How long should a FL resizing die last?

[jrsandiego12]

Using a 6mm Dasher die in a progressive press. Generally how long should a die last? Let's say Redding die, cleaned before each run of about 1,000 pcs of brass. I'm getting some slight loading stiffness and extraction clicking that seems to be related to the waists as there is some marking around the waists. (5x fired Petersen brass)

 

[99mpower]

i have steel FL sizing dies on my ammobot s1050 that are still going after 100k..

almost positive your die isn’t worn out.. it MAY need to be cleaned, but my guess is either it needs to be cleaned, or you need a little more libricatio

 

[Doom]

You should be able to check the case diameter in the 0.200" area. I'm guessing your chamber is +/- 0.471" at that point and if the case is at that point you may be seeing pressure signs in the brass and the die may not be resizing the case enough at that point. It sounds like this is the case since it appears the marks are just showing up.

 

[Mike Casselton]

i have steel FL sizing dies on my ammobot s1050 that are still going after 100k..

almost positive your die isn’t worn out.. it MAY need to be cleaned, but my guess is either it needs to be cleaned, or you need a little more libricatio

When I made ammunition for a living, we used the Camdex loaders.
We ran the machines to produce 50,000 in ten hours.

Lee carbide dies were installed in the machine.
Never had to replace a die.

I agree with Doom on this one.

 

[Mike Casselton]

And yeah, clean them once in a while and don't be stingy with the lube

 

[ShtrRdy]

I would guess the brass is the problem. Do you have some new brass you could try an experiment?

 

[jrsandiego12]

I'll measure the brass and compare - thanks.

 

[memilanuk]

I'd be *shocked* if your die was anywhere near worn out. Then again, it seems like the cool kids these days are running their dirty brass through their reloading dies - if you're doing that, I might reconsider my stance on the matter.

I haven't done this (yet), but if you have a micrometer, and can get a small hole gauge set (relatively cheap off Amazon), you might be able to pull the barrel off, and then take measurements of the chamber, the die and the brass - all at the ~0.200" line - and see where they are relative to one another.