Lee .223 die scratching case mouth

[repomanNWP]

Anybody seen something like this before? This is a brand new Lee Precision full length .223 resizing die, I ran a few cases through it, my recollection is they were ok, did a batch of .recently tumbled .223 and they all came out like this. I cleaned the die, but made no difference. Entire circumference of the case mouth has these scratches. I'm assuming its just a poor quality die and plan to call Lee Precision tomorrow.

Before:


After:

['ol shooter]

Man, that looks terrible. I bought a used set of Lee .30-30 dies and it looked very similar. Being that they were used, I polished it, and it improved a lot. That should never have passed QC. Lee will make it right, but it should have been right the first time. I use all different brands, including Lee, so I'm not bashing on them, just pointing something out, QC could be better.

[Enfield47]

That's pretty rough, they must not have polished that part of the die at all. I'm sure Lee will send you a new die. Be sure to include a picture of the before and after case.

[LynnJr]

What lube are you using?

[repomanNWP]

lube = Hornady One Shot. I spray the die, then spray the cases, very liberally, let stand 5 mins, and then have at it. If I feel any abnormal resistance, I check for a dry case, or other issues.

[Wrangler John]

Sometimes die defects happen, and they happen to every brand. I recall a new RCBS full length .22-250 Remington die that left a deep gouge from the shoulder down into the body of cases. Turned out to be a burr from drilling the vent hole. Being that it was hardened steel, that burr wasn't going away with a bit of polishing. RCBS replaced it with apologies.

I've encountered dies that scratched necks as yours does, requiring a quick trip to the post office to return. It's really inconvenient to have to return a defective product, no matter what it is, but even more of a pain because of the delay in loading.

The most recent die problem I encountered was a Forster F.L. die that wouldn't screw all the way through a Redding T-7 press turret. Tried all the holes in the turret, then a second turret, still stuck well short of screwing in. Strange thing is it fit through an RCBS progressive, a Hornady L&L bushing, and a RCBS Rock Chucker. Sent it back, and they returned it as being within tolerances. So I'm stuck with a die that doesn't work in my main press. Every other Forster die fits the T-7 press perfectly. Gremlins. A sense of humor is a requirement for life.

When we receive a defective die it seems so personal, but it's just the luck of the draw. Lee should make it good.

['ol shooter]

I have found One Shot not slippery enough to suit me for rifle cases. I am still using good old RCBS in a tube, slicker than snot. Found that once done loading, a toss 'n rub in a rag moistened with odorless Mineral Spirits takes it right off. Still using Imperial Sizing Wax on all my handgun cases. That just rubs off as you progress through loading, with a final rub off in a dry rag.

[Spyder]

I've got the EXACT same thing in a .308 FL die from RCBS. Used it for a lot of loads of bulk ammo when I was first starting out...wound up replacing it with a new die a year or two ago, and don't run those pieces of brass through the new die.

Probably should send it back to RCBS and have it replaced.

[repomanNWP]

I have a love-hate relationship with Hornady One Shot case lube. It's clean, convenient, wipes off reasonably easy... but, its very easy to end up with dry spots on the brass despite over spraying. It's easier to get a stuck case as a result, in my experience.

Lee's responded right away to my email, they believe this is indicative of brass fouling inside the die, and will polish up the die for me at no charge. I may take a stab at cleaning the die myself with bore paste just for fun.

[bohoki]

wow thats a load of lines i get a few lines on my rgb dies but dang i wonder if you could polish it being that they are full length would suggest there are microburs at the transition

[baih777]

Send it back. If its worse than you think, they won't replace it if you already tried to fix it.

[M&P1554]

I have had RCBS and Horn dies do THAT EXACT THING to many brass. It was really bad while I was using media to tumble clean. I'm guessing it was from the powder left over from the media. I would wipe down all the brass but was unable to on the inside of the cases. after a bit, maybe working its way around the die. I now use stainless steel media, wet.

I use polish on the end of a gun cleaning q tip on my drill and polish the die. It cleans up those horrible scratches on the case neck.

[chknlyps2]

I have a love-hate relationship with Hornady One Shot case lube. It's clean, convenient, wipes off reasonably easy... but, its very easy to end up with dry spots on the brass despite over spraying. It's easier to get a stuck case as a result, in my experience.

Lee's responded right away to my email, they believe this is indicative of brass fouling inside the die, and will polish up the die for me at no charge. I may take a stab at cleaning the die myself with bore paste just for fun.

Was the die new or did this happen over time? If it is new there is no way it could be brass fouling. I would take out the decapping pin and collet and look at it under a strong light just like looking at the bore of a gun. Also run a dry q-tip around inside and you should be able to find where the rough spots are.

I like to call One Shot Case Lube One Stuck. That stuff is the only lube I have had a stuck case with... well 2 cases so I should call it Twice Stuck. Should have learned the first time

[FLIGHT762]

It is brass fouling stuck to inside the die. It needs to be polished out. I had a Forster die do that. Got it polished out and it's fine now.

Send it back to Lee and let them do it.

[repomanNWP]

Update: sent die back to Lee Precision, they polished out the brass contamination and I was able to FL resize another 1200 pieces of brass without issue, and then the scratching came back, lighter this time, but definitely there. Another chat with the fine folks as Lee's recommended I polish out the brass contamination with some fine emery cloth, and then switch case lubrication. They suggested moving away from spray lubes as they don't work as well for bottle neck cases....