Rust in my dies

[goose]

I'm still trying to decide between .270 and 25-06, I've had some 25-06 dies that have been sitting around for many years. The 25-06 rifle is about $80 more, but I had the dies, so I thought that would even out the price a bit. I took a look at the dies and the seating die has some barely noticable spots of rust. The sizing die has quite a lot, looks like chunks inside. I haven't done a thing to clean them up, just wondering if they are worth saving.

 

[Kevin Thomas]

If the rust is of the light surface variety on the seater, you can probably salvage it with a little steel wool and some light oil. In the sizer, anything more than that could be a problem. From your description, I'd take a long hard look at that die and see if it's going to be problem with regard to scratching the brass, that sort of thing. If there's pitting, I'd toss it without a second thought. Sizing dies are available separately, and even gives you the option of upgrading to something like the Redding Type -S bushing dies.

Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA