care for dies

P

psalm7

New member
Had something to happen the other day that has'nt happened before .
I use Lee equipment and was loading .300 WM . While decapping and sizing the cases I noticed it was harder to raise the lever then the expander on the decapping rod got stuck in the case neck . After working with it I got the case out and noticed the expander ball was slightly rusted and also burnt powder behind it .
It crossed my mind to start removing the decap rod after each use and cleaning it and leave it dissassembled until I use it agin .
I know a shooter that wipes his dies down with oil and leaves a very slight film on them .
Just wondering what others do .
In 30 years this is the first time I had this paticular problem and all I normaly do is roll up a papper towl and run through my dies .
 
Yeah the crud will build up on that expander, so I check mine every 50 rounds and clean them up. The die gets Guffey's "towel on a dowel" treatment at the same time. I tell you I have lessvtrouble with expander buttons after 0000 steelwool with flitz on it, chucked in a drill at medium speed, doesn't require a lot of shine but it sure quiets those dudes down.

Also for rusty dies, avtrip into tumbler for overnight makesvthem look new again.
 
I take the de-priming/resizing die apart about every 4,000 rds or so ..( handgun calibers is what I load mostly )...or if something doesn't feel right.

If it just seems a little sticky....I'll use a cotton pipe cleaner ( they're smaller than Q tips )...and spritz a little solvent on it ...and run it up inside the die a little in station 1...and then the other end of it ( the clean end) up in there to remove any residue.

You should not really get much debris up inside the de-priming/ resizing die if you clean your cases first ( vibrating cleaner )...and while I use a resizing lube, it goes on as a liquid and dries pretty well...but I will occasionally get some excess lube up in the de-priming die after 3,000 cases or so ...so it does need to be cleaned ( and so do all the dies ) ...as I change calibers usually.

I clean the inside of the die / and the de-priming assembly with some solvent on a cleaning patch ...and some Q tips....and I spray a very light film of Rig #2 oil on the parts..and then wipe it off with a clean patch.

If the expander tube/powder funnel tube ( in my case, in station 2 ) were to get chipped and rusted for some reason, I'd replace it... I wouldn't try and keep it clean and rust free. I only use carbide dies.
 
Ok at the risk of being odd man( which I usually am:D). I take the Decapper out every time. Here is the reason as explained to me by my mentor.
The one thing that throws a case neck out of whack more than anything is the expander ball coming out of neck, it pulls back up on neck. After I decap my brass,I pull the Decapper out of die and run all my brass back through the die again. This sets the neck tension perfect on everyone. It is a tedious task,but I have noticed a slight difference in accuracy. Also as a test try this. Take a case FLS and one done as I just described. Put both next to each other on a flat surface and roll them across table. Watch the neck on both. Any how, back to question. I clean mine every time I do this. Spray a little cleaner on a rag wipe it down and then a shot of oil.
 
When the dies get to the point of being tooooo cruddy from lube, I take out the ultrasonic cleaner and dump them into it for 4 or 5 cycles. Then an oil treatment and they are ready to go back to work.

Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top