Carbide die problem :( how to fix it ?

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Nick93

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Hi my first post in this great site ! :)

Recently I have bought a lyman 9mm luger deluxe die set... the problem was that it was shaving my brass(from a tight chamber gun) at the head portion of the case when i resize them ... I sent an email to Lyman but they told me that they can only help me if I send the die to them ... i´m 5300 miles away from them so the shipment bill will be much more expensive than a new set of dies ... So after a lot of thinking i decided to expand the die a little more since i seemed to be out of spec. This process fixed that shaving problem but it seems to work in a diferent way cause it polishes the cases and leave a different surface at the cases ... its an problem because the original configuration let the same surface either the resized part and the no-resized part ...

the questuion is ... way this happen ? and how can i fix it ? I really think that i can fix it with some polishing but i don know how since it is a really hard material ( carbide ) do you know what kind of paste or buffing compound can i use ?

PD: I can upload some images if you want !!!

Any answer would be really appreciated :)
 
I believe that carbide is polished using industrial diamonds, and maybe saphires. To be honest, I can't tell what you are talking about though with the different surfaces... maybe some pics would help.
 
I think what he means is the resizing now leaves shiny spots on the brass, whereas before it would look like it was untouched.

Sounds to me like it's working properly now. All my brass has wear spots after resizing.
 
If it was shaving & you polished it then it went away I would say it had foreign debris in it that you cleaned up.

I have to say I'm having a hard time understanding but I think your saying it is shining the part of the case that is going through the carbide sizer. This is normal. Carbide is hard & there is polish that will buff it but it will take high speeds & a lot of time. I can't give exacts because I don't really know that much about carbide.
 
Welcome to The High Road!

Nick93 said:
So after a lot of thinking i decided to expand the die a little more since i seemed to be out of spec.
Click to expand...

Exactly what did you do to "expand" the die?

I'm also wondering how a "tight chamber" gun would leave the brass so large that the sizing die would shave the brass. Please post the pictures you mentioned.
 
If you mean to grind out a little more bell on the carbide insert, you will find it a daunting task. Carbide is very difficult to do anything with.

You may have the die screwed down a bit far, or it is just a bad die. Lyman should replace it. $5 at the USPS will get the die anywhere in the States.

I have a Redding carbide sizer that leaves a ridge in some of the brass caused by too sharp an entrance in the carbide ring, no matter how much it is screwed in or backed out. It is a replacement for a Redding that sized perfectly until the carbide ring came out. When I sent it back Redding returned it with a condescending letter telling me I had the die screwed in too far. I replaced it with an RCBS die and all is well.

99% of the time the reloading companies take great care of their customers. Let Lyman replace it for you if screwing it back out a bit doesn't solve the problem.

Welcome to THR
 
If you're in the states ship it to them via USPS not UPS, should only cost approx $3.00 in a bubble envelope. I get registered mail shipments from Turkey for only $7.00 mail charges.
 
well ... thanks to all you for the replies :)

I don´t live in USA ... thas why taking the die to factory is not an option plus in this country the customs take all the thing that are related to firearms to aboid that you must pay a goverment bill tha it´s about 50 dollars so ( ya know a "free" country ) ... I followed all the instructions of the manual and didn´t fix anything ... trust me my gun have a tight chamber .. it´s a glock 34 with match grade barrel... I expanded the die by fixing it in a mandrel and using a plastic rubber with an high abrasive componund called carburoton ( at least here ) took out a few micros ... here is an image of what i tryed to spell with me poor words .... on the right it´s the fired and on the left it´s the resized ...

I know it sounds like to anal but the polishing after resizing the cases it´s much more and i don´t know if its good since it seems to change the surface of the brass too much ...
 

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Just looked at it on my computer. The change in surface texture comes from the resizing itself. As the case enters into the die, it gets squeezed down to the original size (give or take a hair due to manufacturing tolerances). As it gets squeezed down, it is also moving against that surface. This causes rubbing to take place and that results in what you are seeing in the sized cases. They are being sized fully so the whole length of the case has drag marks from the die. Absolutely expected. Polish them up and shoot em. Hell, shoot em if you want, no need to polish, though many here would disagree about the aesthetics of it.
 
Shoot them as the others have said polished or not, no big thing really just personel preference is all. I polish all my brass not, but actually it shoots no better than it did before I had a tumbler.

I understand your problem with shipping & duties.

Best
jcwit
 
It looks good so far. Now just put a primer in, drop a charge, seat the bullet, then load in mag. Rack the slide pull trigger, & then start all over.
 
Looks good.

Tumble them with polish and that will be harder to see since the whole case will be shiny.
 
If you absolutely want perfect looking cases, here's what I do sometimes. Put the brass with the spent primers still in the case in your tumbler for 30-60 minutes.

Remove from tumbler, decap/resize then put back in the tumbler for a couple hours.

I use fine walnut shell treated with rouge.

This way the case is clean enough to not harm or foul your dies, then you can finish cleaning. Including the primer pocket.
 
Here is an idea that you may not like but it will be a lot easier on your brass. Use a little lube on that sucker. You will be amazed at how much easier things become when resizing.
 
I had the carbide ring come out of my Redding die. I hope I don't get a condescending letter. The die is set as per their instructions.

standard.jpg
 
They replaced the die no questions, but when the new one put ridges in cases they told me nothing was wrong with it. BS. I have two other sizers which do not put ridges in the cases no matter how far down they are set. I bought four Redding sizers. The insert came out of three of them. I fixed them all, but the .45 came out again. That is when I sent it in. No more Redding sizers fro me. That experiment is over.

Lyman rolls the edge of steel over the insert. It keeps the insert put and off the shell plate. I have never had an RCBS or Lee insert come out. I may buy a Lyman .45 ACP sizer and hope it is the diameter I want. I want it to be a bit tighter than the one I am using now. One or two thousandths will do. I have one RCBS that is is too tight and one that is OK with all but RP brass. The Redding was perfect, but no more. :)
 
Hey guy soo many problems with Redding ... why ? it´s suposed to be much better since they are one of the mos expensive die out there ( I never had one but i wanted to buy their competition die set :p )

Tomorrow a nice guy at the range it´s going to let me use his dies (RCBS) he told me that he was bored of reloading an he wanted to sell everything :O

Do you prefer them over the Lyman dies ???
 
Just buy another set of dies from LEE. End of problem.

I recently had my first real die problem ever. Brand new Hornady 308 set. The very first case I wanted to resize, handlubed with Unique lube, got so stuck it was impossible to get out. I destroyed the die trying to. Got a full refund from Midway. Should have read the couple very negative feedbacks first.
 
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As far as pistol dies go, I have a lot of RCBS stuff, and it is very good stuff.

In all fairness all the Redding stuff I have has been great as well, except for the sizers.

I have Lyman stuff, and like it. I have Lee stuff, and won't complain. I have a couple of C&H dies, and they work fine.

No worries, I just won't be very likely to buy Redding pistol die sets or carbide sizers any more.
 
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