How do you clean used dies?

6

629StealthHunter

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I've got a used set of Lyman 38 sp. 357 mag dies I picked up at an auction. They have a little surface rust and some gunk build up. How do you go about cleaning used dies. I disassembled them and have them soaking in a jar of isopropyl alcohol right now. Any suggestions? Thanks
 
I suggest you get them out of the alcohol. I would give them a coating of WD 40 or similar oil and then scrub them with a small brass brush, similar to a toothbrush in size. That should remove any light surface rust. Following that just clean them using a good bore solvent and dry them. Finally leaving a light coat of oil on the surfaces.

Ron
 
Mineral spirits or hoppes 9 and a bore brush. Isopropyl alcohol will cause them to rust as it has water and oxygen in it and it dissolves oil.
 
That's a nice little kit for die maintenance. Really nothing I don't already have but a nice little kit none the less.

Ron
 
I wouldn`t take WD40 anywhere near my guns or dies, i disasemble and swab out my dies every time after I use them. If i need to clean them further, i use Ed`s Red bore cleaner...
 
I took an old rusted used set of RCBS 30-06 dies disassembled them, tossed them in my corn cob tumbler, for about an hour and they cam out looking brand new. Cleaned with brake cleaner, lubed the threads and they work perfect.

*make sure you clean the sizing die vent hole if you do this.
 
Take a look at Safari Charllies.....Cleanzoil is another as is Shooter's Choice. Basically any good solvent, with some elbow grease followed by a light lubrication/oil
 
I clean my dies with Hoppe's no 9 and then clean it out. Then lubricate with WD40. Remember to clean out the vent hole if the die is equipped with it. If left too long the vent hole could get blocked and could result in more dented shoulders on cases.
 
A lot will depend on where the surface rust is. 0000 steel wool and light oil will take it off the outside. Where it doesn't make any difference. Internal rust will alter the dimensions and shape of the die.
Regular cleaning is done with handgun cleaning tools and regular solvents. The tumbler is a good idea though.
 
StealthHunter wrote:
How do you go about cleaning used dies.
Click to expand...

If you have a dry tumbler, try disassembling the dies and tumbling the parts overnight. That may solve your problem. After that, if they don't look good enough, try cleaning them with one the processes suggest ed earlier posts.
 
Dies

I never use WD 40 because it leaves a lacquer coating on all the surfaces once dry. It will build up over time. I would do as some have suggested. Coat with hoppes #9, let sit for 5 minutes and use a bore brush to lightly scrub, then use some quarry cloth (it comes in a tin can at NAPA) to wipe over it. The cloth has turpentine on it and it looks like a tuff cotton or something. Then spray off with brake cleaner and a light spritz of gun oil and leave sit until your ready to use it. Then just wipe it off.....
 
One thing I will suggest,be careful about the first brass you size after cleaning your dies.Lube them well! And you do not want residual solvent ,etc confusing your case lube.

For some reason WD-40 is a passionate topic here.We have had many discussions about it.The inventor was trying to make a Water Displacing preservative.One of the first applications was the workings of Atlas Missiles.

The inventor tried to be secretive with his formula. MSDS laws pretty much got past that.Someplace ,researching for a WD-40 discussion here at TFL,I found the alleged ingredients. Primarily Varsol,an industrial petroleum distillate solvent,and hydrogenated heavy mineral oil.

They hydrogenate vegetable oil to make Crisco. Peanut butter oil gets hydrogenated.That makes the stiff grease texture.

So,not quite a perfect descriptin,but if you fluff and puff a no-additive gear oil to a grease like merengue or mayonnaise(or Vaseline),then dissolve it in parts washing solvent,its pretty close to WD-40.

If you degrease your dies with Brake cleaner,etc,I do suggest they need something for preservative.

Feel free to disagree,but IMO,WD-40 is fine.

I have not done this,but it might be that lanolin or RCBS case lube dissolved in mineral spirits or laquer thinner would penetrated a thin film of case lube over the die.IMO,that would work for me.

I'm not quite comfortable with the alcohol carrier in spray case lube for an anti-rusting application.
 
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I hose them out with WD40, then use 0000 steel wool on a very slow drill to clean up any rust. Alcohol is not a good idea for soaking...rust issues. Best Regards, Rod
 
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