Need to take die apart?

H

Heavy Metal 1

New member
I used Lee sizing lube and it works quite well, but I did get some rust in the die afterward and I sent Lee an email about it. Long story short they said the lube is H2O based and the die needs to be cleaned after use. What wasn't answered though is do I have to take the die apart to do that? The decap spindle is a real bear to loosen, in fact because of my wrist issues I should not be using that much force. I would rather not have to take the die apart then monkey around trying to get my setting back.
 
You could fill it with something like Kroil to get the rust out. But then you'd have to clean out the oil with carb cleaner before use. I use Hornady One Shot as case lube. No rusted dies.
 
I took the die apart (what a chore!) and dealt with the rust issue. The rust is gone now so that has been put to bed. I would rather not have to do that again.
 
What cartridges are you reloading? I use the Hornaday spray lube for anything straight walled. For rifles I use RCBS and have never had a rust problem.

Any decent solvent should work without taking the die apart. Acetone, Mineral Spirits, etc. WD40 would probably work, I'd guess that most gun cleaning solutions would work but you might have to clean off the excess cleaning solution afterwards.
 
Clean a die: I clean my dies with a towel on a dowel. The towel is embeddable. When I get a good finish on my dies I apply the leaver policy.

F. Guffey
 
I think I know what he means. As in gold or gem prospecting one comes upon a rock of no value it is comically known leaverite, as in leave her right there.
 
Water based lube? No get rid of that.

Get imperial neck lube (graphite) and just use that, nothing else needed, this builds up enough after a little bit.
 
One reason I like Hornady dies is the wrench flats that allow me to put them in a small vise to remove spindles, etc. or any other time I wish I had 3 hands.
 

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AVirginian--thanks. Why didn't I think of that? I kept the die in the press and used 2 opposing wrenches to take it apart---a prolonged case of duh....on my part!
 
I took the die apart (what a chore!) and dealt with the rust issue. The rust is gone now so that has been put to bed. I would rather not have to do that again.
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I understand it is a bugger. Gets easier with time but Lee Dies are the most difficult to dissemble, though my Hornady dies are almost as hard. Both of them require a wrench to hold the die and a wrench to remove the decapping spindle.

I am currently dissembling my dies once I am finished sizing. I wipe them out, and run an oily patch through the center. Not doing has caused surface rust even though I am using RCBS water soluble. I had to toss a Lyman small base 30-06 because the bottom of the die rusted in the press. It rusted and pitted just where I want it to reduce the case head. That die was particularly tight, and that was how I wanted it.

I recommend to all, clean your dies before putting them away. Sizing lubricants are not rust preventative. Some of them have animal fats which will cause rust as they break down.
 
I think I know what he means. As in gold or gem prospecting one comes upon a rock of no value it is comically known leaverite, as in leave her right there.
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And then there was a friend that purchased 5 03 type rifles from Sears from a barrel, he paid less than $35.00 for each, at the time he was an apprentice to 3 smiths. First he made a reamer and then ordered 5 barrels and stock, when finished he had 5 magnificent rifles. 25 years later he regretted building the rifles, he was telling me the rifles would be valued at $1,200 each had he applied the 'leaver policy'. I explained to him Sears had another barrel full of Mausers that were cheaper.

The only excuse I needed when picking a donor was for someone to tell me it was not worth anything because one of the serial numbers did not match, and then there was that thing about shooting groups or patterns.

It happens everyday, someone finds something and then cleans, polishes, paints, jacks it up changes the engine and or has it rebuilt etc. and then? They are told they should have lefter like they founder because they removed 1,000 years of patina.

I have a leaver policy, I have no problem applying the leaver policy/

F. Guffey
 
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One day I noticed an auction, the auction caught the notice of several forums because it was for an ugly rifle. I could not imagine anyone could build a rifle as ugly as the one pictured without knowing something about building an accurate rifle so I thought about the sum of the parts. I bid and won for $120.00. I wasted my time asking forum t cut back on the insults until the auction was over. I guess it was pier pressure, no one wanted to get caught bidding on an ugly rifle,

I took the rifle to the range with 120 rounds of 12 different loads in 12 different cases in groups of 10. Because of the way it was built it took me all day to fire the 120 rounds, not a problem staying busy, I have always taken at least 8 rifles with me.

I applied the leaver policy to the rifle, there was nothing I could do to improve on the accuracy. At the range a man came over to inform me his father had one like it during the war. I was surprised he recognized it as being a M1917, It was about that time he told me his father was at the range with him. I asked him where his father was during the war. He said his father was a professor at one of the universities in China and left China for Formosa.

F. Guffey
 
FWIW; I keep a container of "soak" on mt bench (75% mineral spirits, 20% ATF, and some Kroil, roughly). I drop a die in the container and let it soak for a while, sometimes when I forget, a few days. I slosh the die around a but after the soak, and either use an acid brush to clean the interior or just set it on paper towel or a shop rag to drain. A quick wipe and it can go back in the die drawer. If one had chunks of dried lube (rarely) I'll disassemble and drop the parts in the soak. Usually a wipe down of the parts after the soak gets them clean. Works for other tools also (micrometers [nope it don't hurt them], and small tools)...
 
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