Cleaning your Dies

[Chief_10Beers]

How offen do youse guys clean yer Dies?................................

 

[Pal Val]

I clean my sizing dies after each reloading session. I give them a good squirting with brake parts cleaner to get rid of the gunk. The others get an occassional squirt, followed by a light coat of silicone lubricant. No need to overdo the lubricant. It's just to keep them from getting rusty.

 

[Chief 101]

Lately I have been spraying the sizer with "Oneshot" before sizing. Other than that I had a well used 30-30 sizer that got some debris embeded so I polished and cleaned that one and some lead bullet lube built up on a 38 seater die I had to clean. Chief aka Maxx Load

 

[powder smoke]

I swab em with Hoppe's no: 9 from time to time, just look em over with good lite. ps

 

[SAJohn]

Powder Smoke, Great minds think alike.

John

 

[the fatman]

Opps only during caliber changes or if something starts going south.

 

[Rick Courtright]

How offen do youse guys clean yer Dies?................................

Hi, Chief

It's gonna look like a smart arse answer, but "when they need it" describes my regimen.

Now, to explain a bit better:

Where I live, it's dry almost all year, and I load inside the house. So my drill may not be enough for someone who lives in a humid clime, or does their loading in a less protected environment like a garage or work shed.

About once a year I'll give an entire set the brake cleaner treatment, usually w/ everything taken apart that can come apart. Whatever internals need some lubrication get it at that time, too.

Sizing dies generally get more frequent attention. My carbide pistol dies usually don't get more than a quick swipe w/ a Q-tip, as they don't collect that much "stuff." I use Lee dies, and Lee claims you don't need to clean your brass prior to sizing, but if you follow their instructions on that issue, you should swab 'em out more frequently (I think Revhigh can give you horror stories about "following the instructions." While I haven't had his same experiences, they bear paying attention to.) When sizing "clean" brass, they need little attention.

Rifle dies require the use of lube, and I only size "clean" brass in mine. The kind of lube you choose will determine somewhat how often you need to clean the residue out. Using Lee Case Lube, which works great, but is a gooey waxy kinda stuff, they need the most frequent cleaning of the types of lube I've tried. Lots of folks love Imperial Die Wax, and Johnson's Paste Wax is a cheap and dirty substitute that works w/o leaving much goo inside the die. In a pinch, a quick wipe w/ a bit of oil on the finger tips works great, produces almost no residue in the die, but leaves a film on the brass you don't want to contact your powder, so you'll find yourself cleaning the brass again instead of the die!

Bullet seating/crimping dies are the others that sometimes demand more frequent attention. Using jacketed or copper plated bullets, they don't need much cleaning. But w/ lead, they need more. Especially those treated w/ my favorite lube, Lee Liquid Alox. Another product that works great but is messy! I'll take the seating plug out and clean off the goo every few hundred rounds when using bullets lubed w/ LLA.

That's internal cleaning...

Externally, my dies get wiped clean after every use, then wiped down w/ a lightly oiled rag (Lee's dies are finished "in the white" and WILL rust--some other brands are treated w/ various corrosion resistant finishes, but some TLC will keep 'em looking their best.)

Don't be afraid to clean a little more often instead of a little less... you'll soon learn a drill that works for your circumstances. Like most everything in this hobby, there are many approaches, all of which can and do work!

Rick C