Beeswax as case lube

Don’t think I’d use beeswax as a case lube. I can see that gumming up the sizing die. I do recall buying cast bullets with a beeswax lube back in the mid 80’s.

Redding sizing die wax is the best and it takes so little of it that it's almost free.

WVRJ said:

Redding sizing die wax is the best and it takes so little of it that it's almost free.

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Exactly--One can of the stuff will lube many thousands of cases, making it one of the least expensive reloading components you'll buy. The only downside (especially if you're loading pistol blasting ammo) is that you have to handle every single piece of brass to coat it.

https://www.brownells.com/reloading.../imperial-sizing-die-wax-2-oz--prod33078.aspx

Tim

some lanolin and iso alcohol. I use the red heat since I cant find the 91 or 99% alcohol where we are. 1oz of lanolin and a bottle of heat. works great , just have t let it dry a bit for the alcohol to evaporate. Amazon or pipingrock.com for the lanolin.

The old Alox mix, called Javina was 50% beewax and 50% Alox. Beeswax by itself will be too hard to lube. Now search the web and you will find all sorts of ho-made bullet lubes you can make with beeswax. They are usually mixed 50/50. I have added to my beeswax items like Thompson Center Muzzleloading Bore Butter or Johnson's Paste Wax or toilet bowl ring (wax) or powdered car wax just to name a few. I personally have found they all work pretty well and the better ones are a little sticky but firm up after being aplied for a couple of days.

You can use a lot of things for case lube in a pinch including crisco. Gunblue490 did a video using just about everything imaginable and lots worked well. A lot of them will require a cleaning after

If you're bound and determined to size cases today, you can use Vaseline, motor oil, STP oil additive, Bag Balm or anything similar. The important thing is getting a thin EVEN coating all the way down the case. Don't assume a bib blob at the top of the case will slide down the case and provide adequate coverage. For straight walled handgun cases with carbide dies, no lube is needed.

Sounds gummy. I like 30wt motor oil. Once the dies get oily I’ll grease every other case to avoid oil dents. 30/30 cases seem especially prone to oil dents.

daniel craig said:

Anything you have to spend money on is more expensive than what you have on hand.

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Cooking spray or cooking oil on a paper towel works in a pinch.

Beeswax is used in a lot of bullet lube recipes. You could try to trade it for bullet lube at shows or online.

Crosshair said:

Beeswax is used in a lot of bullet lube recipes.

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Precisely. Bullet lube.
Case lube is different. Any lube you can smear on evenly, and wipe back off or otherwise clean effectively, will do.

And everyone has cooking spray.

Make the wax into candles. Then you can reload without electricity!
(Um, at a safe distance, maybe just case prep...)

Mink oil or neutral shoe polish works.

I have lanolin. You can buy it cheap. Get a nice spray bottle and and some high purity alcohol.

daniel craig said:

Anything you have to spend money on is more expensive than what you have on hand.

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Amen to that. I’d still drive past a fast food joint without stopping once and instead invest in a 4oz tub of Hornady’s Unique lube. If nothing else, you will know what it feels like to use a decent case lube.

If you have a girlfriend jack her chapstick and get to sizing.

Before you start to "experiment " with case lube be sure to have a stuck case removing tool on hand! Stuck cases are almost impossible to remove otherwise.

Understand that the case head is the most important area to lube.

To duplicate commercial case spray lube mix 99% Isopropyl alcohol and anhydrous lanolin oil about 30:1 in a spray bottle. Both available on line or at compounding pharmacies!

The oil can also be used alone on a felt bad in order to roll the cases on just prior to sizing.

Smiles,

TimRB said:

Exactly--One can of the stuff will lube many thousands of cases, making it one of the least expensive reloading components you'll buy. The only downside (especially if you're loading pistol blasting ammo) is that you have to handle every single piece of brass to coat it.

https://www.brownells.com/reloading.../imperial-sizing-die-wax-2-oz--prod33078.aspx

Tim

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Ditto,
I have a small can of Imperial I have been using for years and hardly made a dent in it. Easy to apply, I don't wipe it off, and never a stuck case. I handle every case anyway, so it's part of the routine. But I can see using the spray lube if you're doing rifle cases with a progressive press.

Lanolin and alcohol is the way to go. No dents. No wiping off.

Demi-human said:

Make the wax into candles. Then you can reload without electricity!
(Um, at a safe distance, maybe just case prep...)

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An open flame in the same room with powder? At Christmas? I'd save that for the 4th of July.

never done it, but interesting. if it is solid at room temp, and not a little greasy, maybe just heat it up and add a touch of 30 Weight to it and thin it out a touch. don't think there is any majic to it. you'll get suck cartridges, or dented cases if it isn't right. only one way to tell.

Synthetic motor oil is the best case lube substitute that I have found. You can pull the dipstick and wipe enough off of the tip to lube a lot of cases.
Lafitte