casing equal distance striations???

lakebilly · October 7, 2008, 07:57 PM

i am attempting to decap, resize .357mag w/Lyman resize. casings have striations that appear to be equally spaced around entire casing!? cleaned dies checked them w/magnifying glass, no visual of debris or anything that would scratch the casing.

lb

FrankenMauser · October 8, 2008, 10:55 PM

Do they appear to have been fired in a fluted chamber? Or, are they actually scratched?

lakebilly · October 9, 2008, 07:43 PM

they are scratched. i check them before resizing. the last casing i attempted i only ran it in about 3/8" and it was scratched all away around for the 3/8". i got the dies w/used eq. the first casing had a tar like subs. in it. i cleaned the die w/brake cleaner, swabs. it looks fine but...? lb

wncchester · October 9, 2008, 08:06 PM

Your sizer has tiny bits of brass "galled" onto the die wall, those bits are scratching your cases and they grow in size as you continue to work. It's fairly easy to remove but you won't do it with brake cleaner! Just polish it out with a bit of steel wool.

Get a small wad of steel wool, any will do but it seems a fairly coarse "O" grade works fastest. Take a 3-4" length of 1/4" or 5/16" dowel rod and cut a few notches around it to make the surface a little rough. Then chuck it in a high speed drill, wrap a snug fitting layer of steel wool over the rod and insert the wad into the die, spinning the drill a couple of minutes. Then remove it, clean the die and try sizing a case to see if you got it all. If not, do it again.

Don't worry about changing dimensions of the die, it's case hardened steel - or carbide - and steel wool is much to soft to remove anything but the brass bits.

You may even want to use a little brass solvent type bore cleaner on the wool to speed the process.. Sweet's works well, or even a few drops of househole ammonia can help it attack the brass. WEAR EYE PROTECTION if you do this! A microscopic droplet isn't likely to blind you but you may think it's going to if you get some of that stuff flung into your eyes!

Prevent a recurance of galling by lubing your cases to prevent dry metal pushing over the die wall. That even applies to carbide dies, a lightly lubed case every 10-15 rounds will help hold galling down on them too.

lakebilly · October 10, 2008, 05:19 AM

hope to have some playtime this weekend. thanks, i'll keep you posted.lb

October 7, 2008, 07:57 PM	#1
lakebilly Member Join Date: May 6, 2008 Location: NY Posts: 41	casing equal distance striations??? i am attempting to decap, resize .357mag w/Lyman resize. casings have striations that appear to be equally spaced around entire casing!? cleaned dies checked them w/magnifying glass, no visual of debris or anything that would scratch the casing. lb __________________ "Our destruction... From the innattention of the people to the concerns of their government... fail properly to scrutinze their conduct; that in this way they may be made dupes of designing men..." D. Webster

October 9, 2008, 07:43 PM	#3
lakebilly Member Join Date: May 6, 2008 Location: NY Posts: 41	they are scratched. i check them before resizing. the last casing i attempted i only ran it in about 3/8" and it was scratched all away around for the 3/8". i got the dies w/used eq. the first casing had a tar like subs. in it. i cleaned the die w/brake cleaner, swabs. it looks fine but...? lb __________________ "Our destruction... From the innattention of the people to the concerns of their government... fail properly to scrutinze their conduct; that in this way they may be made dupes of designing men..." D. Webster

October 10, 2008, 05:19 AM	#5
lakebilly Member Join Date: May 6, 2008 Location: NY Posts: 41	hope to have some playtime this weekend. thanks, i'll keep you posted.lb __________________ "Our destruction... From the innattention of the people to the concerns of their government... fail properly to scrutinze their conduct; that in this way they may be made dupes of designing men..." D. Webster

October 8, 2008, 10:55 PM	#2
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,424	Do they appear to have been fired in a fluted chamber? Or, are they actually scratched?

October 9, 2008, 08:06 PM	#4
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	Your sizer has tiny bits of brass "galled" onto the die wall, those bits are scratching your cases and they grow in size as you continue to work. It's fairly easy to remove but you won't do it with brake cleaner! Just polish it out with a bit of steel wool. Get a small wad of steel wool, any will do but it seems a fairly coarse "O" grade works fastest. Take a 3-4" length of 1/4" or 5/16" dowel rod and cut a few notches around it to make the surface a little rough. Then chuck it in a high speed drill, wrap a snug fitting layer of steel wool over the rod and insert the wad into the die, spinning the drill a couple of minutes. Then remove it, clean the die and try sizing a case to see if you got it all. If not, do it again. Don't worry about changing dimensions of the die, it's case hardened steel - or carbide - and steel wool is much to soft to remove anything but the brass bits. You may even want to use a little brass solvent type bore cleaner on the wool to speed the process.. Sweet's works well, or even a few drops of househole ammonia can help it attack the brass. WEAR EYE PROTECTION if you do this! A microscopic droplet isn't likely to blind you but you may think it's going to if you get some of that stuff flung into your eyes! Prevent a recurance of galling by lubing your cases to prevent dry metal pushing over the die wall. That even applies to carbide dies, a lightly lubed case every 10-15 rounds will help hold galling down on them too.