Do dies wear out?

Muleskinner · Mar 8, 2020

Anyone have any idea what the life expectancy is on a set of carbide dies? Specifically Lee 9 mm? I haven't had any problems over the years reloading 9 mm and the last batch then I reloaded I had several rounds that my dies would not remove the Bulge at the web. I've probably put 10000+ rounds through the die. I'm wondering if my die hasn't worn out. I know you can't use the Bulge Buster for 9 mm so I'm thinking maybe I need to buy a new sizing die?

GunBum · Mar 8, 2020

Lee will replace it if it is truly worn out. I doubt you wore them out though. I’ve been using the same 9mm dies since 1990. I have .30-06 dies that my grandfather loaded with since the 60’s.

Uncle Duke · Mar 8, 2020

Watching this thread with interest.

I've personally never heard of a carbide sizing die wearing out. Cracking from making contact with the shellholder, yes. Insert ring falling out, yes. But not wearing out.

I could certainly be wrong.

Postell · Mar 8, 2020

Muleskinner said:
Anyone have any idea what the life expectancy is on a set of carbide dies? Specifically Lee 9 mm? I haven't had any problems over the years reloading 9 mm and the last batch then I reloaded I had several rounds that my dies would not remove the Bulge at the web. I've probably put 10000+ rounds through the die. I'm wondering if my die hasn't worn out. I know you can't use the Bulge Buster for 9 mm so I'm thinking maybe I need to buy a new sizing die?

I would bet I have carbide dies that have 10 times that are are still in spec..
Since you are a Lee guy get this die and it will bulge bust 9MM.

Lee 9x18 makorov fcd die

outrider58 · Mar 8, 2020

Uncle Duke said:
Watching this thread with interest.

I've personally never heard of a carbide sizing die wearing out. Cracking from making contact with the shellholder, yes. Insert ring falling out, yes. But not wearing out.

I could certainly be wrong.

AFAIK, carbide, generally speaking, doesn't wear out. It breaks.

Biggfoot44 · Mar 8, 2020

Never say never , everything has a service life . Hypothetically a commercial reloader , operating a progressive press 24ht a day in shifts could wear the insert out of spec .

One person , or even one family plus their shooting buddies would be unlikely .

Uncle Duke · Mar 8, 2020

outrider58 said:
AFAIK, carbide, generally speaking, doesn't wear out. It breaks.

Yep. So hard as to be comparatively brittle. Brittle enough to crack from a ram stroke if the die is misadjusted for sure, and supposedly from being dropped on a concrete floor as well. Other than that, dunno....????

Muleskinner · Mar 8, 2020

Thanks all for your responses. You can disregard this post. I found the problem. I have a 3-hole turret press and I have enough turrets that each set of dies has its own. Apparently somehow both the bullet seater and the powder die became loose and we're not adjusted properly. I found the problem after closer inspection

Muleskinner · Mar 8, 2020

GunBum said:
Lee will replace it if it is truly worn out. I doubt you wore them out though. I’ve been using the same 9mm dies since 1990. I have .30-06 dies that my grandfather loaded with since the 60’s.

Yeah I found the issue. My daughter was over here the other day cleaning and she might have been messing around with it. The 9 mm turret usually stays in one of my presses since that's the caliber that I reload the most. She might have screwing around with it. Both the resizing die and the powder through die where loose

atblis · Mar 21, 2020

Yeah, okay you found the problem. I was about ready to start asking some questions. I've loaded lots and lots and lots of range sourced 9x19 brass and haven't worn out my carbide die, nor had a problem with bulges. I have had chambering issues with 10mm and 40 S&W, but they're a bit different of a beast.

Bulge buster dies are bad news. Throw the brass away. It has been compromised at that point. 9x19 is also a tapered case, so I am not sure what a bulge buster die would be doing anyways. If the bottom part of the case (the head) is that distorted, yeah, throw that away.

Do dies wear out?

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