Inside and outside case lubing for rifle rounds?

[WhoKnowsWho]

I am using the spray on Frankford Arsenal lube for external lubing and trying to use the Mica Dip stuff for inside neck lubing, but it gets stuck all on the outside. So... as long as it doesn't 'cause dents is it okay to leave on the outside and then wipe off after sizing? And also, if I use the spray lube as a inside neck lube with a swab, should I clean it completely by tumbling? Or will it not react with the powder/primer, and I can leave it alone? It seems some do, some don't.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

Ugh, well, I am not using the Mica Inside Neck Lube method anymore. I just pulled the decapper/expander pin out by using the mica stuff...

 

[Darkside]

I stand the cases up on an old piece of plywood and spray down at a 45 deg angle from all 4 side with my "home brew" lube. This gets the lube in the necks very well. I tumble my cases before they get processed, to keep dirt and grit out of my dies. I also tumble them after, to clean them up a bit. I like my reloads to look good. If I didn't tumble after, my acid sweat would have them turning brown and green in a mater of days.

Darkside

 

[djl4570]

I decap the cases with a decapping die, put them in a plastic loading block case mouth down and spray them with Hornaday One Shot. The case necks get lubed well inside and out because the lube flows down. I tumble them in corn cob after the lube dries out to remove the lube residue.

I don't have to lube the 45-70 cases from the Shilohs or the Ballard High Wall at all. I don't drive these very far into the sizing die and there's a nice film of SPG on the case to lube it.

 

[knzn]

I stand the cases up on an old piece of plywood and spray down at a 45 deg angle from two sides with Hornadys One Shot spray lube. Good stuff.

 

[ocabj]

I use Imperial Die Wax. I used to use Hornady One Shot for everything, but it tends to use up very quickly. I still use One Shot for .223, but everything else I use Imperial.

To get wax on the inside I simply dab the neck with my finger which gets a small ring on the inside, and then I coat the outside very thinly. Works fine for me, even when necking up .284 Winchester brass to 7.5x55 Swiss. Imperial is only a few bucks for a small tin and than tin lasts along time.

As far as cleaning lube off, I wipe it off with a paper towel after sizing, then I tubmle the brass after I trim and clean the primer pockets. After tumbling I wipe the brass down with a rag and punch out any stuck media in the flash holes with a dental pick.

 

[cracked butt]

I don't bother with lubing casenecks.

 

[Mal H]

I don't lube inside case necks either. Especially not a lube like One-Shot or anything similar. If a lube is necessary, then motor mica is the only one that should be used. I don't lube inside the necks for the same reason I don't lube the brakes on my cars. There is supposed to be some good friction between the bullet and the case neck. Lubing can only reduce that friction. And tumbling isn't going to remove all the lube that is inside a case.

WhoKnowsWho - how did the mica cause the decapping pin to come loose?

 

[ocabj]

I don't bother with lubing casenecks.

Another point I didn't address, when I resize .308 brass for my precision rifle, I don't use an expander in the die. I use a Redding S-Type full length or neck sizer (depending on how bad the shoulder has grown) with a .335" bushing, but with the expander and decapping rod removed. There's no point in expanding the neck when resizing the neck on fired brass is supposed to make the neck smaller, unless the neck got deformed some how and isn't concentrical anymore (ie: I dropped the brass and the neck hit the ground first deforming the lip of the neck).

 

[swifter]

On the outside, Imperial Die Wax; on the inside, a dip&twist in a jar of ballbearings and Technical grade moly powder. Best I've found in 30 years...

Tom

 

[Paul "Fitz" Jones]

Lubing

I roll my cases on a RCBS lube pad and then agree with Mal H as I do not see any reason to lube inside the case necks.

Fitz

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

WhoKnowsWho - how did the mica cause the decapping pin to come loose?

I don't think it was the mica that caused the decapping pin to come loose, it was the intense tight fit between the decapping pin and the inside of the new cases that pulled the pin right out when the ram was going back down! The screech and high amount of force I needed was a sure sign! I was using the mica as instructed, but I don't think it was making much of a difference for helping the expander part pull back through.

I just retightened the decapping pin and lubed the inside of the case it was stuck in and the rest of the cases with the spray lube and a q-tip and had no more problems and needed very little force to get the ram back down and have the expander pull through the case neck for the rest of the cases.

 

[Paul "Fitz" Jones]

Expander balls

I seem to remember I had a problem with resistance with RCBS expander balls and a weak decapping shaft. I put a little dab of Automotive STP on the ball not the cases and had no further problems when I switched to C-H dies that had a smoother ball and stronger decapping shaft and decapping pins.

Fitz