Case Lubes

I tried imperial sizing wax because I heard so much about it. I prefer the old lube pad and RCBS lube.

I use Imperial Sizing wax on all my precision loads. I just put on a pair of Nitrile gloves to apply the wax. Goes further this way since it's not on your skin. But for bulk blasting ammo I use One Shot. I just dump a hand full in a bag, give it a spray, roll them around in the bag to distribute the lube, then dump them in to the brass feeder do, another batch. The thing about OS is that you MUST let the light ends evaporate off before you try to use it. Once I get my hopper full, I start the feeder up and start loading. The nice thing about OS is you do not have to remove afterward.

+1 on Nitrile gloves. Spread some Imperial on the gloves. Roll several cases back and forth in your hands. Doing the same with a plastic storage bag will also work.

There are uses for all the methods.....and misuses. The only one I haven't tried is One Shot. Too many reports of stuck cases......and I have yet to experience that.

I like Imperial for some reloading, and I like the RCBS lube pad. Goo? Not nearly as bad as STP, but the only thing that approaches it for lubricity. Wax can build up faster than spray or pad lube. I like Dillon spray (or the Lanolin Home Made copy of it) for progressives.....reread cfullgraph's post about allowing the alcohol to flash over first (that means evaporate). Alcohol is the destroyer of lubricity, but it dissolves lanolin and is necessary to allow it to be sprayed....just let it go away before you crank your press.

One post (lightman) mentioned machine gun brass! I know some avoid that stuff, but it's good LC brass and once brought under control by the first resizing, its great brass and you can't beat the price. IMO if you want that stuff to act nice in any rifle, size it the first time at least, with a small-base die! I know....harder to size still....Now, make it worse by making it light your room with wet tumbling using S.S. pins! NOW you've met Imperial lubes match. You want experience with hard sizing, or stuck cases, try anything but an RCBS lube pad or STP on that combination. I almost did that, but what I did do is stretch a couple of case necks and had to throw them away, before I found that good old-fashioned RCBS Lube and mica inside was the safe answer.

Yup surprised me...... I found that dry mica lube works better than any other lube inside necks to reduce stretching and pulling concentricity off the center case axis. I spent a week testing on a big batch of MG LC brass bought from Wideners..... The above was my results. One dip, the depth of the neck, lubes inside and out and makes even MG brass slide through an expander without stretching the case all to hell.

I use OneShot for pistol, just smooths out the action of the press. Just a light pass, and let dry for 10 minutes. I will also use OneShot once in a great while for rifle, for an odd job, here or there, where Im not going to tumble it off.

Mostly I use lanolin/iso on rifle. Its simple and cheap, but can be a PITA to get cleaned up. I did change to a different type of lanolin this spring, and its proving to work well. Look for PEG-75 lanolin. Its lanolin with an additive to allow it to break down more easily in water. I added a teaspoon of it to a glass of luke warm water with no soap, and had no issues with it breaking down. Its a bit thinner, so I mix it at 12-1 instead of the normal 18-1.

Imperial is the best.

I see guys talk about how they heard guys stick cases with One Shot, but after hundreds of thousands of rifle rounds, I haven’t stumbled on how a guy could manage to stick a case with it.

Maybe they don’t shake the can and only spray propellant? Or maybe they don’t clean their brass and run dirty into their sizing die? No idea. But I remind myself, there are people out there who eat Tide Pods...

I use Imperial for small batches, but when I am loading a larger quantity, I use the Royal spray lube. I have a cardboard box top that I place all the brass in, spray enough to hit all of them, and then roll them around in the box. Never had a stuck case with it.

My process includes a short tumble to get the outside of the brass clean (I wet tumble without pins, for about 15 minutes) then I lube and size, then I wet tumble with pins for about an hour.

As far as lubing the inside of the necks, I started using the carbide expander for the Redding die and never had a problem after that. But lately I have started using a body sizing die along with the Lee collet neck sizer, or the 21st century expander die.

For handgun cases I use the RCBS lube dies with the RCBS jelly stuff. Works excellent! I don't get all that residue and junk in my 650xl case feeder and feed tube and the lube makes cycling the press so MUCH smoother even though I only use carbide sizing dies!

For rifle cases I use the Dillon spray lube which I believe is lanolin based. The biggest problem with the Dillon lanolin lube is using too much. Spray one or two squirts in a big box of brass. Shake them well. Then let them dry for 10 minutes. With a saturated cardboard box it really only takes 1 spray.

The RCBS lube dies are WORTHLESS for the rifle cases they were designed for. The lube dies ONLY lube the body of the rifle case leaving the necks completely dry. RCBS really missed the mark with marketing their lube dies for rifle cases instead of pistol cases. I have acquired Lube Dies for all my pistol heads... the 50ae head took a little reaming of the inner aluminum insert in the lube die.

I used to use Hornady "One Shot" for pistol cases before switching to the lube dies. "One Shot" never worked very well for me on rifle cases. I have a couple cans on the shelf that haven't been used in 20 years. I have never "Stuck" a rifle case using One Shot... the amount of force required to resize a rifle case is just so much less when I use the lanolin lube and the press runs much smoother!

Small cases like 223's I use Dillon's lube. Larger cases I use FrogLube, best I've used.

Stp oil additive works in a pinch.

For small batches I use Imperial wax. For larger batches I use Dillon spray lube.

I think I've tried almost everything that's come on the market in the past 50+ yrs, including some I've brewed myself. Recently I've been using WD-40 silicone spray: so far I haven't had any stuck(or difficult) cases. However, before the cases then go in the (wet) tumbler, I tightly seal them in a fruit jar after covering them with industrial acetone (inexpensive from HD), shake, shake, shake, and pour everything out through a metal strainer (disposing of the liquid properly, of course). After a minute, they're dry and not at all oily.

Gary D. Gross said:

I think I've tried almost everything that's come on the market in the past 50+ yrs, including some I've brewed myself. Recently I've been using WD-40 silicone spray: so far I haven't had any stuck(or difficult) cases. However, before the cases then go in the (wet) tumbler, I tightly seal them in a fruit jar after covering them with industrial acetone (inexpensive from HD), shake, shake, shake, and pour everything out through a metal strainer (disposing of the liquid properly, of course). After a minute, they're dry and not at all oily.

Click to expand...

I hope you're doing that outside.

GW Staar said:

Yup surprised me...... I found that dry mica lube works better than any other lube inside necks to reduce stretching and pulling concentricity off the center case axis.

Click to expand...

I've used mica when I was neck sizing. It does work well lubricating inside the neck.

I have not tried mica when using some other lubricant for outside lubricating. Laziness mostly as it adds another step.

It might be worth a look. Brush the insdise of the neck with mica then lube the outside of the case with lubricant of choice.

I admit, I'm a bit on the lazy side too......that's why I just dip the neck in mica after a roll on the lube pad on the way to the sizer. You are right brushing is another step where dipping requires only the hand that places the case in the shell holder.

I've stuck several .223 cases using Hornady One Shot. One was so bad that I had to send the die to Lee to get them to remove the case. The problem with .223 is depending on the case manufacturer and who/how many times its been fired, the rim is so small and thin that it rips out with very little force.

Lately I've been reloading a lot of .223/5.56 that I shot in my own guns and the One Shot works just fine.
First and foremost LET THE LUBE DRY FOR A FEW MINUTES. Don't try to size them while they are still wet. That's a nearly sure way to get a stuck case.
Second, range pickups and "once fired" brass sold to you are like earbuds found in a playground. You have no idea where that stuff's been (yuk). They may have been shot in a $5k bolt action rifle or they may have been milsurp shot out of a machine gun with a cavernous chamber.

Hornady One Shot works very nicely in that you can spray it on a very large number of cases either in a plastic bin or a Ziplock bag, let it dry and size the cases. They come out clean and you don't need to do anything else.

Dillon lube or Lanolin+Isopropyl Alcohol works well as a lube but leaves the cases sticky. That means cleaning them off unless you like handling sticky cases that also attract dust.

STP, motor oil, Bag Balm, Vaseline all work just fine but also require you to wipe the lube off after sizing.

Lee water soluble case lube works well but I have no need to buy anymore because there are so many other lubes that work around the house and garage.

You should be able to lube 3-5 cases with each swipe of Imperial. FWIW, virtually every stuck case that I’ve read about, the user was using One Shot. In fairness though, I know that it has to be allowed to dry before resizing the cases so those people might not be using it correctly.