How often do you clean your dies?

stevebc

stevebc

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It's embarassing to admit it, but I'm a "set it and forget it" kind of guy, so when I started having issues seating my .38 S&W, it was a shock to see how much crap had built up in the seater.
I have been using old Dominion and new Remington brass, and had no problems seating the lead round nose 160gr bullets. I picked up some Starline brass at the Kamloops gunshow, and when I started seating I noticed that every round had been slightly shaved as it was seated, and I was having to clean off excess shavings and clumps of lead. I changed the expander to flare the mouths a bit more, but the problem persisted. Might have to chamfer the mouths a bit. I looked at the seater die, and couldn't believe how much lead had built up in there. Out with a dental pick, Q-tips and alcohol (to remove the built-up bullet lube) and a while later I had an impressive and embarassing little pile of lead shavings on the desktop.
Later, I took a look at my 9mm sizer/decapper die, and while far better, it too needed a cleaning, so it got me wondering- how often do you clean yours?
 
I use Lee Liquid Alox as a tumble lube with my 9mm. I have to clean my sizing seating and sizing dies regularly to prevent problems. Those who load jacketed can load them and leave them, but they have to pay a lot more for bullets as welld:h:
 
stevebc said:
It's embarassing to admit it, but I'm a "set it and forget it" kind of guy, so when I started having issues seating my .38 S&W, it was a shock to see how much crap had built up in the seater.
I have been using old Dominion and new Remington brass, and had no problems seating the lead round nose 160gr bullets. I picked up some Starline brass at the Kamloops gunshow, and when I started seating I noticed that every round had been slightly shaved as it was seated, and I was having to clean off excess shavings and clumps of lead. I changed the expander to flare the mouths a bit more, but the problem persisted. Might have to chamfer the mouths a bit. I looked at the seater die, and couldn't believe how much lead had built up in there. Out with a dental pick, Q-tips and alcohol (to remove the built-up bullet lube) and a while later I had an impressive and embarassing little pile of lead shavings on the desktop.
Later, I took a look at my 9mm sizer/decapper die, and while far better, it too needed a cleaning, so it got me wondering- how often do you clean yours?
Click to expand...

I think the key to keeping your dies clean is to keep your tumbling media clean. My buddy doesn't have clean tumbling media and whenever I get some brass from him and size it, I end up having to clean my dies due to all the gunk jammed up in the die.
 
Mine are cleaned frequently as my loading room is in the workshop and unheated.
Here in the Lower Mainland its very damp/humid and some of the different brands of dies tend to rust if not cleaned and oiled often.
 
Every time I notice something's not right, I clean the dies.
Since I load more cast nowadays, the lube has become a problem.
But Lee dies can be taken apart and cleaned easily.
 
Haven't had an issue yet with bottleneck rifle cartridges, but the amount of gunk that gets built up in my .44 Mag seating die using cast bullets exclusively is pretty impressive.


Mark
 
I tumble before sizing so brass is clean. I mostly neck size with a Lee collet die so no lube. I've finally got around to getting a Lee universal decapper so no oil there either.

With the above regime I clean my dies very rarely, a cotton bud and some isopropol or hoppes #9 is about all . But very rarely. I rub them with a cloth and a little oil if I see rust developing.
 
Don't use dental picks. Remove bullet seating punch, then use Hoppe#9,varsol or paint thinner with a brass bore brush. If more flare doesn't stop shaving especially with an oversize .38 S&W bullet(I use .360), then an oversize Lyman M-die may be required. good luck
 
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