ok i seen somewhere that it said one benefit of carbide dies is that you dont have to lube the cases.... sooooo i thought id give it a try... i find un-lubed cases are HARD to work but lubed cases work normal SO does it hurt carbide dies to use lubed cases in them??
carbide die questions?
- Thread starter poor man
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James2
Member
No, it won't hurt the dies. If a little lube makes the work easier, go for it.
mljdeckard
Member
Not at all. I find that Lee dies are tighter than most, carbide or not. The only downside I could see would be that I would tumble them again before I belled and seated.
Based on advice here, I have been throwing the cases into a ziploc bag, spritzing them with a little bit of aerosol case lube, shaking them and calling it good. Not for pistol cases, but always for bottle-neck rifle cases.
Based on advice here, I have been throwing the cases into a ziploc bag, spritzing them with a little bit of aerosol case lube, shaking them and calling it good. Not for pistol cases, but always for bottle-neck rifle cases.
Carbide dies are the only type I will buy for straight-wall cartridges. They do not require lube and eliminate one or 2 steps in the process. NICKEL cases may be difficult to size even with carbide dies without lube.
There are also SOME taper-wall dies that are carbide, but lube is still a must with these. Dillon is the only maker I know of offhand that offers these. Tapered cases will stick in carbide dies just like they will in regular dies.
There are also SOME taper-wall dies that are carbide, but lube is still a must with these. Dillon is the only maker I know of offhand that offers these. Tapered cases will stick in carbide dies just like they will in regular dies.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
+1
But I use a spritz of spray case lube on all handgun calibers for resizing anyway.
Even if one out of every three or four cases have a little lube on them it makes sizing with carbide effortless.
rc
But I use a spritz of spray case lube on all handgun calibers for resizing anyway.
Even if one out of every three or four cases have a little lube on them it makes sizing with carbide effortless.
rc
chris in va
Member
45's are a bit tough, so I dab a little Unique on my fingers and they practically resize themselves.
Lost Sheep
Member
I note that the instructions that came with the carbide dies for my friend's 500 Smith suggest that use of a lubricant, while not necessary is recommended.
It does make sizing easier, especially on that large case. On smaller cases the reduction in force may be less, but still, as others have said, is noticable.
Remember to clean it off. Contaminating your powder is only one of the evils stray lubricant might cause. Sticking in your chamber would be problematic, too.
Do not use too much. I have been told that lubricant that gets up behind the carbide ring that is pressed into the die might let the carbide ring slip out.
All in all, for the decrease in sizing force and longevity of your brass and your dies, it seems worth the small risk and trouble. What keeps me from doing it is the cleanup, which would interrupt the cycling of my brass (I use a continuous mode.) If you load in batch mode, that would be much easier to incorporate lubing your cases into the process.
Lost Sheep
It does make sizing easier, especially on that large case. On smaller cases the reduction in force may be less, but still, as others have said, is noticable.
Remember to clean it off. Contaminating your powder is only one of the evils stray lubricant might cause. Sticking in your chamber would be problematic, too.
Do not use too much. I have been told that lubricant that gets up behind the carbide ring that is pressed into the die might let the carbide ring slip out.
All in all, for the decrease in sizing force and longevity of your brass and your dies, it seems worth the small risk and trouble. What keeps me from doing it is the cleanup, which would interrupt the cycling of my brass (I use a continuous mode.) If you load in batch mode, that would be much easier to incorporate lubing your cases into the process.
Lost Sheep
Clippers
Member
Why would you need to clean the lube off before the bullets are seated. The last thing I do is usually wipe it off with cloth as I inspect each round after the bullets are crimped. Do I need to be wiping it off before I flare, or before I seat the bullet?
mljdeckard
Member
I would clean them off because I don't want them slippery when I am handling them to prime them and bell them.
Lost Sheep
Member
It depends on your particular loading process and how you handle your brass. It may not matter at all. But if you handle your powder like I did when I first started loading, you would have a hard time keeping granules of powder from sticking to your fingers.
The important thing is that you don't want to have lube still on the cases at the time of firing.
Lost Sheep
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Nobody should even be talking about so much lube on pistol cases that powder sticks to it our your fingers, or you have to wipe it off three times with a rag..
Like I said in post #5, a little spritz of spray lube will do 100+ or so cases, and make life much easier when resizing.
There shouldn't be enough on any of them to require wiping your hands on your clean white Jammie's.
rc
Like I said in post #5, a little spritz of spray lube will do 100+ or so cases, and make life much easier when resizing.
There shouldn't be enough on any of them to require wiping your hands on your clean white Jammie's.
rc
Lloyd Smale
Member
I dont lube pistol cases when using carbide dies. I was allways conserned the lube would attract dirt which would eventually scratch the carbide. that and ive just never seen where it was nessisary and it just makes for more work having to tumble which doesnt work out for me because i load progressively and use cast bullets and dont want to tumble them to clean the lube off.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
I like to keep my cleaned and ready to load handgun brass in 50 round trays so when I turn them upside down I can spray a little One Shot spray lube across the side of the batch so that every 5th case has a little lube on it. I usually don't bother with .38 Special brass but doing so helps size .45 Auto and 9mm brass easier.
Like said above, not necessary but not so bad either. (but only spray on lube that doesn't need to be removed)
Like said above, not necessary but not so bad either. (but only spray on lube that doesn't need to be removed)
ole farmerbuck
Member
I throw 200+ cases in a cake pan and give them a small dose of Hornady one shot and mix them up good. Makes things a lot easier.
Clippers
Member
Similiar to what some others have mentioned, I spray a little of Hornady's OneShot on to the brass thats laid out on an old t-shirt and then roll them around on the t-shirt a bit. By the time the bullets are seated there's hardly any lube left to wipe off.
highlander 5
Member
In 40+ years of reloading I've never lubed a case if I'm using a carbide die. Don't need to worry about dirt,grit or anything else scratching a carbide sizer ring under normal circumstances the only thing that will scratch carbide is diamond,carborumdum or borozon and I don't think you're likely to run such things thru your reloading set up. You can break the sizer ring if you drop the die,carbide is very hard but quite brittle.
Spritz the empty bag, first. Then put the cases in. That way you don't get half a dozen random cases with lots o lube on the inside that makes the powder clump when you charge 'em.
Then save the bag! After reusing the same bag with Frankford Arsenal dozens of times, there's a nice buildup of lube in it. I have to peel it open, and the bag is completely coated. One pump softens the lube, can lube more cases, and the cases come out dry to the touch. I suppose it's almost like using a massive lube pad that does 150 cases at a time.
I rarely bother wiping down my cases. They feel slightly waxy, rather than oily. Hardly noticeable. No problems sizing 308 with such a light coat.
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rcmodel
Member in memoriam
No zip-lock bag for me.
I just use an old mixing bowl.
Dump it full of handgun brass, spritz it, and stir them around with your hand.
You will have just the right amount of lube on everything, and not too much on anything.
When the mixing bowl gets dirty, wipe it out with a paper towel.
rc
I just use an old mixing bowl.
Dump it full of handgun brass, spritz it, and stir them around with your hand.
You will have just the right amount of lube on everything, and not too much on anything.
When the mixing bowl gets dirty, wipe it out with a paper towel.
rc
lightman
Member
My Dillon and RCBS dies work very smooth without lube. Pistol cases, that is. I lightly lube my 30 carbine cases, but thats recommended. Lightman
ranger335v
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"I have been told that lubricant that gets up behind the carbide ring that is pressed into the die might let the carbide ring slip out."
Whoever told you that was wrong. If a carbide sizer ring does "slip out" it's not going to be because of any case lube build up on top of the ring.
Whoever told you that was wrong. If a carbide sizer ring does "slip out" it's not going to be because of any case lube build up on top of the ring.
Fishslayer
Member
Because it makes sizing easier. If you want to work harder that's fine.
Like RC said. Easy does it. I just lay out the brass & a light spritz of One Shot & let'er dry. No need to be rolling stuff around & all that.
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