Can You Explain?

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's All-

Saw this over on another forum, and thought I would
bring it to our membership. The question was/is, is it
possible to wear out a tungsten-carbide (TC) FL die?
Well, I really don't know the answer myself; but I will
offer this explanation? Recently, I acquired a Lyman
.38/.357 TC die that the previous owner said his 78
year old relative had used for 20 (+ or -) years. I had
to try it out, so I used it to full length resize a total of
100 cleaned and polished cases the other day. Guess
what? It worked like a champ; with NO visible marks
or scratches on the cases!

I have read that over a long duration, that bits and
pieces of brass tend to cling to the TC sizing ring and
create a build-up of sort's. And if not properly cleaned,
it will indeed scratch the cases; but the die can be
polished out using 400-grit wet sandpaper used on a
dowel with a drill.

So, what does everyone think? Just keep the die clean
after each use to ensure proper functioning would be
my guess.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Sheldon]

Probably given enough time it will wear out........but I think that will take more than a generations worth of reloading to happen for the typical reloader. It would be interesting to hear if any commercial reloader has ever worn any out as they are the ones who are truly high volume reloaders.

 

[Delmar]

The only way to wear out carbide dies, as with any other metal alloy, is to introduce material/particles which are as hard or harder than the metal you're working with. It's either going to have to embed itself into the carbide ring and tear your brass up, or you are going to have to abuse the heck out of the die. I have a 20+ year old RCBS sizing die and it sizes cases as well as it did when it was bought. I have sized and decapped well over 200,000 rounds of 45 ACP with it and it still does the job.

All I have ever done with it is occasionally taken it apart and sprayed it with carb cleaner, and then coat it very lightly with Imperial die wax to keep the rust away.

I also tumble the cases for a bit to knock off the powder residue.

 

[stans]

The only time I have ever had a problem with a carbide sizing die was after resizing a bunch of nickel plated cases. Evidently, some nickel flaked off and got stuck in the die. When I switched back to resizing plain brass cases I saw full length scratches on the resized cases. A thorough cleaning of the die removed the debris and resolved the scratching issue.

 

[Sheldon]

The carbide insert is very hard and brittle, so you also need to be careful not to drop them as the carbide will crack sometimes. I have heard of this happening, but have not experienced it myself......but then again I haven't dropped any yet.

 

[Chipper]

I really do not have a lot of experience with carbide reloading dies. I do however, have years of experience with other carbide tooling. Yes, carbide will crack or chip if dropped. Beyond that all I have been able to do to it is to dull the sharp edges. This is accomplished through a combination of higher heat than you will generate in reloading, impact or tension stresses when machining which are more than encountered in reloading and the mild abrasive action of material chips, inclusions and other impurities in the material being machined. In reloading, these will harm your cases more than the carbide in the dies.

To polish or repolish carbide, wet/dry silicon carbide paper works well in grits 400 and finer. I personally like 600 grit for a somewhat smoother finish and because I still sometimes get a little carried away with abrasives and remove more material than necessary. It's also good to remember that, like everything else, not all carbide is equal. Carbide comes in various levels of hardness and quality. Despite that, carbide reloading dies will most likely be a lifetime investment.

Chipper