Lee Loader

I was decapping 100 rounds of 357 Magnum on my breech lock Pro only using the Lee decapping die no other functions. . About every 30 rounds the decapping pin would pop up and I would have to reset it. Now I used to wrenches hand crank down on it as hard as I could to tighten it in the die mandrill but it still happened three times during the hundred rounds. . When I would reset it I would reset it as it came with a mandrel flush on top.

Is this normal for that Lee die or am I missing something?

You are likely not tightening as tight as you think you are. Aside from the parts being made out of spec, they really need a lot of grunt on them to work as designed. I'm guessing in the neighborhood of 30 lb/ft. It's designed to push out if something really goes wrong to save it from breakage but it should not come out that easily.

First, I'd inspect the brass that is pushing the stem up. Off center flash hole? Small flash hole? Junk in case? All the same headstamp? And I'm sure you aren't trying to decap any Berdan primed cases . Remove stem. Clean all oil, grease and slick stuff from the stem and collet. I use non chlorinated brake clean. Reassemble and tighten. That should fix the stem slipping...

Thanks for the information guys

mikld wrote:First, I'd inspect the brass that is pushing the stem up. Off center flash hole? Small flash hole?

I've run into this with 38 Spl. Flash holes all ever so slightly off-center on new brass.

The die accepts cases up to .560 in diameter. Combined with the arrow mandril that is a lot of free space for a casing to move around in. I use the die for range pick-ups, my own and others, that might scratch my sizing dies. I had the problem with 45 ACP cases. It was happening more frequently than you report. After I did some focused examination I swapped out the shell holder and the problem was solved, almost. Some cases would not just not stay centred in the holder. I bought an RCBS holder and haven't had any further problems. I did the same for 9mm as my Lee holder was so sloppy cases were sliding around as I operated the turret press.

[/quote]I swapped out the shell holder and the problem was solved, almost. Some cases would not just not stay centred in the holder. I bought an RCBS holder and haven't had any further problems. I did the same for 9mm as my Lee holder was so sloppy cases were sliding around as I operated the turret press.[/quote]



I've also had all the other problems, off/tiny flash holes, not tight enough, not clean.

Well I'm limited to the shell plate on the breech lock Pro so changing out the shell holder is not really an option. Once I D cap I do go through my case Prep Station with all of my d-cap cases and clean and uniform pockets.
I have some new brass but I wanted to get the few hundred rounds of range pick up I had prepped and loaded first. I have noticed some pocket holes not centered perfectly.