Convince Me......Universal Decapper Die

AJ · Jul 1, 2025

A friend and I bought a bunch of used reloading items from another friend that is getting out of reloading. In the stash was a Universal Decapping Die. I have been reloading since 1972 and have never used one. My friend uses one a lot (he rloads both rifle and pistol, I just reload handgun ammo. I tried it tonight and it seems to work fine. I am use to decaping and sizing in one step. This way adds another step in reloading to me. So why do I need to use one?

Martyk · Jul 1, 2025

A possible scenario might be to de-cap prior to wet tumbling to get the primer pocket clean. JMHO

AJ · Jul 1, 2025

Martyk said:
A possible scenario might be to de-cap prior to wet tumbling to get the primer pocket clean. JMHO

I think he does that. I use dry media for tumbling, alway have.

Huskerguy · Jul 1, 2025

Years ago I purchased at Mighty Armory universal decapping die for the really hard primers. I don't even remember how many years I have had the thing but I ordered a few extra pins and just a month or so ago, I finally bent one. As stated above, I deprime all of my brass before wet tumbling. Yes, it does add another step and takes time but for me it is worth it. I could use the vibrator but hate the dust and it is toxic or just wet tumble with primers in. Whatever turns a guys crank I guess.

Bobby Fett · Jul 1, 2025

I have a universal decapping die mounted on an old RCBS JR press that is set up exclusively for depriming. It saves the good presses from the crud that falls out during decapping.

rockquarry · Wednesday at 1:05 AM

I have a Lee Universal decapper, but seldom use it for anything other than de-priming ammo I'm breaking down or some similar chore. You don't need it for regular decapping. The grit and grime associated with decapping is minimal and will not hurt a die. The debris goes out the bottom of the case anyway. In sixty years of handloading, I can't recall a primer pocket that "needed" cleaning, but I suppose cleaning a pocket does no harm.

fordson · Wednesday at 2:18 AM

I have the Lyman Univeral de-caper die. I don’t use it a lot but it does come in handy if I have to pop a good primer out of a bad case. Also helps me when I just want to neck size some single caliber rifle rounds.

robertrwalsh · Wednesday at 2:32 AM

I have one and use it on occasion for "odd jobs." I do, however, regularly use it to decap .25 auto. For some reason using the decapper with the set is problematic. I haven't figured out why.

stansdds · Wednesday at 6:18 AM

I have one too. I used mine to decap before tumbling. My tumbler is vibratory and I use crushed corn cob, which I found would pack into the primer pockets, so even more work had to be done to the brass in order to get them ready for reloading. Since I was just doing handgun brass, I gave up on decapping before tumbling. I will say that if dealing with brass that has crimped primers, decapping separately for the purpose of crimp removal makes sense.

tlawler · Wednesday at 7:04 AM

I have one that I use with my Lee APP. Makes quick work of decapping and I don’t have to change decappers for different calibers. I like to wet tumble, so this works for me. I know a lot of guys dry tumble and decap during the resizing step, but I just like shiny brass with clean primer pockets.

M1Garandy · Wednesday at 8:56 AM

Just used one to decap two five gallon buckets worth of .30-'06 brass that I didn't want to resize. A combination of RCBS and Lee dies as at one point I bent a decapping rod (my own fault).

Jim Watson · Wednesday at 9:02 AM

fordson said:
it does come in handy if I have to pop a good primer out of a bad case.

That is about all I use one for. My main product is bulk pistol ammo on a progressive and I do not want to add steps. The only primer pocket cleaning I have done was for black powder, and I decapped at the range for that so the brass could soak in a jug of soapy water on the way home.

STORMINORMAN · Wednesday at 11:36 AM

I only decap with a decapping die, prior to wet pin tumbling: all my sizing dies look like new...

Cheers!

'79 Magnum GT · Wednesday at 12:04 PM

I have on occasion put a primer in upside down with my hand held priming tool. This would be perfect so that you don't have to re-resize or bell the mouth AFTER you get the bad primer out.

Rick

bph9 · Wednesday at 12:18 PM

I bought an el-cheapo Lee decapping die years ago and I do not use it in the handloading process but I use it to decap anything that needs decapped without having to clean the case and run it through a regular sizing die. It was well worth the money I spent for it. I have used it a lot down through the years.

AJ · Wednesday at 12:30 PM

I guess it will go back in the box and maybe use it when I run into some hard to deprime cases. I tumble cases before I put them in my dies. I do not deprime before tumbling. In almost 60 years of reloading I have never had a problem with primer pockets or any crud from depriming when sizing. wait until next week and I will probably have trouble, now that I said that.

stansdds · Wednesday at 6:20 PM

AJ said:
I guess it will go back in the box and maybe use it when I run into some hard to deprime cases. I tumble cases before I put them in my dies. I do not deprime before tumbling. In almost 60 years of reloading I have never had a problem with primer pockets or any crud from depriming when sizing. wait until next week and I will probably have trouble, now that I said that.

Unless you are loading match grade/bench rest rifle ammo, cleaning the residue from primer pockets is a waste of time. At least that has been my experience.

WR Moore · Wednesday at 6:45 PM

I repurpose a lot of mil spec brass. Pop the primer out, swage the pocket and then into the cleaning process before sizing.

rockquarry · Wednesday at 7:00 PM

WR Moore said:
I repurpose a lot of mil spec brass. Pop the primer out, swage the pocket and then into the cleaning process before sizing.

What do you "repurpose" the brass to?

WR Moore · Thursday at 9:52 AM

OK, I reuse it. The various militaries seem to regard cartridge cases as one use and done. I've also observed before that DOD manufacturing specs don't seem to view SAAMI as a production standard to emulate. Especially with regard to primer pockets.

Convince Me......Universal Decapper Die

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