Die Cleaning

[jonp]

I've looked and haven't seen a thread on this so if someone knows of one please direct me there.

I've bought several used die sets lately and want to clean them first. My question is what to use on them. I have been spraying the insides with Ballistol and scrubbing them and that cleans them up but I am wondering whether any residue from the cleaning agent will interact with powder since the cleaning agent dissolves powder. I do wipe out the dies with clean patches after cleaning.
So, is so little cleaner left that no problem should result or should I use something else?

[btroj]

I use a bore brush, solvent, and patches. Just like cleaning a barrel in my opinion.

[marlin39a]

I used to clean with Hoppes. Now I use the ultrasonic with heat and the gun parts solution.

[zuke]

50 cal bore brush in a hand drill running slow will get the worst out.
Soak in a solvent for a couple day's will get a lot off then a quick look over with a "tooth brush" will get the rest.

[nhrifle]

Carburetor cleaner works for me. Spray it and wipe it out, good to go.

[bear67]

Trick for dies with a little surface rust: Get some mild phosphoric acid solution (sold in paint and hardware stores as "rust prime" or similiar label--I buy in in gallons and it is not expensive and good on de-rusting all types of steel projects) and coat inside and out. Let dry and rinse in water, then oil. You then clean like cleaning a rifle barrel and lightly lube with lube of your choice. The acid solution does not take anything off but the rust, but kills the rust and leaves protective coating. On some dies, it discolors the dies, but no beauty contest, just reloading dies.
I inherited a reloading setup from a friend and neighbor who died and his dies were stored in a moist outside building and had some surface rust. We cleaned it all with rust prime and my son in law is using much of it today.

[giddyupgo55]

I use a bore brush and Hoppies #9. Has always worked for me, as long as there is no rust.

[jdgabbard]

Lyman sonic cleaner, then oiled nicely to prevent rust.

[dmclark523]

Carburetor cleaner works for me. Spray it and wipe it out, good to go.

+1 for carburetor cleaner. Spray some on and wipe it down with shop towels or paper towels. I also have easy access to an air compressor, so often i'll use that to clean out any remaining dirty cleaner I can't reach with my tools.

EDIT: This is also a great way to clean out your Lee sizing dies, as they tend to get gunked up with lube from time to time.

[Char-Gar]

Many years ago I needed to clean some gunk out of a loading die and the only thing I had was plain old drug store rubbing alcohol. I tried it, and it cleans fine. I mostly just use a shop paper towel soaked with it. It cuts oil, bullets lube or whatever out of dies. It is cheap, available anywhere, evaporates off and leaves no residue. Works for me...

[429421Cowboy]

I like carb cleaner to blast out the chunks and remove any built up case lube in my size dies and clear the vent hole, and a bore brush to hog out boolit lube from my seating dies. Then a quick shot of lube to keep them from rusting. I am going to have to get some rust prime and try that, i have a few older die sets that could use it!

[weasel 21]

I like carb cleaner to blast out the chunks and remove any built up case lube in my size dies and clear the vent hole, and a bore brush to hog out boolit lube from my seating dies. Then a quick shot of lube to keep them from rusting. I am going to have to get some rust prime and try that, i have a few older die sets that could use it!
Try vinegar. Takes rust right off!

[DLCTEX]

Brake clean and Q-Tips.

[John Allen]

I take the dies apart and spray with carb cleaner. Anything rust or rough gets a quick hit with a scotch brite pad.

[tom357mag]

Take apart and throw them in your tumbler , works for me :}

[jonp]

Take apart and throw them in your tumbler , works for me :}

Now that's the first time I've heard that!

[dragon813gt]

Take apart and throw them in your tumbler , works for me :}

Been doing this for a long time. If you have nufinish in the media it applies a protective coating to the dies as well :)

[Taylor]

Clean them or when you least expect it,it will cause issue's.Found that out last week when it started seating the bullet too deep,

[millsa2]

Never thought of using carb cleaner. Another Great Idea.

[r1kk1]

Carb cleaner is great to remove stubborn carbon buildup in barrels also. Good stuff. Brake cleaner too.

Take care

r1kk1

[EDG]

I have never bought a really crappy set of used dies and I have more than 50 sets.
I just spray a little Birchwood Casey Barricade (used to be called Sheath) into the die and wipe it out with a a Smith and Wesson ring type pistol cleaning rod and tee shirt patches. I suppose if I had to resort to a brush it would be a tooth brush. I did get a few scratched dies and 1 rusted die. I just spun them in a lathe at about 300 rpm with 500 to 600 grit wet or dry silicon carbide paper using WD-40 or Barricade as a cutting fluid.
Then clean and apply Barricade to prevent rust.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I've used about 95% of the methods described above and they all worked well for me. The method I like to use now is to use Ed's Red for cleaning my firearms and dies. Why? Because it contains both solvents and lubricants. This means that once clean, the firearm or the die also has a light coat of lubricant/preservative still on it unless I wipe it down with a dry cloth/patch. Doing final wipe down with a cloth/patch wet with Ed's Red has kept many of my rifles and dies in like new condition over the last 10 years, with no additional effort on my part.

[1Shirt]

Have used all kinds of cleaners, but think I will give the tumbler a try next time I run a batch of brass.
1Shirt!

[Dave Bulla]

I love buying die sets that look a little groady or have light rust on them. Nobody else seems to bid and when I get them, anything that needs cleaning like old lube gets cleaned with any of the methods mentioned above but for light rust, I really like evapo-rust. I even did a "product review" on another forum the first time I tried it. It's not real fast but there's ZERO effort and stuff comes out like new unless it actually was pitted. Removing rust just don't put metal back in the pits it came out of... sure wish someone would invent a solvent that did eh? Anyway, here's a link with before and after pic's.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/hunting-gear-shooting-gear-accessories/74858-evapo-rust-review-dave-bulla.html

[jonp]

that looks like great stuff. I'm going to bid on a set of rusty dies on ebay and go get some just to try it out.

[tom357mag]

Have used all kinds of cleaners, but think I will give the tumbler a try next time I run a batch of brass.
1Shirt!

Don't run brass in with your dies as it will probably nick up the brass. Also don't forget the NU-FINISH

[dterninko]

I recently acquired some dies with varying amounts of rust. I tried a few different methods so far but they both are turning the dies dark, almost black

Method 1 - A pinch of lemi-shine, a little dawn in an ultrasonic cleaner. Excellent rust removal, very quickly but turns the parts blackish
Method 2 - Evapo-Rust - Very good rust removal although a little slower than above, still turns blackish but not as bad

Any tips to avoid the darkening? I tried tumbling after to remove the black, but it didn't do much

I was thinking about trying glass beading as well. I called RCBS and their recommendation was the blast beading.

[2011redrider]

I have tumbled in walnut for a day or two to clean up light rust, or came across a method with a molasses solution 10:1 with water. Took a few days but worked quite well. only die that darkened was a hornady powder cop. Used both methods recently on a gummed up Lyman 55 measure I bought on another forum for 20 bucks with a RCBS stand. works great now.

[Teddy (punchie)]

Use a tumbler to clean all types of stuff, 4 0 steel wool and oil and wipe off extra.