Die cleaning

What is your die cleaning regimen?

1). When new?

2). Periodically, how often?

3). What do you use to clean them?

I have some Redding competition dies with the sliding sleeve and I've noticed they don't feel as smooth and seems like the sleeve may be dragging/sticking.

I clean my dies after every use….except my comp seater dies, I just blow out the internals with compressed air.
To clean my sizing dies, I run boiling water through them after taking out the decapping stem, then with a clean rag soaked with alcohol, I clean all surfaces inside and the decapping stem and expander (mine are always coated with powdered graphite), blow out any remaining alcohol and then place one drop of oil on the threads of the decapping stem and put it back together.
I only ever wipe the outside of my dies with a faintly coated silicone impregnated cloth.

For new dies, I clean them with petroleum spirit to remove the rust inhibitor, then run a cotton bore mop with the same solvent into the shoulder and neck of the die to remove the polish often left in there, then inspect with the Hawkeye.
After this I remove the screwed in parts and use an old toothbrush and solvent to clean all of these areas….have been burned not doing this in the past!
Then everything gets a light coat of oil and re-assembled. Done.

Cheers.

Clean new dies with 91%. Polish inside with IOSSO polish/cleaner and polish expanders on buffing wheel. We also polish new mandrels on the wheel. We clean the dies after every use.

Thanks for the feedback so far.
Will alcohol clean off the factory grease or do you need to use some type of solvent for that?

Just asking, would a brake cleaning fluid work for cleaning the dies internally?

asd9055 said:

Just asking, would a brake cleaning fluid work for cleaning the dies internally?

Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing.

I use carb cleaner. Then recoat with hornady one shot as that is what i use for sizing.

asd9055 said:

Just asking, would a brake cleaning fluid work for cleaning the dies internally?

Click to expand...

I use brake cleaner and shop towels. Seem to come pretty clean. May need to be careful if you live in the rust belt, prob need a light bit of oil just to protect them.

Yes, brake cleaner and carbie cleaner are good at removing grease, but not so good at removing rust inhibitor. This stuff, which I forget the name of it, is really a nasty sticky goop that is difficult to remove, even after soaking the parts.
I once found the metal balls used to peen the dies in a tumbler inside the threaded section in the top of the die, how they got there I don't know. Have also found thread cuttings.
The alcohol is for removing sizing wax only.

Cheers.

Mike from Texas said:

What is your die cleaning regimen?

1). When new?

2). Periodically, how often?

3). What do you use to clean them?

I have some Redding competition dies with the sliding sleeve and I've noticed they don't feel as smooth and seems like the sleeve may be dragging/sticking.

Click to expand...

I clean when new before the first use and after that before each subsequent reloading session. I disassemble the dies, spray with Gun Scrubber and then follow up with cleaning patches pushed through with a wooden dowel. It's pretty dry here along the Front Range in Colorado so after using, I put the dies away until the next time. Then again, I'm kind of lazy that way!!

Hoppe's #9, Ed's Red, or many other solvents work well, even for removing bullet lubricant buildup.

Like the other guys here, brake cleaner & oneshot lube for me!

MagnumManiac said:

Yes, brake cleaner and carbie cleaner are good at removing grease, but not so good at removing rust inhibitor. This stuff, which I forget the name of it, is really a nasty sticky goop that is difficult to remove, even after soaking the parts.
I once found the metal balls used to peen the dies in a tumbler inside the threaded section in the top of the die, how they got there I don't know. Have also found thread cuttings.
The alcohol is for removing sizing wax only.

Cheers.

Click to expand...

Thinking of "Cosmoline"? The original stuff dating back to the WWII (at least) is some pretty fierce stuff. Fortunately I've only encountered it a couple of times. Lacquer Thinner seems to work the best on it. The Chi-Com stuff used on AK's and SKS' is nearly as difficult to remove and it's smell is not something easily forgotten nor easily described in family friendly language.

IME 'Gun Scrubber' has a slight edge on brake cleaner for the truly difficult to clean parts etc., but not enough to use it exclusively. I can buy brake cleaner for a lot less per can (by the case) so I always start with it and progress to Gun Scrubber if the brake cleaner isn't getting it done.

I use PB Blaster, Boeshield T9, and occasionally Break-Free as my rust inhibitor options.

For me:
In the past-
disassemble the new dies, grab a gun cleaning brush, Hoppe's #9 and scrub that metal preservative all off of new dies, then oil outside with "collector" oil by break free
inside I use a cotton swab filled with Dillon sizing lube

when dirty or starting to be sticky,
disassemble-put in a basket- 8 ounces of Methal Ethel Keytone in a small steel can with air tight lid. this normally takes everything off including wax and any sizing lube dried on. then rinsed off with very hot water then left to dry. I have found that by this time we have some scratches and I use 1,000 grit or finer to polish the inside of the sizing die and any part that is showing signs of excessive wear. then lube with graphite everywhere. I have found that graphite ground into the pours of the metal slows the wear on all parts so I have gone to doing this to new dies and have had excellent results. then lube back up and re-assemble.