FL Dies Scratching the hell out of my brass.

[UIUCPPQ]

Best description of the issue that I can muster:

I was using a Redding Deluxe die set, specifically the FL sizing die In 6.5 creedmoor, when I noticed my brass was getting scratched pretty aggressively in the same place. Upon inspection of the die, I see that there is a rust-colored spot in the die right about where the scratch is. I believe that to be a very small build-up of brass from the scratches it is making. So I clean it out with solvent, very high grit finishing sand paper, and go again. After about 10 rounds, the scratch is back in the same place. I clean it out again, but decide to shelve it for a more thorough polishing. I try my Hornady FL sizing die, and lo and behold, the scratches start to appear in the same place. Now I have two dies that want to scratch the fuck out of my brass in approximately the same place.

My routine is: deprime brass (no resize), clean (wet tumble w/ SS pins), Dry (oven @ 175F), allow to cool, Lube w/ Hornady 1-shot, Resize, etc.

The brass always looks clean, but my first instinct is that something must be getting on it before I start resizing. That doesn’t explain why it’s happening in the same place, though.

To any of you who made it this far, thank you for reading, but does anyone have advice for what might be causing this? And any advice regarding polishing out these dies is also appreciated, because I haven’t been able to get the scratching-node out of them since it developed.

 

[Supersubes]

Fired and sized brass pictures would help. If two different dies make the exact same abnormal marks, it’s more likely a rifle issue. Chamber anomaly, rough ejection causing a burr that’s catching the die etc.

 

[918v]

Magazine lips often scratch brass and you don’t notice it till after sizing.

 

[UIUCPPQ]

Fired and sized brass pictures would help. If two different dies make the exact same abnormal marks, it’s more likely a rifle issue. Chamber anomaly, rough ejection causing a burr that’s catching the die etc.

I’ll take some pictures tonight. I do not think it’s a rifle issue, as it happens with brass fired out of two different rifles. Unless you’re saying that a piece of brass goes into the die already scratched and then leaves a mark in the die which then scratches other pieces? I wouldn’t think the brass could damage the die like that, but it’s a thought for sure. The only reason I would tend to doubt that it is that is the dies are getting this scratching mark in the same place relative to the press; in other words, the scratches seem to be on the side of the brass facing the lever each time in each die.

 

[D_TROS]

I have a die that has exact same issue. Some sort of buildup in it causing scratches when sizing. Anoying for sure but nvr noticed it causing accuracy issues. Issue disappears when using a diff die.

Tagging in for any good claeaning ideas. Prob should tumble brass after match to ensure clean before sizing but that chicka says, aint nobody got time for that!
lol

thanks
DT

 

[Forward543]

I have had this happen to a die that did not have enough lube on a case. It scared the die, and now marks everything. One time was enough to cause it to scratch forever. I did not get it polished out, I got a new die. But like Dtros said, never caused any functional issue.

 

[C.R. Adams]

get a bore mop that is small enough to tightly fit the inside of the die. next find one of the various bore paste products. chuck the mop in a drill, apply paste to mop, make a number of passes in and out of the die. do not allow the mop to dwell at any location (though, so little metal is removed, a person would have to intentionally hold it in a place for an extended time to make a difference). After a dozen or so passes, stop. Clean the die and it should be slick as snot on a door knob as long as you use the proper lube from now on.

 

[UIUCPPQ]

It is kind of sounding like I messed up and didn’t use enough lube on both dies. Curious that the imperfection was the same on both. I might order ONE MORE DIE and see if I can ruin it too while I polish the others.

 

[parshal]

I've had this happen before. I've chucked them in the lathe and run sandpaper up to 2000 grit followed by flitz and it's an absolute mirror finish. Then, the scratches come back. I think it's not only the lube but making sure your cases are squeaky clean. Some dies must not be as hard as others are more easily scratched.

 

[UIUCPPQ]

I've had this happen before. I've chucked them in the lathe and run sandpaper up to 2000 grit followed by flitz and it's an absolute mirror finish. Then, the scratches come back. I think it's not only the lube but making sure your cases are squeaky clean. Some dies must not be as hard as others are more easily scratched.

I was just waiting for someone to say they used their lathe lol. Seriously, does everyone but me have a lathe?!

 

[parshal]

You should get one. You'll find all sorts of uses for it more than just die polishing. LOL

My point was that I went through all that, twice, just to have it scratch again.

 

[UIUCPPQ]

You should get one. You'll find all sorts of uses for it more than just die polishing. LOL

My point was that I went through all that, twice, just to have it scratch again.

Ugh, that would be very frustrating to get it polished out and then have an immediate repeat. I agree with you that there’s a decent chance it’s some mixture of lube and dirty casings. I should be more conscious of if I’m transferring things to the otherwise clean cases in their case holder or with my gloves between cases.

 

[SDGator]

Before the die starts being scratch-prone (so with a new die in the OP's case), would it help to avoid this if you run the die through a cycle or two in the ultrasonic cleaner every few hundred rounds? If its from buildup of dirt that might prevent this.

If its from the magazine or the chamber then this is useless.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Often, the scratches are caused by a burr adjacent to the air bleed hole in the die.
Not all dies have this feature, Redding do not, another cause is leftover polishing media they use to final finish the die walls.
It is extremely hard and difficult to remove. My 264WM dies I just bought had it all in the neck of the die. Took me several attempts to remove, in the end I chucked it up and ran a bore mop with valve grinding paste, non embedding type fine grit into it and polished it out.
Without pics it is difficult to diagnose the cause.

Cheers.

 

[XLR308]

I had the exact same issue a few months ago with a Redding FL bushing die in 65CM.
I would have given the exact same description you did.
Maybe I caught it early enough but I stripped the die down and completely cleaned it with carb and choke cleaner then concentrated on the two spots inside the die causing the issue by removing the build up with SWEETS 7.62.
It took several treatments to completly remove the build up but haven't had any issues with it since.

 

[Amanda4461]

Had this issue one time during my Garand days. Switched to tumbling the empty in corncob, blowing the clean brass with shop air, then depriming and resizing. Corncob will polish dirty brass. I run the Dillon tumbler for 8 hours per load. Be careful, as I burned up two other tumblers doing this. The Dillon is 10 years old, so no issues with a weak motor. My days of stainless pin tumbling are over.

 

[918v]

It’s the lube