How Do You Prep Your Dies For Storage?

[3MTA3]

I've been going through my reloading stuff since it's been a while and plan to do some reloading after the Holidays. I ran across some dies that I had stored on a Dillon tool head for many years and low and behold there was some rust.

Fortunately it was minor and easily fixed with some gun oil and 4 ought steel wool. My other dies that were stored in their original boxes were just fine, but it still got me thinking about ways to protect them when they are not in use.

How do you prep your dies for storage? Hit them with WD40, case lube, other oil, or the case lube from reloading just good enough? I saw a video where one fellow puts desiccant in with the dies. Thoughts?

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[P7M13]

Wipe them with oil

 

[washagonian]

Wipe them with oil

What @P7M13 said.

Also, if I'm storing for a longer period of time I make sure there is no metal on metal contact (easiest if dies are stored in their original plastic cases) and I drop a small desiccant pack (which cost only a few cents) in the case just to be on the safe side to pull any residual H2o out of the air. Typical gun oil doesn't evaporate and thus the desiccant pack won't absorb oil. (They're designed to absorb H2o, anyway.)

A little anal-retentive, I know.

YMMV

But having lived in the PNW my entire life, dehumidifiers, desiccant packs, oxygen absorbers - they are my friends.

 

[bbbass]

I put them back in the cabinet.

Maybe I should oil them, but I don't. I've never had any dies rust on me.

 

[Lesliet]

WD-40 doesn't really hang around long. So light, it evaporates pretty quick. The Hoppes lubricating oil for guns is heavy enough that it seems to make a good preservative, but not as obnoxious as cosmoline.