Lee dies messing up?

[Soilarch]

I have the Lee hand press and a set of Lee dies for loading 22-250. (BTW, I don't know the proper terminology on some of this stuff so bear with me) When I was using the sizing die the "pin" that de-primes the shell got stuck in the neck of the case and pulled out of the die. Ruined the case and got it out, cleaned the little extra lube out of the die and off the pin. (Wasn't alot, but I figured 'while I'm here') Next shell...same thing!!! 2 ruined cases!! Sooo...I put the pin back in the die, clamp everything down good and try a third case. The down stroke went fine, like usual, and then on the upstroke the pin stuck in the case again and pulled out of die with hardly any effort.


I just set it down and walked away.[:@] Is the die ruined from repeately pulling the pin out? What in the world caused to to do this now? I've loaded 30 cases before without problem.

When you say pin, you mean pin+expander ball? I thought the lees expander ball was screwed on the treaded stem? I would like to hear more about it.

[mounting man]

First off,you must really tighten the nut that holds the pin,as you call it.I mean real tight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Next,you must put alittle lube on the inside of the case neck!
Man,you won't belive how tight you must make that pin nut?Use two wrenches to do it,not the press.
Been there and done it!!!!!!!

[gassygordo]

Yep, I've had the same problem, only with my 7mm-08. I've tightened the H E double L out of the nut on top and still have had it pull out! I leave enough of the shaft above the die body, then clamp a pair of needle nose vicegrips on the shaft. That worked.

[Soilarch]

I'd have thought a two 12" crescents would be enough. I'll try again and maybe use a the vise-grip idea. Glad I'm not alone, but wish the thing would just work right to begin with.

Do you lube your inside necks? On really tough jobs, look at imperial sizing wax. Very slick stuff.

[Charley]

Clean the decapping pin with some type of degreaser. Get all traces of oil off of it, then sldie it back into the collet. I put the die body in a vise, and the use a box end wrench to tighten the collet to hold the pin. The pin is designed to slide up thru the collet if it hits something. Sometimes they do pull out if they are not tight. Put a bit of case lube on the case mouth, that will help as well.

[handloader1]

Soilarch:

The very same thing happened to me with my only set of Lee dies. I tightened the collet so much I stripped it. I sent the dies back to Lee and they replaced them. I suggest you send them back with a note explaining your dilemma. I never purchased another set of Lee dies. [:@][:@]Good luck.

[Soilarch]

If I read right, somewhere, the whole "floating decapping pin" design was to keep you breaking them. In which case the pin would only need to travel 'up' away from the case...why didn't Lee put a lip on the top of the pin to keep it from pulling 'down' and out through the die? Oh well, if I can't get things to work out I guess I'll send it in. There carbine pistol dies were/are doing great. I'll pick up some different lube too, been using the Lee lube that came with the hand press.

Thanks guys

[HighDesertWolf]

First off,you must really tighten the nut that holds the pin,as you call it.I mean real tight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Next,you must put alittle lube on the inside of the case neck!
Man,you won't belive how tight you must make that pin nut?Use two wrenches to do it,not the press.
Been there and done it!!!!!!!

been there too except the expander ball/decapper rod was pushed the other way (up) trying to decap some pmc 223 brass after that happened i realized pmc crimps their primers into the case.... Oooops!! after resetting the expander ball/decapper rod I didnt get it tight enough and it pushed up again just decapping some federal match 223 brass......... When we say tight you have really tighten it somewhere in the ballpark of about 75 to 85 inch pounds.