30/06 crimped primers

[Highland Lofts]

A friend was given some old 30/06 ammo and two out of three would not fire, primer would be pushed in, but not shoot.
He was told they were from the Korean War era.

He tore them apart and only gor six cases deprimed and broke two depriming pins.
He dropped them off and I checked all the casrs and they are boxer primed cases.
I just tried to deprime them, the first one pushed my Lee Universal Decapping pin up and didn't budge the primer.
I think the primers on these cases are really crmped the heavy to decap.

What do you think?

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

These will help with your pin breaking issues. I too broke lee decapping pins on military crimps.
3 Ball end decapping pin upgrade for Lee 90783 / 90292 (squirreldaddy.com)

 

[JJFitch]

KA 71 30-06: Made in 1971, "Manufactured in the Dongrae (Pusan) Republic of Korea Army plant, this M2 ball surplus ammunition carries the KA headstamp. KA headstamp ammunition has mildly corrosive primers and requires the cleaning of the firearm after firing. Corrosive primers contain traces of salt that attract moisture, but are easily removeed by using hot soapy water and then cleaning and oiling as normal."

I have de-capped a zillion (approx) military crimped 30-06 with Lyman and Hornady dies without issues!

Smiles,

 

[troy fairweather]

Could try hydrolicing them out,

 

[Highland Lofts]

These Squirrel Daddy pins are what I have. I didn't want to tighten up the pin and break it.
I guess that is what I will.have to do.

 

[Mark_Mark]

A friend was given some old 30/06 ammo and two out of three would not fire, primer would be pushed in, but not shoot.
He was told they were from the Korean War era.

He tore them apart and only gor six cases deprimed and broke two depriming pins.
He dropped them off and I checked all the casrs and they are boxer primed cases.
I just tried to deprime them, the first one pushed my Lee Universal Decapping pin up and didn't budge the primer.
I think the primers on these cases are really crmped the heavy to decap.

What do you think?

View attachment 986523

I know to trash those old brass!

 

[Swampman]

I know to trash those old brass!

Why?

 

[Mark_Mark]

Why?

too much trouble to decap

 

[FROGO207]

Yep you have to put a gorilla grip onto the Lee dies to keep the decapping spindle from sliding up. The spindles from SD should be up to the task. I actually stripped one of my Lee 223 die collet nuts trying it to keep it from sliding. Had to rough the shaft up with sand paper to make it work. Heck I try to save them all (brass).

 

[Highland Lofts]

I have extra prepped 30/06 brass that I will give him and either recycle this crimped brass or get rid of it.

 

[daniel craig]

Yep you have to put a gorilla grip onto the Lee dies to keep the decapping spindle from sliding up. The spindles from SD should be up to the task. I actually stripped one of my Lee 223 die collet nuts trying it to keep it from sliding. Had to rough the shaft up with sand paper to make it work. Heck I try to save them all (brass).

Sort of makes me wonder why they don’t make the pin fixed in there or a screw in/screw out pin instead of collet nuts.

 

[troy fairweather]

Sort of makes me wonder why they don’t make the pin fixed in there or a screw in/screw out pin instead of collet nuts.

Keeps 200lb gorillas from breaking them.

 

[FROGO207]

I have bent the rod in a RCBS rifle die due to a .22 brass inside that I missed. That never happens to a Lee die. Also it is more robust so you can loosen the collet nut and use a brass punch to remove a stuck casing.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Speaking of lee collet nuts. I broke one years ago. Trying to adjust the die for sizing. It was my 1st set of dies. Read the instructions closer after that. Im still using the die today.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Speaking of lee collet nuts. I broke one years ago. Trying to adjust the die for sizing. It was my 1st set of dies. Read the instructions closer after that. Im still using the die today.

Lee for the win!

 

[daniel craig]

I have bent the rod in a RCBS rifle die due to a .22 brass inside that I missed. That never happens to a Lee die. Also it is more robust so you can loosen the collet nut and use a brass punch to remove a stuck casing.

Make them out of tungsten carbide. Smash holes in brass instead of bending pins.

 

[BCR#1]

These Squirrel Daddy pins are what I have. I didn't want to tighten up the pin and break it.
I guess that is what I will.have to do.

My SD pin will either push out the primer or pierce a hole clean through it. Happened more than once.

Bill

 

[Random 8]

A trick to the lee collet/pin system, is to rough the rod with a coarse file, then mash it down with a couple good wrenches. Make sure you have the depth where you want it, this will be a semi-permanent fix.

 

[milsurpguy]

May have to deprime them from the outside.
What I do with berdan, impossible/super crimped brass and oddball tiny flash hole boxer brass is drill through the spent primer with a 5/64 drill bit and pry it out with a good quality 5/32 pin punch sharpened to resemble a blood donation needle. It's time consuming but if you want to turn old millsurp brass into live ammo you got to do it.

 

[BCR#1]

I de-staked 200 pcs of HXP .06 brass yesterday with a Lyman hand swager before getting a warm soapy citric acid bath for three hours. Both of my hands were numb when I was finished.

Bill

 

[GooseGestapo]

One of OP’s cases is a LC63. Very,Very good brass!
I’ve used the Lee Universal decapper rod and base since the early ‘70’s. Haven’t broken the pin yet!
However I have broken numerous sizer die decapper pins for various reasons.

Don’t forget after decapping, you have to remove the crimp!

 

[Highland Lofts]

I will give my friend some regular headstamped brass in exchange for this crimped 30/06 brass and find some one with a old M1 Garand that would want it for thier military rifle.
I have over 1,000 pieces of prepped 30/06 brass on hand.

 

[FROGO207]

In the process of cleaning up in the reloading room and find I have about one and a half 5 gallon buckets full of 30-06 brass. Guess I'll have to start processing them now.
I try to keep at least 1K brass processed and ready to prime and load but life has gotten in the way lately.

 

[edwardware]

Sort of makes me wonder why they don’t make the pin fixed in there or a screw in/screw out pin instead of collet nuts.

Because the unthreaded decap pin is the single most innovative feature of Lee's bottleneck dies. . . it permits removal of a stuck case with a couple wrenches and a hammer, and no die damage. Any other system requires a larger toolset, and almost always damages die parts.

I do wish that Lee published a torque spec for the nut, because no one tightens them enough the first time. None the less, it is a great feature.

. . . the first one pushed my Lee Universal Decapping pin up and didn't budge the primer.

Everyone does this the first time; you didn't tighten the pin retention nut enough. Rough up the pin shaft and inside the nut, and give it the beans. Once you get it right, the pin will punch its own flash hole without moving.

 

[mdi]

Couple of thoughts; when depriming old crimped in primers you can put them in your priming tool and push them in a bit to break any corrosion/seal there may be. As for the Lee depriming tool, a really simple method to keep the pin from slipping is to clean it. Take the pin out of the collet, clean both with brake clean, reassemble. I tighten the collet down tight, but not King Kong tight. I've been using Lee size/decap dies for probably 45 years and even on corroded, military primer/primer pockets they don't slip but will move when a Berdan primed case slips through...