Durachrome sizing die busted

[OKSaddletramp]

I've got a set of Pacific Durachrome dies in 38/357/MAX that I've used ever since I got my Contender in .357Max. While waiting for my new Max brass to arrive, I decided to load up some .38 Sp plinkers with the new 150g SWC Lee I picked up. The only brass I had was some old Air Force surplus that I've had for about 30 years and reloaded many times. Only this time, it felt like I was trying to load milsurp .30-06 without lube, and when I got the case back out (with a lot of grunting) it had numerous vertical scores along the full length of the case. I immediately stopped and tore down the die but couldn't see anything obvious defacing the die surface. I took the remainder of the brass (thinking it must be the old brass' fault) and cleaned it in citric acid and detergent then tumbled in walnut before trying again. If anything, the case looked worse. The die is definitely binding and scoring badly.

Is there any way to resurrect this die? While I'm a fan of Lee dies, I have a special feeling for the Durachrome in .357 (for one thing, it was the only die set out there that specified .357 MAX compatibility. I know, they all will work, but I liked the idea that Pacific catered to the Max crowd).

Barring repair, is there any way to replace the die? If I remember correctly, Hornady bought Pacific but went with the Dimension series instead of Durachrome.

[Iowa Fox]

It sounds like you have a build up of brass or nickle plating on your dies. I has happened to several sets of mine. Pistol on the carbide sizing ring and rifle dies on the case neck. I cleaned mine up using steel wool dampened in Shooters Choice on a wood dowel in a drill. The build up came off easy. I polished with flitz and then waxed with Lee sizing wax. Never had one do it the second time after polishing. Even if the sizing die is carbide it pays dividends to lube the cases.

[OKSaddletramp]

Thx for the tips. I'll give it a try.

Wouldn't you know, I'm all out of Flitz; it looks like a trip to my LGS, darn it.

[Silverboolit]

I had the same thing happen when sizing nickle plated 38's. called Lee and they lsaid to clean the carbide with fine grit sandpaper. Won't hurt the carbide. did that and no more scratches.

[EDG]

If you have a way to spin the die get a sheet of 500 grit wet or dry silicon carbide paper.

Use a little light gun oil or WD-40 for a cutting fluid. Spin the die and use a small torn off piece of the paper to polish out the inside of the die. Once free of the galled on brass use a little lube now and then.

I have probably salvaged 30 or 40 used dies that others have goofed up. Some were dies that must have been galled on the first use. I have also saved a few dies that were scratched by dirt and some that were pitted by rust. It rarely takes more than 5 minutes of polishing.