300BlkTalk

Hey y’all, I am trying to reload 300 blackout (currently from once fired factory 300 brass) in 50 cartridges I have managed to ruin 2 lee decapping pins. The first one was after about 15 rounds. I emailed lee and they sent me a new decapping pin to install. That second one was good for about 40 cases and got bunged up again. I I’ve tried the resizing lube that came with the lee die as well as this last batch sprayed with one shot. I am not adding excessive lube due to counter issues. I’m kind of at a loss here. It’s obviously not uncommon as I see videos all over YouTube how to get stuck cartridges loose. I’d really love to hear some feedback that doesn’t begin and end with “get yourself some better quality dies” because I’ve seen these used successfully plenty, although if you feel strongly about it please tell me if new dies fixed your issue. Couple questions I have


1. Can I just get a universal decapping pin or does it need to have this specific bolster?

2. Does this decapping pin do anything specific for the resizing? When I handload 9mm I can resize my cases without a decapping pin even installed. Is that possible here?


This is my first shot at a rifle cartridge and so far it’s a miserable fail ha! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

1. Universal

2 No.

It isn't unheard of for a manufacturer to use smallish primer holes between the primer pocket and the interior of the case. Just something else to check.
What brand brass are you using?

Are the primers crimped in? Would be weird for 300BLK brass to have that.

Are the primer flash holes centered?

Are the cases sitting centered and squarely on the shellholder? I seem to recall that at least on a Lee Turret press, they suggest that the shellholder slot to insert the case be turned 90 degrees to the left for best results.

I use a Lee universal decaping die for a number of reasons, one of which is to be able to feel stubborn primers without the pressure of sizing at the same time. Have busted very few pins, but all were from military crimps.

I'm confused. Your title says issues with decapping pin but you mention lube and how to get stuck cases loose. Are you having issues with the pin or with stuck cases? Or are you messing up the pin trying to unstick a case?

Yes, you can resize without the decapping pin, but since the decapping pin in a resizing die also performs the neck expansion function, besides decapping separately you will also need a neck expanding die like the Lyman "M" die. The M Dies are awesome because besides expanding the neck, they can also be adjusted to provide a slight flare at the case mouth which prevents shaving with plain lead or flat base bullets.

But, unless you are doing brass processing on a progressive machine, that creates a couple of extra steps, so I would suggest buying a better quality sizing die as you mentioned if you are having trouble with the Lee unit. The Lee stuff generally works pretty well, but a lot of it is semi-disposable (and I say that as somebody who has purchased a fair amount of Lee equipment, and will probably purchase more in the future). I ended up with a total of 3 resizing dies for 300blk (not counting the one in my case trimmer), and I am still not totally happy with any of them.

My current process for 300blk in my progressive is to resize as a separate stage (currently using a Dillon die, although I have also used Hornady with good results), and then plunk the brass into an ultrasonic cleaner to get the case lube off of it. After it has been dried, I swap my primary 300blk toolhead into the press, which has the Lyman M die in station 1 in place of the resizing die.

exexex wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 10:23 pm Are the primers crimped in? Would be weird for 300BLK brass to have that.

There is plenty of factory 300blk brass with crimped primer pockets. A lot of the Hornady brass I have encountered is crimped, and at some point Barnes started crimping theirs too.

Doindia wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:30 pm Hey y’all, I am trying to reload 300 blackout (currently from once fired factory 300 brass) in 50 cartridges I have managed to ruin 2 lee decapping pins. The first one was after about 15 rounds. I emailed lee and they sent me a new decapping pin to install. That second one was good for about 40 cases and got bunged up again. I I’ve tried the resizing lube that came with the lee die as well as this last batch sprayed with one shot. I am not adding excessive lube due to counter issues. I’m kind of at a loss here. It’s obviously not uncommon as I see videos all over YouTube how to get stuck cartridges loose. I’d really love to hear some feedback that doesn’t begin and end with “get yourself some better quality dies” because I’ve seen these used successfully plenty, although if you feel strongly about it please tell me if new dies fixed your issue. Couple questions I have


1. Can I just get a universal decapping pin or does it need to have this specific bolster?

2. Does this decapping pin do anything specific for the resizing? When I handload 9mm I can resize my cases without a decapping pin even installed. Is that possible here?


This is my first shot at a rifle cartridge and so far it’s a miserable fail ha! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What’s actually happening to the stem?

It sounds like the pin is breaking, but you talk about the case being stuck. That sounds like either the decamping/sizing stem is not adjusted correctly or not tight enough in the collet. If that’s the issue the case is jamming on the sizing ball on the way back out, trying to expand the neck inside the sizing portion of the die.

Crimped primers will not cause a case to stick in a die.

You may have two issues, but without knowing exactly what what broke, why the stem was replaced, it’s hard to say.

i am 52 been realoading since i was 10 been around reloading dies all that time
yet when it came to 300AAC i had two sets one RCBS sb and Hornady
so cant be that hard to set up...... stuck two cases in the RCBS and one in the hornady
went on line to learn BLK was wrong and found out it was me. set the dies according to RCBS and Hornady and bob's you uncle
of and loading