Hey folks,
I never "wore" out a set of dies, but I did scratch the sizing die in a 9MM Lyman die set a long time ago. In the early 1960s, I started reloading 9MM with a regular set of Lyman dies. Some years later, they started to market tungston carbide dies which did not require case lube prior to sizing. After using the new TC die in other calibers, I wondered what would happen if I sized a 9MM case without lube in my non-TC Lyman size die. I did it slowly and found it sized the case without sticking. I did a second case, then the third, and on and on till I had finished a box of 9MM.
I am sure I was working the 9MM brass more than usual, but everything worked well, and I continued to size my 9MM brass without lube for many years. Sometime in the early 1990s I was doing some 9MM when I found the brass started coming out of the sizing die with two deep scratches the length of the case. I checked the die and found burrs where the scratches were made. I have no idea what caused the burrs on the size die steel, but I can guess that some sort of hard dirt got between the case and the die.
Perhaps I could have polished the size die, but I had been using that die set for more than 35 years at that point, and I figured I could afford to buy a new set with a TC sizing die. Other than that one sizing die I scratched, I have not worn any others out as yet. I would guess that I have at least twenty die sets that I have been using for more than forty years.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile
