Cleaning dies

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TeamPrecisionIT

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What do you use to clean the inside of your dies? My main concern is my .223 resizing die which I cannot fit a q-tip into to get out all the built up gunk in there from the last couple thousand rounds. I am using Lee dies, btw. So how do I either a) take them apart to give them a good cleaning every now and again, or b) what can I use to clean them while they are still whole? Can I just spray them with brake cleaner or similar to flush them out?

What I am worried about is build up of crud in the dies starting to affect to dimensions of my reloads which I really do not want to happen for obvious reasons.

Thank you all in advance,

Damian
 
Yes, you can spray them with brake cleaner, but that wont necessarily remove metal flakes/shavings.

A .22 cal bronze brush should fit.
 
I buy those cheap nylon pistol brushes at the gun shop in .22- .38 and .45 to clean my dies. These will pretty much clean all I have. (after removing the De capping pin)
I give em a shot of Brake Kleen and after cleaning a light shot of CLP.
 
Degreaser of some type, bore cleaner, etc, and bore mops work great. You can use flitz etc on the bore mop with a drill to polish as well.

No bore mop? Poke a rag through and work it back and forth after using brake cleaner or whatever.
 
And for lightly rusted dies, you can disassemble them and run them in the tumbler for a few hours. They come out good as new.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
I clean mine with a flap of 600 grit black emery paper clamped in a slotted dowel in a drill.

But only to get embedded / galled brass out of them when they start scratching cases.

You really don't won't to put a mirror finish on them.
The slight lapped finish from the factory is left that way so they can retain a slight amount of sizing lube.
Like lapping the cylinders of an engine with a rotary cylinder hone so they can retain oil.

rc
 
I use Hoppe's with a Q-Tip or a coffee stir stick wrapped in a paper towel. Leaves my dies clean and sweet smelling.
 
i disassemble mine and run them through my tumbler with some brass then hose them off with brake cleaner. shiny, smooth and utterly clean and i dont have to scrub things.
 
I clean occasionally with a bore brush and bore cleaner. Then I apply renaissance wax to help prevent rust.
 
what's in 'em? I get away with the occasional blast from a can of compressed air. Never had my dies really grimy, though.
 
Remove die from press, disassemble die, clean with any good cleaner. You can run a patch through the die. Apply a very light coat of oil to parts of the die (do not lubricate any parts that will contact powder).

From Sierra's site:
http://www.sierrabullets.com/index.cfm?section=techservice&page=xring&volume=6&issue=1
Die Cleaning, New & Used
by Dave Brown

Thoroughly reading the directions that come with your dies will be time very well spent. A good die company will often recommend the thorough cleaning of their dies before using them. Dies have a preventative film that helps protect them till they are sold. The rust preventative will need to be removed inside using a degreaser. Naphtha (lighter fluid) works fine for the metal. Inside the die you may find traces of polish and tiny particles of metal dust held by the rust inhibitor film. Cleaning will allow you to become familiar with the workings of the die, while readying it for use. After cleaning, the inside and maybe outside of the die, apply a new film of preventative oil. A good gun oil will do. Every now and then check your dies to make certain they are clean and protected against rust and crud. Cast bullet seating dies need to be cleaned more often than those for jacketed bullets. Chamfering tools should allow a bullet to seat without scraping gilding metal from the bullet. Gilding metal scrapings can occur necessitating their need to be removed from the seater die. This indicates a more acute chamfering tool is needed to prevent further scraping. Cartridge cases do not need to sparkle, but they do need to be clean enough to not carry grit or grime into the die. After trimming nickel cases, be very careful to make certain no nickel flakes or slivers get into your dies. One tiny flake can scratch the die which will then scratch every case. The sizing die needs to be cleaned when cleaning the seater die. After the initial cleaning, dies for jacketed bullets can be cleaned with a product like Hoppes #9 then protected with new oil. Seater dies for cast bullets lubes with waxes will still need naphtha. Some dies will have parts that should not be oiled, so be sure to read the manufacturer's directions.
 
Remove die from press, disassemble die, clean with any good cleaner. You can run a patch through the die. Apply a very light coat of oil to parts of the die (do not lubricate any parts that will contact powder).
Click to expand...

+1 a little Hoppes or Butches on a snug patch or chamber mop, then patch dry to remove the solvent and very lightly oil
 
Damn, you guys have bombarded me! Thank you very much. I was trying to make sure I wasn't going to cause any rusting issues by cleaning them up with solvent or cause of sizing/fitment issues by using oil on them. I am going to take the advice of running them through the tumbler the next this comes around to where they are getting grimy.

Thank you all very much. As usual, you come through with good information.

Damian
 
Won't tossing heavy dies into the tumbler beat the hell out of the bowl?
Click to expand...

Only if you toss them in too hard! ;)

Unless you overload the tumbler bowl, the media will minimize the impact.
 
I was recently given a Star Lubrisizer that had been allowed to rust. All the removable parts are put in one of my tumblers and let run for a couple of hours and all the rust is removed and the parts look new again. The large parts I have to do by hand.........

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
I would caution you that tumbling very likely will not work for handgun seating dies that are full of old bullet lube.

The media & dust sticking in it will just turn it into black hard goop.

rc
 
Well, I have to say. I have a set of 7mm Rem Mag. They are pretty old and the outside of the dies was a little dark/rusty where the checkering is for the finger hold area. They were also fairly dirty inside with a little bit of suface rust on the threads. So, I decided to drop them into the vibe cleaner and it was by far the worst idea I have ever had.

The reddish walnut stuff I use to clean my brass got all up inside the threads, cracks in the lock nut and basically gummed up the entire dies inside and out with this reddish crap and bits of walnut stuck everywhere. This usually doesn't happen with the brass at all. maybe a stray bit in the flash hole but that's about it.

So anyway, I'm on my second hour with the dies in a fresh batch of corn cob. Hoping this will clean out most of the crap from the walnut stuff. What ever ends up being left, I am going to have to scrub off with a brush and some fingernail polish remover. They do look slightly shinier than they did, but the mess that was created was not worth the effort. I'm probably going to have to take them out the the shed and hit them with a cloth wheel just to get the reddish staining out of the checkered area on the outsides.

Anyway, keep your dies out of your vibrating case cleaner. Huge enormous bad idea. I should have listened to RC's advise. His was spot on correct.
 
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