RCBS Berdan depriming tool.....broke on 8th casing.

[Uzi2]

I received a brand new $85.00 RCBS berdan depriming tool an hour ago via FEDEX. Tried it out according to included instructions on some non crimped, previously fired .308 shell cases and the decapping point broke on the 8th shell casing.

Anyone else ever use one and have this issue?

Waiting for a return call from RCBS.

The pin to the left of the hook that pierces the primer cup. Over hardened in my opinion.

I had 100+ times the longevity out of a masonry nail.

 

[76Too]

No experience with the tool (I use hydraulic method because I’m cheap and it was easy to try), but I know for a FACT that RCBS stands behind their products 100%. You’ll have a new one next week.

 

[TZCHRIS]

I just ordered a 10 pack of Dillon deprime pins. Got a ton of 223 to process, broke my last 2 yesterday

 

[Uzi2]

I just ordered a 10 pack of Dillon deprime pins. Got a ton of 223 to process, broke my last 2 yesterday

Are you breaking them on berdan primed brass, or off center flash holes?

Guatemalan 5.56 was notorious for very small and off center flash holes. I used to just leave that brass on the range, wasn't worth the problems it caused reloading.

 

[greencobra]

Are you breaking them on berdan primed brass, or off center flash holes?

guessing he's trying to deprime military brass with crimped in primers.

 

[TrenchKnife]

The piece that broke is a part that looks easily replaced. that is if you know how to remove a pin.

I vote with the "RCBS will stand behind it" camp. Though I recommend that user discretion is needed. just like de-priming pins.

Berdan in general aren't all that bad. Bully out the primer, decrimp, drill a hole through that dual-bung thingy, "apply all the work it takes to clean an size", push a primer in it and load.

impractical .... yeah, but a cool excersize in reloading.

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

Are you breaking them on berdan primed brass, or off center flash holes?

Guatemalan 5.56 was notorious for very small and off center flash holes. I used to just leave that brass on the range, wasn't worth the problems it caused reloading.

Tru dat. I had a whole case of that Guatemalan stuff. Came in a nice wood crate though.

 

[Uzi2]

They suck.....had same experience

Go hydraulic and dont look back

I'm working on that.

 

[Uzi2]

The piece that broke is a part that looks easily replaced. that is if you know how to remove a pin.

I vote with the "RCBS will stand behind it" camp. Though I recommend that user discretion is needed. just like de-priming pins.

Berdan in general aren't all that bad. Bully out the primer, decrimp, drill a hole through that dual-bung thingy, "apply all the work it takes to clean an size", push a primer in it and load.

impractical .... yeah, but a cool excersize in reloading.

Oh yes, that pin is easily replaced, that's not the issue.
The issue is, the pin is brittle tool steel that appears to be over hardened and if it's going to break every ten rounds or so, you'd need a bucket full of them.

 

[AHM]

... that pin is easily replaced, that's not the issue.
The issue is, the pin is brittle tool steel that appears to be over hardened and if it's going to break every ten rounds or so, you'd need a bucket full of them.

Sounds like you need to visit the Ham Radio subforum
and get skinflinting instructions on how to
replace the over-hardened brittle tool steel pin with a masonry nail.

 

[mac1911]

I received a brand new $85.00 RCBS berdan depriming tool an hour ago via FEDEX. Tried it out according to included instructions on some non crimped, previously fired .308 shell cases and the decapping point broke on the 8th shell casing.

Anyone else ever use one and have this issue?

Waiting for a return call from RCBS.
View attachment 534657
The pin to the left of the hook that pierces the primer cup. Over hardened in my opinion.

I had 100+ times the longevity out of a masonry nail.

I would ask for a credit there are more usful tools to have than this. The hydraulic system is better

 

[TZCHRIS]

guessing he's trying to deprime military brass with crimped in primers.

SAR 18 5.56 headstamps

 

[KBCraig]

I have the RCBS Berdan claw, but I've only used it on Berdan-primed ammo.

If you're trying to use it on Boxer-primed ammo that is crimped in (especially an annular crimp), you're going to fail, hard.

Fun irony: Berdan was an American, and his primer system was mostly used in Europe. Boxer was English, and his primer system is standard in America.

 

[76Too]

I would ask for a credit there are more usful tools to have than this. The hydraulic system is better

Wait...there’s a hydraulic ‘system’?

I use a socket, a punch and a hammer.

 

[NavelOfficer]

They do break, but often it is because the cutter is set too deep. You know it's set too deep when you damage the anvil. Some head stamps just don't decap easily, so you may want to discard those instead of wasting your time with them.
Yugo 8mm and South African .308 can be tough, especially hydraulically, but are 99% doable with the RCBS tool. I found French .30-06 almost impossible to decap by either method. Just toss it in the scrap pile.
Obtain a supply of boxer brass and save your tool for only limited rare calibers.
Where are you getting berdan primers for less than human sacrifice pricing anyways? Surely, you're not converting to boxer when you can find o-f boxer brass for 10¢ to 25¢ a pop (Midstate used to have .308/.30-06/54R/6.5CM for 10¢ to 25¢ each respectively).
BTW, my hydraulic method is pretty rudimentary, being a broken pin Lee .30 caliber decapping system (substituting an appropriate diameter punch for 8mm). If needed, you can use a plastic bread wrapper to seal loose mouths or even touch them with a sizer die, if you want to make extra work for yourself.

 

[Road_Clam]

So your basically attempting to deprime the "cat eye" type berdan casings ? My thoughts are it's not the temper of the pins but more the lack of consistiency with the actual two flash holes. Maybe a situation where one pin correctly lines up with the flash hole, but the 2nd pin is jamming off center of the 2nd flash hole and snapping ? Are the push pins carbide ?

 

[NavelOfficer]

I've seen where some attempt to make a two pronged decapping tool, but what happens when you have single or triple flash-hole berdan cases? Snap!
The RCBS tool works externally, cutting into the primer cup and peeling the primer out (hopefully!).

 

[highlander]

Never understood going thru the trouble of depriving berdam cases. There used to be a tool that used standard primers to blast out the spent bwrdan primers,problem was at that time (70s) berdan primers were rarer than hens teeth.

 

[76Too]

Never understood going thru the trouble of depriving berdam cases. There used to be a tool that used standard primers to blast out the spent bwrdan primers,problem was at that time (70s) berdan primers were rarer than hens teeth.

Not much has changed there. I got the 900+ Berdan primers I have after 6 years of searching on forums and just ‘happened’ across them one day out here in Indiana.

 

[bmac10]

I received a brand new $85.00 RCBS berdan depriming tool an hour ago via FEDEX. Tried it out according to included instructions on some non crimped, previously fired .308 shell cases and the decapping point broke on the 8th shell casing.

Anyone else ever use one and have this issue?

Waiting for a return call from RCBS.
View attachment 534657
The pin to the left of the hook that pierces the primer cup. Over hardened in my opinion.

I had 100+ times the longevity out of a masonry nail.

You made it 7 more cases than I did with mine.

 

[bmac10]

Oh yes, that pin is easily replaced, that's not the issue.
The issue is, the pin is brittle tool steel that appears to be over hardened and if it's going to break every ten rounds or so, you'd need a bucket full of them.

When they are available, which is never