Die maintenance.

[Rodo]

Ive been cleaning and decapping a crap ton of once fired 5.56 and 308 lately I picked up as once fired crom a range. I use a spray lube, but follow the different manufacturers recommendations for their use, occasionally have a stuck case, but its rare. I either tumble or sonic clean all my brass before decapping or sizing, making sure they are wiped off before lube and sizing. But, im noticing some lines developing on my brass, especially and mostly on the necks, as time goes on. Ive stopped processing for the time being to avoid damage or loss.

Is this normal after a few thousand rounds? If it is, what if any, is the best way to correct this? Manufacturer repolish? Home repolish? Buy new dies? Did I not pay enough attention to begin with with my brass?

My Google fu is weak today for the site so if I missed it elsewhere, sorry, and general google searches have turned up a variety of answers on various boards, but Im a member here, so Im asking here trying to get clarification.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bigedp51]

Scratches are not normal, dirt and grit has scratched the dies from picking up cases off the ground. If you tumble with stainless steel media you will scrub more embedded grit from the outside of the case.

Disassemble your scratched die, chuck the proper size shotgun cleaning mop in a hand drill and apply J&B bore paste, automotive rubbing compound, Flitz, etc to the mop. Now insert the mop in the die and clean and polish the die.

A second method is to disassemble the die and put the body of the die in a vibratory case cleaner with polishing walnut media and clean for several hours.

Anytime you have a firearm that throws perfectly good brass on the ground, dirt and grit can become imbedded in the brass and scratch your dies.

Normally I clean the die with the shotgun mop first with J&B bore paste and follow with Flitz or a polishing compound on the mop. The vibratory method works well for cleaning/polishing and removing any corrosion from the dies but takes much longer.

 

[bruddah]

Good thread!

 

[witchhunter]

If they are RCBS dies, send it back and they will replace it. They are the best Customer Service on the planet. No, I don't work there, but they have fixed every loading problem I have had in the last 45 years! Lyman, not so much. Still fighting with them.

 

[Rodo]

Lee and RCBS. Ive got several thousand rounds run through the 2 sets Im having the most issues with, but like I said, all the brass were tumbled in walnut media before sizing.

Im going to be getting either RCBS or Redding competition dies soon hopefully, so Im not stressing too much on the old dies, just concerned I might have screwed them, and if not, or at least not entirely my fault, what other steps I can take to keep my dies in good shape.

 

[bigedp51]

Lee and RCBS. Ive got several thousand rounds run through the 2 sets Im having the most issues with, but like I said, all the brass were tumbled in walnut media before sizing.

Im going to be getting either RCBS or Redding competition dies soon hopefully, so Im not stressing too much on the old dies, just concerned I might have screwed them, and if not, or at least not entirely my fault, what other steps I can take to keep my dies in good shape.

Polish the dies and keep them properly lubed and clean. If the dies have embedded grit or are rough inside they will strip brass off the case and continue to pick up MORE brass. Walnut media is treated with an abrasive to clean the brass, this abrasive "INSIDE" the die can cause problems.

Again it is a simple job to polish the die and you will not change the dimensions of the die, you are just removing the embedded grit and making the die surface smoother.

I have been reloading for over 46 years and just polished a 30-06 die the other night that was made in 1973.

 

[OUinLA]

My FL sizer is scratching the shit out of the necks on my brass. It's not just a few lines, it's around the whole neck. Scratches might not be the best word. It roughs up the whole thing, neck up.

 

[M40_A1]

My FL sizer is scratching the shit out of the necks on my brass. It's not just a few lines, it's around the whole neck. Scratches might not be the best word. It roughs up the whole thing, neck up.

I've had some brass do that after annealing.

 

[Juma]

SSM clean your brass before you put it into your dies.Run Redding dies and use Kroil on the threads to keep them working. Use autosol to clean inside of die if it is dirty. Usually scrub them with kero and then autosol. Come up very shiny. Trick is not to put dirty brass up into your die in first place.