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Carbide die scratches cases

J

Jack71

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I have a carbide .38 Special sizing die that leaves a barely noticeable scratch on the shell cases. I can see the rough place inside the die, it runs almost the full length of the carbide insert but does not appear to be a crack. FWIW, this is a Herter's die so it has to be at least 35 years old.

Is there any practical way to smooth out the inside of the die?
 
Brand?

You didn't mention what brand of dies. If it's RCBS, contact them and they'll likely polish the die for you at no cost.
 
Well, its going to take something along the lines of a diamond abrasive polishing compound, if one exists, to fix that, if its not a crack.
 
Its probably a crack & if you size nickel cases, some nickel is embeded in the crack. Time for a new carbide sizer imo.
 
Jack71 said:
I have a carbide .38 Special sizing die that leaves a barely noticeable scratch on the shell cases. I can see the rough place inside the die, it runs almost the full length of the carbide insert but does not appear to be a crack. FWIW, this is a Herter's die so it has to be at least 35 years old.

Is there any practical way to smooth out the inside of the die?
Click to expand...

If you're like me you hate to throw away stuff like the die without trying to fix it. If it were the older steel die you could polish it out, but that carbide is so hard I don't know of any abrasive paper or paste that would do the job. Not sure what they use, but they use some sort of compound to polish diamonds. Maybe look into that, but I'm betting the cost of the stuff might outweigh just biting the bullet and getting a new die.
 
Nickel and even brass will gall on carbide and build up.
Before disposing of the die "polish" it with something like JB bore compound or Flitz.
I chuck a section of a cleaning rod into a bat-drill for the job and use a jag that is very tight.
You may be amazed at how much will come off the carbide.
If it is truly cracked it is time for a new one.
Many of us use a very small amount of lube when sizing with carbide, especially with the nickel cases.
Sometimes just rubbing the case with your fingers is enough to smooth its passage thru the die.
 
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One method that may work is to use a very fine diamond polishing compound on a felt "bob" a few thousandths larger than the carbide ring. You'll have to keep the heat down so run the bob slow and check often. It'll be a lot of work and fairly costly for the polishing compound, so it may not be worth the $30.00 for a new sizing die. I have seen diamond impregnated rubbet "rods" but can't remember where...McMaster-Carr

FWIW I still have a couple Herter's die sets, one for 30-30 and one for .38 Special (steel) and they are quality dies...
 
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Nemo288 said:
Nickel and even brass will gall on carbide and build up.
Before disposing of the die "polish" it with something like JB bore compound or Flitz.
I chuck a section of a cleaning rod into a bat-drill for the job and use a jag that is very tight.
You may be amazed at how muchu will come off the carbide.
If it is truly cracked it is time for a new one.
Many of us use a very small amount of lube when sizing with carbide, especially with the nickel cases.
Sometimes just rubbing the case with your fingers is enough to smooth its passage thru the die.
Click to expand...

Yup....my 38 die did just that...used a copper brush mounted in my drill press to clean it out.
 
You don't need or want to remove carbide, just wear away whatever is stuck to it, so you do not need some fancy abrasive. Just wrap some 320 wet or dry sandpaper around a dowel, chuck it in a drill, and have at it.

BTDT.
 
Lots of suggestions here but when my Lyman carbide started scratching cases, I sent the die a a few cases to Lyman and had a new die in a week. A much simpler way to remedy this issue.....
 
Don't think Herters is still making dies so the OP is out of luck in the customer service dept. unless Cabelas will take care of it.
 
Good cleaning or toss it....

I'd try cleaning first. If no good, carbide dies these days are a LOT less expensive than they used to be and maybe it should just be replaced.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I was trying to salvage an old die from a company that's been out of business for 35+ years. I like old guns and I like old reloading equipment provided it still works well.

I tried some aggressive cleaning of the die and it didn't help. Using a strong light and some magnification it looks like the problem is a hairline crack in the carbide insert.
 
Try to clean it.If it doesn't work,best thing to do is get a new one since if you remove any material(say the crack is .002'' deep,you'll have removed .004'' from the die),the die will be out of specs.
Qc
 
rwsmith said:
I'd try cleaning first. If no good, carbide dies these days are a LOT less expensive than they used to be and maybe it should just be replaced.
Click to expand...
Lee dies, like $40, done. That die set originally cost maybe $40. Time to move on.
 
Well........

Jack71 said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I was trying to salvage an old die from a company that's been out of business for 35+ years. I like old guns and I like old reloading equipment provided it still works well.

I tried some aggressive cleaning of the die and it didn't help. Using a strong light and some magnification it looks like the problem is a hairline crack in the carbide insert.
Click to expand...

...now you are SURE.:)
 
Qc Pistolero said:
if you remove any material(say the crack is .002'' deep,you'll have removed .004'' from the die),the die will be out of specs.
Click to expand...
I would like to see the home procedure that would remove .002" from a carbide die ring.
(Not saying it couldn't be done but...)
 
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fredj338 said:
Lee dies, like $40, done. That die set originally cost maybe $40. Time to move on.
Click to expand...

Fred, that not a bad guess. My 1973 Herter's catalog lists the .38 Special carbide die at $10.29, which according to the CPI inflation calculator would be $55.94 now. Midway sells the Lee carbide die today for under $25 plus shipping.

rwsmith makes a good point, carbide dies are less expensive than they used to be. While the price may appear to be higher, when corrected for inflation they cost less.
 
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