Thread: Cleaning of new Dies and Powder Press

Hey All,

I finally got around to setting up my reloading gear onto the bench, and i decided to read the manuals for the dies and the powder measure press.

Well i have to clean them, to get the protect oil/grease off them, hornady recommend their One Shot Gun Cleaner with Dry Lube. but i can't seem to find any available online in NZ.

What does everyone use to clean and the lube their dies? i got some CLP for cleaning my guns

And what did you use to clean and lube the powder measure, don't want to use brake cleaner as it'll stuff the clear plastic and most likey take off the powder coat.

Cheers,

I got bored and tumbled some new ADI brass couldn't wait to use it...

I used to just use hoppes no9 bore cleaner to clean the dies before use the lee powder measure I had I ran a whole container of powder through it dispensing back into container to coat the insides with the powder residues that are left by the powder flowing through it also with the powder measure see if you can make a baffle to go inside the hopper out of a bit of sheet metal or aluminium with holes in the edges then fold so it sits in there with a ridge along the top the powder will flow down the sides into measuring chamber (cut slots in edges for powder to flow through obviously) and should help reduce bridging with extruded stick powders RCBS make them for their powder measures, also be prepared to trickle up the loads to the exact charge you want as powder throwers are hard to get accurate dispenses with the stick powders so throw main charge the trickle up to desired charge unless you are using ball powders like winchester 748 and 760

I've got a baffle for the powder measure that i have to clean up,

so you didn't clean the powder measure at all?, apart from running the powder through, wouldn't that cause inaccurate powder measure, i can see how the powder would lube, but would it still need to be cleaned first?

Can of brake clean

Originally Posted by The Jackel

I've got a baffle for the powder measure that i have to clean up,

so you didn't clean the powder measure at all?, apart from running the powder through, wouldn't that cause inaccurate powder measure, i can see how the powder would lube, but would it still need to be cleaned first?

I never had any problem but lee powder measures like I had are all plastic any way, try running some powder through then set it up to throw a specific charge and see how consistent it is I do not know if hornady powder throwers are all metal or not and have any oil coatings to protect the inside from the factory as I have never bothered with hornady gear like that as it has always been out of my budget and what little experience with some of the hornady gear I could get had not been good so my reloading has been on lee gear and a secondhand lyman orange crusher press. or just do as beavis said clean it down with some brake clean dry it out then run some powder through.

yer, I just cleaned a new neck die, take your pick really, carby cleaner, contact cleaner, de-geaser, or whatever. then I lightly coat mine in eezox.

Spraying the shit out of the powder measure with dry lube might help too.

Thanks guys, i'm heading into town today, so ill see what i can pick up, i've got brake cleaner, but the last time i used it, i had paint coming off and it does cloud plastics. i'd hate to do it to something new. maybe some cleaning alcohol, as its a little less harsh than metho, and a can of dry lube.

From watching the hornady strip down video, the parts are metal, except the plastic hopper.

now what can i find in this town.....

I meant brake clean 4 the dies

hmm, I dont think I even cleaned my Lee powder thrower - just started using it. Expecting a consistent throw with it was wrong, as hunter308 said, I use ADI2208 and being the shape it is, one throw can be right on, next is too much, next it too little... We're talking maybe a grain either way, but still... set low and trickle up.. Makes sense why my first lot was as accurate as a 12 guage pattern... Now i weigh every charge...

Originally Posted by Nasty Factory Trigger

hmm, I dont think I even cleaned my Lee powder thrower - just started using it. Expecting a consistent throw with it was wrong, as hunter308 said, I use ADI2208 and being the shape it is, one throw can be right on, next is too much, next it too little... We're talking maybe a grain either way, but still... set low and trickle up.. Makes sense why my first lot was as accurate as a 12 guage pattern... Now i weigh every charge...

Agreed I never expect a thrower to throw an accurate charge only time I have had one dead on every throw was with ball powders when I had my 308 as it used to love win 748 under a 150gr when using the stick powders I use it throw the main charge then trickle up on the scales which I still have RCBS 510's are the ducks nuts when it comes to balance scales just love that micrometer adjustment for the small increments when working up a load.

Brake cleaner is good for cleaning dies.
Strip the dies down to the bare parts clean, wipe, lightly lube and reassemble.
Then set them up in your press

I never cleaned my powder measures however I did get a soft lead pencil and coloured in all the moving/sliding parts I could see and get too without disassembly.

The graphite in the pencil is an awesome dry lubricant and smooths up the action real nice.
A small squirt of fine graphite powder into the working parts from a locksmiths graphite applicator ($7 from any locksmith) will do the same.

Cheers
Pete

i got white spirt, Isopropyl alcohol, graphite powder and crc dry lube today.

Im all set for tomorrow, so i'm going to clean down the powder measure with the isoproply ( doesn't hurt the clear plastic or leave a film and then after it drys, i'll run the graphite through it. and then once i've got some real gun powder to run through, ill check for consistent loads.

And attack the dies with brake cleaner and a light lube, lol

Thanks guys for the help.

Originally Posted by The Jackel

I got bored and tumbled some new ADI brass couldn't wait to use it...

ADI brass?

regards

Originally Posted by steven

ADI brass?

regards

yeah, its ADI new brass, i didn't have to tumble it, i just wanted to test the tumbler.