Lee resizer die -- many primers won't push out

[Tony Sopranno]

I'm using a brand new set of Lee dies, and about half my saved brass has this same problem -- the primers won't push out..

...Some primers bulge, others the punch pin just slides up inside the holding collet with the press, and it returns to its normal position after relieving the ram/press pressure... duh... what's going on? I figure the primers are either epoxied in place (not likely) or the flash hole in the brass is too small to allow the de-priming pin-punch past.

Short of grinding the punch-pin down -- seems it will only weaken it and cause more trouble later -- I'm thinking of getting a long drill to open the flash hole a bit.

Any ideas, and/or help..? If this is an old re-run kind of question, my apologies in advance... I scanned some threads but I couldn't find anything recent on this issue.

Thanks...

[USN CHIEF]

What kind of brass is it? Caliber/Head Stamp?

[armygunsmith]

Sounds like you might have some Berdan primed brass. Berdan primed brass uses two flash holes as opposed to Boxer primed brass that has 1 centrally located flash hole. Look it up on Google. You can reload Berdan brass but is a much more involved process.

[Darklyte27]

Berdan has 2 holes on the sides not the center like Boxer does.
can you use a flashlight and look into the brass?
or give us the info on the brass like said above.

[Tony Sopranno]

Berdan has 2 holes on the sides not the center like Boxer does.
can you use a flashlight and look into the brass?
or give us the info on the brass like said above.

All the stuff that's hanging up is .223 PMC brass, and it all has one single flash hole. The PMC brass is with that red sealer stuff around the primer.

I got one to push out initially, but it actually left part of the primer -- like a ring -- in the pocket.

Now the die punch/pin is stuck in one of the cases...!! But I can either fix that or get a new punch/pin from Lee.


Thanks...

[IllTemperedCur]

Crimped primers? I don't know the PMC ammo, but there was a thread here in the last week or so about similar problems with crimped primer Lake City 5.56.

[Beelzy]

PMC ammo with red rings around the primers are in fact crimped in.

You need to manually punch those primers out. Good brass though, and worth
the extra effort.

[Bruce3]

i had the EXACT thing happen to me when i started reloading .223 with Lee dies. i had my friend weld the top of the collet to the pin just make sure its flush before you do it. problem solved

[Darklyte27]

intersting, any other problems with the lee dies?
Have the lee dies been easy with other brass?

[bohoki]

beware the ik brass the flashhole is too small for the lee dies

make sure you keep that pin flush with the top

use better brass i love remington winchester and federal are great too

so the pmc stuff what kind of box did it come in?

if it was black box bronze
i'm glad i didnt buy a case when it was $6.50 a box

make sure you trim your brass 1.750 is your friend

[buffybuster]

Make sure the collet and the depriming pin are absoluted grease/oil free and then tighten that sucker TIGHT.

I punch out crimped primers all the time with no problems.

[Bruce3]

i called Lee when i had this problem and they said make sure the top of the collet is flush with the top of the pin. i did that and i had to tighten the collet so much that the pin was so far down that it would bottom out before the whole case would enter the die.

[Tony Sopranno]

This has been helpful...thanks to everyone...

The PMC red-ringed primers are crimped -- got it -- and yeah they came in the black box (bronze). I bought it mainly for the brass @ $6.50 per/20.

Like Bruce3 said, I'm thinking about epoxying or CA-ing the pin in place, or I could silver-solder it with my oxy-map gas torch from Sears.

bohoke - Thanks for those pointers. I'm already sizing them up with a caliper and I have a steel gauge too if I need it. Once I get these nasty primers out I'll check out the holes to make sure they are all large enough for Lee pins. ....Else I can drill them out a tad.

Darklyte27 - the inside pin has an odd sharp rough spot on the (larger) diameter, the part which sizes the I.D. of the brass. It doesn't seem right, like they forgot to match-polish the pin completely. I'm gonna look at the specs for the shell case and measure the pin with my digital calipers, or a micrometer. If it works out, I'm all for lapping that rough spot out with some very fine grit paper.

I think that's part of the problem where the case hanging up.

Next time I get a wild idea about 'cheaping-out' for the brass stock I'll just buy a few bags of Remington brass from Natchez or Midway. I got a few misfires from the PMC ammo too. I still have them around somewhere. But anyway the PMC brass looks like good stuff, so after all this I'll keep it. The Finoch and Remington brass worked out0 fine except for that 'hitch' where the rough spot on the pin seems to be.

[bohoki]

This has been helpful...thanks to everyone...

The PMC red-ringed primers are crimped -- got it -- and yeah they came in the black box (bronze). I bought it mainly for the brass @ $6.50 per/20.

Like Bruce3 said, I'm thinking about epoxying or CA-ing the pin in place, or I could silver-solder it with my oxy-map gas torch from Sears.

bohoke - Thanks for those pointers. I'm already sizing them up with a caliper and I have a steel gauge too if I need it. Once I get these nasty primers out I'll check out the holes to make sure they are all large enough for Lee pins. ....Else I can drill them out a tad.

Darklyte27 - the inside pin has an odd sharp rough spot on the (larger) diameter, the part which sizes the I.D. of the brass. It doesn't seem right, like they forgot to match-polish the pin completely. I'm gonna look at the specs for the shell case and measure the pin with my digital calipers, or a micrometer. If it works out, I'm all for lapping that rough spot out with some very fine grit paper.

I think that's part of the problem where the case hanging up.

Next time I get a wild idea about 'cheaping-out' for the brass stock I'll just buy a few bags of Remington brass from Natchez or Midway. I got a few misfires from the PMC ammo too. I still have them around somewhere. But anyway the PMC brass looks like good stuff, so after all this I'll keep it. The Finoch and Remington brass worked out0 fine except for that 'hitch' where the rough spot on the pin seems to be.

crimped brass is a pain even when swaged or reamed i still have the occasional one where the primer wont seat flush or wants to go in sideways

also i do not seat my pin flush with the top i seat it close ther eis a littpe chamfer on the top of the pin i generally put that chamfer at the top of the lock stud leaving a little nub like a lego block

a little trick i learned is you use a bit of doble stick tape or gum and a penny on top when it pops off you have a problem

cause if you try to resize one with the pin up it mushes the mouth between the inner sizing of the pin and the top of the die

[Beelzy]

The PMC flasholes should be fine, and once you remove the crimp edge off
the primer pocket the brass will serve you well. Nice and pliable for reloading
many times and doesn't grow like crazy.

I like it when I need to fireform cases for my 7mmTC/U.