advice on Military decapper

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Tuckerp229

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I am currently consdiering buying a military crimped decapping tool to reload military brass. I have a few questions for you that have experience doing this. I can only afford to buy once so I wish to buy the better tool and if this pursuit is a loser I would prefer to spend the money elsewhere.

1. Is it worth the extra effort and initial expense to reload military brass?

2. What has your experience been with:
a. Dillon's bench mounted Super Swagger?
b. Lyman's military decapper die
c. Lee's military decapper die

Do they work as claimed or must one do extra work to prepare the primer socket for a standard primer? Have the decappers proven durable or break prone?

Thanks for your help.
 
Super Swage works great. Over the years I've tried various reamers and the RCBS swage die. All work, but none as quickly or as easily as the SS. I've deprimed countless crimped cases with a standard Lee decapping die as well as a number of standard sizing dies.
 
I have never had a problem decapping 223 brass with the standard Lee FL sizing die. As for the primer crimp there are many ways to fix that, I just use a drill bit but am going to try a primer pocket reamer.
 
My vote is in for the Dillon Super Swager also. It does cost a bit more, but it's faster, easier to use, extremly well made, and has Dillon's no BS lifetime warranty.
 
Thanks for the advice. So I see no votes for the Lyman or Lee mil' decapper dies.
It sounds like the Dillon Super Swager has proven to be the best option.
 
De-capping military brass is easily done with any standard sizing die.
You do not need a special die to do it.

I have reloaded 30-06, .308, and .223 GI brass with nothing but Herters, and later, RCBS standard dies for nearly 50 years.

Removing the primer pocket crimp is another matter.

I use an RCBS swaging set, but there is no doubt the Dillon is way better.

rc
 
i have the super swage and the rcbs swage kits.. if you're not going to do large quantities.. then the rcbs is fine, and it does work. the dillon just keeps you from having another step in single stage, and makes very, VERY quick work of swaging. be advised, swaging is unnecessary in the dillon 1050.
 
Tucker, you seem to be confused about military crimped primers. Whatever means you use to decap/deprime the brass, you STILL have to remove the crimp. A military decapper will not do anything to the primer CRIMP.

That leaves a choice for the means to remove the crimp, either by cutting it away, or swaging it back into the edge of the primer Pocket. Several companies make cutters that remove the crimp. Others make swagers. The king of the hill is the dillon.

I tried the RCBS swager, after two different swager buttons, it still don't work well enough to allow a new primer to be seated. I elected to go with the Hornady reamer, mounted in my RCBS case master, it quickly removes the crimp ENTIRELY!
 
I decapped and sized 9mm NATO brass using a standard Lee die. Didn't even notice a difference until I went to seat the primers.
 
You can use any standard sizing/decap die. I sometimes use a lee universal decap die if the brass is dirty. Then I tumble, then I use RCBS swager die. 26 bucks, does small and large primer pockets.
 
Yep, I must be more careful with my terminology. I meant to ask specifically about removing the military crimp.
anyhoo, I picked up a Dillon Super Swager today and went to work. It seems to be the bees knees.
Thanks for the help everyone.
 
Tucker -
I was following your thread trying to learn something. Will this machine work on ANY mil case? Or is it specific to a single cartridge? I have both 9mm and 223.

Thanks in advance.
 
As far as I know, the SS works with all military brass ...Boxer primed of course and must be decapped prior to swaging. Yes, the SS comes with the comversion pieces to change calibers.

For you experienced swagers...I swaged about five hundred pieces last night. all cases had been cleaned, de-capped, trimmed, chamfered inside and out, primer pocket reamed and flash hole drilled and beveled prior to swaging, I periodically checked finished brass to be certain that the primer went in correctly. What I discovered is that in many cases, (no pun intended), I had to rotate the case several times to find the "entry spot" for the primer. I am using an RCBS hand primer.
Although I could live with this it is not the result I expected. Has this been same for those of you who have used the SS for swaging for a while? Or does it sound as if I need to step up the swaging pressure more?I was trying to work the brass the minimum necessary, (seems to be the rule when working the brass to prolong brass life), plus the instructions make it clear that too much pressure can damge the brass or the tool. I was also concerned with over-expansion or deepening of the primer pocket.
 
I have used the RCBS and the Dillon. The RCBS swager works well, but is time consuming. That dillon sure is a nice piece of equipment.
 
Tuckerp229,

Most military brass has some variance in the depth of the web area. If you set up your Dillon with a case with a thick web, it will swage very lightly on a case with a thinner web, and that sounds like your problem. It's best to set up the Dillon with one of the cases with a fairly thin web. Of course, this means the thick web cases won't fit, so just set them aside and readjust the Dillon for them when you are done. There is no way the Dillon can deepen the primer pocket, so don't worry about that.

Don
 
Most military brass has some variance in the depth of the web area. If you set up your Dillon with a case with a thick web, it will swage very lightly on a case with a thinner web, and that sounds like your problem. It's best to set up the Dillon with one of the cases with a fairly thin web. Of course, this means the thick web cases won't fit, so just set them aside and readjust the Dillon for them when you are done. There is no way the Dillon can deepen the primer pocket, so don't worry about that.
Click to expand...

Good info. thanks Don
 
For decapping military brass I just use my normal Lee FL sizing die, for a glued in or stuck primer I use the Lee military primer decapping rod with base and a 10oz ball peen hammer. For swaging I used to use a drill, but a RCBS swage die set up on a Lee classic cast press is what I use now. For 30 bucks you get the swage die and for 20 bucks you get a whole 'nother press total 50 bucks. I know not as nice as a Dillon super swage but it works well for me and easier than a drill.
 
Another vote for the Dillon SS!

Also, I purchased the LEE Universal decapping die...great addition to my reloading lineup!

My $.02
 
I use regular dies to re-size and de-cap then use the chamfer tool used for case necks to get rid of the crimp.
 
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