Case Gauges and Rust

[thopkins22]

What case gauges are y'all using, and do you have problems with them rusting?

I live on the gulf coast and deal with a lot of humidity...everywhere.

I bought a Lyman case gauge in one of the local shops, and it rusted almost immediately. It still seems to work, although I think it gets a little sticky on cases that it otherwise would not have.

Thinking about picking up one of the Dillon gauges because they are stainless, are any of the others I see out there made out of stainless?

[m1a_scoutguy57]

I have the Wilson case gages and they will rust a little bit,,I live Upstate NY,,so I can imagine that yours will rust up some !!! I do have a Dillion gauge in 223 that is Stainless and that is fine. Hit them with some Steel wool & wipe them down with CLP or something in between user's !!

[mkmckinley]

I've had this happen to my three LE Wilson case gauges. I live in Seattle and while it's not as bad as down south it can get pretty humid. I finally just decided to get one of the Aluminum multi-caliber case gauges from EGW and not have to worry about it. They work well but man, they are not forgiving of any defect whatsoever. For my rifle calibers I store them with a coat of oil and just degrease them when it's time to use them. It's not a bad system because it keeps them free of case lube buildup as well.

[jmart]

Birchwood Casey Barricade (formerely known as Sheath) is a great protectant. You can get it in liquid that you apply with a patch or aerosol. Or just use CLSP. But if you want the convenience of an aerosol, it's effective stuff.

[762xIan]

Birchwood Casey Barricade (formerely known as Sheath) is a great protectant

I have had pretty good luck with "Sheath" also, still have a couple of cans of the old stuff.

As for my gauges, Dillon and Wilson. I have tried to make a habit of bringing my dies, tooling and gauges inside to a controlled environment in the house. I have an old tackle box I use for a lot of my tooling. Die boxes I put in an old milk crate.

Summer and humidity is hell.

Just my regular workshop takes a beating, lathes and drill presses don't like humidity either.

[cqbdriver]

I have both Lyman & Wilson gauges. Both have slight rusting. One of my Wilson has a perfect rusted thumb print on the side.

I starting wiping them down with CLP when I put them away & removing the CLP from the inside when I used them again.

[NWPilgrim]

I have the LE Wilson gages and they did get a light coat of rust on them at first. I cleaned them up and now store them coated in BreakFree. When I need to use one I wipe it down with a dry cloth. Re coat with BF before putting back in its box.

I live in Oregon so it can be humid for long periods but not salt air.

[SkyPup]

I've live in the armpit of Florida and have got RCBS, Dillion, and Wilson dies and I just spray them down with a snort of WD-40 prior to returning them back to their plastic boxes. The outside of the dies are all lightly rusted but the inside of the dies are not.

[rodinal220]

I use Dillon,Wilson case gages and put them in Zerust bags along with anything else that will rust.A little coating of Starrett M1 lube doesnt hurt either.

http://www.zerustproducts.com/index.php?main_page=index

http://www.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/si...___AEROSOL_CAN