RCBS FL die scratching cases

[Suther]

I bought some dies off the EE, and the FL die is scratching my cases quite a bit. At first I just said fk it, it is fine, but now I'm worried that I am going to prematurely wear out my brass, and considering its Lapua brass I don't want it to give up the ghost earlier than necessary just because of the die.

What can I do to solve this issue? I have thoroughly cleaned the dies with fine steel wool and gun oil but that didn't seem to make any difference.

Here are some pics of the inside of the die and the brass with scratches:

Thanks in advance!

 

[BattleRife]

If steel wool didn't work to polish out the defects, I don't know that there could be any other answer than go to a harder polishing medium.

Diamond pastes are available on Amazon pretty cheap. I'm sure the density of diamonds is pretty crappy at those prices, but whatever, you may never need them again.

10 micron should offer pretty good removal rates, 1 micron will give a better shine than the factory ever put on.

You'll have to make a lapping tool. Maybe from a lead, wax, or epoxy casting of the die, or a case.

 

[Butcherbill]

Just had this with a Lee 9mm sizing die, the top of the carbide sizing ring had some roughness or burr’s. I’d start by disassembling the decapping stem and look with a light for any buildup or roughness. Clean it well with a brass brush on a cleaning rod in a drill and then wrap some 0000 steel wool around the brush or a mop and polish it more. If it’s not got a carbide ring you should be able to easily polish it with some mothers paste polishing compound.

You could make a flap sander by taking a dowel and making a slit at the end, slide in a strip of 800-1000 grit wet dry and polish out any of that brass flake stuck to the wall of the die. Worse case contact rcbs, they will be able to refurb it back to spec. Their customer service is top notch, they sent me parts free of charge for a single stage press that I bought used. They wouldn’t let me buy the parts or pay shipping, awesome to deal with.

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...Polishing-a-carbide-sizing-die-Problem-solved!

 

[stubblejumper]

Use a good copper solvent and brush to remove brass deposits.

 

[DBeato]

My RCBS dies did this to...I dont use RCBS dies anymore.

 

[Snider shooter]

I had a 300 Savage die that left worse scratches. Came in some stuff a bought and forgot about until I found a 300 savage. I used a slotted shotgun jag with 400 grit sand paper folded up in it.Put it in a hand drill. Gave the inside of the die a heavy spray oil and worked the sand paper in and out. Didn’t take much to smooth it out.

 

[hunter89]

I fixed a die that was doing that with fitz polish on a shotgun brush wrapped with a cloth. Worked great.

 

[downwindtracker2]

I have a 308Norma Redding die that left a scratch when new. It and a case was sent back to the factory. It doesn't anymore.

 

[rboule]

My die was doing this sent an email to RCBS and shipped it to them and they returned the die repaired no charge

 

[barsik]

rcbs has excellent customer service, they will most likely replace that die with a new one, they did for me.

 

[VICIOUS]

Use of dirty brass will do this. So I used a jag with auto-sol, like Fritz a chrome polish to polish it.

 

[VICIOUS]

All dies are made of soft leaded steel so they can be machined easily. Therefore they can also be re-polished easily.

 

[gunlaker]

I recently had the same problem with a set of RCBS dies. I used a small piece of green scrub pad, the kind you use for dishes, soaked in Robla Solo and it cleaned up in about 10-15 minutes.

Chris.

 

[Oldsmobiler]

0000 steel wool, wooden dowel, drill on med speed and a good lube like G96….will look like a mirror in no time

 

[kevin g]

I had a 300 Savage die that left worse scratches. Came in some stuff a bought and forgot about until I found a 300 savage. I used a slotted shotgun jag with 400 grit sand paper folded up in it.Put it in a hand drill. Gave the inside of the die a heavy spray oil and worked the sand paper in and out. Didn’t take much to smooth it out.

^^^^^^THIS ^^^^^ works wonders on die insides...I used G96 and 400 /600 wet /dry emery paper

 

[Suther]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'm going to start with giving it a real good clean with copper solvent, then hit it with some steel wool in a drill. If that doesn't work I'll move onto some metal polish, if that doesn't work I'll move onto sandpaper, and last if that doesn't work I'll contact RCBS and see if they'll warranty it.

 

[Chilly807]

I had a similar problem, but it was from brass streaks in the neck of the die.
I believe that happened from not chamfering the outside of the neck on new or once fired range brass. I've since made it a habit to chamfer all my cases before they get sized, and haven't had the problem since.

To get rid of the brass deposits I used Brasso on a patch wrapped around a nylon brush spun with a drill. A bore mop would do the same thing.

 

[DANS40X]

OP,
Clean again w/ bore solvent.
Apply 400 grit silicon carbide oil base lapping compound on a patch.
Place the patch on a nylon bore/chamber brush that is slightly oversize to the die cavity.
Chuck the brush into a cordless drill
Insert
Spin
Clean inside of die w/ solvent
Dry patch inside of die
Time required,less than 5 minutes.

Verify w/ bore scope if available.

 

[boxhitch]

I bought some dies off the EE, and the FL die is scratching my cases quite a bit. At first I just said fk it, it is fine, but now I'm worried that I am going to prematurely wear out my brass, and considering its Lapua brass I don't want it to give up the ghost earlier than necessary just because of the die.
.........
Thanks in advance!

wonder what Bubba used as a stuck-case remover tool

 

[smokinbarrel]

Fine steel wool won't have much effect on deep scratches. A piece of wooden dowel with a slot cut in it. Start with about 220 grit emery cloth then finish with 400. Don't worry about enlarging the die, it takes quite a bit of polishing to remove even .001"