Case lubrication

I use kiwi mink oil shoe polish. I lube them, resize and then wipe them off as I'm putting them into the case block. Some folks tumble their rounds for a few minutes after fully assembled to get the lube off. Everyone has their own certain routine. I wipe mine off after resizing so I don't keep getting the lube on my hands

For rifle I use the lanolin and alcohol, spray, resize, then throw them back into the tumbler.

You're lubing pistol brass? Are you using steel dies or do you have carbide dies? You don't *need* to lube pistol brass if you have carbide dies but it might make sizing easier. If it's a bottlenecked cartridge like 5.7x28 or maybe .357sig lube is a good idea. With rifle brass I tend to size all my brass then tumble it again to get the lube off. If I'm just doing a small batch of rifle ammo I'll size it all then wipe the lube off with a rag before moving to the next step. It doesn't matter if I'm using a home-brew lube or store bought stuff.

First of all, if you are using carbide pistol die's, you don't need to lube the brass. Some reloade'rs do, but it's no necessary.

As for bottle neck cartridge's, I always wipe the remaining residue off them, I also use a Q tip and alcohol to remove what residue may remain on the inside of the necks. I then tumble to spiff them up, and to remove any residue that may still be lurking.

My method is a bit OCD I'm sure, but I' take my reloading very seriously.

GS

As long as they make Imperial sizing wax, I'm not messing around with trying to make my own, that's for sure.
That's all I use for bottleneck rifle stuff. I size them and place them in a loading tray. When I pick them up to trim them, I wipe the lube off with a shop rag. I just buy the rolls of blue rags from Wal Mart. They're only a few dollars and sure come in handy in the cave.

For pistol stuff I will sometimes put some in a plastic zip bag and give it a spray or two of spray lube like Hornady One Shot and mix them around. Like has been said, it isn't necessary, but it does help.

I don't do anything to remove it from the inside of the case mouth. Heck before I actually bought case neck lube, I would roll the brush on a lube pad or in the Imperial and swab the neck out before sizing. Never had an issue. I think some lubes will contaminate powder though. Don't know which ones.

I run carbide handgun dies and typically do not use lube. By using NuFinish in the cleaning media the wax left on the cases leaves a slick finish that helps "lube" the brass. THis weekend I was loading some 45 Colt. Had some cleaned once fired brass and all went well. I also had some NEW brass I want to load in this session. Well pulling the handle with the new brass was a chore and a half. Grabbed the new cases, a zip lock bag, and some one shot. 10 minutes later WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!

So I would suggest lube for large, new, handgun cases--even when using carbide dies. Makes reloading more pleasurable!!

So far I only load pistol cartridges but will be loading .223 this Summer and probably use the same lube. I make my own out of water based wire pulling lubricant and water/dishsoap. I sort brass into small plastic trays and spray them and let them dry. Takes an hour or so with a small fan running.

Full length resize, decap, bell the mouth and then they go into a plastic tall container with dish soap and some brass cleaner (non ammonia) for a soak and shake routine for a couple days. Drain and rinse and dry with a hair dryer.

Load as needed - I store the cleaned and dry cases that have been prepped in big plastic containers with lids.

Water soluble lube works great and I have never tried it with alcohol but I'm sure that would speed up the drying many fold.

VooDoo

Does that lube contaminate the powders? I want to find a way to eliminate the second cleaning step of lube removal. I've heard astroglide works wonders too, in reloading that is!

Just curious, how much do you really think you're saving by using the various home brews? You could just use Imperial Sizing Wax with less hassel and probably insignificantly more if any cost.

Theoretically, I think lube could contaminate powder. That said, many years ago, I frequently loaded cases that had been lubed and not subsequently cleaned. I can't say I ever noticed a difference in performance of rounds loaded thusly.

These days, I use stainless steel media to clean cases. I can't swear the ammo performs any better but the cases look real pretty and all the lube is gone.

Ya but the pin method does require a trip through the tumbler right? I'm hoping for lube-size-load-shoot.

Hornady One Shot is lube-size-load-shoot according to their packaging.

My pin method for rifle brass: decap, trim and/or anneal(if necessary), lube, size, wet tumble, prime, charge, seat, & shoot.
I also use the lanolin & alcohol formula.

Sorry...I misread/misunderstood the premise of the OP which was to avoid the cleaning step. I don't trust lube not to contaminate powder.

I have tried them all at one time or another and use the "home made" version as it is the best for me, at what I'm doing, which is making home made/hand made ammunition. My lube works better for me than commercial stuff for the way I do things.

For others maybe not so much. I'm a huge believer in "jiggling the handle" and experimenting freely (but safely) until one finds what works best for them. There is no "one size fits all" in my world...it's a character flaw. Use what works and share whenever possible.

Good luck.

VooDoo

Provided the loading is for a bolt action, one can use Lee Collet Dies with no lube at all.

Hornady One Shot is the cause of the ruining of the only die I ever ruined.

30 minutes with untreated corncob has always taken the case lube off for me. I use spray, RCBS roll-on or Imperial. The spray-on in a gallon ziplock bag is the easiest. I stand it up on a baking sheet and let it dry for 10-15 minutes. Always remember that you can get one with no lube, if it feels like it is going to stick, it probably will; back off and hit it with some Imperial. .308 cases are the worst I've seen...

I propose you all try a little test. (I experienced it and the result wasn't what I expected)

I tumbled some 2013 LC 7.62 brass (Thumlers/stainless steel) for 4 hours. Can you say "hurt your eyes bling"?

Then I tried sizing like I always do using Imperial wax through an RCBS small-based sizer.

OMG!! Had to practically stand on the Rock Chucker to size it. Really hard to pull the button out too! So I thought, add a little more Imperial. Worse! But, I was lucky.....I got the die half-way in and was smart enough to not try to go further.....I got it out, but it was hard and I ruined the case. At least I didn't have to go buy a stuck case remover.

So the next case I tried spraying lanolin (Dillon Spray following directions). Better...but still required both hands to size it, and I know I stretched the shoulders...it was visible.

By this time I was ready to repent of tumbling with Stainless.

Next I got out the ole RCBS lube pad and brush. Rolled a case, rolled the brush and went in and out of the neck once....and resized. No comparison....in an out like normal sizing. One handed.

I thought it was a fluke so tried all of the above 2 more times. No difference. The RCBS lube pad has the best lubricity by far.....and when the going gets tough Imperial fails.....wouldn't have thought it, as I usually prefer it, but no more Imperial for me.

Now I understand why in RCBS faqs they state that most of the dies sent back to them with stuck cases have a "wax" product doing the sticking.

What's the lube on the lube pad? I have some Dillon spray as well but haven't used it too much yet.

I use One Shot for all my rifle cases from .222-460, after resizing the cases I always put them in my tumbler for at least an hour using corn cob media and just a drop of Midway Polishing compound. Never have any problem with a stuck case etc.

I use the Lyman Red Walnut media with the lube pre-mixed and had good luck with it. I have noticed that the brass stays shiny as opposed to cleaning alone and it hasn't affected the powder that I can tell.

I have use the Nu-Finish Car polish as well and it seemed to give the same results if I put a dab on a dryer sheet and tumbled them after washing. YMMV

I may waste more time Washing and polishing but I like the shiny brass.

Paddy said:

What's the lube on the lube pad? I have some Dillon spray as well but haven't used it too much yet.

Click to expand...

Hornady's One Shot actually has the worst reputation of all for stuck cases, so to be honest I never had the guts to try it.

I had heard stainless steeled bling could cause sizing problems, but I didn't give it enough credence....shoulda listened. I have heard some people wet tumbling have used car polish to mitigate the effect, but I figured a good lube would do the same thing.... only now do I know what a good lube is. (at least one)

I stand my rifle cases on end and give them a fog with silicone spray and then get to sizing. Once the cases are sized they are usually dry and then I proceed to hand priming.

I use Hornady One Shot spray for all my cases.

But to avoid lubing the case where the bullet seats, I spray the insides of a zip-lock bag, throw in a handful or two of cases and swish then around to transfer the lube to the cases. Then I dump them into a cake pan to dry. That pan is also good for getting the last of the tumbling media out of the shells when removed from the tumbler.

I had to start doing this with 357 Sigs. Those little necks hold the bullet a lot better this way.

Dan in ABQ

after all the talk about Imperial sizing wax ,I had to get some , It just got here today , along with some 32rem brass and some Redding 270 dies , so I just got done doing some testing , my lube of choice has been Redding for many years with a Redding pad , first I did five fired 32rem cases with the wax then five new 32rem cases, and could not tell any deference ,then cleaned the die and did the same with the Redding lube (5 fired and 5 new) again no difference from new to old, from lube pad to wax , then did all the above tests with my new Redding 270win dies , again both work the same ,no better, no worse , , then I switch over to my Lee 270win dies took a bit more effort but not bad , clean them again , and tried both again , no difference , then I dug out my old RCBS 270win dies and they took the most effort , but no difference from on lube to another but it took a noticeable amount of force , both the Imperial Sizing wax and the Redding Lube are safe to leave on tell the last step then I just run the loaded rounds in my Lyman 2500 for 20min , and the box them up ,

so the up side is the wax is less mess and more space on my bench, just set the little tin next to the press and go , no pad taking up space and no need to add lube ,but it don't work any better, it just works the same

for those of you that think the wax don't work very well , you may want to try giving you dies a good cleaning or try different dies , in my case the RCBS were the worst I tried , again I just got the wax today and will be doing more testing with other cals and dies , but so far it seems to be as good as the Redding pad and Lube ,
Over the years I've use Lee Lube , Dillon Spray lube, STP , Spray Pam, Car waxes, RCBS lube and there pad (the cloth one) and some other home made stuff, up tell now the Redding Lube has worked the best