do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

[Ring]

my 223 and 260 dies were leaving fine scratches on the neck and bodies of my brass...

looking in the dies, i could see small brass flakes that have embedded in the dies...
tried a oversized bore brush and didnt do anything... even scrapping with a dental pics was hard to remove them

so after reading the KG12 test
http://www.jarheadtop.com/KG12_Test_Results.htm

i decided to grab a bottle and test...

i removed the decapper, i plugged the die, and filled it with kg12

let it soak for a hour

rinsed with water

blew it out with air

hit it with a brush, and it was spotless... resized a few, no more scratching...

 

[RedGoat]

Re: do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

Good to know, my 300blk FL sizer has had this problem.

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

Damn, judging by the test results that is some hard-core stuff. I thought CR-10 was bad...

 

[Joelogic]

Re: do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

When I first started reloading my Dillon carbide .223 die started scratching my brass and Dillon replaced the die twice. I read somewhere just to tumble the brass longer and that seemed to do the trick. Now I tumble for 4 hours instead of 2.

What my brass use to look like.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joe A.</div><div class="ubbcode-body">When I first started reloading my Dillon carbide .223 die started scratching my brass and Dillon replaced the die twice. </div></div>

Just from curosity, why did you go for the very costly carbide .223 die?

 

[Deadshot2]

Re: do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fuzzball</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joe A.</div><div class="ubbcode-body">When I first started reloading my Dillon carbide .223 die started scratching my brass and Dillon replaced the die twice. </div></div>

Just from curosity, why did you go for the very costly carbide .223 die? </div></div>

To have a die that wouldn't wear and scratch brass

The scratching I see might indicate a need to clean the brass more and perhaps use a different lube. Just from a first glance. Looks like the OP got that covered.

 

[leadbullet]

Re: do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

my dies scratch brass too but since it shoots better than half MOA and I don't w wear it as jewelry I don't gave a damn about it.
cheers and thanx for the tip anyway.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

<span style="text-decoration: underline">"To have a die that wouldn't wear and scratch brass"</span>

Welll... it sure won't wear.

Steel sizer dies are supposed to be good for a quarter million rounds before we might need to think about a new one but I wouldn't know, only been doing this since '65. Carbide is supposed to at least tripple that number so you may get by until your rifle needs a new tube!

 

[Deadshot2]

Re: do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fuzzball</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="text-decoration: underline">"To have a die that wouldn't wear and scratch brass"</span>

Welll... it sure won't wear.

Steel sizer dies are supposed to be good for a quarter million rounds before we might need to think about a new one but I wouldn't know, only been doing this since '65. Carbide is supposed to at least tripple that number so you may get by until your rifle needs a new tube!

</div></div>

A carbide rifle die is probably best used by a commercial loader or when loading for a group of people like a club or police department.

I have a 30 year old .223 die that I've lost count of the number of thousand cases it's sized. Ugly on the outside but the cases still look nice and smooth. Oh by the way, it's just a Lee.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: do your dies scratch your brass?... found a fix

"...but the <span style="text-decoration: underline">cases still look nice and smooth</span>. Oh by the way, it's just a Lee."

They will stay that way so long as you properly lubracate your cases. It's quite difficult to 'scratch' a case harded die, a file won't do it, but it's very easy to get scratching bits of galled brass on the die walls when case lube is insufficent. And the brand of dies really doesn't matter no matter how much some guys think so.