Brass scratching after sizing

[craig6547]

Hello.

After a session of load testing today ive ran the cases in the tumbler for cleaning and for sizing ready for case prep during the week. Its a Forster FL bench rest die for 6.5x47 and using Imperial sizing wax its scratched the cases all round the body.

Anybody help me with the problem, never had this happen before with my old .223 dies and brass. This is the 1st time ive sized any 6.5x47 cases.

 

[1holeaddict]

I have called Forster several times about the same issue and the same tech states it is a sizing lubricant and brass build up and will send u a sample of there lube. He will tell u to clean the die and use the Forster lube.

 

[craig6547]

weird why it doesnt happen with virgin brass and only on fired brass.

Think i may change die if thats the case.


craig

 

[MrMajestic]

Polish the inside of the die with a snug fitting JB's impregnated patch fitted on a copper brush chucked in a hand drill. Don't cost nuthin' and might cure your problem.

 

[MrMajestic]

weird why it doesnt happen with virgin brass and only on fired brass.

fire-formed cases are larger in diameter.

 

[bigedp51]

I'm going to take a WAG and say the tumbling media may contain an abrasive and it became imbedded on the case and in the die.

Take a shotgun cleaning mop that is a snug fit inside the die, coat the mop with J&B bore paste, Flitz, automotive rubbing compound, etc. Now chuck the mop in a drill and polish the inside of the die to remove the imbedded grit in the die.

I run into this a lot with firearms that throw perfectly good brass away that ends up on the ground and pick up dirt and grit. Once I started wet tumbling with stainless steel media this scratching problem was greatly reduced.

 

[craig6547]

bigedp51 : as you say about the tumble media, i just not long found a post about lyman media causing the same thing on someone elses cases. I will empty out this media and replace it with other media i have, different brand obviously, and see if i can clean up the cases again with this.




craig

 

[DOGCAPPER]

Cause may also be lack of lube or poor lube allowing brass to be deposited inside die. Heavy sizing will contribute also. LT

 

[bigedp51]

bigedp51 : as you say about the tumble media, i just not long found a post about lyman media causing the same thing on someone elses cases. I will empty out this media and replace it with other media i have, different brand obviously, and see if i can clean up the cases again with this.

craig

I made the mistake of trying to tumble the lube off my cases in my vibratory case cleaner. I later decided to check neck runout on these same cases before loading. Some of the cases had excess runout so I started to resized the cases again and the case were badly scratched. I polished the die and wet tumbled the cases again to get rid of the grit.

Like you I dumped the walnut media in the trash, washed the bowl out and added fresh media.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

The die may not be hardened. That's what brass from an un-heat treated sizing die looks like. Hit the edge of the die with a file. If it cuts easily, I bet you found the problem. Try it on a known good die to get a feel for what the file should and should not do to it.

 

[jlow]

When things like this happens, it is always useful to take the die out and look inside it with a flashlight and a magnifier. Similar thing happened to me with some bushings and I found that it was due to a build up of copper galling. Once I polished that off, I had no problem.

 

[Snuggie]

I had the same problem after loaning a set of RCBS Comp dies to a bud. Tried to polish it out with no luck. Called and sent to RCBS. They polished and paid frt back to me. No more scratches. However, I use only liquid cleaner, no media, which can build up in the die.

 

[fdshuster]

I make it a regular habit to clean and dry the FL sizer die after each and every use. A cotton Q-Tip wet with Hoppe's #9, a small clean rag twisted small enough to fit inside the die and twist to completely dry out the walls of the sizer. Have dies that I've been using since the 1960's & the interiors are as new.

craig6547: I'll bet if the problem had been with an RCBS die and you called them, they also would have blamed the sizing lube and told you to use RCBS lube.

 

[jlow]

I polished my bushing with Rubbing Compound No.7 which is available at Ace Hardware. I dipped half a cute tip into the stuff chucked it into a drill and that worked perfectly to polish the surface to a smooth finish that never scratched again. Really gentle....

 

[dennisinaz]

Take a case, resize in most of the way. Then clean your die real good with solvent and a tight patch. Take the mostly sized case and attach a rod to it via the primer pocket ( I just tap the end an thread a rod in.) The lightly coat the brass with a fine lapping compound- you can use JB or diamond paste. I chuck the die in the lathe but you could just put it in a vice and use a drill to spin the case. The brass case makes a perfect lap. Reclean the die (ultrasonic tank is nice for this) and go back to resizing.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I'm surprised at all of these solutions to what I believe is a problem that the op should not be experiencing. I don't take good care of the dies that I use most. They see an average of about 400 rounds per month during shooting season, worth of use. I've never had to do anything like mentioned here as solutions with them or any others that were properly made and hardened. I shoot brass that is embarrassingly dirty at times and only clean it when I feel like it. Yes, this is benchrest, too. I just don't see that pretty brass shoots any better than dirty, so I focus on other things, I guess, and have done ok like that.


I have no problem with anyone that wants to go through all the pains that some do to make their brass sparkle, or to keep their dies pristine...I just don't worry with it on my own stuff. It has served me well and I'm still using the same dies for my primary bench gun that I've been using since 2007. It still sizes my brass just like it's supposed to.


My feeling is that if his die is properly made, it wouldn't be picking up (galling) brass to cause the scratches. I do have a couple of resize reamers that I've used to make dies. IME, if the die isn't hardened, the brass comes out looking just like his.

 

[craig6547]

All the info so far is gratefully appreciated. Before I start polishing the die I'm going to get some brass cleaner and clean them with a cloth and run them through again and see what the outcome is.

Craig

 

[Bluto65]

I had the same problem show up on my 6mmBR and 6mmBRX brass. When I first saw it I did not pay attention and thought it would not matter. After 4 shots thru the same brass I started gettin vertical cracks from the neck opening down anywhere from 1/16th in to 1/8th in long. This happened about once every 6 to 8 shots. Results were a 9, short cracks and an 8 for long cracks. Changed the neck die bushing [Redding] to a nitride hardened bushing [Redding]. The problem has gone away. Kinda dumb to spend time polishing something that is bad when you can just get something new and hardened. I use Imperial wax and seems to work fine. It would be strange if the etched streaks vertically on the neck only were caused by impurities in the tumbling media. What no marks on the brass body???

 

[K22]

The condition illustrated in your post is a classic case of a cases being gouged by a die that has embedded brass particles.

The fix is to clean and polish the dies. I sent my RCBS sizing die back to RCBS and they refurnished it free of charge.

The prevention is to keep the die clean and lube the necks of the cases sparingly.

Although unsightly, this will not affect performance in my experience.

 

[craig6547]

This is a brand new die and I've never had brass through it. How can it pick up particles of brass to get embedded into it ?


Craig