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I have a set of old dies that ha a little surface rust on them. What is the best way to remove the rust and prevent it from returning? It is my understanding WD-40 would be out due to risk of contaminating powder and primer is this correct?

Thanks

sskimber wrote:I have a set of old dies that ha a little surface rust on them. What is the best way to remove the rust and prevent it from returning? It is my understanding WD-40 would be out due to risk of contaminating powder and primer is this correct?

Thanks

Ol' Rusty died? Awwww, and I didn't even know he was sick.

yeah he was really sick, delirious did not know what he was talking about.

Scrub em real good with a wire brush and coat them with a rust inhibitor. I use RIG.

WD-40 is great for what it's made for, displacing water on metal surfaces. As a lube or long term (month or more) storage protector it is almost useless but thosereally aren't it's intended uses.

I use a cheap spray bottle with a mixture of about 30% paint thinner (mineral spirits) and the rest Auto Transmission Fluid (ATF is inexpensive and easily found in the auto oils sections of Walmart, etc.). ATF is a very good light gun oil and evaporates very slowly, does not form a sticky goo when it does finally dry, and it does a good job of protecting from rust for as much as a year, for me anyway. You can use it without the mineral spirits but it seems to help penetration and makes for a better spray solution.

No doubt about it, RIG (Rust Inhibiting Grease) is the best long term storage protector for guns but I had trouble applying it uniformly on my reloading tools, especially inside the dies.

Naval jelly is good for removing the rust. Preventing its return can be accomplished by keeping the dies in their original boxes, but adding a chip or two of VPI - Vapor Phase Inhibiting - material. This slowly releases a vapor that prevents corrosion . . . many firearms are shipped from the factory wrapped in VPI treated paper. They work best in closed containers - like a die box.

VPI chips can be purchased from Midway USA - they look like ~1" cardboard squares. They need to be replaced from time to time.

I had an RCBS precision mic that rusted - it came from RCBS with a foam liner in the box (presumably to keep it from rattling around) and it would seem the foam PROMOTED rust.

Note that naval jelly will also remove most blue.