Old dirty bullet sizing dies

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  • Last Post 28 April 2009
colander posted this 27 April 2009

So I got a bunch of casting and reloading stuff from my father in 2002.  I was taught to reload by him when I was about 10 or so but casting was not part of that education. So, fast-forward to now and I am looking at casting 45, 44 mag, and 30 caliber (308 and 30-06).  The sizing dies of my father's have been stored rather poorly.  They have been out of use since the end of the 80's.  They are not rusty but they have a mixture of hardened lube, fine sawdust and general dirt crusted all over them.  I see that there is a rubber seal at one end of the dies so I didn't want to just attack them with soapy boiling water or a general degreaser without getting some info first.  What should I do to restore these to a workable order.  They fit a 450 press if that makes any difference.  Thanks in advance for the info.

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JetMech posted this 27 April 2009

I'd oil the o-rings up. Use some 3-1 or whatever you have. Rub it in good and see if they are still soft enough to remove. If they break, they are easy enough to replace. At that point, clean away. You could boil the dies in soapy water or soak them in oil and scrub them with a old tooth brush.

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Duane Mellenbruch posted this 27 April 2009

Ed's Red is just what you need to gently disolve the old dry lube and oil.  I am not sure how the O rings will do with Ed's Red though.  You will find out after soaking the first die for a few hours to loosen up the crud.  Duane

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CB posted this 27 April 2009

The rubber seal's nothing but an o ring so work it off with a straight edge of some kind, a pocket knife would do just pry it up a little bit and grab it with your fingers and pull it off. After it's off hold the die with some plyers and put a little heat to it to melt all the old crap off. How far you want to go after that is up to you but they'll be clean. The ejector pin will probably slide right out once the lube starts melting so watch for it.

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JetMech posted this 28 April 2009

Ed's Red! I should have thought of it! It really has turned out to be an excellent all-purpose cleaner. Just made up my first batch about 3 weeks ago.

Colander, Ed's made the ingredients public, and for that we own him a debt of gratitude. The ingredients are as follows:

<>1 qt. ATF III (Automatic Transmission Fluid <>1 qt. Acetone <>1 qt. Deodorized Mineral Spirits <>1 qt. K1 Kerosene. <*>1 lb. Lanolin. The lanolin is optional. I didn't include it in my batch because I couldn't find it locally. Mix some up. It is an excellent bore cleaner.

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Ed Harris posted this 28 April 2009

You don't need the quite whole pound of lanolin. 

The normal ratio is to blend 200 grams per liter of mix.  That saves you enough from a pound to give you case sizing lube for a LONG time! 

But if you want to save money in today's economy the cleaner works quite well without it.   Its purpose is mainly to displace moisture if you use ER as a flush after water cleaning for chlorate primers, and to improve its film strength and lubricity as an all-purpose cleaner-lubricant-preservative.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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KenK posted this 28 April 2009

I've cleaned many of them with plain boiling water.  My local hardware store has the o-rings for a few cents each so I have never bothered with trying to save them.

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Fg1 posted this 28 April 2009

Where is a good place to get lanolin ?

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Ed Harris posted this 28 April 2009

Any pharmacy should be able to order anhydrous lanolin for you.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Fg1 posted this 28 April 2009

Thank you , Ill give them a shot :D

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JetMech posted this 28 April 2009

http://www.thesage.com/catalog/FixedOil.html#Lanolin>http://www.thesage.com/catalog/FixedOil.html#Lanolin This is where alot of black powder shooters get it.

$8.75

5 lbs Anhydrous Lanolin $39.40  

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