scratches on 357 cases

[atr]

I have an old set (1960's) set of RCBS dies and the other day I was starting to size some .357 cases,,,both nickle and brass...
I am getting longitudinal scratches on the cases...The cases are clean, no grit and I cleaned the inside of the die, which did not help. I am wondering if anyone has had this happen to them and/or suggestions for re-habing the die. (The die may be a throw away)
thanks
atr
ps the picture shown is of a nickle case

[Alvarez Kelly]

I would suggest you send it to RCBS and let them polish it for you.

[Fredx10sen]

Yep! back in the early seventies, that's when I went to the RCBS carbide sizer. Polished out the old RCBS sizer with steel wool and still use it once in a while. Oh ya and it was my fault for sizing some grit laden brass before cleaning it and does not reflect on the quality of RCBS. I still have some of that brass and have not had any problems shooting it so far.

[Hickory]

Flitz might clean it up.

[Ickisrulz]

I had a .223 die doing the same thing (same pattern on neck). I used some Flitz on a cleaning patch wrapped around a wool mop spun with a drill. It cleaned up nice and the scratches went away.

From what I understand this is caused by brass particles stuck to the die...not scratches in the die. The Flitz removed the particles.

[ReloaderFred]

Flitz is my favorite product for restoring and polishing steel dies. Right behind Flitz is J-B Bore Cleaner, which is just slightly less aggressive, but still works. It only takes a couple of minutes to restore a steel die to new condition using either of these products and a tight fitting swab spun in a cordless drill. You can make the swab from wood doweling and wrap a piece of old T-shirt around it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Bad Water Bill]

Whenever I get a new set of dies the first thing that happens to them is a mop of Fritz and some happy spinning for a couple of seconds. Even my OLD eyes can see what a mirror finish looks like compared to a machine finish and the brass LOVES me. :bigsmyl2:

[SkookumJeff]

Whenever I get a new set of dies the first thing that happens to them is a mop of Fritz and some happy spinning for a couple of seconds. Even my OLD eyes can see what a mirror finish looks like compared to a machine finish and the brass LOVES me. :bigsmyl2:

Is this limited to dies for straight walled cases or do you do this with bottle neck rifle case dies too???

[Bad Water Bill]

You will be surprised how smooth and shiney the shoulder area looks after about 10 seconds with Fritz on a mop.

Take a NEW mop about the size of the body of the cartridge and chuck into a variable speed drill, making sure it is in the chuck tight. Turn the drill on and run the mop in till you have a copy of your cartridge including the neck. Put a light coat of Fritz in the formed mop and insert back into the die. Squeeze the drill trigger for 5-8 seconds, Wipe out the new die and admire the difference.

I do not know how much it will increase the diameter but it can not be more than .0005. Not enough to lose sleep over and the difference in the amount of pressure you have to put on the handle will have you smiling all the way to the fridge for a BUD.

PS No matter how nice and shiney it looks you will still have to use sizing lube of your choice.

[kbstenberg]

Would Valve lapping comp or Rubbing comp for auto detailing be a substitute for the Flitz? Kevin

[camaro1st]

had a set of rcbs leaving lines sent them back in and only the cost of shipping to get them fixed. Really nice custermer service

[TNsailorman]

Carbide is super hard and tight grained. But it will crack or shatter when it gets bumped against the top of a shell holder. That's the reason most carbide die instructions say to back off the die 1/2 turn after it touches the shell holder and then lock it in place. I know, I ruined the first carbide die (Lyman .41 magnum All American) by not reading the directions closely enough back in the 60's. It lasted about 30 to 40 cases before lines started showing up in the cases. Lesson learned the hard way. Lyman refused to replace it and I can't say I blame them. It was my fault. My experience anyway, James

[GP100man]

There could be some nickel stuck in the die also ,I use a seperate die to size what little nickel cases I have.

I think valve lappin compound may be to course a grit .

[Bad Water Bill]

Valve grinding compound is ABOUT a 60 or 80 grit silicone carbide. I am not sure what rubbing compound is but Flitz seems to be even a finer grade.

I have MANY pounds of grit and polishing compounds in the rock, jewelry shop but Flitz is so cheap and convenient and does such a nice job why not take advantage of it?

Also carbide is very hard. Harder than ruby or sapphire so yes it is easy to break or shatter. If you have a piece of carbide it can be used to mark any metal or to scribe and break glass to desired size.

[Bent Ramrod]

All it takes is a little dirt on the outside of a case to scratch the die. With the decapping stem removed and a strong light shining in the top of the die you should be able to see the scratches. If they are not too deep, a piece of crocus cloth on a split dowel spun in an electric drill or (better) the die spun in a lathe chuck with the dowel held by hand will get rid of them in short order. Move the dowel in and out while it (or the die) is spinning. Polish for a couple minutes, then clean the die out with a piece of cotton cloth and a little WD-40 and inspect. Make sure you do a final cleaning with a clean piece of cloth or you'll be back to where you started with the first case sized.

I hadn't realized RCBS performed this polishing service. That would be the way to go if you don't need to use the dies for a few days.

[JIMinPHX]

I have a set of RCBS .357 dies that does the exact same thing. I polish the sizer die with Simichrome every now & then to stay ahead of the problem. I put a cleaning jag in the chuck of a cordless drill with a cotton patch on it, dip it in Simichrome (metal polish) & have at it for about 30-seconds to a minute. After that, it's good to go for about 500 rounds as long as I use a normal amount of case lube.

None of my other dies do that, just my old RCBS .357 dies. I don't know why that one is different. I just know that it is.

[Char-Gar]

Yes, I have been there before. Because the scratches are full length on the case, that tell me the nasty stuff is near the mouth of the die.

I put a fine Cratex rod on the Dremel and polish the inside of the die for a short way. That takes the problems out.

[mroliver77]

Rubbing compound (automotive stuff)is pretty fine stuff and polishing compound is finer yet. Using these or Flitz and similar products you would have to put quite a bit of effort into it before taking a measurable amount of material out of a sizing die.

For polishing carbide you would want some fine diamond paste.

I love polishing things!

Some things can get too polished or too fine of grit. The lube adheres to the cuts allowing the pieces to "float" on a lube film. Prolly not an issue here.
J

[atr]

HURRAY !
Success, I got the die polished out
I started with a brass bristle shotgun cleaning brush mounted in a drill press, then followed that with 35 cal cotton cleaning plug which I impregnated with polishing compound also mounted in a drill press. About 20 minutes total work and the cases, both brass and nickel came out clean without any scratches

In the meantime I did buy a carbide sizer, just wanted to see if there was much difference in the sizing operation. WOW, those carbide dies really work well, and you don't have to lubricate the cases !!!
Happy Holidays everyone, and Merry Christmas
atr

[HeavyMetal]

As you've discovered carbide sizing dies are the way to go!

In my experieince the nickled case's are always the reason a steel die gets scratches..always!

I try to seperate my 38 spec. case's into brass and nickle and then clean and size accordingly.

No nickled case's go into my S&W 52 because I use a customized steel die set to reduce the amount of "working" the brass gets during the reloading cycle, the custom sizer also has been set up to reduce the amount of 'tension' created when the case is re sized.

This reduces the amount the case is worked and reduces neck tension on my cast HBWC boolits which means they do not get sized when seated in the case.

I've also had a Lee collet, rifle type, sizing die get a little "jacked" from Nickle case's!

In this case it was a batch of new 22-250 nickled case's which I ran through the collet die to fire fom in my number 1's chamber.

Bought new I did not trim or deburr the case's and that turned out to be my mistake! many of the case's had a nickle "burr" in the case mouth which scratched the living snot out of the de priming pin / crimping mandrel used in the collet die.

I caught it before I sized any brass case's but it cost me a new pin, a cheap lesson in reloading let me assure you!

I had known that nickled case's had this traight I just hadn't realized the case mouth on new case's would be this burred up!

Food for thought gentleman.

[Bad Water Bill]

I never keep any nickle cartridges for just that reason.

Range pickups are free but die sets still cost a lot of money.

Glad to hear you were able to fix your set.