Park your dies in the press for months?

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H&R Glock

H&R Glock

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Look at my split lock and load bushing.
I was using my Lee Classic Cast press as a dedicated 223 press. It is parked at the end of one of my work benches. Last week I needed to move the die to my other press.
The 223 die was frozen in the LNL. RUSTED IN.
I soaked it in Kroil and used heat on it but the die would not come out.
After a week of working on it the Moto Tool cut off wheel freed the die.
MVC-010L.JPG
I never had this problem with any other of my various dies. Then it dawned on me. I have been using Lee sizing compound on my 223 brass. It is water soluble and sometimes my die gets rather wet. I always clean out the die interior with brake cleaner then wd40 so the die is not damaged, but water sure got in the threads. Then the thing was left in the press for months.
Last night I wire brushed the threads, gave the die a coat of anti sieze, and then grease. It won't rust in again.
Beware water soluble case lubes?
 
I often leave the last die I used in the press and the box with the other dies in the set next to it. It is not left for months on end nor do I have those bushings. Never had those problems though. I do take my dies apart and run them through some corn cob media with NuFinish if they develop any surface rust though. Thanks for the heads up, another thing to watch out for.
 
That sucks.
Perhaps add some oil on the die threads before it's (initially) installed in the bushing,,,
Hopefully, (even after taking a bath), a generous application WD (or better yet - gun oil) over everything, including the exterior where the die meets the bushing, will help.
 
I'll bet part of that problem stems from the weep hole in the sizing die, which prevents excess case lube from causing a hydraulic lock and dented shoulders. Some of that Lee sizing compound could come through that weep hole and directly into the threads.
 
kmw1954 said:
I know plenty of people that put their dies in Lee turrets and never really take them out. Like me for one. Never had one stick.
Click to expand...

I've had my dies in Lee Turrets for as long as I can remember. One with just a Lee Universal Depriming and Decapping Die, one 9mm four die set and one .380 Auto four die set. Never had a problem, but I have to say that I do minor adjustments to the dies so I guess I do move them a little.

I'm not an expert, but from what I understand there can be a corrosive reaction between aluminum and steel screwed together, especially if they are in a damp environment.

Dave
 
Do your Lee turrets use the lock-n-load bushings? The bushing is what was rusted onto my die in this case.
The weep hole thing suggestion sure rings true in my case. Thanks Toprudder for that. You're probably right.
Rfwobbly, you are close. This was the less expensive Hornady "All American" self oxidizing pre-frozen three for a dollar die sets.
I still have 3 tubes of the Lee Case Lube stuff left to use up. :(
 
I use a water soluble lube, Ballistol. Water soluble means the water will evaporate leaving the lube behind. BP shooters mix it with water as a cleaning agent knowing this fact.
So I would not think your problem was moisture from the case lube. If it where where did the lubricant go.?
It’s sorta like using water based paint, water evaporates paint is left behind.
 
Jake in TX do you use LNL bushings?
I don't believe the people with multi station presses can adapt to LNL sleeves/bushings. My Lee Classic Cast Press deals with 50BMG dies when it's not dealing with 223 and it has a big hole in the top to accommodate the 50BMG dies. Swapping between the two calibers is a slight pain ITA and that's why it was used for a dedicated 223 machine. (loading 50bmg happens very rarely as I have cans of it on hand.)
Keep your Dremmel-Moto- Tools handy in case of rust-a-phobia.. :)
 
total recoil said:
Jake in TX do you use LNL bushings?
Click to expand...

No, I use no bushings whatsoever. As I said, the bottle necked cartridge resizing dies never get left in the press. I began reloading in the late 70's, using a Lee Reloader (AKA whack a mole) to reload what was then expensive 9mm Luger, and have expanded through the years. I reload 45 ACP on a Lee Classic Turret, but everything else on a Lee Classic Cast single Stage. I am about to begin reloading .233, and am not sure if I will do this on the turret or the single stage.

Jake
 
FROGO207 said:
I often leave the last die I used in the press and the box with the other dies in the set next to it. It is not left for months on end nor do I have those bushings. Never had those problems though. I do take my dies apart and run them through some corn cob media with NuFinish if they develop any surface rust though. Thanks for the heads up, another thing to watch out for.
Click to expand...

my LCT has had 38special dies in it for about 2 years now. And it hasn’t EVER been used to actually load. I just got setup and left it when my girls moved in. I dug the bench out yesterday, reorganized and vacuumed up mouse turds today. Hopefully I can load some this week. I did at least pop primers in my newest antiques though when I dug out some cases I forgot I had primed. I will go ahead and squirt them with WD-40 and hope for the best. If they are threadlocked I will just buy a new turret head. That’s the beauty of the turret press.
 
FROGO207 said:
Doubt you'll have problems unless those critters made a nest on top of your press. If the outside looks good I would think you are OK.
Click to expand...
Presses looked untouched. The brass is all corroded though. I will tumble to clean and then see what I have left afterwards. I feel like I may have lost almost all of my .223/5.56 and 6.8spc. The rest was pretty well protected in ammo cans.
 
The mouse urine will give off ammonia and that will weaken the brass. Clean some of each type then reload and try. If it splits the rest that is corroded is toast too. I would test some before going through the work of cleaning it all incase they turn out bad. Hope it is just a little surface crap.
 
Toprudder said:
Well, if they never take them out, how do they know they aren't stuck. ;)
Click to expand...

How about because there were but in a turret for the Pro1000 were they resided for almost a year, 380 and 9mm. Then started casting 102gr 380 and had to remove the dies to set them up for the Lee 3 hole turret. The turret press rotated in the opposite direction from the Pro1000 so the second and third die need to be in reverse order.. Then took the 9mm dies from the turret and put them into bushings for the new Pro4000 ABLP. Same happened with the 45acp dies when moving from the turret to the bushing..

Not one stuck die. So far I haven't had to try and move the dies back from the bushing to the turret because I went and bought a second set of 9mm dies.
 
jmorris said:
He is talking about a steel die sticking in a steel bushing, not an aluminum turret but yeah, I have dies that haven't been moved in over 30 years.
Click to expand...

Valid point though I am not convinced the bushings are a better idea than turrets. After all the bushings are more costly. At least in the case of the Lee's.
 
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