Salvage rusty dies, or buy new?

[D.B. Cooper]

Going through stuff in my garage...boxes of reloading stuff I shipped up 5 years ago. Stuff that sat in a humid garage for 15 years or more.

Inside I found a 2-die set of Hornady New Dimension Custom Grade dies for 243. (I used to compete in high-power with that rifle, now I hunt caribou with it.)

The dies have some light to heavy rust. I can tell that, at some point in my life, I hit these things hard with a wire wheel brush side of a bench grinder to pull all of the rust off. External of the dies are all rust free. Inside of the bullet seat die has some light rust. The sizing/de-capping die has been bead blasted on the outside, and the inside is bright and smooth. (At some point in the past, I had a stuck case and shipped it back to Hornady, they must have refurbished it while it was there.) The de-capping pin is the worst piece; it's quite rusty, especially on the threads.

These are $35 at Graf n Sons, and I'm about to put in a big order there anyway. (Would probably buy the Lee deluxe set at $45 - not sure why)

Should I save myself $35-45 and try to salvage these, or just walk away from them. $45 isn't exactly a lot of money to me these days, but it represents a box of projectiles, a pound of powder, or a case of primers.

 

[cp1969]

I'd say pitch 'em and take better care of their replacements.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Ya'll ain't going to believe this. I was just digging through some boxes in my garage, reloading stuff I shipped up from FL 5 years ago. Stuff that had been in my Dad's shed for at least 15 years. I found 600 pieces of brass, already fire-formed to my rifle (I used to compete with that gun.) as well as: (1) box Nosler Silver Tip 55 grain, (2) boxes Hornady SST 95 grain, (1) box Barnes TSX 85 grain, (1) box Speer 80 grain Spitzer, and(1) box Sierra Match King 70 grain. It's like finding a buried time capsule full of treasure.

 

[edwardware]

Buy dies (check ebay for a fancier set than Lee. . .), but never throw out the damaged ones. You don't know what they might be useful for.

For example: the key piece of tooling to form 35 Rem brass from 308 brass is a 270 Win die cut off at the shoulder to make a head resizing die; I would never have figured that out it I didn't have a 'useless' 270 die around.

 

[RussellC]

Call Hornady, ask them what it would cost to clean them up. Who knows?

Russellc

 

[otblue]

The rust doesn't seem to be affecting any critical dimension of the dies so if cosmetics don't matter to you it would be easy enough to just soak them in a mild rust removing solution such a Evapo-rust. 5% citric acid solution works almost as well.
The parts come out rust free but not shiny. Can tidy them up by polishing or cold blueing, just depends how much time you want to invest in them.
Just remember to keep use a good rust protective spray after use.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

take them apart put in your tumbler one peace at a time maybe they will clean up if not pitch them good luck

 

[Allen One1]

I wouldn't spend much time cleaning them up. If you buy the Evaporust it will cost almost as much as new dies cost.

 

[Dudedog]

take them apart put in your tumbler one peace at a time maybe they will clean up if not pitch them good luck

I agree, except I would not pitch them, never can tell when you might find a use for them even if they don't clean up.

Might want to give it a try before you order so you know.
That way you can avoid having another shipping charge.

 

[LoonWulf]

If the insides of the dies arnt rusted just have them blasted and put them back into use. I live in hawaii, and rusty dies are just one of those things i live with. Ive actually taken to hot salt bluing my dies when i get them to help with the corrosion some, used to paint them but that wares off surprisingly quickly.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

IMO there is no reason to throw away a quality set of dies. Some 0000 steel wool and a good gun oil with clean them right up. If the stem is too far gone it will cast you a lot less than new dies. Those Hornady dies are good dies.

 

[Blue68f100]

When I put my dies away for long time storage I sprayed them down with a metal protector to prevent any rusting. Then when I'm ready to use them again I throw them into some solvent to remove the oil. Paste wax is another one good for prevent rust as well as wheel bearing grease.

If they do not clean up, rusted too much. Contact the mfg them may be able to help you out. Either by replacing them free under their warranty or give you a discount on replacement .

 

[mstreddy]

Unless the inside of the die is badly rusted, pitted, scaled, etc, it should clean up in the tumbler. I've had good results taking the dies apart, tossing them in the tumbler, and then, if needed, hitting them with a wire brush or steel wool (with oil).
I did have a set that I got from a lot sale that were submerged and they were badly pitted/scaled inside. These did not clean up and are unsalvageable.

 

[LiveLife]

Soak dies in Diet Coke/soda to remove rust from inside/outside of dies.

 

[morcey2]

Soak dies in Diet Coke/soda to remove rust from inside/outside of dies.

Avoid anything with caffeine. It makes the dies jittery.

My first 8x57 die set was from a pawn shop and had a thin layer of rust all over the inside of the FL sizing die. I took it apart and cleaned it out with some find steel wool and oil. Never had a problem with it.

Matt

 

[Demi-human]

Wet tumbler time!

 

[lightman]

I ended up with a bunch of reloading gear from a storage building deal that included several die sets. All of them were rusty to some degree. I shopped around for the best price for a gallon of EvapoRust and soaked all of them in it for about 72 hours. All but two cleaned up pretty well. Two had pitts left in the sizing die and probably won't ever be any good. I do plan to do some polishing on these. A few of the others had some stains left on them. EvapoRust will remove the blueing on the die rings and seating stems. For only one die set I would try the tumbler. I think I paid $21 for the EvapoRust but I had a whole footlocker size tub of stuff.

 

[illinoisburt]

Hornady has a no nonsense lifetime warranty on their dies. I would call them 800-338-3220. It might cost you the price of a flat rate box to mail them but likely be replaced free of charge.

 

[lightman]

Most of mine were RCBS. I did not have the heart to ask for replacement, being as they were neglected and that I was not the original purchaser. I did Email them inquiring about repairs or refurbishing them and was told that they did not offer those services. Maybe I could have ask for replacements but that did not sit right with me.

 

[Average Joe]

Clean them if you can, you can always buy new ones.

 

[hdwhit]

lightman wrote:
I did not have the heart to ask for replacement, being as they were neglected and that I was not the original purchaser.

For what it's worth, I think you did the honorable and decent thing.