I've been troubled of late with an issue with my belling die on a 550B sticking, particularly with new brass. After doing some searching, I found a video of a guy explaining the reasons for this (apparently it's not uncommon) as well as the solutions. One of the solutions is lube.

So...I first tried out my homebrew Dillon lube and it worked OK. Then I tried out some dry lube recommended by the video guy. This worked smooth as butter for the first few rounds of brass (on the sizing/depriming die). Then I noticed some squeaking and it getting more difficult to cycle.

I removed that die from the toolhead and it's all gunked up inside from the lanolin graphite mixture.

So what is the best way to clean that bugger out? Hoppes #9? Walnut tumble? Sonic?

Thoughts?

I cleaned the crimp die with a bore brush and solvent.

That much grease in the "powder funnel" does not sound like a good idea.

The aftermarket expander/funnel for those funky two piece cases has a groove around it so as to reduce the area against the case mouth.

I'm just now in the process of setting up a new 550C, and I noticed in the manual they say that it's not unheard for new cases to stick in the bell die. They recommend cleaning them in a tumbler first. Didn't say why, my guess is the fine dust from the media serves as a lubricant of sorts.

I clean dies with Hoppes 9 & a patch on a rod, normally. I use a pipe cleaner at times.

For lube when resizing it’s mostly ‘Imperial Die Wax’. There are other methods that work for many.

Sounds like you need, at least to start, a compatible solvent. Lanolin is very hard to get rid of, from what I've heard. You could soak the dies in 99% isopropyl alcohol to start. You could keep doing that, swapping out the fluid until the concentration is low enough for it to no longer matter, but that seems wasteful.

Perhaps brake cleaner or engine degreaser would do the job of getting rid of the remnants?

I use an ultrasonic cleaner and One Shot lube. I ended up having to start doing 2 baths - after decapping and after sizing - because the stuff burns off and leaves a sooty mess everywhere. You might be able to use a solution for steel parts once you get the majority of it off, but again it all depends on the solvents involved. I have put isopropyl alcohol in the US before. I just don't recommend it if you're doing it indoors.

Here's the video if anyone else is interested in how to fix this issue.



I've only noticed this with new brass (before) and lately all my brass since I started tumbling with stainless pins. The brass, according to this fella, gets too clean...not unlike new brass. I never had the problem when I used to use walnut media as the dust acted as a lube.

I think I'll just try taking the depriming pin out and going after it with a bore brush and good 'ol #9 to start with and see if that'll work. I guess it would be easier to drop it in the ultrasonic bath but I wasn't sure it that would harm it at all.

I never do anything with mine, never cleaned it in the 5 years or so I have owned it. do you use allot of case lube? 223 is the only brass I lube.

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
do you use allot of case lube?

No. Never have, on the 550, until this issue. But in thinking back, I didn't have the issue until loading new brass or SS tumbled brass. For the first couple of years, all I was reloading was walnut tumbled used brass. No problem whatsoever.

I use the 550 for 44, 45 ACP, and 45 Colt. 45-70 I load on a separate RCBS press and I do load those with my homebrew Dillon lube.

Have a couple friends who do the SS tumbled brass thing. One of them gave me a bunch of them to try.

They required quite a bit more force on my progressive press than brass tumbled in media and I found a little lube (using a carbide sizer die) helped a lot.

I decided I'd stick with walnut/corncob.

quote:

I decided I'd stick with walnut/corncob.

Seems like a good plan. I do like that the SS media makes them come out looking like new, but the extra hassle just isn't worth it.

I clean my dies with brake cleaner...one shot softens up anything in it and I wipe it with a patch on a pistol cleaning rod.