[treebeard]

Do I need to lube my .223 cases prior to using them? I thought I read somewhere that you should, but I don't remember. If so, can I just get a pad to roll them on? Thanks.

[ilbob]

You can use a carbide sizing die for straight neck cases and not hurt the dies any if you don't lube the cases, but it is much easier on you if you lube them.

Bottleneck cases (like .223) need to be lubed.

I have used both the spray on lube and the pads. The spray on lube is much easier and a lot less messy.

[Lennyjoe]

I use Hornady's 1 shot for all of my bottleneck brass.

If your not neck sizing only I suggest you lube. Getting a case stuck in a die is a pain in the arse!

[loadedround]

223 cases need to be lubed even if you using carbide dies. If you don't you are just inviting a stuck case and you all know how much fun that is.

[Dave P]

Maybe I am confused: but most folks use lube when we full length resize. Clean it off before you shoot, tho.

[snuffy]

What's surpriseing here is no one has told treebeard to stop, get some reloading instructions, then read them! This sounds like a Christmas gift of a reloading set-up, he's completely in the dark about what to do. Also read the sticky by DavefloweryGA, it will give you lots of info.

Failure to get some basic knowledge could result in very dangerous results, AND a damaged rifle! It's not rocket science, BUT some common sense IS required, while following some basic rules.

[treebeard]

I have been reloading for about a year now. I have been doing .45ACP and .38/.357 and I have always been careful and read the Lyman and Hornaday books. I use the Lee carbide .223 dies and I like them. I appreciate the feedback, but often times I find it easier to come here and post as opposed to reading the books. I like to get other peoples input on different subjects. I got some money for Christmas so I plan on either getting the spray or a pad. For those of you that trim and debur, what do you think is the most inexpensive way to go? I only need to get something for my .223 cartridges. I also need to pick up another Lee turret press, some AA#2, some more primers, etc.......Hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas.:D :D

[dmftoy1]

I think the cheapest way to deburr and chamfer is the $5 RCBS tool that does both. For my trimming I kept my eye on Ebay and snagged a Lyman "Universal" trimmer for $50. My buddy just bought a new RCBS trimmer that I think is a bit nicer, but the Lyman has trimmed an awful lot of .223 brass for me.

Have a good one,
Dave

[snuffy]

My appologies for thinking you were a newbee. But you are new at rifle though.

I don't see a lee carbide die listed anywhere, even on lee's site. The only FL all carbide sizeing die I know of is made by dillon. It alone is most of $100.00! Even the dillon carbide die requires lube on the case to function. The best lube I have found is the RCBS spray lube. Just toss however many you plan on loading into a plastic bowl. spray them all, toss around, spray again & toss, they're ready to load.

As for trimming, I use the lee system spun in a drill motor. The case length pilot/cutter and case spinner will cost under$20.00.
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=107333

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=476992

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=389104

[treebeard]

Thanks for the links. :D The Lee Chamfer tool is out of stock as I expected. I am going to find another place to order though because I really want to get going next week on .223. I am definetly a newbie when it comes to rifle, and I know that you have to do different things when loading rifle, that is why I come here. Thanks for the recommendation for the spray, it seems like that is the way to go.

[Master Blaster]

I use Hornady's 1 shot for all of my bottleneck brass.



I have used the Hornady spray crap on rifle brass twice, and I stuck a case in two different resizing dies that day. It smells bad and it doesnt work reliably.

Use imperial sizing die wax, or lee wax in a tube, or even the dillon lube. If you use the dillon lube make sure you roll the cases in an old towel to remove the excess or you will get dents in the cases. I like the imperial sizing die wax reloaded a couple thousand .223 and .308 rounds with no stuck brass!!

Friends dont let friends use the hornady one shot.

[trickyasafox]

i use hornady one shot, i find you gotta give it 30 seconds to dry before it's effective or you'll get a stuck case now and again. That being said if i wait too long (more than 30-45 minutes) i'll give em another spritz before i size em. This is for full length sizing for shooting in an AR-15 and an Encore.

I don't bother to wipe the lube off. the loads are shot in hi-power and for varmit, but i really am not a fantastic shot by any means, so it might make a difference i'm just not good enough to utalize.

[Shoney]

The Dillon bottleneck "carbide dies" are simply regular steel dies with a carbide neck sizer, and are not one piece carbide.

I started loading in 1960 and have used a lot of different case lubes. The best by far is Imperial Sizind Die Wax. It may be the same or a very close formulation to the wax used by electricians fo pull wire thru conduit. I bought 2 cans of ISDW about 12 years ago, used it exclusively and am still on the first can. Very economical as well as superior in function.

[Liberty4Ever]

I read a bunch of reviews on sizing lubes at www.MidwayUSA.com. That's actually a good way to get practical information on products before buying them. It's certainly more informative than reading the marketing info on each. One recommendation that I haven't tried that sounded interesting was a thin film of Mobile 1 synthetic oil. I haven't tried it yet, So that isn't a recommendation. It might not need to be cleaned off the cases before shooting, which appeals to me. Low cost and locally available are also nice features. I'll try it soon, even though I have a strong preference for resizing lube that is safe for use with primers and powder. I'll make sure to keep it out of the primer pockets and the inside of the case, which might necessitate mica to lube the inside of the neck.

I have been experimenting, though. I made some spray lube by mixing 4 ounces (two tubes) of Lee Case Lube with 16 ounces of 91% isopropyl alcohol (available in the pharmacy aisle) in a 32 ounce spray bottle (either reuse one from some cleaning product or buy a garden sprayer at Lowes, Home Depot or the lawn & garden aisle at K-Mart or Walmart). The homemade spray worked very well when resizing 223 brass.

I loaded the brass into Hornady universal load blocks and lightly sprayed them from all four sides to evenly cover them with a fine mist. That worked well, and just enough went down inside to lube the inside of the case necks. With the overspray and waxy loading blocks, it was a bit messy and a bit less economical, although still cheap.

I started dumping my pistol brass into a Rubbermaid container about the size of a shoe box, lightly misting it with case lube and swirling it around to evenly cover the brass. You don't need to lube pistol brass in a carbide die, but it's so easy to do and works so much better, I can't imagine not doing it. I liked the fine spray of case lube on pistol brass so well that I tried spraying the 223 brass. Because it was bottleneck rifle brass, I used a bit more lube. Not much went down into the necks, but it was apparently enough. The down side was the resizing lube went into the grooves on the rim where it might cause extraction problems, and it went into the primer pockets. The wax is safe for powder and primers, but it might cause priming problems.

I tried dipping the cases in the diluted lube and that worked a bit too well The lube was a bit thick when it dried and I wiped part of it before resizing.

I next tried a more diluted version of the case lube, about an ounce of Lee Case Lube to 16 ounces of alcohol. Dipping the cases, shaking and tapping against the inside of the container seemed to work well, and left a nearly invisible coating of case lube. I tried to cover the primer pocket with my thumb so the case lube would only flow up into the case neck, but I think most of the time my thumb made a poor seal, leaving a very thin coat of case lube about an inch down from the mouth, on both the inside and outside of the case. It's powder safe, so I don't think it'll cause any harm. I let the cases dry overnight, placed upright in the load blocks.

My next experiment will be something to combine case lubing with the operations of case trimming, deburring and polishing. I currently do those operations on a Lee Zip Trim in a bit under 30 seconds per case, including case inspection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW0VCej_nz8

The pull cord looks a bit hokey, but it works better than chucking a case lock stud into a cordless drill. I use a green ScotchBrite scrubby pad to polish each case using five quick pulls of the Zip Trim cord, which takes about three seconds, and the brass is very shiny, with no mucking around with the tumbler, and no chance of tumble media stuck inside bottleneck cases. I might try some lube on the scrubby pad to polish and lube at the same time.

What I don't like is using my fingers to apply the lube to cases as I'm reloading. I find it to be messy and it slows down the progressive reloading process too much.

[Slip Shooter]

Here's my 223 Carbide die. It's stamped "Dillon 223 F.L. Carbide Sizing" die and has a full length carbide sleeve, not a ring of carbide. I purchased it from Dillon about 1983 or 84.

It sizes cases properly and I do not lube them. I do make sure the brass is inspected, tumbled and cleaned before loading.

It's an excellent die in all respects and cost me $100.00 when purchased.




http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o105/BoJayok/HPIM0045.jpg


http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o105/BoJayok/HPIM0043.jpg


http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o105/BoJayok/HPIM0046.jpg

[shooter503]

Imperial Wax is the best lube I have found - even for radical case reforming.

As Shoney mentioned, electrician's wire pulling lubricant works well for less severe work and it is dirt cheap. From the smell and feel I think the same stuff is used in commercial case lube products.

[cracked butt]

Just save yourself the trouble and use Imperial Sizing wax. A tin of it only costs about $4, lasts forever, its easy to use, a lot less messy than other lubes, and cleans up easily.

I've used the RCBS lube and lube pad combination for years and never stuck a case, but its a lot messier and more cumbersome than Imperial Sizing wax.

[highlander 5]

I've been reloading for 36+ years and have heard of everything you can imagine and some for lubing rifle cases.To the new reloader out there stick to the factory lubes believe me its no fun trying to get a stuck case out of a die.:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: it just ain't worth the hassle.
The lubes they use now are SO MUCH BETTER than when I started reloading and I'm sure some of the "Old Timers" will agree with me.

[Clark]

I sized 7,000 .223 cases, and I did it wrong:banghead:

The Redding "S" die has a bushing that needs to float, and I tightened down the bolt that holds the bushing:(

So I backed off on the bolt 1/16th turn, sized some more cases with the bushing floating, and I got better groups.

[Liberty4Ever]

Just save yourself the trouble and use Imperial Sizing wax. A tin of it only costs about $4, lasts forever, its easy to use, a lot less messy than other lubes, and cleans up easily.


Two ounces of Imperial sizing wax is $9, not $4. It lasts so long, maybe it was $4 when you bought it a long time ago.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=519525

From the customer reviews at MidwayUSA, Imperial sizing wax is the next best thing to sliced bread.

People keep saying it's less messy, but the first instruction is to smear some on my finger. :confused:

I'll give it a try, based on the recommendations of all the adoring fans. I still think I'd like some sort of method to apply it without getting it on my fingers.

[Slip Shooter]

One nice thing about the wax application is, it will not harm primers or powder. Seems like finger application is the way to go.

Remeber - It aint no fun unless you can get some on ya!

[cracked butt]

Two ounces of Imperial sizing wax is $9, not $4. It lasts so long, maybe it was $4 when you bought it a long time ago.

+ I pay the dealer rate at Midway, it actually did cost me closer to $4 than $9 for me:cool: