lead in seating die

1

101combatvet

New member
Had a lot of lead build up in one of my titanium carbide seating dies, removed much of it with a shaped wooden dowel. What would be the best method to clean any left over lead? I was thinking about using a vinigar/peroxide solution, but am unsure if that is the best method. Anyone have this problem before?
 
Some handgun sizing dies have resizing rings made of titanium carbide. Never heard of a seating die made of it, though. Can't see any any advantage to it.

Usually, when you get lead build-up in a seating die it is due to bullet lube sticking the lead fragments in there. Mineral spirits or naphtha will usually remove it. After scraping with your dowel, a Q-tip wet with the same solvent and see if you can get the rest out. If you have a die designed with a hole in the center to let the lube flow out, you will want to remove it and soak it the solvent for a day and use a pipe cleaner on the hole.
 
Some handgun sizing dies have resizing rings made of titanium carbide.
Click to expand...
I have heard of Tungsten Carbide (a ring),sizing dies and Titanium Nitride (a ceramic coating on Tungsten Carbide), but not "Titanium Carbide"...is that an error, or is there such a thing?
 
Vinegar or any solvent would take a hundred years. Just use normal cleaning tools. A pick, gently applied, will remove the big chunks.
 
If you have a drill press, lock a brass cleaning brush in it, dribble abit of bore cleaner in it, and turn on the drill. Brass will take out lead and not Mar the steel. No drill press? Lock your grill in a vise. Or just do it by hand just like you would with a firearm.
 
Right, they like it better.


101CombatVet,

T. O'Heir is correct about the time it would take, but also the vinegar/peroxide mix is for bare lead and not for lead mixed with a protective wax barrier of bullet lube on it. It won't be able to attack through the wax. Additionally, that solution can destroy finishes and can gradually attack steel. If you want a safe lead solvent, the No-Lead product by Sharpshoot'R works well for me.
 
I have to ask what are you doing wrong that you have such a build up? Are you using way to much bullet lube, not belling the cases enough or did it just take years to build up and you finally saw the junk when you were loading and the bullet stuck in the die instead of seating?
 
Hartcreek,

I think you caught it! I just looked at Redding's site, and I think maybe the OP has the Redding Pro Series Titanium Carbide dies. The literature says they do not include an expander. This would mean they are designed for jacketed bullets but not for lead. He needs to buy a Lyman M expander die for his chambering or the Lyman Multi-Expander kit (assuming it covers his chambering) and use that after the sizing die and before the seater. Problem solved.
 
Thanks for all the replies. What I did to solve the problem was scrap the lead out with a wooden dowel. I then plugged the die and filled it up with Hoppe's solvent, I let the solvent soak in for a few hours and ran a piece of paper towel through it. Cleaned up real nice.
 
But what are you going to do to stop the build up? I have used parafin wax to reshape the seater plug so it fits the bullet better in one case iun another I ground the seater plug flat.
 
First time I cleaned it after reloading 11,000 rounds. :D

Seating depth was difficult to adjust, when I took the die apart I noticed the problem.
 
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