Long-term die storage to avoid rust

[Dannix]

Greetings,

This hobby went to the back burner some time ago for me, and I came across a physical manifestation of that when I recently came across my Lee deprimer die -- it's covered in a proper veneer of rust.

Thoughts on the best way to long-term store reloading equipment e.g. dies such at this? Ed's Red or some such with or extra lanolin?

[500MAG]

I use marvel mystery oil

[Ickisrulz]

Eezox works for me.

[bangerjim]

Move to AZ or any SW desert climate! Raw steel does not rust here! I have bright shiny steel surfaces out in the elements and they do not rust. If the RH goes up, a thin coat of light oil comes to the rescue. I have tools and cutting edges left out for months that do not rust at all.

When I lived back east, everything rusted...............overnight!!!!!!!!!!


banger

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I oil them up and put a piece of no-rust paper in the plastic box when I store them.

[Baja_Traveler]

Long term - Ezox and a heavy duty food saver vacuum bag.

[JSnover]

I wiped my press down with ATF and covered it with an oily towel before I put it in storage for a few months… three years later I took it back out and all was well. The same trick worked on my dies too but each of them were in their original plastic boxes.

[waltherboy4040]

Rig grease

[Petrol & Powder]

Rig grease

/\ Still my favorite /\

And I'll second Banger's comments about ferrous metals in the east. You can watch steel rust here!

[Geezer in NH]

/\ Still my favorite /\

And I'll second Banger's comments about ferrous metals in the east. You can watch steel rust here!

That was a fun past time here in Rural NH when I was a kid.

[USMC87]

I have been using dry lube spray and it has done well so far.

[1_Ogre]

All of my dies are in original boxes. When I'm done with a reloading session, I clean them with brake cleaner, then a light coat of RemOil, inside each box I put some Vapor Paper in and I've never had a rust problem and I live in FL

[Dannix]

I appreciate the input. Thanks, all.

[Weaponologist]

If you have a special space that you use just for your reloading like myself. I had to add a Dehumidifier. But as you said your out of the reloading business for a while anyway. Would be great if you had enough room in your house to store your dies and tools and such. the air conditioner in your home would keep all you stuff in new condition. For me I couldn't keep enough oil on everything to beat the rust. If you come up with a new idea thats different and works please share it....Good Luck.

[ole 5 hole group]

Eezox works great but Hornady's one shot gun cleaner and lube works just as well but Hornady one shot HD extreme works even better. There's a couple studies done that will show some pretty interesting results, but Eezox and one-shot will always be close to the top spot.

[rrob692326]

clean everything and store in a rifle size vci bag and put that in a 5 gallon bucket. I live in a 100 percent humidity environment and this works to keep my stuff rust free.

[762 shooter]

I moved to the coast of SC in 1985. A low humidity day is 75%. Rust would appear overnight.

RIG solved the problem. I'm still using the 3 or 4 oz jar purchased in 1985.

762

[Kevin Rohrer]

Breakfree

[lightman]

I clean my dies after using them and spray them with whatever aerosol oil that I use on my guns. Its usually some type of electrically rated stuff that displaces moisture. Then they go back into the original box. I consider myself lucky to have a dedicated room in the house for my loading set-up, so moisture is not that much of a problem.

[AbitNutz]

There are all kinds of oils that will work reasonably well...RIG was/is my staple for years.

There are some dies that don't rust. The latest Hornady dies seem to be mostly impervious to corrosion. I tend to buy them by default unless there is something special that they don't fit my needs. I also really like their sleeved seating die. Again, unless you have some special needs that the run of the mill Hornady dies won't do what you want...they don't seem to suffer from metal rot.