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Hey guys,
I've been reloading my .44/40 for a couple of years now. Recently, I've been getting scratches on my cases. The scratches are coming from small bits of brass that seem to accumulate in the resizing die after I've run about 10 - 12 cases through.
I've changed nothing in my process except to try a different set of dies...same problem. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Hedge
the first thing to do is track down where the brass is coming from.
am inclined to think it's tumbling media.
the 44-40 is a tapered case you would get dents or a scuff in one spot and not along the length of the case.
you might also have long cases and are knocking a bit of brass from the case mouth when sizing.
i occasionally get a small ring of brass after trimming if i don't champher enough.
but my first inclination is grit of some sort,and it is just looking like brass in the die.
i have to be careful about dropping my brass around here as where i shoot it's lava rock finely ground and it will cling to brass, i especially have to check brass from my leverguns.
Makes a lot of sense, runfive.
I know there's brass bits stuck in the die 'cause I've scraped them off. But you got me to thinking...small bits of grit shaving brass off the case and compounding the problem.
I'll change my media and have a closer look at the case mouths.
Thanks much!!
Give the inside of the sizer a good polishing. It could be a poorly finished surface on the steel.
Then you might think about not tumbling your cases. Usually a waste of time and an excellent way to raise the airborne particulate lead levels in your home.
Sizer's been polished a few times already. Had to in order to get those brass chips out. It's slicker than snot on a door knob when I start.
Cases get pretty dirty and tumbling is the easiest way to clean 'em. As for particulate matter,
I keep the tumbler in the garage.
Thanks for the input.
UPDATE
Found the source of the problem. It's the vent hole in the die. Debris gets sucked back down
the die and collects near the mouth of the die. The next case gets scratched and adds more debris.
I cleaned the hole, swabbed out the die and ran through a bunch of cases with nary a scratch.
Thanks for all the help, guys. :)
good info, haven't thought of that, I have a few dies with the vent, so I will be sure to clean them out every now an then..