A question for high volume handloaders.

[Docendo Discimus]

Have any of you wore out a sizing die from use? If so about how many rounds did that take? I was cleaning out a sizing die the other day and this question popped into my mind.

 

[SC_Dave]

Just my thoughts....

I would think with a brand-name die, clean and properly lubricated cases, one could use the same die for a lifetime. Others may have a differing opinion.
David

 

[JJFitch]

Not resizing clean "BRASS"! Maybe resizing dirty "STEEL"!

 

[WeekendReloader]

Metal forming and stamping dies have an expected lifetime of the amount of parts they can make. Then these dies are replaced. Steel handrails are polished by thousands of people touching them. The steel in metal scissors are much, much stronger than wood pulp, but scissors eventually wear out cutting paper.

It makes sense that sizing dies will eventually wear out. I clean and lube all of my brass, so I expect my carbide die to live a long, productive life sizing soft brass.

 

[rfwobbly]

No, because I use case lube.

 

[LiveLife]

Have any of you wore out a sizing die from use? If so about how many rounds did that take? I was cleaning out a sizing die the other day and this question popped into my mind.

Pistol resizing die with carbide sizer ring?

I am at over 650,000 rounds of reloading various pistol calibers (I don't keep track of rifle calibers) and no sign of "wear" of carbide sizer rings.

As long as you use cleaned brass without hard grit that could "scratch" carbide ... I don't think you could wear out carbide sizer ring for average consumer level reloaders.

Now, Phillip from Berry's MFG did post in years past that their sizer for copper plated bullets at commercial production levels did wear after time so instead of advertizing .355", .400", 451" etc. they advertised at .356", .401", 452" etc. as average sized bullets were around .3555", .4005", .4515" before they replaced the sizer to allow for longer replacement frequency. So I guess it would take millions of rounds before we could "wear" out carbide sizer.

 

[EricBu]

My old RCBS non-carbide 38/357 dies that I purchased in the early 80s had no appreciable wear after how ever many 100's of thousands of rounds they loaded. For the first decade I loaded, I didn't have a tumbler and cleaned my brass in a pillow case in the dishwasher. There was absolutely nothing wrong with them when I opted to upgraded to new dies a couple of years ago.

 

[Varminterror]

Clean cases before sizing and the sizer will last effectively “forever.”

Not cleaning cases, all bets are off. A PRS shooter I shoot with often has a range brass processing business, he ate up a 223 sizing die in under 5,000 rounds of dirty brass this winter, never has seen that before, whatever reddish dust was on the cases was massively abrasive beyond anything we’ve ever seen before.

 

[mcb]

All my high volume stuff is pistol cases using carbide sizing dies. My 40 S&W die set has over 40,000 rounds through it.

 

[Bassfishing54]

As long as you load new brass or clean range brass before resizing, I can't see wearing one out. I remember several years ago someone had either a case stuck in the die or the insert came loose and Dillon replaced it under warranty, but don't recall anything about wearing one out. With lubed rifle brass I would think the same would hold true. When I clean my resizing dies, I don't see anything that would cause me to think otherwise. I find the powder funnel buildup a bigger issue.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm on my 3rd decade of reloading and haven't wore out a die yet. My reloading/shooting buddy has been reloading since the early 70s and has not wore out a die yet either. He has dies from long gone companies that are still working as if new.

 

[cfullgraf]

Most handloaders reloading ammunition for themselves will probably never wear out a properly cared for sizing die.

It is the folks that are reloading for some kind of department that shoots lots and lots of ammunition that will wear out a sizing die. (Think McDonald's Billions and Billions hamburgers sold type volume)

Like the owl in the Tootsie pop ad, the life of a sizing die would be a guess at best except from the actual high volume reloaders.

Dillon does provide carbide dies for 223 Remington and 308n Winchester for the high volume loaders. They are not terribly expensive if one is worried about the life of the die.

 

[Engineer1911]

Recent personal experience, after 1,800 pieces I need to polish the inside of a full length 30-30 sizing die to remove imperfections. Resized brass has full-length scratches in the brass that can be seen, but not felt with a finger nail.

 

[bullseye308]

I know I have loaded just over 300,000 rounds of 9mm that I have fired and have also processed/loaded around 200,000 more for others to load, sell, shoot in the last 30 years. All have been through the original 9mm Lee dies I bought and most on a single stage.

Keep your brass clean and lightly lubed and your dies will outlast you. Just like my Glock, clean them every 5-7k rounds even if they don’t look like they need it.

 

[jmorris]

They can be worn out. Of course clean and lubed cases are better than dirty ones and straight walled is easier on them than bottle neck cases.

My Dillion carbide .223 die lasted about 120,000 cases, I called them and they seemed to think that was about right.

They say, a carbide handgun size die, using dry-cleaned brass, has a lifespan of about 900,000 cases. I am not quite there yet.