Deprime without press

[Labrat198]

I am looking for a way to remove the primer without buying a press. My goal is to deprime and clean brass on my own time before heading over to my buddy's place to use his loading equipment to do the rest. I am not ready to start dropping a few hundred bucks into a press and powder dispensing scale yet.

[sqlbullet]

I see a couple of options:

Cheapest ($4 assuming you own a hammer, have a scrap of hardwood and a drill):

Get a hardened steel de-capping pin, 3-pack for $20, and a wood or steel place.  Drill a hole the size of the case head about .25" deep, and a hole in the center all the way through that is .220".  Use a small hammer and the de-capping pin to knock the primers out.  It doesn't take much force.  Pretty much all the expense here is just a sunk cost that won't carry forward

https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-90783-Universal-Decapping/dp/B00162ULZ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1489415182&sr=8-2&keywords=decapping+pin


Just Deprime (<$50):

Lee Reloader press is $30.  A universal decapping die is $15.  One foot section of 1X4, three carriage bolts and nuts and a couple of clamps and any table becomes a reloading bench.  I used this very press yesterday morning to size and decap about 500 cases, including about 100 30-06 from M1 Garand shooting.  I like it as I can clamp it down to the bar in our kitchen/great room and do these ops while spending time with the family.

https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Reloading-Press-Md-90045/dp/B002SF4X5I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1489415226&sr=8-2&keywords=Lee+Reloader
https://www.amazon.com/Lee-LP90292-Precision-Decapping-Die/dp/B002SF2ZXU/ref=pd_bxgy_200_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MT5ME777S37JM4AHK0VR


Basic brass prep (<$70)

Like the "Just Deprime" option, but instead of a universal decapping pin, buy a set of dies.. This would allow you to take brass that was de-capped, sized, and flared to your buddies.

https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Reloading-Press-Md-90045/dp/B002SF4X5I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1489415226&sr=8-2&keywords=Lee+Reloader
https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-American-Dieset-40-10mm/dp/B00UCH6BTU/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1489415146&sr=8-12&keywords=10mm+dies


No Trips to the friends house ($125):

Add a hand primer and a scales to basic prep and you have the tools for reloading yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Reloading-Press-Md-90045/dp/B002SF4X5I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1489415226&sr=8-2&keywords=Lee+Reloader
https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-American-Dieset-40-10mm/dp/B00UCH6BTU/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1489415146&sr=8-12&keywords=10mm+dies
https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-90200-Hand-Priming-Tool/dp/B000PW71LO/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1489415622&sr=1-2&keywords=hand+primer
https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-Safety-Scale-Red/dp/B000NTKCJW/ref=sr_1_7?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1489415644&sr=1-7&keywords=powder+scales


A better press ($155):

For another $25 you can get a starter kit from Lee with an "O" press instead of a "C" press.  All the components will work just fine, but some you will want to upgrade.  The powder drop would be first on my list.  But the Lee one does work, just feels cheap.


Final Thoughts

I don't know how far away your friend lives, or how close you are.  I had a reloading buddy keep his Dillon SDB at my house for years, and we would just reload together.  I miss that a bit, and if this is what you have, great.  I would say go the "basic prep" route.  You will show up and use his gear to prime, charge and seat/crimp.  This would maximize your time there while still giving you plenty to work on at home.

I tend to process in batches.  I will deprime/size a bunch of brass one night.  The next I will flare the case mouths.  Next I will prime off press.  I tend to have lots of cases around in this state, just waiting for what I decide to load.  The "basic prep" route gets you through all these steps.

Also, I hope this provides some insight.  I think too many guys get hung up on getting the right equipment, a certain brand, etc.  I have found that in many cases I end up using the cheaper lee stuff for lots of steps. 

For instance, I have both an RCBS hand prime and the Lee Auto-Prime XL.  The RCBS is definitely a better priming system.  Easier to use, more ergonomic.  And if I have more than 200 cases of the same type to prime, I use it.  But for small jobs, the Lee is way faster/easier to set up.  Even though it isn't as good, it's convenience means it gets used the most.

And in a lot of cases, you won't know these things until you pull the lever for a while.  So don't be afraid to start out with budget gear.  The Lee starter kit in "A better press" is definitely what I would tell you to get if you can swing $155.  Your ammo will shoot just as well as everyone else's ammo.

[gandog56]

Hmmmm, maybe a Lee hand press, universal decapping die, and a #19 shellholder would fix you up nice.

[The_Shadow]

Will I found an old screw driver, ran it on the grinder to shape a decapping pin on the end.  I use this for hand decapping with a small ball peen hammer holding the brass in a LEE decapping cup from an old handloading kit.

I had to make an even smaller decapping punch to do 357Sig from CCI / Speer as they have a tiny flash hole and standard small  pins get stuck of broken trying to decap them buggers...After I deprime the 357Sig I drill the flash holes to standard size before I reuse them...

[Grendel]

A buddy of mine loves this thing, $40.

[cwlongshot]

Hows 9$ plus ship?

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/297408/lee-decapper-and-base-22-caliber

CW

[winn442]

http://www.harveydeprimer.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYNliCI2wbo

[sqlbullet]

That harvey deprime is $50.  You can buy the Lee reloader or Lee hand press and a universal decapping die for that.

[Labrat198]

Thank everyone! You have given me some great ideas!  I don't have the room for a dedicated bench but the wood block idea for the press should work so I think a cheap single stage is the way to go for me. I have to buy the dies for the 10mm anyway so might as well get the press too. Get the basic brass prepped and primed before using his scales and dispensers.

[sqlbullet]

Sounds like a plan.  Certainly the route I would take!  Good luck and keep us posted!

[CurtisM]

I recently purchased a Frankford Arsenal Hand de-primer that works great.  Picked it up at Cabela's for $27 about a month ago. Deprimes brass from .20 cal. up to .338 lapua.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/FRANKFORD-ARSENOL-PLATINM-DEPRIME-TOOL/1969774.uts?searchPath=%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FcategoryId%3D734095080%26CQ_search%3Dfrankfort%2Barsenal%2Bprimer