Should I Be Worried?

[gnauenburg]

Guys,

I am looking for your opinions about whether I should be alarmed at the state of my dies? I posted previously on another thread that I haven't loaded any ammo in over 10 years. The thing that I am worried about is my sizing dies. My dies were left setup in my presses for all of that time. They were in a garage but not covered or sealed from the ambient air. Both my RCBS and Loadmaster presses have a film of what I will describe as crud. I think that it is kind of baked on dust. It gets hot in Riverside in the Summer after all.
My dies are mostly Lee but I do have some RCBS sets as well. They all have what looks to be some low level of rust or corrosion of some sort randomly on the exterior surfaces. If there is a similar crud inside of the sizing dies is this going to destroy them on the first case that I run up into them? They are all carbide dies for pistol calibers but I just don't know? Any Thoughts?

George

[sequoia_nomad]

I'd take 'em apart and scrub all the crap out before trying to use them. Once the filth is off they should be fine, it would be a good idea to check and adjust everything anyway.

[Boots]

As said above, they should be fine once you get the crud off. Don't use anything that will remove metal, but something strong enough to remove all dust and film. Then, size a case, put a micrometer/caliper on it and check the sizing... if it's good, you are GTG.
If not... such as surface rust changing dimensions, I would send your dies to the respective manufactures for proper cleaning.. honing.. or machining.

[gnauenburg]

Any suggestions as to what I should use to clean them? Soap and water? The some solvent I use in my gun barrels? Some type of degreaser? I am guessing that you don't condone the use of any kind of scotch brite type products since they would remove some metal. Sadly, I have nothing but time to work on this. Once I have the presses and dies cleaned up I will finally be able to try and load some ammo again. The only other roadblock to overcome is finding a shell plate for either the Piggyback or the Loadmaster for cheap to load 45 ACP. I would prefer to use the Loadmaster but that also requires the large primer assembly which I never bought. Didn't think about that before I sold my Pro 1000. DOH!!! Sorry to get off track. Man I can't wait to get back to reloading. Thanks again for your advice and suggestions.

George

[gunboat]

I would start with kroil and patches -- If you have a bit of surface rust you can try a bit of bronze wool with the kroil - I am sure there are other products equally as good as kroil --
If you have a "dremel" and polishing heads, toothpaste is a good light abrasive.
The dies are hardened so you are not likely to damage them with mild abrasives.

[gnauenburg]

Do you think light steel wool would be too much for the outside parts of the dies?

[kurac]

if they are carbide, you should be fine since carbide does not rust, if you had rust spots in a steel sizing die it would leave scratches on your cases.

[huckberry668]

I read some posts about 'polishing dies' to make them smoother when resizing. Personally I wouldn't worry about using '0' steel wool to 'remove' the rust inside or outside of the dies. Just don't over do it. Carbide is so hard I seriously doubt you'll be able to damage it with steel wool.

[gunboat]

For the outside of the die I use a brass wire wheel - Steel wool would be fine outside as well, it just breaks off leaving bits all over -- wash your die in solvent after using steel wool to remove all the bits --

[Boots]

I read some posts about 'polishing dies' to make them smoother when resizing. Personally I wouldn't worry about using '0' steel wool to 'remove' the rust inside or outside of the dies. Just don't over do it. Carbide is so hard I seriously doubt you'll be able to damage it with steel wool.

yes, I read somewhere where a guy polished his that it reduced the amount of lube that the brass needed when sizing. I kinda like the aspect.

[gunboat]

An experience this evening that may show the toughness of dies --

I inherited a 308 sizing die with a case stuck in it tighter than a bull's a** in fly time -- the rim had been pulled off, the case had been filled with lead and pounded something fierce.
I got the neck portion out no problem but have been diddling with it off and on for months.
Tonight I just chucked it up and started boring the case out. I figured I could salvage it as a neck sizing die.
Well, i messed about dialing the tool out a thou or two at a time and finally it was all out.
Not a scratch on it ! the hi speed bit just skated over the hard die surface. made a lot of noise but did not cause any scratch visible to the eye and glass.
I guess a little steel wool won't hurt.
The die was a CH but I doubt that matters. --

[GlockFukYeah!]

No problem!

[Boots]

An experience this evening that may show the toughness of dies --

I inherited a 308 sizing die with a case stuck in it tighter than a bull's a** in fly time -- the rim had been pulled off, the case had been filled with lead and pounded something fierce.
I got the neck portion out no problem but have been diddling with it off and on for months.
Tonight I just chucked it up and started boring the case out. I figured I could salvage it as a neck sizing die.
Well, i messed about dialing the tool out a thou or two at a time and finally it was all out.
Not a scratch on it ! the hi speed bit just skated over the hard die surface. made a lot of noise but did not cause any scratch visible to the eye and glass.
I guess a little steel wool won't hurt.
The die was a CH but I doubt that matters. --

awesome! gotta love that.