Die scratching my brass

[warbird2006]

Gentlemen. I jut noticed my Forster full body die is scratching my brass. i resized about 500 rounds with it. I took the die apart and cleaned inside. These pictures above are from the piece resized after the die glt cleaned.
anyone has similar experience? What should I do!

 

[Dans40X]

Clean the inside of your die.
Chuck it in a 3 jaw & polish the inside w/ crocus cloth.

Clean/wipe your brass of any foreign material prior to lubing before sizing

 

[waldo1979]

Could be:
1) Lube related. What sort of lube are you using and how?
2) Case related. That's an interesting looking ring at the base of that case. Were you running some hot loads lately? How many reloads do you have on that brass? Take some measurements of 1/8 to 1/4 the way up from the base (and log it in your reloading notes).
3) Die related. You can polish the inside of your side with some high 800 grit silicon carbide (wet/dry) stand paper on a piece of dowel, but that looks like it might be lube related.

My guess is 1 or 2, or both.

Provide more info like caliber, rifle brass was used in, etc.

 

[johnfred1965]

I had some old 357 steel dies that scratched cases like that. The inside of the die was galled up with brass from too few cleanings over the years. I cleaned it out with some 1500 wet/dry for a good shine inside, prelubed the die and switched to Imperial wax. You may also check your shellholder for debris, if the cases don't fit all the way in, you'll be off center going into the die and possibly cause that scratch.

 

[dmoran]

Clean and polish the die out.....

Steel wool (fine) wrapped around a cleaning brush, in a drill.
I do this routinely once a year or so as preventive maintenance.
And clean the dies out often (I use Hoppe's on swabs and end with brake cleaner).

Donovan

 

[BenPerfected]

The Hornady One Shot Spray lube with make your case resizing very smooth and will eliminate the scratching.

 

[TimP]

If its the die you will more than likely see streaks of brass inside the die itself. I do as Donovan recommended only I will use some Flitz or other metal polish. Make sure to clean the die well and pre lube it before sizing your lubed brass. Imperial sizing wax is my preferred lube.

 

[tclaunch]

I have only had this happen to 1 die so far and was easily able to find the culprit. I used Lyman red tumbling media in a vibratory tumbler PRYOR to FL sizing. That stuff went in the trash. I now am able to use my lathe and polish my dies. The finish on my cases is quite improved by some WD40 and 320 paper lightly inside the die.

 

[ireload2]

I have bought a lot of used dies that did that. A 2 to 3 minute polish with the die spinning in a lathe or drill motor will filx it.
Polish with 400 to 600 grit silicon carbide wet or dry paper used wet with WD 40, light gun oil or equivalent. Clean with a good solvent after polishing. Your die will work as good as new and it takes almost no time or cost to do it.

 

[hogpatrol]

I'm not sure the usual tricks are going to fix it. You could return it to Hornady and ask for one that's not defective.

 

[22BRGUY]

I have also used Flitz polishing compound found at most hardware stores on a bronze brush with a clothe wrapped around it for a tight fit and chucked in a drill. Was recommended to me by an older guy that worked at Hornady years ago.

 

[warbird2006]

Waldo, this is 308Win Nosler brass, shot 2x. I bought Nosler hunting ammo and reloaded once with 44 grains of Varger, 175gf SMK, not very hot hot loads. I am using Hornady One Shot spray lube and I cleaned the die with Hoppes 8 before I ran the brass on these photos.

 

[wwbrown]

The third picture shows what looks like case-head separation, I would use the paper clip method to check the brass. You should carefully measure how far you are pushing the shoulder back with sizing if you find separation with only two firings on quality brass.

 

[hogpatrol]

The third picture shows what looks like case-head separation, I would use the paper clip method to check the brass. You should carefully measure how far you are pushing the shoulder back with sizing if you find separation with only two firings on quality brass.

Lube?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Ditch the one shot lube for starters then try to polish out the brass thats galled in there because of it. Thats close enough to the end of the die you should be able to see it pretty good.

 

[hogpatrol]

Ditch the one shot lube for starters then try to polish out the brass thats galled in there because of it. Thats close enough to the end of the die you should be able to see it pretty good.

What he said ^^. If you want to stick a case in a rough die, or a long case in a smooth die, use the Hornady one shot stuff. I haven't found it any good for much of anything but really small cases shot in tight chambers. I only use it on my custom .17 Fireball.

 

[Iowa Fox]

Clean and polish the die out.....

Steel wool (fine) wrapped around a cleaning brush, in a drill.
I do this routinely once a year or so as preventive maintenance.
And clean the dies out often (I use Hoppe's on swabs and end with brake cleaner).

Donovan

Donovans got it.

I use Shooters Choice or Butches.

 

[Shaggy357]

I bet you have minute brass particles or carbon built up in your die. Cleaning dirty brass, or allowing dust from trimming to get in your lube or tumbling media are culprits that can cause this. Like has been said multiple times above, clean your die. Brake cleaner will get all of the grunt out. Then polish the inside very well. I have used a bore brush wrapped with 0000 steel wool, and Osso or Flitz polish. Once you are done polishing, you have to wash die good with brake cleaner or rubbing alcohol to get out any residue from the polish and steel wool. Imperial sizing die wax and Lanolin are your friend. Once you find the real value they have in sizing and making brass you will never be without them. You might also check your brass tumbler and media. Media is cheaper than brass, and the tumbler bowls need to be cleaned pretty often themselves.

Hope this helps.

Steve