With sizing dies if you look at the interior (at least on the lees I have), the finish is not a mirror gloss but more of a crosshatched rough finish. I'd expect this is because they don't want to spend the time required going through the grits to polish the surfaces.
I spent some time and went 220 - P3000 (automotive paint silicon carbide wet/dry) and then finished with a fine auto polish. I did this with a drill and a gun cleaning rod wrapped in the sandpaper then in plain paper with car polish once I got to the polishing stage. It's a thing of beauty... literally it's glistening and scratch free (original had sanding scratches from the factory finish) on the inside and on the rod. It's as shiny and smooth as gold wedding band under a jewellery counter... it is literally at least that smooth and shiny.
BUT I got to thinking... maybe some crosshatching is important to hold the lube. Curious if anyone else has polished the dies and what difference (if any) it made. So far these are working pretty well with lubed brass but I don't have the factory finish to compare it with. What have you found?
I spent some time and went 220 - P3000 (automotive paint silicon carbide wet/dry) and then finished with a fine auto polish. I did this with a drill and a gun cleaning rod wrapped in the sandpaper then in plain paper with car polish once I got to the polishing stage. It's a thing of beauty... literally it's glistening and scratch free (original had sanding scratches from the factory finish) on the inside and on the rod. It's as shiny and smooth as gold wedding band under a jewellery counter... it is literally at least that smooth and shiny.
BUT I got to thinking... maybe some crosshatching is important to hold the lube. Curious if anyone else has polished the dies and what difference (if any) it made. So far these are working pretty well with lubed brass but I don't have the factory finish to compare it with. What have you found?
Last edited: