Cleaning Lube from Dies

[chiltech500]

Howdy,

Been picking up a lot of wax lube from some bullets and have scraped as much off dies as possible.

Anybody know of a solvent I can use to remove the rest?

Thanks in advance.

 

[luzyfuerza]

I set the waxy die on a paper towel and hit it with a heat gun. What doesn't run out of the die down onto the paper towel is easy to wipe out with a cleaning patch or shop towel. No solvent needed.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Clean the dies!

Chiltech 500--For cleaning bullet lube out of seating dies, IMHO, any gun cleaning solvent would do just fine. Bullet lube is one component of barrel fouling, and dies are much the same steel as firearm barrels.

When one of my dies needs this treatment, I apply the solvent of choice with a Q tip. You don't need much solvent. Usually wipe out the die with a kleenex, reinsert it in the reloading press, and proceed with the job.

 

[chiltech500]

Thanks guys.

I just pulled out a box of 200gr LSWC and noticed a lot more lube being smeared around. Pulled out the internals of my dies - thank goodness for Dillon's quickly removable innards so you don't have to undo/redo the whole die mount - and couldn't believe the amount of gunk colored the same as the lubes from this new batch.

These were not MO Bullets btw. A budget bullet which I then spent well over an hour wiping each down the 300 bullets made yesterday afternoon. I saved something like $6 per 500 vs MO Bullets' cost. Worth it? Now I think not worth the savings. Back to MO bullets.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

I use brake cleaner in a spray can. Usually costs less than half what the gun cleaners cost. With either you need to replace the surface protection you just cleaned off. Gun oil or wax will do the job.

 

[Schwing]

Since I have started tumble lubing my bullets, this has become more of an issue. On my lee seating and crimp die, I have to keep an eye on my OAL or the lube will build up so much that it will start to seat them too deep.

I take mine out every couple of hundred rounds by just screwing the entire die out without moving the lock screw at all, this way, as long as you don't disassemble the die, you don't have to readjust anything when you screw it back down. I just use a q-tip or even a plastic pic to get the forming lump of lube out of the seating die. You can even do it without taking the die out at all but I find that it is hard to get my fat fingers in the right place to really get to the lube. I have toyed around with taking the turret out of my press to do this but I inevitably end up tossing powder around when I do that.

 

[stu1ritter]

Laquer thinner and Q-tip swabs keep then very clean.
Stu

 

[horsemen61]

+1 on brake cleaner

 

[45lcshooter]

I use Shooters Choice on a q tip. But really any gun cleaning solvent, q tip and a little elbow grease will get the lube out.

 

[plmitch]

Brake cleaner.

 

[jcwit]

I use an empty quart paint can with MEK solvent filled up high enough to submerse the die completely.

New empty paint cans are available from paint stores

 

[tyeo098]

Hoppes.

Brake cleaner will cut any oil, and if you dont re-oil the bare steel, you're gonna have some rusty dies.

Ask me how I know

 

[Foto Joe]

I'm cheap, I just use paint thinner and steal from my wifes stock of Q-Tips.

 

[LiveLife]

Hoppes #9 works great and leaves a nice protective film too.

 

[chiltech500]

Good tips on re-lubing if using solvent.

I suspect I should have checked mine more often.

BTW, Lyman dies seating and crimping inserts pop out by removing a cotter pin - no need to unscre the die from the platform.