Off center flash holes

Just bent another RCBS decapping pin :evil: . Seem to be having a rash of these in the last 2 years, one was even a Nosler case (yes, they made it right). Anybody know a good method to weed out off-center holes prior to resizing/ decapping?

Was previously reloaded brass, ran fine though my old Lee die in this caliber, but bent the heck out of the RCBS pin with seemingly little effort.

Strange.

So one thing that comes to mind, in case prep, I debur the flash hole, I’d think it would be not too hard to notice, maybe reeming takes the edge away and helps the decapper find the whole..?

I use Remington(everything except..), Norma brass(300WM) and Winchester (300WSM)

I do have a Lee decapper which I use a lot


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It's a real pain when that happens. But, here's a thought ....

Was your RCBS decapping rod centered properly in the die?
It's a simple process to do this correctly.

The method is:
With the die in your press, Slacken the decap rod nut, so the rod is slightly loose.

Run a lubed case into the die and feel the expander ball enter and pass through the case neck, then stop.
The case mouth/neck needs to be sized a little, but the pin doesn't need to go through the flash hole. it's probably best to do this process with a pre-sized, lubed case.

Withdraw the case until you feel the expander enter the case neck, but then stop.
Tighten the lock nut on the decapping rod.
Voila!
The rod/pin is now centered in the die.

As an addition, I do the process in two stages, first using a Lee Universal decapping die, then the process above, but with the de-cap pin removed from the rod and the expander ball backed right up so it only just passes through the case neck.
This usually, 99.9% ensures the very best case neck/body concentricity. Rarely more than .0005" run-out.

ET, I don't think I've ever done that...

Thanks! Learned something new.

Guy

+1. Me too


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+1. Me too


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One of the quirks of RCBS dies with the small diameter decapping rod. I use to have the same problem with bent pins and some times bent rods back in the day when I first started reloading.
Not sure how I fixed the problem anymore since I moved on to Redding dies and they are all I buy anymore.
I have seen quite a few off center flash holes and would usually just throw it out till I got a primer flash hole uniformer/debur.

Thanks for the info on adjusting the rod.

I have observed over the years that RCBS shell holders allow considerable movement of the brass as the ram is lowered. This results in bent decapping pins if the ram is lowered aggressively, which is usually the case. With Redding shell holders, this has never happened to me. Using the Forster Co-Ax press, the problem has never occurred, primarily because the decapping pin "floats."

I have only had that happen a few times, and in my case its because the priming rod worked loose.

If it helps, it’s a pleasure.
I’m not sure whose dies are helped by the centering method, but certainly RCBS & Hornady dies allow it.
I’ve never had the same issue with Redding dies but they’re a slightly different screw in assembly though some thous of an inch of movement are available if required.
Good luck anyway.
Cheers.

Thanks ET. Been hand loading since 1964 and still learning. Good info!
Duane