Reloading die scoring/scratching brass???

golfnutrlv · June 12, 2011, 02:51 PM

Hey everyone, was working on 308 brass today, and my FL sizer die did this to the brass neck. Die is RCBS standard. Cases were lubed.

What the heck???? I have never seen a die do this to brass. The die is clean, in good working order otherwise.

Brass is Fed/Win/Lapua. Does the same to all of them.

What gives?

PA-Joe · June 12, 2011, 03:20 PM

I would send those photos to RCBS and ask them. Looks like the die was not polished.

Tim R · June 12, 2011, 03:27 PM

O don't know the reason but have seen it before. I saw the very same marks on the necks of ammo Norma Zinmaster's husband had loaded for her 30 years ago. I commented on it. The goofed up necks sure did not slow Norma down because she still beat everyone. Seems like it was a High Power match.

golfnutrlv · June 12, 2011, 03:30 PM

Thanks for the replies so far everyone.

This die has been used a ton in the last couple years. Just started doing this in the last 2 weeks.

William T. Watts · June 12, 2011, 05:45 PM

Take the die spindle out of the die, affix cotton patches on a small wooden dowel, apply flitz paste on the patches, chuck that up in a drill motor and polish the neck of the die. That should take care of your problem. William

Gregad · June 13, 2011, 06:16 AM

Scratched up die. Must have had some dirt or corrosion on the neck when you run one into it. As William suggested, try polishing it. You might get some of the scratches out of the die if you can live with a few. I just went through this with a steel .38/.357 mag sizer die that I used for years without problems. I finally figured out my son was tumbling the brass first (Old school) which still left corrosion on them.

I decap all my brass and ultrasonic clean them first. Gets rid of all dirt, corrosion inside and out. Polish them only for the looks now.

Ideal Tool · June 13, 2011, 11:41 PM

Hello, golfnutrlv. I may be way off base here..but those "scratches" just look too uniform...Look like cut splines. Is it possible you might have picked up some range brass fired from a fluted chamber?

Doodlebugger45 · June 14, 2011, 11:20 AM

I agree with Ideal Tool in that the marks look way too uniform to be caused by some grit or corrosion that has suddenly appeared in the die. Thos marks look like they were caused on purpose by some machine. It is hard to believe the die could just get like thast overnight. I don't know anything about fluted chambers, but I guess that's possible.

William T. Watts · June 14, 2011, 02:09 PM

Just found a fluted 308 case that the chamber was fluted body/shoulder/neck, if a fluted case is responsibile for your resizing die having the neck scoured then you should see the same thing on the body also, it isn't there. What I'm betting is the transition from shoulder to neck in your sizing die is boogered up, I think the flitz or some other product like JB bore cleaner will clean it up, I've had this problem before and it is curable/fixible! William

Steve in PA · June 14, 2011, 06:51 PM

Contact RCBS. I had a die leaving a few marks on the case neck. They requested I send them the die, they did whatever it is they do to the die and sent it back to me, at no charge. I assume they polished out the die like the other poster mentioned.

edward5759 · June 14, 2011, 07:00 PM

If you look at the scratches, they are not regular.
I have had several dies do this in the past.
William T. Watts has it right it's "galling" The worst combination is brass and steel it will gall ask any Engineer.
Take a wool mop with some Fitz polish and spin the mop at about 450 R.P.M.
Now we did a study in collage back in the 60s, and found you can polish dies all day long and still remove less than 1/10 of a thousand of an inch. but it will remove the galling that has occurred. Machining Brass and Copper is a nightmare when using HSS tooling and dies.
I use a 12 gauge wool shotgun mop and a drill press.
the mop will willing go through the die if you let it.
so hang on. I have used Brasso, White Rubbing compound, and car polish to acheave good results.
Now I use a carbide from Dillon and still have gone through two dies.

Best of luck
Ed5759

golfnutrlv · June 17, 2011, 03:37 PM

Thanks everyone. It is a die problem. It does this on new brass, old brass whatever.

Will try polishing the die over the weekend, otherwise, RCBS gets the call.

Thanks all

lll Otto lll · June 17, 2011, 04:44 PM

This is a common problem and there's nothing wrong with the die. You just need to clean/polish to get rid of the brass residue that was left in sizer die caused by a lack of lubrication. Here's another example that was reported on SnipersHide https://snipershide.com/forum/ubbthr...Number=1733863

June 12, 2011, 02:51 PM	#1
golfnutrlv Senior Member Join Date: November 5, 2008 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 1,345	Reloading die scoring/scratching brass??? Hey everyone, was working on 308 brass today, and my FL sizer die did this to the brass neck. Die is RCBS standard. Cases were lubed. What the heck???? I have never seen a die do this to brass. The die is clean, in good working order otherwise. Brass is Fed/Win/Lapua. Does the same to all of them. What gives? __________________ ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ VIGILIA PRETIUM LIBERTATIS "The price of liberty is vigilance" America is at an awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.

June 12, 2011, 03:27 PM	#3
Tim R Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 2004 Location: God's side of Washington State Posts: 1,601	O don't know the reason but have seen it before. I saw the very same marks on the necks of ammo Norma Zinmaster's husband had loaded for her 30 years ago. I commented on it. The goofed up necks sure did not slow Norma down because she still beat everyone. Seems like it was a High Power match. __________________ God Bless our Troops especially our Snipers. Last edited by Tim R; June 12, 2011 at 03:42 PM.

June 12, 2011, 03:30 PM	#4
golfnutrlv Senior Member Join Date: November 5, 2008 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 1,345	Thanks for the replies so far everyone. This die has been used a ton in the last couple years. Just started doing this in the last 2 weeks. __________________ ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ VIGILIA PRETIUM LIBERTATIS "The price of liberty is vigilance" America is at an awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.

June 12, 2011, 05:45 PM	#5
William T. Watts Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2010 Location: Central Arkansas Posts: 612	Flitz paste/polish Take the die spindle out of the die, affix cotton patches on a small wooden dowel, apply flitz paste on the patches, chuck that up in a drill motor and polish the neck of the die. That should take care of your problem. William

June 14, 2011, 02:09 PM	#9
William T. Watts Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2010 Location: Central Arkansas Posts: 612	Just found a fluted 308 case that the chamber was fluted body/shoulder/neck, if a fluted case is responsibile for your resizing die having the neck scoured then you should see the same thing on the body also, it isn't there. What I'm betting is the transition from shoulder to neck in your sizing die is boogered up, I think the flitz or some other product like JB bore cleaner will clean it up, I've had this problem before and it is curable/fixible! William Last edited by William T. Watts; June 14, 2011 at 05:29 PM.

June 12, 2011, 03:20 PM	#2
PA-Joe Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2010 Location: NEPA Posts: 661	I would send those photos to RCBS and ask them. Looks like the die was not polished.

June 13, 2011, 06:16 AM	#6
Gregad Member Join Date: May 31, 2011 Location: S.E. Michigan Posts: 19	Scratched up die. Must have had some dirt or corrosion on the neck when you run one into it. As William suggested, try polishing it. You might get some of the scratches out of the die if you can live with a few. I just went through this with a steel .38/.357 mag sizer die that I used for years without problems. I finally figured out my son was tumbling the brass first (Old school) which still left corrosion on them. I decap all my brass and ultrasonic clean them first. Gets rid of all dirt, corrosion inside and out. Polish them only for the looks now.

June 13, 2011, 11:41 PM	#7
Ideal Tool Junior member Join Date: October 6, 2010 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,080	Hello, golfnutrlv. I may be way off base here..but those "scratches" just look too uniform...Look like cut splines. Is it possible you might have picked up some range brass fired from a fluted chamber?

June 14, 2011, 11:20 AM	#8
Doodlebugger45 Senior Member Join Date: April 15, 2009 Location: Wyoming Posts: 1,717	I agree with Ideal Tool in that the marks look way too uniform to be caused by some grit or corrosion that has suddenly appeared in the die. Thos marks look like they were caused on purpose by some machine. It is hard to believe the die could just get like thast overnight. I don't know anything about fluted chambers, but I guess that's possible.

June 14, 2011, 06:51 PM	#10
Steve in PA Senior Member Join Date: October 15, 1999 Location: Northeastern PA Posts: 573	Contact RCBS. I had a die leaving a few marks on the case neck. They requested I send them the die, they did whatever it is they do to the die and sent it back to me, at no charge. I assume they polished out the die like the other poster mentioned. __________________ Steve

June 14, 2011, 07:00 PM	#11
edward5759 Senior Member Join Date: September 15, 2009 Location: Phoenix, AZ. 30 miles from water, two feet from Hell. Posts: 354	If you look at the scratches, they are not regular. I have had several dies do this in the past. William T. Watts has it right it's "galling" The worst combination is brass and steel it will gall ask any Engineer. Take a wool mop with some Fitz polish and spin the mop at about 450 R.P.M. Now we did a study in collage back in the 60s, and found you can polish dies all day long and still remove less than 1/10 of a thousand of an inch. but it will remove the galling that has occurred. Machining Brass and Copper is a nightmare when using HSS tooling and dies. I use a 12 gauge wool shotgun mop and a drill press. the mop will willing go through the die if you let it. so hang on. I have used Brasso, White Rubbing compound, and car polish to acheave good results. Now I use a carbide from Dillon and still have gone through two dies. Best of luck Ed5759

June 17, 2011, 03:37 PM	#12
golfnutrlv Senior Member Join Date: November 5, 2008 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 1,345	Thanks everyone. It is a die problem. It does this on new brass, old brass whatever. Will try polishing the die over the weekend, otherwise, RCBS gets the call. Thanks all __________________ ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ VIGILIA PRETIUM LIBERTATIS "The price of liberty is vigilance" America is at an awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.

June 17, 2011, 04:44 PM	#13
lll Otto lll Senior Member Join Date: June 1, 2008 Location: Lone Star State Posts: 152	This is a common problem and there's nothing wrong with the die. You just need to clean/polish to get rid of the brass residue that was left in sizer die caused by a lack of lubrication. Here's another example that was reported on SnipersHide https://snipershide.com/forum/ubbthr...Number=1733863