Warning for new reloaders

[TexRebel]

when buying reloading dies, there is alway the temptation to save some money and buy used dies from a shop or a Gun Show, there is nothing wrong with this as I have done so my self. But here is a key thing to watch for, and it gets a lot of folks because hey , how many of us carry a flashlight in the day time ?

Here is a good used die
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk302/Texrebel_album/IMG_0433.jpg

Here is a bad one A friend of mine got and he could not figure out why his brass was all scratched up and he brought the die to me when he got a brass case stuck in the die.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk302/Texrebel_album/IMG_0434.jpg

[mooman76]

That is a very good point but I might also add this is a rare case but it does happen and with other reload items also. Buyer beware! ( I don't know how to spell coviot emptor)

[beemer]

Good advice,especially to new reloaders. It is hard to spot everything but you can try. I carry a bag to gun shows as much for tools as for what I buy. I carry a small 1 cell AAA Mag-Lite, bore light, tape measure, loupe, small screwdriver with magnet, small oil bottle and cleaning rod with accessories. A 38 brush with a patch and a little oil will help clean out most dies. If a bore is dirty I wipe it out, if the dealer says no I walk.

beemer

[Shiloh]

Good advice,especially to new reloaders. It is hard to spot everything but you can try. I carry a bag to gun shows as much for tools as for what I buy. I carry a small 1 cell AAA Mag-Lite, bore light, tape measure, loupe, small screwdriver with magnet, small oil bottle and cleaning rod with accessories. A 38 brush with a patch and a little oil will help clean out most dies. If a bore is dirty I wipe it out, if the dealer says no I walk.

beemer

Great advice!!

The vast majority of dealers don't mind knowing that a used item for sale may be not be perfect. Honest wear is one thing, abuse or misuse is another. You can bet dealers look over stuff that is traded in or purchased out right. In all the years of going to gun shows and purchasing used firearms and equipment, there have only been a few dealers who aren't up to snuff. Fortunately the shooting community has a way of weeding out this type of individual.

Like beemer, I have had to walk a few times.

Shiloh :castmine:

[Echo]

I have run across a sizer die or two that would scratch a case. I fixed 'em by polishing them with a slotted dowel holding a small chunk of ScotchBrite with a drop of oil and a smidgen of rouge - in a drill press. Put the die over the dowel, turn it on, and polish away.

With thos DEEP scores in pic #2, you might have to polish a little longer...

[halfslow]

I got a new Lyman 357 carbide sizer die so rough it would scrape the nickle off the case.
Brought it back to a dealer I knew very well. He gave me a new die and said to keep the bum one and learn something by trying to fix it.
I did like EasyEd said, but used wet-or-dry on a dowel.
I like it better now than the tight factory "perfect" die. It doesn't squeeze the case so much.

[dragonrider]

Pic #1 is a carbide die, and pic #2 is a steel die. Scratching up a steel die is real easy when not using lube on the cases. Was your friend using lube? Checking the condition of dies when buying used is, as you say, very important, but one should compare steel die to steel die or some newbie may become confused. That die is pretty far gone, don't know if it is worth saving.

[Tom Herman]

Four years of Latin at your service...

Happy Shootin'! -Tom


Buyer beware! ( I don't know how to spell coviot emptor)

[1hole]

"I did like EasyEd said, but used wet-or-dry on a dowel. I like it better now than the tight factory "perfect" die. It doesn't squeeze the case so much."

I clean up many "scratched" sizing dies this way too.

I seriously doubt you changed the dimensions of your die at all. That case hardend surface is VERY difficult to change with 400 grit or finer silicon carbide paper. And it takes diamond grit to cut carbide. Much more likely, your die just had a larger diameter body cavity originally.

It's rare for a sizer die to actually be scratched. What does happen is that a poorly lubed brass case will "gall" against the dry steel (or carbide) and bits of the brass stick as firmly as if welded. After it starts, the bits will grow until they actually damage cases.

It's easy enough to "clean" off the galled brass with a split dowel covered with snug fitting wraps of fine grades of silicon carbide paper (I get mine from Walmarts auto paint display) and an electric drill.

Even the badly "scored" die shown above will clean up if you work on it. I enjoy salvaging items others tend to toss out.

[jmorris]

With new Lee die sets from $14-$28 I don’t bother with used dies anymore.

[TexRebel]

the 2nd pic is a normal die, my Friend got his case stuck on the 10th case, and I had to clean the lube out after I got the case unstuck to see the scratches

[nicholst55]

I just send ones like #2 back to the manufacturer for a replacement - providing they're RCBS.

[shotman]

I agree with 1hole MOST of the time it is build up of brass. That second die looks to be that way. I sent a die back to RCBS and they returned the same die FIXED and told me to clean and lube cases. rick