Reddit reviews LEE PRECISION Decapping Die

Just get the Lee Decapping Die. Its cheaper and works with everything except Berdan brass(nothing works with berdan brass). As long as you read the instructions it'll power through anything, including military crimp.
As for the crimp, you'll need to remove the crimp, either through swaging or reaming, after you decap.

If you think that's the problem, you may also want to try the Lee Univeral Decapper. I deprime all of my brass on an LNL with one of these before I wet tumble. That adds another step to the process, but dem shiny primer pockets, tho! And, you avoid running dirty brass through your dies.

The 3lb would work, but if you can get a deal on the 6lb one, I'd get it. I have the 6lb one(dual drum) and if I remember correctly, I do 50 cases of .308 or 7.62x54r cases per drum, each works out to be about 1lb of brass. For 9mm and 45acp, I weigh out a pound on a kitchen scale.

I do 1lb brass, 1lb stainless steel pins, 1 lb water, a squirt of laundry soap, and a 9mm case worth of lemishine.

I deprime before cleaning with a Lee depriming die.

I tumble for 30 min to an hour, then separate from the pins, rinse, and let dry.

I also load on a single stage about once a month, and it works great for me.

If you have any questions, you can PM me.

For your requests I would recommend the following:

Harbor Freight Grinder Stand

Plywood

Lee Reloader Single Stage Press

Lee Universal Decapping and Depriming Die

Frankford Arsenal Tumbler Kit

This will get you in the door with pretty much the basic tools to begin your cleaning & depriming steps taken care of.

You can piece this together $25-$30 at a time. This set up will give you a work area you can make as big/small as you need it.

Personally?

Lee Challenger 50th Anniversary kit.. Last time I did the math, even with the pieces I don't use, it came out cheaper than the individual components.

I wouldn't bother wasting the weeks of trying to get the included measure to throw properly for pistol rounds and would have gone straight to the Lee Pro Auto-Disk with the Adjustable Charge Bar. That thing throws accurate enough for pistol plinking with a few modifications.

I'd also pop right off the bat for a Universal Decapper so I could decap before wet tumbling.

Oh, and I'd get a chronograph and tripod from the start, too.

For dies, I like Lee. I'd just snag whatever dies I needed. I'd also get the various bits and baubles: Bullet puller, digital scale, digital calipers, etc.

What are you doing for hand depriming? One of these? https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Platinum-Deprimer-Reloading/dp/B00RPABDZO



But to answer the question any single stage press will work Lee sells one for under $30. But you will need to buy shell plates for every caliber. (some interchange) Buy a lee universal decaping die and it will work for all calibers, you have to adjust it for that specific caliber, but its turning a screw basically. https://www.amazon.com/LEE-PRECISION-LP90292-Decapping-Die/dp/B002SF2ZXU

I use the [Lee Universal Decapping die] (https://www.amazon.com/LEE-LP90292-Lee-Precision-Decapping/dp/B002SF2ZXU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499724278&sr=8-1&keywords=lee+universal+decapping+die) but changed the pin to the hardened one from Squirrel Daddy. Works great for the 6 different calibers I reload. Haven't had one break and can't recall having to even adjust the sliding pin.

If you get a Universal Decapping Die you don't need lube.

If you are using your normal sizing/decapping die you would need lube.

also, are you planning on tumbling your brass? I also deprime before i tumble using a decapping die. Definitely not a requirement though.

This is a decapping die for reloading. you don't need to buy this, but see the pin at the bottom? you need something to push the primer out. if you have a drill press you could just use a small drill bit. or a small screw driver from one of those cheap eyeglass repair kits.

once the primer is out you can use the existing flash hole and primer pocket to center your drill and drill out the brass to whatever size you want.

Loadmaster user here. You will need to trim brass every so often, depending on the cartridge. I have been checking my .223 every time but that's mostly because I don't think I have even done a second loading on my brass because I find so much range brass. You are supposed to trim after resizing, since resizing can extend the length. You'll have to trim off of the press unless you can get one of those fancy trimmer dies.

Here are my steps:

1. I clean my brass first to help keep my dies clean. I use stainless tumbling media
   
   
2. deprime/size all of my cases
   
   
3. Trim, chamfer, debur, ream primer pocket. Right now I use the Lyman EZ trimmer, but I will be getting a Giraud Tri-way Trimmer in the near future. It trims, chamfers, and deburs in one swoop.
   
   
4. Run my brass through the press without resizing and decapping since I did that in step 2. So step 4 will just prime, drop powder, seat, and crimp.
   
   
   I'd look at a Lee decapping die. I just got one and started using it, and it's really nice. It doesn't do any sizing. It just removes spent primers. Since it doesn't size, my brass doesn't need to be clean so I run dirty brass through it to decap so I can get the primer pockets a little cleaner (never noticed a difference when they were dirty, though)
   
   So what I have been doing lately is running my brass through the decapper first, then I clean, then I size, trim, then run it through the press for the rest of reloading.
   
   It adds a few more steps since I'm not sizing and decapping at the same time, but at least this way I can just decap real quick and not have to switch sizing dies or worry about my dies getting dirty or messed up from dirty brass.

Or, just by a dedicated Lee decapping die for a whopping $12.99?

Hello,

For plinking loads, which I assume is your main purpose for reloading, cleaning primer pockets is not essential.

I recommend you do not run dirty brass through your sizing die as the dirt buildup may damage the swaging surface (made of carbide in most straight-walled sizers today, including Lee dies). This could also leave scratches on your brass during the sizing process. Therefore, do not go with option #3.

This all boils down to how much time you want to spend on each step and what you want at the end of the process. Depending on how accurately you want to track your brass usage and what you're starting with (new or used brass), you could do a deprime and primer pocket cleaning every, say, 5th reload.

As for my ultimate recommendation: either option #1 or #4, with #1 being preferred for plinking ammo.

Edit:
You may want to invest in a Lee universal decapping die. Link Very handy for general decapping and the pin design is friction-based, so there's less of a chance of the pin tip being snapped off or broken if you get a funky piece of brass in there.

That's cool and all, but for the same money you could buy a Lee Hand Press and a universal decapping die, and have a more useful tool.