OldLincoln
07-10-2011, 11:47 AM
I'm probably late to the party but I cleaned my dies yesterday for the second time since I started. The first time I tore them down and really cleaned them thouroughly then went through the nosebleed of resetting each of them which for me is a royal pain. I disliked it so much I put off cleaning for quite a while.
I felt the carbide sizing die drag a bit lately and got the brilliant idea to clean that puppy with my brake cleaner - without taking it apart. It only took a couple sprays and the runoff was clean. I tested it by stuffing a tissue in it which came out clean. Then I sprayed inside with Gunzilla which is vegetable based. I did the same with the flare die.
No more dragging and the casings slide in and out much easier and smoother. Now that I figured it out it's no big deal to do this often. I deprime before tumbling but reuse my own brass of which few even hit the floor of my indoor range thanks to me brass catcher which funnels most into a catch basket. All is good.
I felt the carbide sizing die drag a bit lately and got the brilliant idea to clean that puppy with my brake cleaner - without taking it apart. It only took a couple sprays and the runoff was clean. I tested it by stuffing a tissue in it which came out clean. Then I sprayed inside with Gunzilla which is vegetable based. I did the same with the flare die.
No more dragging and the casings slide in and out much easier and smoother. Now that I figured it out it's no big deal to do this often. I deprime before tumbling but reuse my own brass of which few even hit the floor of my indoor range thanks to me brass catcher which funnels most into a catch basket. All is good.