Well, I've done it. Just bought the thing last week at Sportsmans Warehouse. I was going to decap a few 22-250 brass this evening. On the third brass, broke the decapping pin. We'll see what SW has to say tomorrow. Wish I wouldn't have shredded that receipt now!!

hey brother....Ive broke just about everything at one time or another......and so has everyone else......dont worry bout it....I broke a universal decapping pin on my dillon 1050 yesterday....and I have been running that thing for years....it happens.......no worries man....

i'd call lee they'll make it good.

I guess the funny thing about it, is they say on the paperwork it is unbreakable ... yeah right my butt!!!

Well, SW made good on the return. I'll try it again.

There is a reason a lot of the die makers design their re-sizing dies with replaceable decapping pins... sooner or later you will run up against a crimped primer or similar, and that pin WILL break.

One more reason I will never own anything Mr. Richard Lee sells... I am sorry, I just see his line of products as sub-standard.

One person's opinion...

i broke so many pins on the universal die that i quit using one

Don't use the Lee dies but did lose a decap pin from a RCBS sizing/decap die for a .300 Win Mag.

I was reloading only 7 rounds for one of our sons and noticed that the decapping pin was now gone from the die.

I started pulling bullets and found the pin in the case of the 6th round, of course.

Wonder what would have happened if that round, with the decap pin, had been fired???

Any guesses???

Broke the redding small rifle one.

I broke a Lee universal decapper. Called then, they sent a replacement FREE! I had it in less than a week. Used the RCBS decapper in the sizing die until it came.No complaints from this camper!

I have used a Lee .22 caliber hand punch to decap my brass for 40 years. Finding the flash hole before tapping the primer out eliminates breakage of the punch. I also avoid getting all of the primer ash in my press.
My loading dies (most are RCBS) are either adjusted shallow to prevent the decapping pin for entering the flash hole or the decapping pin is removed.

I've punched a third hole in a Berdan case with my Universal decapper.
I was not paying attention and had picked up surplus NATO fired case while picking up my spent cases.
I only found out when it was very difficult to pull the case from the die.

Jim

I had two lee loaders and the base and pin for militarys and doing some volume of mil surplus brass managed to break 4 pins. I sent all back to LEE and got a free replacement by return mail, no questions. I cannot be happier. More busy work that using the decapper and a press, but for boob tube time killing, I like it. Luck. Happy trails.

I have broken a Lee universal die decapping pin. I replaced it, and my life continues on. I have also broken a multitude of Bonanza decapping pins, when I got tired of that, I replaced them with RCBS spindles. I am certain I have busted RCBS, Lyman, and a Dillion pin when loading pistol calibers.

I have less troubles with Lee pistol sizing dies in my Dillon 550B because of the firm attachment of the decapping pin to the die. All other brands have screw threads that work loose, you can’t see this, and at some point you bust a pin or a spindle.

I thought the whole idea behind the unbreakable Lee decap pin was that the thick rod end was held in a collet that would allow the rod to slide up through the collet if stresses were too great.
If the rod moved in the collect your supposed to stop and check what jamming the primer in place.

My only beef with the Lee universal decaping die was the blunt end of the rod that holds the tiny decap pin.
Decaping 22 cal. cases would very frequently have this blunt rod end snag on the case mouth.

I chucked the rod in my drill press an filed and polished a slight taper on the rod end. Now it glides into the 22 case without snagging.

Greenjoy,

Yeah, that's the way it's supposed to work, but it sure didn't!