rbertalotto
03-16-2013, 10:14 AM
I have a set of RCBS Cowboy Dies that I use to reload 38-40 cartridges.
Last night while reloading a few hundred rounds I saw that the resizing die was creating long scratches in the 38-40 cases. So I removed the die and cleaned it out. Scratches still remained and I could see faint scratches inside the die. I them used a bore mop with 600 grit wet sandpaper and polished the interior of the die to a near mirror finish.
The next ten rounds resized looked great but on the 11th round I started to see the scratches again and by the 20th round the scratches were deep enough to feet with a fingernail.
Looking into the die I could see faint scratches again! I polished it again with the 600 grit and really cleaned the snot out of the die and the de-priming pin. Reassembled and same results....First 10 or so look great and then the scratches reappear and get progressively worse.
These scratches appear all around the case about a 1/32" apart from each other.
I've been reloading for over 40 years and I've never seen anything like this before. I've had dies that would scratch a case but a bit of polishing always made things right again.
Any ideas???
Last night while reloading a few hundred rounds I saw that the resizing die was creating long scratches in the 38-40 cases. So I removed the die and cleaned it out. Scratches still remained and I could see faint scratches inside the die. I them used a bore mop with 600 grit wet sandpaper and polished the interior of the die to a near mirror finish.
The next ten rounds resized looked great but on the 11th round I started to see the scratches again and by the 20th round the scratches were deep enough to feet with a fingernail.
Looking into the die I could see faint scratches again! I polished it again with the 600 grit and really cleaned the snot out of the die and the de-priming pin. Reassembled and same results....First 10 or so look great and then the scratches reappear and get progressively worse.
These scratches appear all around the case about a 1/32" apart from each other.
I've been reloading for over 40 years and I've never seen anything like this before. I've had dies that would scratch a case but a bit of polishing always made things right again.
Any ideas???