I made a newbie mistake!

[papafloyd]

I sized and decapped some brass without using the proper tool. By this I mean I was using the proper die but instead of putting the decapping pin on the end of the rod I used just the end where the pin goes into. My question is did I damage the area blast area, I did eventually break the decapping rod. My other question is can I decap the live primers from this brass or should I just leave it? Not sure of how to dispose of them. I don't mind taking the loss of brass and primers if it's better to do so, want to be safe.

Thanks for any help, Ken

[thenodnarb]

You decapped without a decappign pin? Successfully? I'm going to say yes. you likely buggered the brass in a BIG way. I want to know what caliber, and dies you were using that were strong enough to blow through the head of the case.

[nahpungnome]

I've decapped live primers and reused them, just make sure to go slow and not slam the pin into the pocket

[rsrocket1]

Yes, you probably enlarged the flash hole quite a bit. Look at a properly decapped case and one of the cases you just worked. Look into the case with a flashlight if possible and also look at it from the primer pocket side.

[J-cat]

We need another sticky: Newbie Mistakes.

Maybe that's how Federal came up with their large flash holes!

[baih777]

I sized and decapped some brass without using the proper tool. By this I mean I was using the proper die but instead of putting the decapping pin on the end of the rod I used just the end where the pin goes into. My question is did I damage the area blast area, I did eventually break the decapping rod. My other question is can I decap the live primers from this brass or should I just leave it? Not sure of how to dispose of them. I don't mind taking the loss of brass and primers if it's better to do so, want to be safe.

Thanks for any help, Ken

If you have empty brass with just the primers, just take them with you next time to the range and single shoot them.
Or you can still use them as long as the brass looks good inside.
Make sure they will fit them to your chamber before loading them.

[Spyguy]

Ask yourself these two questions:

1. Are the brass & primers worth more than the firearm that may get destroyed by using them?
2. Are the brass & primers worth more than your eyes, nose, mouth, face, fingers, and hands?

If both of those answers are "Yes" then go ahead and use them. Otherwise, put them in a pail, soak them in oil a few days to render the primers inert, and then dispose of them.

[papafloyd]

It was a Hornady .223 Die. Thanks for the info, I'll check these out a little closer. I've used up the brass I had but have some on order, I'll compare when I receive the brass. Thankfully these are cheap to replace!

[J-cat]

If you have empty brass with just the primers, just take them with you next time to the range and single shoot them.
Or you can still use them as long as the brass looks good inside.
Make sure they will fit them to your chamber before loading them.

I wouldn't load that brass because the huge huge flash hole will not allow the primer to fire because the primer anvil has nothing to bear against. But you can pop the primers out and reuse them.

[thenodnarb]

It was a Hornady .223 Die. Thanks for the info, I'll check these out a little closer. I've used up the brass I had but have some on order, I'll compare when I receive the brass. Thankfully these are cheap to replace!

no way that die survived pushing the primer out without a decapping pin. if the expander ball hits the bottom of the case, it bends. Period. I've bent two of them before from not properly setting the dies up. I bet you had the decapping pin in, and perhaps weren't sizing the cases completely. Once you gave it too much force and snapped the end of the rod where it threads down for the expanding ball. call hornady and they will probably replace the rod/ball and pin.

[papafloyd]

After looking at my other die sets the decapping pin is attached already, so it was probably in this die when I started sizing and decapping, I got through approx. 20 rounds before it broke. I must've bent it putting it in and didn't realize it. The sizing looks to be good according to the case gauge to check the headspace.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

This is my lucky day! After reading the responses and the suggestion that the decapping pin had to be there I was able to dig out the perp from my trash and low and behold I was able to find a broken decapping pin inside. I tried cutting the case to check out the flash hole and it wouldn't cut, so I bent it in half and there it was.

Thanks again!

[drdarrin@sbcglobal.net]

I sized and decapped some brass without using the proper tool. By this I mean I was using the proper die but instead of putting the decapping pin on the end of the rod I used just the end where the pin goes into. My question is did I damage the area blast area, I did eventually break the decapping rod. My other question is can I decap the live primers from this brass or should I just leave it? Not sure of how to dispose of them. I don't mind taking the loss of brass and primers if it's better to do so, want to be safe.

Thanks for any help, Ken

It was a Hornady .223 Die. Thanks for the info, I'll check these out a little closer. I've used up the brass I had but have some on order, I'll compare when I receive the brass. Thankfully these are cheap to replace!

After looking at my other die sets the decapping pin is attached already, so it was probably in this die when I started sizing and decapping, I got through approx. 20 rounds before it broke. I must've bent it putting it in and didn't realize it. The sizing looks to be good according to the case gauge to check the headspace.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

You might want to enlist the hands on aid of an experienced reloader before you go any further. He or she can help you setup your equipment correctly before you do any more damage to either your equipment or injure yourself. I'd start by contacting your local reloading club.

Where did this primed brass come from? Reason I ask is, if you recently purchased commercial primed brass, you shouldn't need to decap it. Just store it in an air tight container until you're ready to use it.

If it came from any other source, don't take a chance. Decap it and start over. Better safe than sorry.

[3RDGEARGRNDRR]

I would not consider this a newbie mistake. This is beyond comprehensible to me sorry

[stilly]

I wanna see them, I wonder if they will be like performance brass cases now.
When you want your car to fly faster you put on a high flow cat. So I wonder if this is just a high flow flash hole so yer pills can go faster...

AWESOME! Post pics though. Does not sound like too much is jacked. At least you did not plug up your flashhole. Wait a sec, you DID NOT PLUG UP YOUR FLASH HOLE, RIGHT? Bro you gotta keep your flash hole clean and not let things get jammed up it else there will be issues...

[papafloyd]

Sorry guys I did not take any pics and the few cases that I messed up are in the trash which will be gone before I get home. But I did cut one of them in half and found the broken decapping pin, the flash hole did not appear to be damaged. So instead of about 25 cases or so I can pin point it down to the 2 cases that actually broke the pin.

Again thanks for the insight and next time I will document, but I'm hoping there won't be a next time! I continue to read and learn more about reloading to prevent something like this from happening again and be safe while reloading.