Wearing out Carbide dies??

Shooter ----/

Shooter ----/

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I think I just wore out my Lee carbide dies in 9mm! Was running a bunch of brass through my progressive and wasn't paying much attention when a case got stuck in the die! (I was depriming and sizing only) I went back and looked at the last batch and there are scratches on the sides of the cases! The last case that went through the die and didn't stick was actually cracked!

All brass was cleaned using Thumler's tumbler and stainless steel pin media.

Carbide dies are not required to have lubricated cases and I have successfully run thousands of cases through this die until today.

My questions are:
1. Has anyone else come across this problem?
2. What could have caused this to happen? I cleaned the dies a couple hundred rounds ago and noticed more tension but assumed this was due to rounds fired in a sloppy chamber.
3. Do different die makers use different methods to make their dies?

Thanks for your help folks.
 
Last edited:
Your dies are probably dirty. Lee stuff is junk IMO.

Shooter ----/ said:
I think I just wore out my Lee carbide dies in 9mm! Was running a bunch of brass through my progressive and wasn't paying much attention when a case got stuck in the die! (I was depriming and sizing only) I went back and looked at the last batch and there are scratches on the sides of the cases! The last case that went through the die and didn't stick was actually cracked!

Carbide dies are not required to have lubricated cases and I have successfully run thousands of cases through this die until today.

My questions are:
1. Has anyone else come across this problem?
2. What could have caused this to happen? I cleaned the dies a couple hundred rounds ago and noticed more tension but assumed this was due to rounds fired in a sloppy chamber.
3. Do different die makers use different methods to make their dies?

Thanks for your help folks.
Click to expand...
 
kevguy said:
Your dies are probably dirty. Lee stuff is junk IMO.
Click to expand...

Opinion's are like you, EVERYONE has one V:I:

Do you clean your brass before loading?
Do you lube them?
I know you don't have to do either,but if there's a buildup of crap in them that'll happen.
 
Nothing wrong with Lee dies, myself and others use many of them every day.

As above, the die might be dirty, grit stuck to the die, or a particularly hard piece of grit has embedded itself into the carbide or scratched the carbide. It is carbide, not diamond after all.

How many times has your brass been reloaded? If your gun has a large chamber, the brass could be work hardening, making sizing more difficult and prone to splitting.

I use a touch of lube on my cases when using a carbide die. A quick spray over top of the bucket of brass is enough, and makes a noticeable difference.
 
Carbide dies are not 100% carbide but rather a narrow band of carbide encased in a steel die body.
Odds are if there's any grit embedded in your die its above the carbide ring in the mild steel die body.
I think the odds are you would crack that carbide ring lightyears before you could ever wear it out with brass contact.
 
SandRoad said:
Nothing wrong with Lee dies, myself and others use many of them every day.

As above, the die might be dirty, grit stuck to the die, or a particularly hard piece of grit has embedded itself into the carbide or scratched the carbide. It is carbide, not diamond after all.

How many times has your brass been reloaded? If your gun has a large chamber, the brass could be work hardening, making sizing more difficult and prone to splitting.

I use a touch of lube on my cases when using a carbide die. A quick spray over top of the bucket of brass is enough, and makes a noticeable difference.
Click to expand...

I had run the die through my ultrasonic cleaner about a month ago. Before that I had never touched it.
How do you determine if the carbide has been scratched? I did notice some markings inside the die earlier so I used a cleaning patch with some polish and removed the markings.

Brass is mostly range pick up. Therefore I am unable to determine chamber issues or number of firings.

Does the spray on lube cause any issues when running in a progressive press? Specifically the case feeder?

I am wondering if the stainless pin tumbling technique is removing so much from the cases as to make them loose the normal lubricity that is normally found after walnut vibratory cleaning? Is this possible? The cases look more like polished gold after using the stainless pin media.

Is it worth trying to remove this stuck case and trying to salvage the die OR should I just replace it? On the replacement note, does any manufacturer sell just the resizing die?

Thanks again for the help.
 
Take your sizing die apart, and run it through your tumbler overnight. That should clean it out, and possibly polish up any burrs in the steel.

And in the future, make sure you give your brass a good cleaning before sizing it; an hour in the tumbler is quite sufficient to remove the grit and cruft from dirty brass.
 
DOUGLAS D said:
Carbide dies are not 100% carbide but rather a narrow band of carbide encased in a steel die body.
Odds are if there's any grit embedded in your die its above the carbide ring in the mild steel die body.
I think the odds are you would crack that carbide ring lightyears before you could ever wear it out with brass contact.
Click to expand...

This. \^ Nothing wrong with LEE dies, IMO they are as decent quality

First thing you should do is look at the die. Possibly the carbide is cracked or chipped, but more probably crap lodged or embedded in the die body and not the the carbide at all.

Clean it again. Brush the heck out of it and then blow it out if you have an air compressor handy.
 
Luberication "should" never be required for a 9mm carbide die.
I aggree with other posters, just clean it again.

If you want to buy dies in singles, call "Sinclair International" in the states, or on the web.
They sell Redding dies singlely.
Plus, they are all shooters that work there.
Allot of precision shooter types, and willing to help.
I have dealt with them since 1990.

Have fun, and good luck.
 
If brass is squeaky clean, with carbide dies you run the risk of brass sticking to the carbide and you'll get marks on the sides of your shells.
Powder residue and soot on the shells acts as some sort of lubricant but dirty brass isn't good for your dies.
To avoid this, just spray a very light mist of lubricant over your brass. You don't need to lubricate all the shells, just a trace is enough. If you don't have resizing spray lubricant at hand, use PAM, it works very well.
PP.
 
Carbide dies do not require lubrication but you will find that if u do add light lube they will cycle thru the die much better. Re the carbide sizing die, it is possible that the sizer ring may have cracked and the tiny hairline crack is marking the die. In fact I had a 45Colt die have that very problem, which was promptly remedied by Lee. If you dont have any grit trapped in the die then take a magnifying glass and inspect the sizer ring. You can also run your finger over the ring surface or if its too small, use a pencil to lightly run it over the surface feeling for any rough spots.
Good luck
dB
 
Within reason, I no longer clean my 9mm brass these days. However I do give the cases a light lube with furniture polish spray, let them sit overnight and they retain a dry yet slippery feel.
I am using regular Lee carbide dies in a Hornady LNL press and find that lightly lubed, the handle barely requires effort at all.
 
The casings have lots of "scratches" on the sides. When I get home I will count the number of scratches per casing. As for the die itself, it is sitting on my work bench with some oil in it as I'm hoping I can knock out the stuck case.
 
Also, I'm thinking that I may just rinse the dirty brass, deprime and then resize. I'll save the stainless pin tumbling for afterwards.
 
There is a lovely little tool on the market for pulling out cases stuck in sizing dies. Costs a few bucks, and frequently gets you back in production long before you can find a replacement die. Me, I've stuck the odd case!

If you find you cracked the carbide, pay particular attention to the instructions when you adjust your replacement. The carbide resizing die should NEVER touch the shell holder. More likely, you have embedded some serious grit in the steel sidewall of the die, above the carbide sizing ring. If you can clean this out, you'll likely be good to go again.
 
Pretty sure the scratches run from near bottom to 2/3 ways up the case. Again, the brass is so clean that some of you may be able to do your hair in the reflection!

I am going to try and drive the case out with the depriming pin removed and either a screw driver or a large punch.
 
I wouldnt try driving a stuck case out with a screwdriver but hey...they're your dies.
For the small amount of coin it costs for a proper stuck case remover you'll save yourself a lot of grief both now and sometime down the road.
 
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