case lube?

A place to discuss calibers, ammunition, and reloading

case lube?

Postby benny on Thu Mar 02, 2017 8:59 pm

Looking for advice on case lubes, maybe even some home made if it works good. Also as I understand it if I use carbide dies I don't need case lube, at least on straight cases?
Do I need to use case lube on bottle neck cases even if I am using carbide?
benny
 
Posts: 566 [View]
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2008 12:39 am
Location: Coon Rapids, mn

Re: case lube?

Postby mmcnx2 on Thu Mar 02, 2017 9:39 pm

benny wrote:Looking for advice on case lubes, maybe even some home made if it works good. Also as I understand it if I use carbide dies I don't need case lube, at least on straight cases?
Do I need to use case lube on bottle neck cases even if I am using carbide?


On bottle neck I use Imperial Case sizing wax, and on straight wall I use Hornady One Shot spray. I use lube even with carbide dies, makes it almost effortless.

Either way clean your dies periodically to remove the sizing lube buildup.
User avatar
mmcnx2
 
Posts: 2208 [View]
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2007 2:59 pm
Location: Hanover, MN

Re: case lube?

Postby usnret on Thu Mar 02, 2017 11:07 pm

I use one shot on everything. It doesn't affect primers or powder, and is water soluble.
On bottle necked cases(ie usually rifle cases), yes you need to use lube even with carbide dies.
"The two most important rules in a gunfight are: Always cheat and
Always win."
GLOCK Certified Armorer
User avatar
usnret
 
Posts: 921 [View]
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 6:41 am
Location: Middle of Nowhere

Re: case lube?

Postby BigDog58 on Thu Mar 02, 2017 11:16 pm

benny, most likely your pistol dies are carbide and your rifle dies are plain steel. With the carbide pistol dies there is usually no need to lube your cases.

With steel rifle dies you WILL need to lube your brass before resizing. For simple Full Length Resizing I use a homemade spray lube. I use it on everything from .30 Carbine through 50 BMG. I like it for a couple of reasons. 1- Making it myself, reduces the cost from over $1 an ounce, to about $.50 an ounce (we use a lot on 50 BMG cases). 2- By spraying cases from an approximate 45 deg down angle, it lubes both the outside and inside the neck of the case. Inside the neck lube, helps prevent pulling the neck and stretching the brass. After resizing, I tumble my cases to remove the lube, but have also simply wiped the case with a paper towel. I have not seen any effect to my rifle chamber by not tumbling, but I will wet tumble them if I'm not in a hurry to load the cases.

I think I have a posting somewhere on this forum about my formula for the spray lube. I'll try to locate it and post if you need it. It is quite simple to make, and takes less than 15 minutes.

Jim
NRA RSO
"Never anger a man that can end you, from another zip code

If necessary to fight, I will Fight like I'm the 3rd Monkey on the ramp to Noah's Arc, and brother, it's starting to rain.
User avatar
BigDog58
 
Posts: 2680 [View]
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2013 2:03 am
Location: Edina, MN

Re: case lube?

Postby Erud on Fri Mar 03, 2017 5:16 am

Hornady one shot spray for everything. It doesn't need to be cleaned off, and I don't. I buy it by the case on Amazon.

Also works great as a neck turning lube.
Last edited by Erud on Fri Mar 03, 2017 5:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Erud
 
Posts: 2503 [View]
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:31 am
Location: SE Metro

Re: case lube?

Postby MJY65 on Fri Mar 03, 2017 5:37 am

Hornady One shot on everything, including pistol cases. It makes them run through the progressive loader a heck of a lot easier.

There are some that seem to manage to stick cases in dies with alarming frequency with OS. I think it may be due to the way the application is typically demonstrated. You see the nice photo of 50 gleaming cases sitting in a loading block. A quick spray across the group, maybe a rotation or two and all done. I don't do it that way. You are darn near guaranteed to miss the ones in the middle of the block. Furthermore, the last 1/2 inch of the brass is going to get missed unless you spray enough to have it running down the cases and into the block. That's exactly where they are tightest in the die!

Here's a much neater way to do it that has resulted in ZERO stuck cases for me (9mm-338LM):

Buy one of those plastic shoe box size storage containers at Target. Toss in your 50 pieces of brass. Quick spray-shake-quick spray-shake. Let sit for 5 minutes to dry the solvent/carrier. Enjoy trouble free loading.
MJY65
 
Posts: 1068 [View]
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 7:35 am

Re: case lube?

Postby Erud on Fri Mar 03, 2017 5:42 am

MJY65 wrote:Hornady One shot on everything, including pistol cases. It makes them run through the progressive loader a heck of a lot easier.

There are some that seem to manage to stick cases in dies with alarming frequency with OS. I think it may be due to the way the application is typically demonstrated. You see the nice photo of 50 gleaming cases sitting in a loading block. A quick spray across the group, maybe a rotation or two and all done. I don't do it that way. You are darn near guaranteed to miss the ones in the middle of the block. Furthermore, the last 1/2 inch of the brass is going to get missed unless you spray enough to have it running down the cases and into the block. That's exactly where they are tightest in the die!


I don't know, that's exactly the way I've done it for the last 12 years or so and it seems to work ok. The finished product meets my standards anyways...
User avatar
Erud
 
Posts: 2503 [View]
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:31 am
Location: SE Metro

Re: case lube?

Postby MJY65 on Fri Mar 03, 2017 6:35 am

[quote="Erud"}
I don't know, that's exactly the way I've done it for the last 12 years or so and it seems to work ok. The finished product meets my standards anyways...[/quote]

Eric,

Given what I know about your shooting activities, I'd guess you are about 100x more meticulous with every step of the reloading process than most guys who complain about OS stuck cases.
MJY65
 
Posts: 1068 [View]
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 7:35 am

Re: case lube?

Postby Erud on Fri Mar 03, 2017 7:07 am

Yeah, I think that a lot of people just don't use enough of it. It's pretty natural to not want to get any liquid mixed in with powder or primers, so I think that people subconsciously go easy on it. I intentionally spray it into the necks at an angle to soothe bullet seating. I load on a Dillon 550, so the cases go straight from the sizer to getting powder charges and it just doesn't matter. Even if I spray so much that the cases are still a little greasy feeling when I shoot them, it has no effect on performance.
User avatar
Erud
 
Posts: 2503 [View]
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:31 am
Location: SE Metro

Re: case lube?

Postby grimbeaver on Fri Mar 03, 2017 11:46 am

I use a very light shot of Hornady One Shot on my straight cases with carbide dies. Not enough to cover them all over just enough that a little gets left behind on the die for the next one. After putting a few through the die gets a good coating and the little bit on each keeps it lubed up. It is amazing the difference just a little lube makes with carbide dies.
grimbeaver
 
Posts: 863 [View]
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2013 8:50 am

Re: case lube?

Postby LarryFlew on Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:40 pm

Another for one shot. I don't do as much rifle as the guys above and put about 50 or so on a shop rag, spray into necks at slight angle and then rock the rag back and forth to spread what hit the outside. Gonna happen now just because I said do but never had a stuck rifle case in 1000's of loads. 6 cans lasted me 3 years. I don't lube my pistol cases at all, 9mm, 45, 32, 380 or even 44mag.
If you're having second thoughts you're two ahead of most Democrats
User avatar
LarryFlew
 
Posts: 5132 [View]
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:37 am
Location: Hamburg, MN - CZ fan - Class of 66 - USAF 66-70 - NRA life since 1970

Re: case lube?

Postby JJ on Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:58 pm

I use Dillion case lube on my bottleneck cases. It's a fairly simple to replicate case lube if you are trying to save a buck.

A couple hundred cases of 223, 100 cases of 243, etc get tossed in a plastic coffee can. Two pumps, give the coffee can about 30 second sof shake/rattle/roll. Add two pumps and repeat. Good to go. I've tumbled after reloading, i've not tumbled after reloading, and never had any issues with chamber buildup.
"a man's rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box." Frederick Douglass
User avatar
JJ
 
Posts: 3541 [View]
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 9:43 pm
Location: Princeton

Re: case lube?

Postby OldmanFCSA on Fri Mar 03, 2017 4:12 pm

I've used RCBS case lube for years, still do on occasion.
I've used Redding's Imperial Sizing Wax when sizing gets difficult.
I've used Dillon's lanolin spray mixture -
I've used BigDog58's copy of the Dillon lube.
I've used Jerry Hazlett's spray lube (a 50BMG thing).

I have 2 cans of Hornady One Shot and have never used it, but may try it sometime based on comments here.


So I guess we all can learn a thing or two from other like minds in this reloading hobby we share. THANK YOU ALL.
OldmanFCSA
 
Posts: 3216 [View]
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:55 pm
Location: Osceola, WI.

Re: case lube?

Postby Ghost on Fri Mar 03, 2017 4:32 pm

Another one shot user here.
User avatar
Ghost
 
Posts: 8246 [View]
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 8:49 pm

Re: case lube?

Postby cobb on Sun Mar 05, 2017 4:55 pm

JJ wrote:I use Dillion case lube on my bottleneck cases. It's a fairly simple to replicate case lube if you are trying to save a buck.

A couple hundred cases of 223, 100 cases of 243, etc get tossed in a plastic coffee can. Two pumps, give the coffee can about 30 seconds of shake/rattle/roll. Add two pumps and repeat. Good to go. I've tumbled after reloading, i've not tumbled after reloading, and never had any issues with chamber buildup.

I do pretty much the same with the Dillon lube, but I use an old 9 x 13 cake pan that my wife was throwing out. Fill with a layer of cases, a light dusting of back and forth pumping spray, agitate and deprime or start feeding into the Dillon 550.
“Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result”. - Winston Churchill

RIVER VALLEY TRAINING
MN. DPS/BCA approved training organization.

http://www.RiverValleyTraining.com
User avatar
cobb
Moderator
 
Posts: 6643 [View]
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:47 am
Location: Mankato area, not in city limits

Next

Return to Ammunition & Reloading

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests

cron