[Master Blaster]

I know that you do not have to lube brass pistol cases when you use carbide dies. But I find that it makes my job alot easier if I do, requiring about 1/3 of the force needed to operate the handle on my 550 than if I do not lube the cases.

So how many folks here lube pistol cases with carbide dies even if they dont have to.

Thanks

[Bronson7]

I've heard a lot of people doing it with 45 LC.
Bronson7

[HSMITH]

I lube about every 10th 9x19, and same for 38's and 357's if I tumbled the brass before sizing. If I size the cases dirty the carbon and dust lube the case quite well. 45's and other straight cases are too easy without lube even when sparkling clean.

[Quantrill]

Tumbling all brass first, I have never lubed a straight walled cartridge case, never wore out a carbide die and never had a stuck case in a carbide die. I have reloaded about 100,000 pistol cases thus far. Quantrill

[schild]

I put a light spray of Dillon case lube on almost everything, mainly because I've had wrist, elbow, and shoulder surgeries.

[SC_shooter]

A little squirt of Dillon case lube on all the brass that goes through my presses. It's a lot easier on you and on the presses.

[GooseGestapo]

Ditto Quantrill;
However, I lube 9x19 because of taper to case and high lever pressure. I spray a small amount of "Pledge" furniture wax into a tupperware container, and then place 100 or so cases and swirl and tumble them around for a few seconds the distribute the lube. Greatly reduces effort and prevents lube in cases. The wax dries and causes no build-ups or problems. Wax "may" retard tarnishing of cases too but most get shot up real soon!

[cheygriz]

A commercial reloader I know puts a small amount of STP on a few small of pieces of sponge and tumbles them. (emphasis on a SMALL AMOUNT)

Of course, he also tumbles his loaded ammo in corncobs and mineral spirits to get the lube off.

Personally, I've never seen the need to lube with a carbide die, but if a person wants to, it certainly isn't going to harm anything. If I ever fell the need, I think I'll use a small amount of Dillon spray lube, and then tumble clean the loaded ammo.

[hardcorehunter5]

Lubing carbide dies seems to defeat the advantage of carbide. I like not haveing to preform that extra step. When the cases are clean everything is as smooth as butter. To each his own..

[antsi]

I have used what I call a "very light dusting" of spray lube with pistol cases and carbide dies under two circumstances:

1) I am loading 357 SIG

2) I am loading nickel plated brass

In both these cases, just a touch of lube I find makes things easier and smoother.

But I am not talking anywhere near the amount of lube I would be using for a rifle case.

[C. H. Luke]

Have found my 550's run a whole lot smoother with lubed cases, even for 9mm. {Especially when have chained myself to the Dillon for one of those 2K round binges}This does not mean dripping with the stuff. Most of my friends toss some brass in an old cookie sheet or cake pan and VERY lightly spray them with Hornady "One-Shot" then shake vigoursly.
Stuff is inert and dries quickly plus doesn't need to be removed {provided it was done correctly}. Once in a great while it will cause a round not to gauge but it's usually froom the only neg. can think of: a flake of poweder adhering to it.

[dickwholliday]

This is gonna sound like i'm a workaholic but......when i size 9mm it is usually range brass that i scrounged from somewhere and it could have been shot in anything from a Mac 10 to a glock so here's what i do.....i spray lube with Dillon stuff then singlestage size using a cutdown shellholder and straight wall sizing die (by straight wall i mean no radius at the bottom).....after the above every piece of the brass will drop flush into a Saami die.....

also do the same to 38 super...it gets rid of that belted magnum look near the rim.....DICK

[C. H. Luke]

"....that belted magnum look near the rim....."

Not that sophisticated here....but boy do I know what you mean even with 9mm!

Did you cut the die down yourself or are they available from mfg?

[Flexmoney]

I am with C. H. Luke.

Hornady One Shot makes everything goes much more smoothly.

I use a similar method too. I have a cardboard box about the size of a cookie sheet/baking pan. I line it with an old bath towel. Then I try to smooth the brass down so that it is mostly on it's side (so I don't spray a bunch of lube inside the case). I quick coat, then I grab the corners of the towel and see-saw from left-to-right. this tumbles the brass against itself and the towel catches any extra.

It is a lot quicker to do than it is to explain.

[Master Blaster]

Personaly, I tumble all my brass till shiney clean, Lubed cases require about 1/3 the force on the handle of non-lubed, and I seem to get a more consistent seating and crimp with all calibers,
But mainly it makes the job alot easier, and only takes 20 seconds with dillon spray lube and a cookie sheet (1 light spray).

[C. H. Luke]

Kyle,

"...this tumbles the brass against itself and the towel catches any extra."

There's always a better Mouse Trap!
I'll bet your "towel" method gives an even & more uniform coating.

Gonna try it, Thanks for the tip!

[Cherokee]

Only cases I lube for carbide dies are bottle neck rifle cases and 30 Carbine. Pistol cases have never been much effort with carbide dies.

[Paul "Fitz" Jones]

When loading a few thousand rounds in one of my Star Reloaders to cut some resistance on my old arm I occassionally use a Q tip to put some automotive STP in my resizing die.

I once had an order for 50,000 38 target loads and I forget how many thousand rounds I did a day but I filled the police order and got a sore arm out of the deal.

I used tumble cleaned brass of course and the brass was all GI 45acp that is stiffer with more resistance so the dab of STP I felt helped. After that sore arm episode I bought two Auto Load machines that I ran at 3,500 rounds per hour.

My arm was sore for a year and stopped my fast draw practice.

I have a post on reloader arm-computer arm, tennis arm and shooters arm which is all related and what to do about it.

I will be changing ISPs shortly so am cutting down on my mail but you can read it in the archives at
http://www.topica.com/lists/StarReloadersGroup
Thanks John Paul

[PALongbow]

I load primarily 357 mag and 44 mag. All I do is clean the brass good and size them with my carbide dies. Never had any problems with this process.

Ron

[bogie]

Well, I'm getting ready to load a few thousand rounds of .38 special...

When I know I'll be tumbling it after I FL size it, I use PAM cooking spray (or a reasonable facsimile). Works just fine.

[blades67]

Only with bottle neck cases.