How often do yu guys clean out your dies?

[243yote]

I have read alot of articles on cleaning this and that but have never read anything on cleaning dies and seaters. So are there any special precautions?

 

[winmag]

Depends...... maybe once a month or month and a half for my decapping/resizing dyes, unless Im not loading alot. If I see a dimple on 1 brass I clean it out immediately. And I clean it out every time I swich bullets on the seating dye,(Hornady SST's to Nosler Accubonds) shapes/weights etc. They could go quite a bit longer, and will now that I have them ''tuned'' exactly where I want them, but Im a clean freak with my loading bench and components.
I guess I may start to wait till I see a problemb now, instead of routinely every x amount of rounds. It would sure save alot of hassle getting them right back where I had them.

 

[Gene]

Cleanilng dies, shellholders and bushings is often overlooked. I peek inside my dies with each use. If I see any dirt, I spray them with brake cleaner and wipe with a Q tip. Take the sizer die apart, spray the expander and its stem, wipe with paper towel. Seater die, very important - remove the seater stem and thoroughly clean the meplat cup (where the bullet tip goes). Wipe it dry with a Q tip. Die threads also need to be cleaned.

 

[Eaglet]

I have read alot of articles on cleaning this and that but have never read anything on cleaning dies and seaters. So are there any special precautions?

for my first round, using a brass that is even in thickness all the way around, when I put it together I check the out-of-round on the bullet, if I get two or three rounds that are more than 0.002" then I clean both dies. Usually that solves the problem. I'm normally happy with 0.002 and will keep the 0.003. Any thing higher than that I use for practicing, zeroing in, etc.

 

[boomtube]

"...have never read anything on cleaning dies and seaters."

Well, seaters are dies too. We don't read much about that because it's not very complex. I think of them sorta like my car and clean 'em when they're "dirty", not on a schedule.

 

[243yote]

Well thanks for replies.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I use a water based lube when FL sizing so I tend to clean my dies after every use with very hot water and dry them using compressed air. I also wipe out my seating dies after every use because they often get bullet jacket material in them. It's a simple matter of just unscrewing the seating stem and wiping out the die with a soft cloth.

I also spray inside and out with WD40 or similar before I put them away into their boxes. Rust is your enemy when it comes to rifle dies!

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