[Kraigster414]

I have a Redding sizing die that despite lubing my brass (.357Sig) beforehand - I use Lyman One Shot spray lube - is leaving fine vertical scratch marks on all my brass and nickel cases. Is this common? Does the die need to be polished inside? Am I over-working my brass by continuing to use this die?

 

[YukonGlocker]

Is it a carbide die?

 

[Kraigster414]

Is it a carbide die?

Unfortunately the only carbide .357Sig sizing die is the Dillon and you still have to lube your cases for best results. No, the Redding is not a carbide sizer. I have since taken the die apart and polished the inside with 400 wet/dry paper wrapped around a pencil. Then I took a Dremel with felt tip and Flitz applied and finished up the job. It's nice and shiny but haven't tried sizing any cases yet.



http://www.redding-reloading.com/techlinep...atchedcases.htm

 

[YukonGlocker]

Let us know how your polish job works.

 

[G56]

This seems to be a common problem in newer sizing dies, they just don't polish them like they used to! Last year I got a set of RCBS dies in 7.62x54 Russian, the sizing die leaves minor vertical scratches on the brass, a few months later I bought a Redding neck sizing die for 22-250, it does the same thing to the necks of my 22-250 cases! I've been reloading for around 40 years and had never seen that in any dies before, but both sizing dies from 2 different companies bought in 2006 are doing the same thing, and I've seen numerous posts from other people with the same complaint, it's strictly a cosmetic problem but it certainly doesn't look good! A few have reported sending the dies back to the manufacturer and getting a new die that does the same thing, and some people are resorting to polishing the dies themselves.



Previously the only time you heard about this kind of situation was when someone didn't think you needed to clean brass before reloading it, and had scratched their dies because of their carelessness.

 

[Kraigster414]

This seems to be a common problem in newer sizing dies, they just don't polish them like they used to! Last year I got a set of RCBS dies in 7.62x54 Russian, the sizing die leaves minor vertical scratches on the brass, a few months later I bought a Redding neck sizing die for 22-250, it does the same thing to the necks of my 22-250 cases! I've been reloading for around 40 years and had never seen that in any dies before, but both sizing dies from 2 different companies bought in 2006 are doing the same thing, and I've seen numerous posts from other people with the same complaint, it's strictly a cosmetic problem but it certainly doesn't look good! A few have reported sending the dies back to the manufacturer and getting a new die that does the same thing, and some people are resorting to polishing the dies themselves.



Previously the only time you heard about this kind of situation was when someone didn't think you needed to clean brass before reloading it, and had scratched their dies because of their carelessness.

You are absolutely right. I have been reloading for 25 years and the scratching issue is a new one on me. I hope the polishing I did last night with the 400 wet/dry paper followed by the Dremmel felt tip and Flitz polish does the trick.

 

[Kraigster414]

After scrubbing out the inside of the die with Hoppes #9, followed by 400 wet/dry paper back and forth (wrapped around a pencil), and then finishing things off with a Dremmel, felt tip and Flitz, I loaded today 50 rounds with no visible signs of scratching.



The solution: polish and keep the sucker clean. Redding also told me today that they will polish your sizing die if asked.

 

[YukonGlocker]

Excellent.