Small primer depriming

[gulada97]

I recently purchased some reloading gear and I'm finally ready to try some ammo at the range. Sadly, large rifle primers are nowhere to be found right now, so I had to settle on small rifle ones - which means I had to buy the right brass. I settled on some Peterson 308 SRP.
Is it OK to just sand down the pin on my Lee depriming die so it fits the smaller hole? I guess it'll still work with large primers if I do that, but I'd rather check first. Can't be too careful I guess!

 

[ScottWatkins]

The decapping pin should work on both small and large

 

[lash]

The decapping pin should work on both small and large

Are you sure about that? I have a decapping die that uses either a small or large replaceable pin. The large does not work for small primer cases.

 

[gulada97]

The pin on the decapping die is indeed too large for the Peterson brass. I'm guessing Lapua Palma brass is similar. I guess, does the pin have to go through the hole or just push it enough so it pops out?

 

[ditter]

There are two sizes of small primer flash holes, so check your brass. I have Lapua SRP brass in 6.5CM, but the RCBS small decapping pin is too big. The redding small decapping pin works.

 

[spife7980]

The pin on the decapping die is indeed too large for the Peterson brass. I'm guessing Lapua Palma brass is similar. I guess, does the pin have to go through the hole or just push it enough so it pops out?

The decapping pin has to go through the hole TO push it out.

Yes, you are finding the difference in the .080 and .062 flash holes. Decapper beware.

The lee decapping pin when sanded down will still work for the large primers as well. I dont know why lee doesnt make it .062 to start with so that it would be universal but I suspect it is because their low end market is flush with people using low end brass with off center flash holes and that requires the larger pin to not break as easily on every piece they jam it in crooked on.

Some decapping pins are swappable, I just use a redding decapper as it comes with the small pin for small flash hole lapua brass and a lee decapper for all the rest.