Case Lube On Handgun Brass

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gunnels

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Been reloading handgun ammo for some time now. I use Lee Carbide dies. Since converting over to a progressive press about a year ago I have found that the force required to pull the lever is a lot. Most of the energy is coming from the sizing station. I have never used sizing lube because I only reload handgun cases and I use carbide dies. I read somewhere that if I use sizing lube it would significantly reduce the required effort. I tried it and sure enough it did help out a lot.

My question is this, what is the easiest way to apply case lube? I didn't want to use a pad so I just bought a can of Hornady One Shot to experiment with. I keep my clean brass in gallon zip lock bags. Is it ok to just spray some One Shot into the gallon bag each time I add brass to the bag and shake the bag around or should the case lube be applied right before reloading the brass?
 
I load progressive and use One Shot to make sizing easier. I spray my cases a few minutes before I sit down to load.
 
Of late, I have been applying a little spray lubricant to my larger diameter handgun cases (44 Mag, 45 Colt, etc). It makes resizing on the progressive easier.

I prefer to clean my cases after resizing so I separate my process into two steps but some folks tumble the finished rounds to remove the lubricant.

I do not lubricate the smaller diameter stuff like 9x19 or 38 Special.
 
I keep a bottle of rcbs spray by my left hand and spritz every fifth or so case before it gets pushed into the shellplate. Enough lube stays in the die to make the next few cases easier.
 
gunnels, I reload on Pro 1000 and Dillon 650 and do not have issues progressively reloading 380/9mm/40S&W/45ACP.

With carbide dies, you do not need to lube the cases. I tumble my brass in fine grit walnut with NuFinish polish and the residual polymer on the brass surface seems to help with resizing (almost works as light coating of lube).

Also have the ram lever adjusted so it is comfortable for your arm when you need to apply pressure and you may want to consider using the ergo handle.

For my match loads, I used to resize my brass separately and hand primed the cases. Using resized/primed brass makes the Pro 1000 run smooth and effortless as you only need to flare case mouth and seat/crimp the bullet.
 
I dilute LEE lube with rubbing alcohol ad spritz ALL my brass handgun or rifle. It does make it easier even with carbide dies. It is a light spritz so no need to even wipe it off. It is water based anyway.
 
bds said:
I reload on Pro 1000 and Dillon 650 and do not have issues progressively reloading 380/9mm/40S&W/45ACP.

With carbide dies, you do not need to lube the cases. I tumble my brass in fine grit walnut with NuFinish polish and the residual polymer on the brass surface seems to help with resizing (almost works as light coating of lube).
Click to expand...

Then you never have reloaded .460 handgun ammo. I use carbide dies, tumble with fine walnut with Nu-Finish added and I still lube the brass before resizing on a SS Rockchucker so I do not have to stand on the lever to resize and I don't shake everything off the bench on every stroke. While one does not have to lube to avoid a stuck case with handgun cases when using carbide dies, it sure can make it easier to resize. I think this is where the OP is at. It ain't that he can't reload handgun ammo on his progressive without lube, just that it is much easier to do with lube.

With the .460 and sometimes with other big bore handgun cases, I just lightly wipe every 3rd or 4th case mouth with my finger moistened with RCBS water based case lube. This is all it takes, as the residual lube on the dies means I don't have to lube every case. Depending on the cases and how clean they are, I sometimes can get by doing fewer or doing more depending on the amount of pressure it takes to resize that batch. I can certainly see how using a spray lube on large batches before running them thru a progressive would not only make resizing easier, but may also make the dispensing of powder charges more consistent because of the lack of shaking/vibration created by the difficulty of hard resizing. I have heard of some that reload on a progressive, and use slower burning powders that almost fill the case, that lube cases so that powder does not get thrown/shaken out of the case from the movement of the press.

Reloading and the techniques used are a very individual thing. What some folks think is a necessary step, others scoff and laugh at. What the OP asked was not if lubing the cases is required, but how to properly apply lube if he so desires to.
 
Thanks, you captured it perfectly. Thanks to all others for the advice on how and when to apply it.
 
I use a big old mixing bowl next to the press for the case supply while loading.

So I just dump the cases in the bowl, spritz them with case lube spray, and stir them around in the bowl.

Enough lube will get spread on enough case to make sizing easy.

rc
 
I'll preface this by saying I don't load on a progressive but rather a single stage, often in large lot runs. With all brass my process is the same no matter if dies are steel, carbide, or unknown...rifle, pistol, straight, necked...all the same. I have an old hospital bed pan that I fill 1/3 to 1/2 way full (all out a full coffee can) of brass. I then take a can of Pam cooking spray and mist the pan for about 3 or 4 seconds and then shake the pan to mix the lube in. This makes sizing so much easier that I can run 1000 rd or more lot runs in 357 mag and 38spl, 500 or more in .270 win, 30-30 win, and 7-30waters including the necking down from 30-30. I haven't made large runs of 9x19, 44 mag, or any of my 32 cal handgun rounds yet, but from my test loads I don't expect there to be any problem.

I have used dedicated reloading lubes, but there are plenty alternatives that are just as good, cheaper, and a lot easier to find. Knockoff Pam is 2 bucks at walmart, and my first can is still working after probably 7 of 8 thousand cases. I do tumble loaded rounds to remove the pam.
 
I never used to lube handgun cases when using carbide dies, but have recently started using a tiny bit with 9MM cases. They are one of the tougher to size, and for long sessions a bit of lube makes things go so much easier.

Maybe I will finally buy some One Shot, or maybe make my own like some folks here do. I have been using RCBS Case Lube II. Every so often I put a tiny bit on my fingers I use to pick the cases up with. Just that tiny bit lasts for probably 15 to 20 cases.
 
buck460XVR said:
bds said:
I reload on Pro 1000 and Dillon 650 and do not have issues progressively reloading 380/9mm/40S&W/45ACP.

With carbide dies, you do not need to lube the cases. I tumble my brass in fine grit walnut with NuFinish polish and the residual polymer on the brass surface seems to help with resizing (almost works as light coating of lube).
Click to expand...
Then you never have reloaded .460 handgun ammo.
Click to expand...
buck, I never have and I replied based on OP's list of pistols and calibers:
gunnels said:
Beretta Model 84BB Cheetah
Beretta Model BU9 Nano
Beretta Model 92FS
Beretta Cougar 8045F, 8040D, and 8000D
Click to expand...
To OP, if you are indeed resizing the calibers you listed in your signature, you shouldn't need to lube the brass with carbide resizing dies, especially if you are tumbling with NuFinish polish. Before I used NuFinish, some of the brass would indeed get sticky in the resizing dies but now they glide in and out. Of course, your experience may vary depending on the condition of the brass, dies, etc.

If you are reloading .460 caliber, then sorry for making an assumption.

Peace.
 
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I just processed batches of .40 S&W, .45 Colt, and .45 AR day before yesterday.
With carbide dies.

The use of case lube makes it noticeably much easier.
I highly recommend it!!

rc
 
My brass goes in a metal mixing bowl. I spray a tiny amount of Pledge (or similar) furniture polish in one hand and work it around a bit as if it were hand lotion. Then I take a handful of brass and briefly roll it around in the palms of my hands.

Takes very little product. Quick, easy. No problems.
 
Contraindications?

Do any of the lubes mentioned (and some that have not been) present any problems if they get inside the cases?

I am thinking about what might happen to the burn characteristics of the powder or effect on the primer (if any lube should get that far). Also, does lube inside the case neck affect the grip on the bullet (Neck tension, or "bullet pull")?

Commercial spray and liquid case lube.
Olive oil, canola oil, hand lotion, surgical lube (K-Y Jelly) motor oil, beeswax, etc

The possibilities of lube selection and application method are endless, but the effects on the ammunition (not to mention on the dies) has seldom been addressed in these discussions.

Thanks for reading and, in advance, for any thoughts.

Lost Sheep

p.s. I have heard of, but never first hand, that if you over-lube using carbide dies, that you can sometimes pull the carbide ring out unintentionally. Is this true?
 
I don't know.

I tumble clean all of mine after sizing to get all the lube off.

It wouldn't be good to leave a wad of it inside a case though.

In practical terms, we are only talking about a light spritz on 150 cases, so not much gets inside anything.

rc
 
Sure, you don't HAVE to lube 99% of handgun caliber brass. You don't HAVE to wear hearing protection when shooting either. Sure makes it easier on you though.
 
I put all mine in a 1 gal zip loc bag and spray Dillon case lub in it. Shake the bag a bit and start decap and sizing.
 
Now, hold on here.

When I shot USPSA matches, match shooters I shot with reloaded A BUNCH of brass in 9mm, 38Super, 40S&W and 45ACP loaded on progressive presses. I do not recall any of them using case lube to resize the cases with carbide pistol dies whether they were Dillon, Lee, RCBS, etc.

I guess we had super slick range dust on the brass we were picking up :D. This was 20 years ago and we were just using Dillon/Frankford Arsenal/MidwayUSA polish with walnut/corn cob media. I did mention NuFinish as I found it provides much slicker (thus easier) resizing than brass tumbled without polish.

Sorry if I reached the point of ranting (wife's aunt passed away and not sure if I am ranting). :eek:

Lost Sheep, I did wonder about that before switching brass polish to NuFinish as it would leave a residual polymer film on the surface of the brass that made it feel slicker and thought of perhaps decreased neck tension or greater bullet setback. I have checked the neck tension on multiple calibers (380/9/40/45) with jacketed/plated/lead/powder coated bullets and I did not measure any increased amount of bullet setback when the dummy rounds were fed/chambered from the magazine when the slide released. When we used moly coated bullets, some did worry about the inside of case neck getting more slippery from coating of Moly residue but my testing resulted in slight but some leading so I returned to regular lubed lead, plated and jacketed bullets.

I can't speak for the affects from using spray lube on pistol cases if inside of case neck got lubed.
 
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Started out dry but quickly switched to using a light application of lube. It just makes things cycle through the dies so much easier that it's easier on me too.

I don't lube the brass directly. I may be over thinking it but I don't like the idea of any in the casing. So I fold a 3 layer pad from paper towel and spray the case lube onto the paper "pad". Handfuls at a time of brass is then dropped on the baking sheet with the pad and quickly rolled around roughly by hand and then dumped in the "ready" container. Repeat until done.

Not all surfaces get any lube this way. But enough is on the brass to get onto the carbide die and that's enough to make all the difference. It's truly amazing at how little is actually needed.
 
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