Applying lubrication

Put your brass in a 1 gal ziplock, two sprays, close the bag and move it around, remove from bag and let alcohol flash off.

I wouldn't put any solvent/alcohol anywhere near an electric motor

This is one use where hornady one-shot spray lube is ideal IMO.

Why are you lubing .357 mag cases? Get a carbide sizer. If you need a little lube to make it easier One shot will work.

I guess I'm not the only one applying lube to pistol brass

I use a 1:8 ratio of Lee case lube to 99% alcohol. Use the gallon ziplock bags method. I don't have to remove the Lee lube after sizing.

With a carbide sizing die, there is no need for lubing straight-wall pistol cases.

While carbide sizing dies do not require cases to be lubricated, it does make the sizing process go more smoothly.

I use lubricant primarily with larger diameter cases like 45 Colt, 44 Magnum, etc., but also down to 38 Special and 357 Magnum.

I tumble clean my cases between sizing and loading so no loss time there.

Lubricant with carbide sizing dies is not a requiement, just a personal preference.

I apply spray on lubricant by putting the cases in a plastic food storage box, I then spray the cases and shake the box. Finally, I spread the cases out on a paper towel to let the alcohol flash off.

Amazing how many of us do it in similar fashion. I shoot 2 squirts of One Shot into a ziplock, dump in about a hundred brass and then just massage the bag around, dump em out and load em.

I've tried the plastic bags, but the best thing I've found is a cheap Halloween candy bowl. For pistol rounds I spray the bowl, then dump in the cases, stir them around, the round shape makes it easy to get a good coating on all the cases and not into the cases. For rifle rounds I put the cases in first, shake it until I have a lot of case mouths pointing up so I get some lubrications into case necks. Then stir them up to spread the lubrication.

I know a lot of reloaders don't lubricate pistol cases when using carbide dies, however it takes much less effort to size the cases and on a progressive press it will run smoother.

Spray lube then let the alcohol evaporate and load on.

Your method of a cloth in a tumbler (rotary?) probably would work. If I were to try it I would use small pieces of cloth with just a bit of lube on each piece rather than one larger rag. The only problem I would think of is it would be pretty easy to apply too much lube. With a "normal" amount of lube, just a film, I wouldn't think an primer or powder contamination would happen (primers aren't as delicate as many think, they can be pretty hard to "kill").)...

I haven't needed to lube any large quantity of cases in quite a while, so I just dab some on my fingers and rub a bit on the case. When I did did to a bunch at time, I just dropped a small dollop of mink oil boot dressing cream in a 4x4x4 Tupperware container, put the top on and shake it. Worked for about 100, 30-06 cases t a time (probably more but I rarely processed more than 100 at a time)..


I agree with the posts above, lubing isn't necessary with handgun brass and carbide sizing dies, but it does make the sizing easier (especially on my 44 Magnum brass fired with heavy loads). But I quite often forget and size with no lube.

Well how about this ky dan, take two wash clothes coat with your homemade lube and then cut the rags into 1/4s or 1/8s and layer them throughout your brass and then turn on vibrate style tumblr and let run like 15ish mins.

If you look into the dillon 1000 user manual from back in the day this was a tip dillon offered for loading in quantity.

For non-carbide die reloading I just use Dillon spray lube and a plastic Folgers coffee can. Insert cases, spritz a bit inside, rattle around, let dry, resize, wipe off with a clean cloth before priming.

In all honesty I’ve lubed cases and used them in my carbide sizers in the past. I didn’t really notice any difference in resizing ease or a benefit from the lube, so I quit taking the extra steps with pistil cases using a carbide-sizing die. If it works for you, have at it because it can’t hurt .

Stay safe.

I use Nufinish in my vibratory cleaner which leaves a "film" on the cases which makes them easier to size, I use the lanolin/alcohol mixture with the gallon bags and it works great for me.

Riomouse911 said:

For non-carbide die reloading I just use Dillon spray lube and a plastic Folgers coffee can. Insert cases, spritz a bit inside, rattle around, let dry, resize, wipe off with a clean cloth before priming.

In all honesty I’ve lubed cases and used them in my carbide sizers in the past. I didn’t really notice any difference in resizing ease or a benefit from the lube, so I quit taking the extra steps with pistil cases using a carbide-sizing die. If it works for you, have at it because it can’t hurt .

Stay safe.

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One of the many reasons I don't wet tumble handgun brass anymore is because I have to lube it to make my machine run smoothly using carbide dies. Dry tumbled brass is not really noticeable.

Johnnyd said:

Put your brass in a 1 gal ziplock, two sprays, close the bag and move it around, remove from bag and let alcohol flash off.

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This is the method that I use too. Your idea with the tumbler should work. Especially if you cut the rag up in small pieces. But I can lube a hundred cases in a Ziploc bag before you can load and put the lid on a tumbler. I know that speed is not everything but most of us like to save time when we can.

I use carbide dies on straight wall pistol cases and only lube the calibers that are hard to size. For me, those seem to be 10mm and 38 Super.

In 40+ years of loading straight wall pistol case I’ve never lubed so I can’t say there is or isn’t a difference. I do know there’s no requirement and I doubt that big mechanical advantage of a my progressive would know the difference.

whughett said:

In 40+ years of loading straight wall pistol case I’ve never lubed so I can’t say there is or isn’t a difference. I do know there’s no requirement and I doubt that big mechanical advantage of a my progressive would know the difference.

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I agree; one of the reasons I switched from steel to carbide when they first came out was to avoid having to lube and then clean off after with 38s and 45s

On the plastic bag method I would suggest spraying the lube inside of bag first. I use lanolin/alcohol 1.12. Let the alcohol flash off and then put in brass. No lube in case or primer pockets this way. Use same bag and sometimes you don’t even need to spray. Just use buildup in bag. Doesn’t take much to make straight walled cases easier to size.

9x19 on my XL650 doesn’t need lube (even wet tumbled) but in my Loadmaster it’s a real arthritic shoulder saver on 1k batches.

ETA: Throw in dry tumbler for 15 minutes afterwards and all clean.

Dillon actually recommends using lube with new brass even with their carbide dies. Also, if you use a rotary tumbler with steel pins, the brass may as well be new, as you've removed all the carbon. After having some problems, I just ziploc and Hornady One Shot all of my brass. Then I dump it in one of my hi-tech reloading bins (an Amazon box) and put it in front of a fan for 15 minutes or so.

I'm another who switched to carbide as soon as possible, primarily so that I didn't have to lube. With one exception, I don't lube any handgun cases regardless of how they're tumbled, whether they are new or old, nickel or brass, progressive or single stage.

The exception is the .500 S&W. For that cartridge I keep a tin of Imperial wax nearby, wiping a bit onto the fingertips of my off hand and smearing a thin film onto every third case as they go into the sizer. This does the job while keeping the mess to a minimum. I am all through with the days of spraying lube all over everything.

whughett said:

In 40+ years of loading straight wall pistol case I’ve never lubed so I can’t say there is or isn’t a difference. I do know there’s no requirement and I doubt that big mechanical advantage of a my progressive would know the difference.

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Give it a try......I think you'll be surprised.

Cannibul said:

Give it a try......I think you'll be surprised.

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Absolutely no reason to add steps to operations Ive done 10s of thousands of times.