
Rince, shake out the water drops and dry in the oven.
 
I de-prime after dry tumbling.
If I'm working with my CAS .45 Colt brass, that has been in use for a while and may have "crept", I use the Universal Lee de-primer in the press, then trim and de-burr.
I then run it through the RCBS sonic cleaner and dry it before re-sizing.
I use an RCBS hand primer to re-prime my cases, often while I watch TV with SWMBO.
 
I do the de-priming and resizing at the same time, on the press after tumbling in Corn Cob media. Any media in the flash hole is pushed out by the de-priming pin on the die. I find this method to be very quick and very effective, but would never call down anyone who does it differently. We all have our ways.
I dry tumble vs. wet tumble due to the way I process brass. If I have a free day or half day, I grab a few handfuls of the pile of brass I have accumulated, tumble it, then process it, then re-prime it so that it's all in separate, back to back steps. That way I get that nice enjoyable, therapeutic( I think anyway) effect of reloading and not get bored with any one step in the process. By the time I'm done re-priming, the next batch is ready to come out of the tumbler and I start the process again. I typically get ~2000pcs done per day in this way. Wet tumbling involves a drying period for the brass as well as a media separation and equipment cycling process that would interrupt this flow, although I absolutely love the results it provides.
I have a primer pocket tool and typically only use it on Norinco 45ACP Brass(which is good brass btw), as there always tends to be some corrosion/oxidization residue on any brass I buy that has been wet tumbled. Let's call that 1%, and the other 99% of the tens of thousands of pieces of brass I've processed have never required primer pocket cleaning to have the primer seat properly. Hence, I have absolutely no problem tumbling then de-priming rather than the other way around.
 
apu said:
cr=w:538,h:269


Deprime my brass sitting on the couch watching netflix much to my wife's chagrin. Wish they made one that could fit my 50 bmg brass.
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I use the Harvey depriming tool as well - works great! I emailed the inventor a while ago also suggesting a .50 BMG depriming tool, but for now, I take the bushing out of my CH4D .50 BMG neck sizing die and deprime on-press. All other calibers are deprimed on the Harvey, but wife banished depriming operations to my reloading room.
 
Wow, from prices I can find online, RCBS Decapping Tool is ~$100. Is there any cheaper method for decapping berdan? Only diy method I know is a hydraulic method (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R75oAf6HkrU), so I guess I better start looking for a tool that can make a good seal on the cartridge to attempt this method, maybe I should go hunting at Canadian Tire with some calipers to find something that fits...
 
Rockchucker press and Lee de-cap die.
Lee hand primer.
Tried others, but as much as I don't like Lee chit,
their hand primer works great.
 
Decapping die; Lee hand press. My garage isn't heated, so things that can be done in the kitchen are done there. Priming, weighing, charging cases.
 
If I'm loading for my hunting rifles then I de-cap with the sizing die, when I load for my heavy barreled rifles I size with a body die then neck size and deprime with a Lee collet die. As for priming I've always used the Lee Ram prime. I find it works great and I get a good feel of the primer seating in the pocket.
 
I deprive on my lee reload press; keeps the dirty away from my Lee turret press press. I had a couple accessories 3D printed for my reloaded press to aid in the depriming process.
 
I reload for five different rifle calibers (444 Marlin/30.06/308/22.250 Rem/.270 Win) and two handgun calibers (9mm, .357/.38 Special).

I do deprime all brass before cleaning, it gets the primer pockets really clean when I wet-tumble the brass.

I use a Hornady progressive to reload the handgun rounds and a single stage Rockchucker to reload for the rifle rounds. While I don't reload the rifle brass on the progressive, I have picked up shell plates for each rifle caliber plus the handgun calibers of course - just set in the decapping die in the first station, put the correct shell plate on the rotator, and feed the fired brass in the "entry port". Each pull of the handle produces a bare deprimed case, which drops into the catch bin. Takes me just about 8 to 9 minutes to deprime 100 fired cases. Setting up to deprime takes less than 3 minutes, to remove the sizing dies from the upper plate and installing the decap die, since it is left mounted on a twist insert bushing and drops into place. Installing the shell plate is <1 minute.

I also deprime the handgun brass before tumbling - and since those often number a few hundred for a 9mm, this sure speeds up the decap process prior to cleaning.

O.N.G.
 
diopter said:
sin486

For which caliber are you going to decap Berdan for?
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Mainly 7.62x39, thinking about 7.62x54R as well (depending on primer availability). If I can find the right tool for the hydraulic method it would be able to deprime both.
 
I use a RCBS universal depriming die in a lee hand press. With the breech lock bushings I switch out for the ram prime and have both prime and deprime ready to go in a system I like and completely portable. Works better for me than separate hand tools for each.

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Pistol cartridges: by hand using a Frankford Arsenal hand tool. Easy to do in the lazy-boy and primers don't go flying everywhere. I wet tumble afterwards.
 
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