rusty dies

[interlock]

I feel a bit embarassed about this.

i have allowed my dies to get a bit of light surface rust on them. If i block the hole up with a case, can i put them into the tumbler?

Interlock

 

[33rowdy]

No need to be embarassed. I have 2 of them that were handed to my by my uncle thats bad. I guess If I send them to RCBS they will polish or fix them. One set I got looking good with with steel whool.

 

[kimbernut]

Rusty/Stained Dies

In 1999 I started out with 4 sets of neglected dies that were about 30 years old in an estate deal and I have picked up several along the way that were used and abused. I simply disassemble them and use a stainless steel brush and steel wool with BreakFree on the outside swabbed out the inside with BreakFree and after a thorough wiping down ran them through the tumbler with a very fine walnut media for six hours. Some of the staining remains but they all work very well. I did not plug the ends with shells- I just gave them another thorough cleaning to be sure to get out all the media.

 

[rcmodel]

If you have a bench grinder, go to the hardware store and buy an extra-fine wire wheel for it.

You can knock off the rust and have them looking like new in about 30 seconds.

The dies are so hard the wire wheel will not touch them, just the rust.

rc

 

[WV_Vizsla]

One shot

I have been spraying Hornady One shot on inside and out for years. Seems to work very well. Does not effect powder. Shootem again before new loading session. And again before the trip to the storage box.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Inspect the interior of the die and if needed, a clothes hanger that has been bent at one end and stuffed with a wad of 00 or finer steel wool and chuck it into your drill and clean out the inside of the disassembled dies. Flush with solvent dry and you should be just fine along with what rcmodel said...