Recently snapped a Lyman decapping die. Never was impressed with the quality of this die.

Anyone have a recommendation for a decapping die .223 thru 338 LM??

Thanks in advance.

Andrew

I am retired and time is more valuable to me than ever,
that said my way is they get decapped when they are all greased up and in the sizing die..then to the little crow station for trim,champer and chaffing to the tumbler again.
Yes its a bitch picking the primer holes.Least you can handle brass the better your time is spent
Pistol brass get just loaded on the 550 after it has been tumbled.

I have universal decapping dies from Redding and RCBS. I don't use them much anymore as I decap during resizing. just like 45 Cal does.

I decap ... then wet, stainless tumble.

This way everything is spotless or nearly so.

My OCD is the cause of this. But, I've had SD as low as 1.4 for a 10 round group. But generally my SD are in the 6-9 range.

Andrew

Understood.

To salve your OCD, I would definitely recommend the Redding Universal Decapping Die.

Unfortunately the small decapping die is limited to cases no longer than 2.625inch and I believe the 338LM is 2/724inch.

The large decapping dies will not accept the .223 Remington as the smallest neck diameter it allows is 25 caliber.

You can buy the kit that has both dies:

https://ads.midwayusa.com/prod...s-_-Redding-_-597441

This is a good example of an area where a Lee is just fine. I have no idea what $45 worth of Redding does that $11 of Lee doesn't do WRT pushing a pin through a primer hole. The Lee pins are built like a tank, and if you do manage to break them, a new punch is less than $3.

Unless it's just about keeping all things Lee off the bench.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Unless it's just about keeping all things Lee off the bench.

That's a laudable goal in itself.

I went with the Hornady decapping die for two reasons:

1) On the interwebz, I couldn't decipher if the Lee model was capable of doing .308Win due to the die body length
2) most everything else on my bench is in red flavor

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
This is a good example of an area where a Lee is just fine. I have no idea what $45 worth of Redding does that $11 of Lee doesn't do WRT pushing a pin through a primer hole. The Lee pins are built like a tank, and if you do manage to break them, a new punch is less than $3.

Unless it's just about keeping all things Lee off the bench.

On the rare occasion when I need to just pop out a primer, the Lee does the job.

I have an RCBS that I use when I have mass quantities of dirty pistol cases before I clean them up in a tumbler to appease my OCD for pretty brass cases.

From a quick search outside SF, it looks like the Lee die won't work without the die body being reamed a bit.

I see the Sinclair decapping die being mentioned for the .338LM

I have 2 different ones. The first one I got was RCBS. It has a spring loaded plunger that kicks the spent primers away. The only problem with it is that The spring is not the right one for this application. It's too weak and takes a set. The fix is to cut a AR spring down to fit, problem solved. This die will not do the 223, so I ended up buying a Horandy one that would. The Hornady is large enough to handle your big rife magnums.

Another for the Lee universal decapper, no need to over think this one.

quote:

Originally posted by NikonUser:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Unless it's just about keeping all things Lee off the bench.

That's a laudable goal in itself.

NAW! We're talking decapping here, not building the space shuttle.

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:

quote:

Originally posted by NikonUser:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Unless it's just about keeping all things Lee off the bench.

That's a laudable goal in itself.

NAW! We're talking decapping here, not building the space shuttle.

RMD

In fact we are building something much more critical; ammo that generates 25tons PSI next to your face.

If you do not use the best tool to pop off that pesky spent primer before seating a new one, there is no telling what nasty consequences may befall you.

Well, that plus I don't like Lee tools.

quote:

Originally posted by C-Dubs:
From a quick search outside SF, it looks like the Lee die won't work without the die body being reamed a bit.

I see the Sinclair decapping die being mentioned for the .338LM

I use mine to decap 338RUM. Is LM much larger in the body than Ultra Mag? Because the Lee punch is a solid, one piece bar, it is easy to have the punch extend way below the die, provided your press has the reach. I'm sure since 338LM is the cartridge, the press is a Boss or something larger than a Jr.

For what it's worth, your case count probably isn't very high when you load 338LM. When I load 338RUM, I never do more than about 20 at a sitting. Therefore, you could do your decapping with a $3 Lee pin and a mallet. That would be just as fast and by far the cheapest. That is how I decap my 416 Rigby. No worry about hurting the cases. I baby those 416 cases like they're my children. They're that expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by NikonUser:

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:

quote:

Originally posted by NikonUser:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Unless it's just about keeping all things Lee off the bench.

That's a laudable goal in itself.

NAW! We're talking decapping here, not building the space shuttle.

RMD

In fact we are building something much more critical; ammo that generates 25tons PSI next to your face.

If you do not use the best tool to pop off that pesky spent primer before seating a new one, there is no telling what nasty consequences may befall you.

Well, that plus I don't like Lee tools.

Finding a Lee tool on NikonUser's bench would be similar to that episode of Big Bang Theory where Sheldon gets drunk and wakes up panicked and ashamed in the morning after having spent the night reading a geology textbook. His standards are simply that high.

I use the Lee Universal decapping die for crimped ammunition. That's the only Lee tool I own and it works flawlessly. I've busted more decapping pins than I care to admit trying to reload mil surplus cases.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:

quote:

Originally posted by C-Dubs:
From a quick search outside SF, it looks like the Lee die won't work without the die body being reamed a bit.
...

I use mine to decap 338RUM. Is LM much larger in the body than Ultra Mag? ...

From google pic schematics, it looks like .338LM is 0.588", and the .338RUM is 0.580"

quote:

Posted at Lee website:
Lee Decapping Die, no cleaning or lubing of cases necessary. Even removes crimped primers. Fits cases up to .560" in diameter and up to 3.125" long.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:

quote:

Originally posted by NikonUser:

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:

quote:

Originally posted by NikonUser:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Unless it's just about keeping all things Lee off the bench.

That's a laudable goal in itself.

NAW! We're talking decapping here, not building the space shuttle.

RMD

In fact we are building something much more critical; ammo that generates 25tons PSI next to your face.

If you do not use the best tool to pop off that pesky spent primer before seating a new one, there is no telling what nasty consequences may befall you.

Well, that plus I don't like Lee tools.

Finding a Lee tool on NikonUser's bench would be similar to that episode of Big Bang Theory where Sheldon gets drunk and wakes up panicked and ashamed in the morning after having spent the night reading a geology textbook. His standards are simply that high.

Ah yes, geology; the duffus of sciences right down there with climatology.

Someone gave me a set of Lee dies eons ago, when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Using a hammer, it put the dies to good use pounding pilot holes in the soft dirt for wooden tomato stakes. I've since moved from that house and it was in another state but I believe I left the dies in the dirt the last time I used them. I wonder if they are still there. That would be almost 30 years ago.