Die Care

[WR Moore]

Something that used to be stressed when I started loading, way back in the middle of the last century, now appears to be a forgotten topic. The care of reloading dies and some related items.

I got prompted to post this after having an issue with primer seating in .38 Spl. After checking a few items, the root cause was long term buildup of lead shavings, lube and stuff I can't identify in the shell holder slot for the case rim. Over a very long period of time, I never cleaned this area. Add it to the list of things I'm about to mention.

We all know it's good idea to wipe down the die exterior to prevent rust from handling. How about the innards? Sizing dies are very prone to collect "stuff" inside them. Pulling the decapper/expander assembly on bottle neck case dies will generally display a large glob of carbon & brass particles on top of the expander button. Periodic removal of this debris is a good idea.

While the decapper/expander assembly is out of the die, this is a good time to clean out the die body. It used to be suggested to very occasionally lightly polish the inside of the die with crocus cloth. Since crocus cloth is hard to find (machine or tool & die shops, 3-4 feet is a lifetime supply), a very good substitute is gray Scotch Brite*. This will remove "stuff" that gets scraped off your cases during resizing. A gentle polish with very light pressure is all that's necessary. A light coat of resizing lube on the internal die surface (NOT the expander button) and you're good to go.

Separate neck expansion/belling dies can also benefit from the occasional cleaning. If you're worried about losing adjustments, measure from the base of the die to the top of the expander stem and record the measurement. Reset to the proper length. Remember, you don't want any lube on the expander button.

Same goes for seating/separate crimping dies. There will be a build up of lead/copper/brass shavings that need removed, possibly the same very gentle polish won't hurt. Use the same method noted earlier to keep your adjustments.

How often you do die maintenance pretty much depends on how much you load. If you're a binge/seasonal reloader you might make it part of your pre/post loading routine so that things run smoothly.

Hope this might be of interest/help to someone.

*I made/serviced extremely close tolerance parts/machinery at one time. For the really tight tolerance stuff, the gray Scotch-Brite was the only authorized way to remove oxidation/foreign material buildup because of it's extremely low abrasive quality. I've used it on dies with very good results and no measurable dimension changes.

 

[SMSgt]

I'm running an experiment with FrogLube on one set of dies. I broke them down, degreased them and gave the parts the FrogLube treatment.

So far not a spec of rust and a quick swipe with a Q-Tip on the inside gets any gunk out.

 

[eb07]

Brake cleaner and swabs. That's all I've used for years.

 

[dave201]

Brake cleaner and swabs. That's all I've used for years.

Good info. I go the degreaser route since all my dies are in Dillon tool holders and pre-adjusted. No polishing is needed for carbide dies [no lube for sizing]. Cast can make a mess of seating dies, but Dillon Dies come apart without changing adjustments for cleaning
My area is climate controlled because of lathes and milling machines so moisture is generally not a problem
I do use Corrosion X for long term and clean with degreaser before use again

 

[ggibson511960]

Abrasives???

All I ever do is rub the crud off with Hoppes or any other solvent at hand. WD-40 will do in a pinch. As to using abrasives like crocus cloth? Well, why? A simple swipe with a brass brush and a puff of compressed air will suffice without abrading the die. I don't use abrasives on my firearms's bores, so why my reloading dies? Corrrosion is the real problem. High quality dies are made from tool steel and are fairly rust resistant, with the notable exception of Lee dies that appear to have mild steel die bodies, but it's the bore that counts. Keeping the resizing die I.D. clean will yield prettier brass. The seating stem absolutely needs to be kept reasonably clean to avoid seating too deep.

 

[JBnTx]

I swab the sizing die out with whatever cleaner is available on a regular basis.
I "dry" clean the seating die of any accumulated lube from cast bullets as needed.

 

[mikld]

I keep a container of "soak" on my bench. It is mineral spirits, Marvels Mystery oil (or ATF) and Kroil. I'll drop my dies in there and let them soak for a while, sometimes a few days. Mostly I'll just wipe off the outside and allow the dies to drain. Occasionally, I'll disassemble the die and soak the parts.

One thing to care for my dies is I never use a wrench on my dies. I have seen (I purchased from Ebay) dies ruined by some gorilla using a 24" wrench with a 36" cheater bar to tighten down the lock rings. Ruined the threads and distorted the body...

 

[M29since14]

While you're cleaning grooves, it's always a good thing to clean the groove (in the ram of your press) that holds the shellholder, and also to have a look at the top of the ram for any sort of accumulation or nicks. Nicks should be carefully dressed flat with a fine India stone. Clean corresponding surfaces of your shellholders.

 

[GeoJelly]

The one thing I have found that helps, given the summer humidity here in VA, is to put one of the little desiccant packs in the die box - then put the die box in a kinda-sorta sealed larger plastic box. The packs I have are about 2x2 and are bright orange when dry, then they turn green as they soak up humidity. Humidity still seeps in - because the packs turn green after a month or so - but they're easy to reactivate in the microwave...

 

[WR Moore]

About those carbide dies, I was early on the band wagon on those and I still have the original directions. They DO suggest the type of very occasional gentle polishing I mention.

I will admit that was before anything beyond soap and water was used to clean cases by hobbyists. However, abrasive particles from the cleaning media still end up in the sizing die and can become an issue (embedded in the die body) if not removed. The crocus cloth and gray Scotch-Brite remove the softer debris, not the base metal.

BTW, an old time trick that works wonders on die lock rings with set screws is to put a soft lead shotgun pellet between the set screw and the threads.

 

[TAROMAN]

I polish the inside of dies by using an appropriately sized bore mop chucked in a drill and covered with Mother's mag Polish.
Shines 'em right up.

 

[Electric Head]

Yep clean those dies. I thought everyone cleaned and lubed their dies more than I did.

I load in as large batches all at once as I can over a few consecutive days (Dillon 550).

Every couple of months while they are not in use I get each toolhead (with dies, etc) out and inspect, clean, re-oil. I use Ballistol.

I only load 9mm, 38 Spl, S&W 357 Mag, and 30-30 Win. with a single press so maintaining it all isn't a big deal.

 

[chief38]

I just use Denatured Alcohol and a few Cotten Patches to clean them. I also take a Chop Stick sharpened to a point in a pencil sharpener to remove any stuck on crud if applicable. Works well for me.

 

[Skeet 028]

I too use Kroil every now and then. In fact I recently was given a set of Hollywood 22 Hornet Improved dies with a torn off neck stuck in there, Soaked the interior with Kroil for a couple days...screwed a bolt into the brass neck and threw it in he freezer overnight. Took it out the next day and hit the bolt with a punch and hammer and it came right out. Very fine steel wool and it shined like new inside

 

[mtgianni]

If you use nickel brass clean it after every usage.

 

[mikld]

When a new reloader asks me this question, I just say "clean it just like you'd clean your gun"...

 

[nachogrande]

TOO MUCH TIME ON MY HANDS?

I never used to give much thought to cleaning/lubing dies, usually only when a case got stuck. ( ) NOW that I clean them regularly (at least look), they really do work better/easier, & I can't recall the last stuck case. Using cast really loads them up with lead & (wax?) whatever the cast lube dujoir was, much faster.

 

[hdwhit]

Reloading dies. Care? Cleaning? Maintenance?

What is this; some sort of witchcraft you speak of? Who ever heard of anything as preposterous as all this?

Seriously, I periodically pull the expander unit from my rifle sizing dies and clean them out with a patch. I also clean out the vent hole on bottleneck cases. If they are not going right back into service, I will lightly oil them inside and out with light machine oil.

Expander dies, seater dies, deacapper dies, crimp dies all get disassembled, inspected, cleaned and oiled a couple of times a decade whether they need it or not.

If any of the dies need to be cleaned, I use a non-chlorine brake cleaner followed up by a light coating of light machine oil. Dies are stored in their original boxes with small desiccant bags that are changed regularly. This has worked great for the past 38 years so it's what I plan to continue doing.

 

[caduceus]

Kingsford charcoal lighter fluid and wifes wooden cuticle beveled sticks, when she's not looking

 

[oneounceload]

My dies have been sitting in my garage in Florida for 14 years and have no rust at all. Can't remember when I last cleaned any of them.