Case Lube - Spray On or Pad?

I use spray lube exclusively any more.

RCBS or Midway to be exact.

But the Lyman should work as well.

Just follow the directions, don't over-lube, and wait for all the solvent to evaporate before trying to run them in the sizing die.

You only want a thin film of lube on the case.
I spray it on and wipe it around with my fingers as I pick them up.

If you wipe off everything you can with your fingers, it will be just right.

rc

I use the same pad I bought 30-40 years ago. Get's the job done. Just a habit for me.

I use my fingers, but I'm not a high-volume reloader of rifle cartridges, generally less than 40 at a time. For pistol cartridges, I use carbide dies, and skip the lube altogether.

I use a home-made mix of alcohol & lanolin.
So for me, it's spray on.

I put the brass in a zip lock bag, spray in 5 or 6 times & roll 'em around.

Redding die wax, best stuff ever. Cleanest and easiest alternative of them all IMO I tossed my lube pad and never did use any spray lube. You'll need the case lube with bottleneck cartridges. Or else you'll get good at extracting cases stuck in die, then you'll get case lube.

Spray-on for me - specifically, RCBS Case Slick. I just processed about 1,200 .223 and .308 cases through a Hornady LnL with case feeder (FL resize, trim, neck expand) by dropping about 30 cases at a time into a medium-sized Akro bin, spritzing the lube across the cases 3 or 4 times, shake them around, then dump into case feeder. I do that about 6 times, for about 200 cases in the feeder at a clip. The shaking in the bin, combined with the tumbling in the case feeder, distributes the lube nicely across the cases, and because of the randomness of the cases in the bin, some get their necks lubed, too - so the expander ball doesn't drag.

Didn't stick one case.

Pump spray(lanolin and alcohol). Best innovation in case lube, I am glad I wasn't born to reloading in the olden days of lube pads.

Imperial wax, once I tried it many years ago, I wondered why anyone would use anything else.

Spray on. Keep it simple and easy and you're reload more instead of lubricating individual cases.

Hornady One Shot is my preferred way to lube. I put the case mouth facing down in an RCBS case loading block and spray them down.

Pump spray from Dillon is my favorite but Cabelas works too.(both lanolin/alcohol) I'm not as impressed with the stuff in the can from Hornady. I'll never touch one of those filthy sticky pads again.

RCBS lube and pad for me for over three years now. Same pad, same bottle of lube - probably 5k+ rifle rounds loaded. I looked into the spray on but the "waiting for it to dry" just didn't fit my reloading habits.

Dillon spray on in a ziplock baggy, works the best.

Hornady spray in a pie tin.

RCBS Pad & Lube-same pad & lube bottle 60+ years & many many rounds Use nylon neck brush every other case

Anything but One Shot. Usually Unique wax or RCBS Case Slick as that's what I can most often get locally.

Try what you have already. If you do use spray/pump lube be sure to shake the can before spraying to mix the contents. This works much better. I use a home made version of the One Shot just like Hondo60 and like it a lot.

I bought a big ol' car washing sponge and one of those plastic shoe boxes from the dollar store. I also bought a quart of wire pulling lube from Lowes for $5.99. I glop a little wire lube onto the sponge, smear it around, then roll my cases across it.

The wire pulling lube is a wax based lube like the Lee case lube. It's not gooey when it dries and can be easily removed with soapy water. I'm becoming a big fan of this method. The pump lanolin sprays perform great as a lube, but the residue is harder to get off the cases than the water soluble waxes are.

The pump lanolin sprays perform great as a lube, but the residue is harder to get off the cases than the water soluble waxes are.

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By the time I size and decap, trim/debur/chamfer, prime, load, case gauge and weigh my rounds(I always check for empties), there is very little if anything left. They go straight into mags or are boxed up.

I put lube on my pointer finger, then rub it between it, my bow finger, and my thumb, then wipe it around on the cases as I pick them up. Re-lube fingers as needed.

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Not for 500 or more .223 cases, no thanks, that would add many minutes.

Hondo 60 said:

I use a home-made mix of alcohol & lanolin.
So for me, it's spray on.

I put the brass in a zip lock bag, spray in 5 or 6 times & roll 'em around.

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Ditto for me also.

I've been using spray on lube exclusively as well. As long as it is used correctly, which with DCL, or Dillon Case Lube, you must allow it to dry completely, it works just great. I've never stuck a case regardless of what type it was, I just prefer the spray on because lube dents are rare, and it isn't sticky and messy to work with, which helps to preserve my media in the long run as well.

GS

To sort of extend the original question, how important is cleaning the lube off if you used a spray like one shot? And how do you do it?

Imperial wax, once I tried it many years ago, I wondered why anyone would use anything else.

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Ditto on Imperial Wax. I use nothing else for rifle cases and I have never had a stuck case since I started using Imperial