Cleaning dies

[D Coots]

The best way I found to maintain my dies and shell holders is to clean the cases in a manner that will not leave any media residue on the cases.

The most significant debris adversely affecting my dies was the residue from tumbler treated corn cob media. This stuff wreak havoc on my dies and shell holders. It formed a "mud" like substance with the case lube I used. Once I stop tumbling with this media, maintaining my dies and shell holders became simple and easy.

If fact, I do not tumbler anymore once my tumbler died a few years ago. I simply spray my cases with mineral spirits then wipe them clean. I do clean the necks with a few twists of 0000 steel wool to remove the hard carbon which I always did even when I tumbled. In addition, after each sizing session, I merely brush out the die with a nylon bottle brush. This removes any accumulation of lube and leaves a very, very thin layer of lube (Imperial sizing wax) inside the die which I found is beneficial.

With this system I have eliminated a piece of reloading equipment (tumbler), a consumable (media), significantly improved the maintenance of my dies / shell holders, and I can process a small batch of cases more efficiently aiding in managing my dedicated cases to specific rifles of the same caliber.

Wow....I'm not into unnessary busy work either....

 

[precision1]

yeah I use declorinated brake cleaner blast them out then spray aerosol oil like free all and wipe dry.any oil be fine though

i hate to admit but I take dies apart and spray out after every use now and wipe down with oil.

 

[snert]

Kerosene, then brake cleaner, then hit em with a light oil on the outside, and re-season with Imperial inside.

 

[Clancy]

Excuse my ignorance, but I wasn’t aware dies needed to be cleaned after the initial cleaning.

You should clean your sizing die after every use. Doesn’t take much if you stay on top of it.

 

[ELR LVR]

I soak all my dirty dies in Automatic trans. fluid for about a week or 10 days, fully disassembled they come out sparkling clean.

Tranny Fluid is some of the best stuff for many things