My 40sw Hornady resizing die is scratching my brass. Its all around the case. I cleaned them out and it still happens. Before i go purchase a new set is there anything i can do to fix it. I dont use case lube they are Titanium Nitride dies. The dies are not new they are about 10 yrs old so i cant return them. Take a look and see what i mean.
Resizing/ Decapping Die scratching Brass
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It's possible the inside of the die has some imbedded dirt/grit. Clean it thoroughly. If that doesn't work, then as gdmoody said polish it with a mild compound. If that doesn't work then likely the TN ring is dinged, and that could be difficult to correct as those rings are harder than woodpecker lips.
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Yep.. That's why I asked about carbide. With a carbide size ring it's virtually impossible to polish out ant scratches. On the steel dies you can usually polish them..
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Yes, that paste is a Diamond abrasive, but I have no idea what grit to use. A quarter micron sounds pretty fine. Too coarse an abrasive will wear the die out, too fine will take forever to polish out. If you polish out the scratches and make the die oversize, there is no benefit. If you can get something cheap and give it a quick try, you haven't lost anything. I wouldn't spend a lot of time and money trying to polish out the die. It's possible that the carbide has cracked and will never polish out. You'd need a microscope to tell.
Yeah i thought about trying the polish but like you said what grit. Theres like 12 different grits to choose from. I just went ahead and bought a new RCBS 40sw / 10mm die set off Amazon. It was 58 out the door. Get it tomorrow. Going thru RCBS itself i could have got the 1000 primers with it but I didnt want to spend that much. I just bought 7000 sm pistol primers ouch!!
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If you are the original owner - Hornady has a lifetime warranty. Send it back to them for replacement.
Edited - I said RCBS, but I meant Hornady.
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Call Hornady and see if you can speak to a real person , be realy nice and tell them how much you like the die's ...you know turn on the Southern Charm ... tell them you have been using them for years ... great dies but now this scratching problem ... ask ( do not demand ) for help in fixing ... you like these dies and want to fix them but not sure how ... I'm betting they will offer to fix the die or replace it maybe just for postage or for good consomer relations . Don't say anything about not being original owner unless she asks ... then be honest and be nice .
Hornady Nitride dies do benefit from a bit of spray lube .
Usually when dies start scratching like in photo ... small bits of grit have become embedded in walls (from fired priming compound ) when decapping ... I've had it happen to me but polished it out with a brass brush and J-B Bore Cleaning Compound and a wrap of 0000 steel wool ... took a little work with brush in drill but got grit out . For Hornady the fix would be easy ... they will probably just send you another sizer die body .
Clean sizing dies that have the decapping rod in them ... it's grit from fired priming compound getting embedded into sizing die wall ... it can even embed in a Carbide ring and cause scratch's ... I've had that happen also !
Gary
Hornady Nitride dies do benefit from a bit of spray lube .
Usually when dies start scratching like in photo ... small bits of grit have become embedded in walls (from fired priming compound ) when decapping ... I've had it happen to me but polished it out with a brass brush and J-B Bore Cleaning Compound and a wrap of 0000 steel wool ... took a little work with brush in drill but got grit out . For Hornady the fix would be easy ... they will probably just send you another sizer die body .
Clean sizing dies that have the decapping rod in them ... it's grit from fired priming compound getting embedded into sizing die wall ... it can even embed in a Carbide ring and cause scratch's ... I've had that happen also !
Gary
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I don't think they will hurt new dies unless as mentioned above something hard is embedded in the brass from previous sizing with the old die.
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I've had to polish a few. Your brass comes out slick when they are polished. Yours may have a rough edge from machining which you may be able to lap out with some 1000 grit compound. Just use one of your sized brass as the mating surface but dont get it stuck. It takes a long time to polish a carbide die but it's worth it.
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Did you use a felt polishing tip with the Dremel to polish it out?
Ditto this. I have taken the depriming rod out of dirty sizing dies and cleaned them with brass bore brushes and Dawn detergent and no more scratching of the brass!
Yes i used one of those round white felt tips. It was just a bit bigger than the die entrance. Once i got some compound on the tip it fit nice and tight. I moved it in and out at hi speed. It shined up nice but the brass still came out scratched up. Now i only polished that entrance hole not all the way up. Inside walls are bigger than the entrance hole, the brass probably doesnt even touch the inside of the die, just the ring.
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