30.06 dies

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I've been using a Lee press and die set for my reloading and they have been fine in previous calibers, 9mm, .40s&w, .223 rem but when i started doing 30.06 the pin on the de-priming and re-sizing die started to bend. i have gone through two sets.
at first when i try it the pin just gets pushed up through the die, and after i tightened it down more it would bend a 90degree angle or break.
the brass was from some old ammo i got for my M1, Pakistani surplus. and it is berdan primed.
i looked inside the brass and it looks like there are two holes coming from the primer pocket vs the one that i normally see. i was able to load one round that was not from that lot.
i dont know everything and 30-06 is a new caliber for me as well as the first time im reloading brass this old (1968)
so ultimately the question is, is it the dies or is it the brass that is the issue, can this brass not be reloaded or am i missing something?
thank you for your help in advanced :)
 
You identified the problem, Berdan primed brass, which does not have a centered primer decapping hole in the case, instead has two or three off-centered holes. Discard those cases and acquire boxer primed cases that are readily available. My favorite source for once fired '06 brass is www.oncefiredbrass.com and there are other good sources. Suggest buying commercial cases rather than military to avoid the crimped primer situation with the military brass.
 
As an after thought, there is such a thing as a Berdan depriming tool but it is not something that operates from the loading press and is not what you would want to use with '06 brass. If the caliber was something that only came Berdan primed, that would be a different story of course. But for the inexpensive and widely available boxer primed '06 brass with a centered primer pocket hole, that your sizing die is intended for, discard those Berdan primed cases and replace with boxer primed cases. The above www.oncefiredbrass.com source currently shows once fired '06 Federal brass at $20 per 100 cases.
 
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Stop What You are Doing!

I know that your OP said you have experience reloading, at least something. But your post actually seems to scream that you have virtually NO knowledge of the subject. I strongly suggest that you simply stop what you are doing and purchase a decent book, such as Lyman (any edition - the 49th is available real cheap now) or Lee's Modern Reloading and READ it to learn some of the things you do not know that you do not know. Right now you are a danger to all around you.

The issue you identify with your brass is such a basic thing, I suggest that if you do not stop and learn those basics before you continue pushing forward you are either going to get hurt or ruin a lot more stuff.

Good luck.
 
Source,

I don't usually recommend videos, but this one immediately addresses what you have described and why it happens in the first minute.

A decapping pin cannot punch through solid brass. It needs a centered hole for the pin to pass through to knock out the primer. Therefore your Lee die is made only for decapping Boxer primed brass, the only kind commonly reloaded.

Berdan primed brass is generally not considered reloadable for the reason that it doesn't allow a standard decapping pin to work and, even after you get the primer out, the standard Boxer primers commonly available will not fit into a Berdan primer pocket. Standard Boxer primers contain their own anvil, while Berdan primers have no anvil, instead depending on an anvil formed into the case to provide something for the firing pin to crush the priming mix against. Berdan primers are also different diameters than standard Boxer primers. Both decapping and re-priming Berdan cases require special tools and require different primers that are not as commonly available.

There are a few people who reload Berdan cases because of Boxer primed cases not being available in the chambering they want to reload for. You can search the web for information on how to do this. Some get a special can opener tool that removes the spent primer. Others use hydraulic pressure to remove it. TulAmmo sells some Berdan primer diameters, though there are about half a dozen different ones, IIRC, and you have to be sure your primer pockets are sized for one of the available ones. It is also possible to convert a Berdan case to use Boxer primers, but this is a lot of trouble to go to, and unless you have a chambering for which Boxer primed brass is not available at all, it hardly seems worth the effort, though you can find how-to videos on this topic, too.

30-06 is not a chambering for which boxer primed cases are hard to come by. The Greek HXP ammo sold for the M1 by the CMP is Boxer primed and reloads just fine. You can find it here, but do have to prove your eligibility to purchase from the CMP.
 
"...Pakistani surplus. and it is berdan primed..." Make some drawer pulls and throw the rest away. Berdan primed brass is not reloadable.
Any Berdan to Boxer conversions you see online do not work. Berdan primers, if you could find 'em, are not Large and Small Rifle in size. They're specific diameters. And the RCBS Berdan depriming tool runs $65 at Midway.
Way more trouble than it's worth anyway. Graf's will sell you 50 pieces of BNIB Winchester brass for $27.99. 500 cases for $265.90. Midway has Prvi on sale at $46.99 per 100.
 
I've been reloading for my CMP Garand for about 2 1/2 years now, using Lee and RCBS dies. Since I count reloadings for my brass I inspected my brass and sort by times shot. In doing so I also check headstamps and if I find something "off" I'd put that case into a "Look At Later" box (I have purchased "once fired" brass). I've identified some headstamps that are Berdan primed so 99.9% of the "bad" brass never reached my sizing/decapping dies, and if a case seems to be a bit more difficult to size, I stop before any damage is done to my tools...;)
 
Sent you a pm...will ship you some once fired brass to help you get back on track...your call...

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk
 
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