Did I just ruin my Lee .380 sizing die with nickel brass?

[Rule3]

Get the tube, like toothpaste not the liquid. A little gooooos a long way, I got mine at Midway. Call some hardware stores also, some carry it. SemiChrome is similar if you can get that.

Mothers Brand Mag Wheel Polish is great stuff also, Really shines up stainless guns.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/578206/flitz-paste-metal-polish-176-oz-tube

 

[moonman16]

My ACE HARDWARE has FLITZ in a tube.

 

[119er]

Wow! I need to check my dies out. I am guilty of neglecting my carbide dies because they're, well, carbide. I had no idea that this was possible. Makes sense from what RC said too. I noticed that after I did one batch of 9mm in an ultra sonic cleaner it felt like my die was gummed up. I HAD to lube the cases just to get a somewhat normal feeling while resizing. All good info that is good to know!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Wow! I need to check my dies out. I am guilty of neglecting my carbide dies because they're, well, carbide. I had no idea that this was possible. Makes sense from what RC said too. I noticed that after I did one batch of 9mm in an ultra sonic cleaner it felt like my die was gummed up. I HAD to lube the cases just to get a somewhat normal feeling while resizing. All good info that is good to know!

While I have no doubt it's a good idea to clean your dies once and a while I will tell you I have a set of Lee 9mm Carbide dies which are over 8 years old and I have never done anything more than run a Q-tip with Hoppes #9 inside the dies ever so often. My Carbide 38 Special dies have A LOT of cases through them and they got no better treatment than the 9mm does, no problems there either.

 

[moonzapa]

FYI...I used to use nickel plated cases when reloading for my .280 Rem until I learned that these cases can leave hard grit particles behind in the die after resizing that will scratch your brass. I didn't have any scratches on my nickel plated cases, but I no longer buy nickel plated cases for this reason. Not sure if this is what is occurring with your pistol carbide die.

 

[1KPerDay]

Where could a man find some of this Flitz in my town? Is that a Wal Mart, Home Depot type thing I guess?

Wal-Mart doesn't carry flitz in my town, but Cabela's does, or as noted, a bike shop.

 

[Jlr2267]

Well this is weird, LEE actually says to NOT clean the brass before sizing. (hey I am just relaying the information) you can read the rest.

http://leeprecision.net/support/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/694/0/dirty-brass

Learned something new today, so it's been a good day

 

[gamestalker]

I probably use as much nickel as I do yellow brass, including high powered rifle. I don't really take very good care of my dies either, clean them once in a blue moon, unless I notice odd marks or something, in which I give them a quick #9 Q-tip wipe.

GS

 

[cfullgraf]

Simichrome polish would be an alternate to Flitz

 

[marcclarke]

Fred beat me to it. Galling.