St. Louis Suomi SASS #31905 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Howdy: Looked down my dies today. I have loaded maybe two bazillion pistol cartridges and the inside of my dies look like a candle factory exploded inside a lead mine. Really ugly. So, looks like I gotta clean em up a bit. What do YOU use to get this gunk outta your dies? STL Suomi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gawd Awful Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Take them as far apart as you can, pull out the deprimig pin and the bullet seating stem, throw all the parts in your tumbler with fresh media. Go to bed. Wake up and turn off tumbler. Blow all extra media out with air hose and re assemble. Good as new Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Canyon Kid #43974 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Howdy: Looked down my dies today. I have loaded maybe two bazillion pistol cartridges and the inside of my dies look like a candle factory exploded inside a lead mine. Really ugly. So, looks like I gotta clean em up a bit. What do YOU use to get this gunk outta your dies? STL Suomi Gunscrubber or brake cleaner, whichever is handy. Make sure eveything is dry before reloading. I usually use Qtips soaked in it to scrub out the dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yusta B. Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 [quote brake cleaner Make sure eveything is dry before reloading. I usually use Qtips soaked in it to scrub out the dies. Brake cleaner works great. Ya might wanna spray on a little Rem Oil or such after as they will have no rust protection at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustang Gregg Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I take them apart and clean them with dental picks and Bonafide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 My seating die is the worst and second to that would probably be the crimp die. (all due to lube, loading BP) Gunscrubber or brake cleaner, whichever is handy. Make sure eveything is dry before reloading. I usually use Qtips soaked in it to scrub out the dies. Kind of like the above quoted idea, I take an easy flame on my propane torch and briefly warm the inside of the die then insert a wad of Qtips conforming to the inside shape of the die. I then rotate the bundle around and remove, repeating the operation a couple of times and the die ends up squeaky clean and still in adjustment (that's the reason I don't disassemble and tumble). Smithy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKFOOT SASS #11947 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Hoppes #9 and a q-tip. Don't stick it in your ear!! Blackfoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I'm sure brake cleaner works fine, but it irritates the crap out of my skin nasal passages! I soak my dies in nearly boiling hot water with a dab of dishwashing detergent. Works ok for mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Seating die plugs get entombed with lube until they are siezed. Remove the top stem, heat up 1/2 a dixie cup of water until boiling (microwave dummy, not on the stove), lower die with stuck seater plug into the hot water, wait for wax to float out, while die is still hot, wipe out with paper towel patch. The other dies get a squirt of brake cleaner every second year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Dillion seating and crimping dies are easy to disassemble w/o loosing adjustment. Use a shot of Hoppies, run a cotton patch through and wipe down. Put back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Gringo, SASS # 74217 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 One thing I like to use to loosen up the crud inside my dies is one of those government issue cleaning brushes thats got the double bristle ends on them. I think there also called a G.I toothbrush and there green in color. The small size works great to get inside those dies when broken down and using your favorite solvent. I just use Shooters Choice and then I blast them off with brake clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Shapiro Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I take them apart, stand them up on the little try the goes in my toaster oven, with a couple layers of paper towel between the die and tray, then heat them at 225 degrees for 10 minutes. All the wax lube just runs right out onto the paper towel. Very simple process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky Buscadero, SASS #73085 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Good (and timely) question and answers. I was wondering the same thing as after many reloads I recently started noticing that things were sticking a bit and the finished rounds have a bit of wax stuck on the bullets. Always some good gems of info on the Wire. Bucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Eezox and a shop swab. Frozen threaded decapping pins ... lead padded vice, a drop or 2 of 50:50 ATF and Acetone. Breaks the frozen threads very quickly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowCatcher Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Howdy: Looked down my dies today. I have loaded maybe two bazillion pistol cartridges and the inside of my dies look like a candle factory exploded inside a lead mine. Really ugly. So, looks like I gotta clean em up a bit. What do YOU use to get this gunk outta your dies? STL Suomi Ballistol and Q-Tips . . . . SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Use heat gun or hair dryer applied to the seater and crimp dies (out of the press, please). Melts out the bullet lube and brings the lead shavings out with it. Use a cleaning rod with bore solvent soaked patch for the sizer or expander die body. With all the lead particles in the seating or crimp dies, I don't put them in a food preparation device. And I don't have a spare toaster oven or kitchen oven out in the shop, in which to heat them. (Oh, if you do heat dies, let them cool off before sticking cartridges in them) Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Howdy If you load Big Lube bullets for Black Powder you will quickly find that gobs of soft BP lube build up in the seating die. Most of the time it is no problem, it just leaves gooey lube on the bullets, which is easily wiped off. HOWEVER......It is possible for enough lube to build up that it can pull out a bullet that has already been seated. Particularly if one crimps separately from seating. In the extreme case, a bullet can be pulled, and can lurk up in the seating die, then when the next bullet is seated, two go in. Practically speaking, this is impossible with Black Powder, because the amount of BP in the case will not allow two bullets into the case. But it has been known to happen with Smokeless loads, which have plenty of air space, with disastrous results. There were some articles published a few years ago about pistols blowing up with two bullets in a case. Which is why I always set out both my cases and bullets in groups of fifty, so I can keep track of exactly how many bullets have been seated in exactly how many cases. And I have weighed a whole batch of smokeless ammo more than once to make sure there were no extra bullets lurking inside. It is also possible for enough lube to build up in a die to begin seating bullets farther into the case than with the original setting. So..........every once in a while I will wipe the goo out of my seating/crimp dies with a couple of Q-Tips. But the other dies, I have never cleaned any of them, and I have been reloading both BP and Smokeless for over ten years now. Never saw a need to clean out anything other than the seating/crimp dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I take them apart, stand them up on the little try the goes in my toaster oven, with a couple layers of paper towel between the die and tray, then heat them at 225 degrees for 10 minutes. All the wax lube just runs right out onto the paper towel. Very simple process. What a great idea Doc! Going to give it a try. Much better than my torch idea. Thanks again. Smithy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Will Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Brake Cleaner.....Harbor Freight sells a 'set' of 'bottle' brushes, nylon, brass and steel of different dia. Use the appropiate size with a little HOPPES and spray with BRAKE KLEEN.... blow clean with compressed air [canned air wurks] and light coat of good gun oil. Those Harbor Freight packs of brushes have some great [long] brass brushes that work super great for cleaning cylinders BTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Louis Suomi SASS #31905 Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 Howdy: Thanks for all the suggestions. I will probably end up trying most all of them since I have MANY dies, most of which need cleaning. AND, I have most of the cleaning items already...nothing much extra to buy. Thanks again for the help. STL Suomi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Come On Christmas Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Oh, your suppose to clean them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danite SASS #27034 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Oh, your suppose to clean them? I find I have to clean the crimp die when the bullets start getting stuck in it, and pushing the next ones way down in the case. The most I've cleaned out of it was two, I have no idea whey I didn't have any empty case for the first one though....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Dan Troop 70448 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 "Q" tip and carburetor cleaner from spray can. Remember, some brake fluids chemical composition attract moisture, be sure to check out when using brake fluids. MT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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