Originally Posted by
Bazoo
Howdy.
I'd get a bronze bore brush, chuck it in a drill, use some penetrating oil, and scrub the inside of the sizing dies to see how they clean up. If they clean up good, then it's worth it to clean up the rest of the dies (to me).
One thing to consider is, if they are pistol dies with carbide inserts, the carbide will not be affected, so once the rust is cleaned up, they will work just fine.
Another thing to consider is, caliber. If the dies are an odd or obscure caliber, they might be worth something regardless of condition, as long as they are usable. But if they are common calibers like 30-06, not so much.
Unless they are pitted on the inside, then surface rust is of no consequence other than resale value, but it DOES hurt the resale value. A complete die set, lets say 30-06, in good condition, will probably bring about $30 plus shipping. A rusty but usable set will probably bring $15 at the most. If they are a set of older 50-110 Winchester dies, they will bring $200+ in great condition, and $100 in usable condition. So caliber and condition makes a lot of difference.
You could sell them all as a lot as is, and someone who likes tinkering on reloading stuff would buy them. I have bought similar lots of stuff to get just 1 or 2 pieces, or just for the fun of messing with it.