Scratched my RT's die

[PCJim]

Hello all. Brian suggested I post here as some of you may have an answer for me. Last night, I scratched the .223 die that came with the RT.

The normal setup on a 550b toolhead: station 1 - Lee FL die; station 3 - RT/die unit. The RT die is intentionally set high so that it is not resizing the brass a second time. During this particular batch of previously cleaned and sized brass, I had removed the Lee die and was operating the press in a trimmer only mode.

The brass that scratched the die was not lubed and was demonstrating no resistance for a simple trim operation. That is, until one case had a slight bit more resistance and seemed like it was being resized. I thought it was odd, but continued on with the trimming operation. Several cases later, it occurred again. Then I noticed the scratches on the brass. After removing the toolhead and cleaning the residual lube left from prior batches with paint thinner, I realized the RT die had become scratched.

I tried contacting Dillon today and had to get back to work after 15 minutes of waiting (I completely understand the wait time).

I'm looking for a means of removing these scratches. I have read recommendations online of using Flitz on a patch wrapped around a cleaning brush driven by a drill. While I don't resize with the RT die, I don't want to ruin it either and am not sure whether that is a good solution. Dillon's tech department may have some suggestions, but it will probably be a while before I can get an individual to speak with. Any of your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

[practical_man]

Flits on a patch will take forever and probably not do what you want be ause it won't press equally inside the die.

I have smoothed out dies with a resized case and polishing compound. Deprime the case and tap it for 1/4-20. Run a screw into the case and chuck it in your drill. Cover the case with polishing compound and slowly run into die at low rpm. Clean out frequently with brake cleaner.

Just basic lapping. Nothing special

[benos]

That is an excellent idea - practical man!

[Henny]

Flits on a patch will take forever and probably not do what you want be ause it won't press equally inside the die.

I have smoothed out dies with a resized case and polishing compound. Deprime the case and tap it for 1/4-20. Run a screw into the case and chuck it in your drill. Cover the case with polishing compound and slowly run into die at low rpm. Clean out frequently with brake cleaner.

Just basic lapping. Nothing special

Appropriate screen name!

[PCJim]

Thanks for the suggestion, Practical.

Prior to your reply, I was able to reach Mike at Dillon. He recommended the Flitz and said that in using it, I could not damage the die. That was good to know. He also suggested that I use the RT die as a sizer, as the resizing operation of the die also holds the case tight enough to keep it from moving during the trim operation. Hadn't thought of that, although it wasn't giving me a problem the way I had set it up.

Last night, I chucked a 9mm bronze brush in a VS drill, wrapped with one layer of patch and saturated with Flitz. It worked like a charm, and after four 15 second bursts on a low/medium speed, it completely removed the scratches and left a mirror finish inside the die. Haven't seen the inside of a die look like that, ever! I also reset the die to resize and will just lube any case that I run thru the trimmer.

Jim

[anm2_man]

FYI - Any time that your going to run brass thru a SIZING DIE, its got to be lubed. And then you could still scratch the Die even if its lubed. Some peice of foreign material (ie Metal) gets stuck to the side of a case and you have the potential to score the sizing die. Had it happen to an old Dillon 30-06 sizing die. Dillon did good and I have a new Die.