I just read the thread about brass tumbling.
It made me wonder, Has anyone worn out
a set of steel dies?

I have a set of RCBS 38 special dies I bought
in Henrietta OK in 1978 at the pawn shop.
It had grit in the sizer and scratched cases
until I took a GI 308 chamber brush to it.
The scratches went away and the brass loads
and shoots just fine.

I don't shoot as much as other folks and
Have probably ran what, 40 thousand cases
thru it? And it was used when I got it. But
the point is the dies aren't worn out.

So has anyone worn out a set of dies?

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never get out of the boat

While I don't use them anymore, I have a set of steel 38 Special dies from Herter's I bought used in 1970 or so. They still make good handloads but I haven't miked any handloads to see if there is any wear in the sizing die. IMO it would take many thousands (hundreds of thousands) of "dirty" cases reloaded to wear out a die.....

It takes a lot of use BUT it's possible for a heavy use reloader to wear down even carbide (sizer) dies. Reloading clean brass extends die life. Reloading brass very lightly lubed with a product that will evaporate with a little time, as well as non-issue for powder contamination extends die life even further. I like lanolin, either the USP version found at the drug store or the less expensive commercial version.

Lanolin works for applications, such as straight wall pistol. I do not recommend it for full length resizing of rifle cases or other similar heavy duty uses.

I don't know about "wearing out" dies, but grit can scratch the dies which in turn can scratch the cases, etc. It's like having a burr on a file--every stroke one takes leaves a scratch in the item being filed.

Eons ago a friend of a friend sold me a whole bunch of "once fired" 45 Colt cases. Cheep.. When I got them they were all nickle and a lot of the nickle had worn off. So much for once fired.

I used them for a couple years and then threw them away. I discovered that the nickle had damaged the dies. Every brass case I resized was totally scratched.

I sent them back to Lee and they replaced them no charge. That was early Lee and I think they had a life guarantee.

That was my only worn out die story. I never cleaned cases and my dies are seemingly OK. Today I tumble everything because retirement lets me do what I didn't have time for before.

I have some dies that are at least 40 years old that work as good as new.

I have damaged, but never worn out a die.

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

I have several sets of dies from the mid 70s. They work great and have loaded many 1000 rounds.

My 270 and 357 dies in the early 1960’s.

My 45 acp dies are over 40 years old.

They all still work just fine.

My first set of dies were a steel set of RCBS for 38 Special, bought used about 1980. I still have them and used/checked them a few months ago. I can't imagine how many rounds they have loaded! I've never worn out a set, nor have I ever damaged a set in over 40 years. Probably won't either lol :-)

I have some dies that are over 70 years old that I’m still using in my tru line junior!

Lee, in a pamphlet about their Lee Loader, said a cowboy that was cabin bound all winter loaded so many 30-30 rounds that he wore out the die, which they were happy to replace, but there was only the one they knew about.

Ivan

Yes. Back in the 80's I wore out a set of steel RCBS .357 dies. Many just the sizer. It eventually wore to a too large diameter to size the cases to where they would fit all of my .357s.........I went to carbide and never looked back.

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S&W Accumulator

Enough water will wear down a rock in time. That being said, you would have to run a LOT of brass to noticeably wear steel dies, especially if you were reasonably diligent in cleaning and lubing cases.

Haven't wore out any dies - actually might have the opposite problem with my 9mmLee powder thru the expander die. Suddenly started grabbing the brass after expanding - took so much effort to push down the lever that it actually was lifting the leg of my reloading bench off the floor and bouncing powder out of the dispenser!
I took the die apart and the - button? shuttle? whatever you call the thing that does the belling had what looks like a buildup of brass on it. Almost looked like severe copper fouling in a bore. I am gonna try and polish it off if I can find any of the dozens of containers of metal polish that are around here somewhere . . . is this a common occurence?