How many of you have ruined dies and how?
- Thread starter Canadian Bush Wacker
- Start date
With the decapping rod/pin?
Let a friend learn to reload on my setup with his brass. He didn't clean anything and picked up his brass in a sand pit and I wasn't paying enough attention to notice the fine sand on the cases. His FL sized brass came out with marked up necks and said I did something to mess up my dies before he started. The sand on his cases had scratched the inside of the die so badly the cases came out heavily gouged in the neck. He refused to replace them and said I had done it. First and last time he ever touched my reloading equipment.
I used emery paper and a dowel and managed to smooth out the die neck so they're usable again. It's now my backup FL sizing die.
I used emery paper and a dowel and managed to smooth out the die neck so they're usable again. It's now my backup FL sizing die.
I'll admit it, I once got lazy and didn't want to fire up my lathe to turn down the bases of some 348 winchester brass that I was going to convert to 43 Spanish. .
I ran the brass into the die and it went 9/10th the way and in my head I though "silly me for doing all that extra work, I'm a genius for figuring this out I'll save hours of time !!"
Then it went the last 1/10th and i heard a loud snap.
I split the die in 4 places about 1/4" up the body.
I shan't do that again.
I ran the brass into the die and it went 9/10th the way and in my head I though "silly me for doing all that extra work, I'm a genius for figuring this out I'll save hours of time !!"
Then it went the last 1/10th and i heard a loud snap.
I split the die in 4 places about 1/4" up the body.
I shan't do that again.
I didn't ruin a die yet but I did destroy my decapping stem in a ham fisted attempt to tap out the stuck case in my .223 FL sizing die. My first stuck case ever in 10 years of reloading. Pissed at myself because I knew better and should have pulled the stem and then drove out the case with a punch(which I did the next day). Paid my penance by buying another set of dies and a replacement stem to have a backup in the future, not that I will repeat the same mistake twice!
Stuck case removal - you can buy the tools. Or, you can improvise. You need a 1/4-20 tap, the tap drill, a 1/4" bolt, a washer, a socket and a wrench. Unscrew the decapping stem as far as possible. Drill and tap the case head. Drop a socket over the case head, butting up against the die. Install bolt and washer, and use a wrench to pull the case out. Keep the decapping stem clear, and saw off the case head. Remove the decapping stem and case. Works as well as a store bought setup.
I have taken a lot of stuck cases out of dies.
If I am given the stuck case before anyone has done anything with it, I can usually remove the case, without using the drill, tap and turn method. Thus, the dies and case will have nothing done to them, permitting the case to be resized and used again.
I was once at a gunsmith's shop when he got in a freshly stuck case, to be removed. The gunsmith was quite busy, so I volunteered to take the dies home and remove the stuck case, which I did.
No drilling or tapping and full use of the case after. And no marks on the dies.
Bruce
If I am given the stuck case before anyone has done anything with it, I can usually remove the case, without using the drill, tap and turn method. Thus, the dies and case will have nothing done to them, permitting the case to be resized and used again.
I was once at a gunsmith's shop when he got in a freshly stuck case, to be removed. The gunsmith was quite busy, so I volunteered to take the dies home and remove the stuck case, which I did.
No drilling or tapping and full use of the case after. And no marks on the dies.
Bruce
I used a roll type lube pad somehow some flaked off nickel plating got onto it, scored the inside of my die every case had a long scratch top to bottom I tried to polish it out ended up trashing it. No more roll lube pads or nickel plated brass for me.
