Case lube question

[judgedelta]

I've never lubed pistol brass, but clean with stainless media, then a couple of capfulls of Nu-Finish Car Polish in corncob media for about 30 minutes makes a world of difference when sizing. Also helps the brass resist tarnish longer, if you care about that sort of thing...

 

[Reloadron]

On rifle brass if you lube then load do you have a problem as I do with the powder sticking to the shoulder of the brass?

1) I de-prim all brass with Lee's universal die
2) If this is brass I have shot and it has not hit the ground, I lube with either Lanolin and 98% alcohol or just use Castor Oil if it is just a few cases, and FL size them.
3) Then I send it to the Sonic Cleaner then to the tumbler with lizard bedding(crushed Walnut)

Even doing this the sonic cleaner and tumbler does not remove all the lube.

I have tried other lubes as mentioned above and had worse results.

Since you have tried several lubes with the same end results my best guess would be you are getting excessive lube on the cases. I use aerosol lube and just a quick shot on the cases and a brush for the case mouths.

Ron

 

[ljnowell]

Buy some Carbide dies. Problem solved.

I've never used anything but carbide dies. I think you missed the point.

 

[ljnowell]

I've never lubed pistol brass, but clean with stainless media, then a couple of capfulls of Nu-Finish Car Polish in corncob media for about 30 minutes makes a world of difference when sizing. Also helps the brass resist tarnish longer, if you care about that sort of thing...

I don't use stainless media but I do tumble in corn cob with NuFinish.

I'm not really looking for the most effective case lube. I'm looking for one that will leave the least amount of stuff behind on my brass.

 

[blarby]

I'm not really looking for the most effective case lube. I'm looking for one that will leave the least amount of stuff behind on my brass.

PTFE with a light carrier.

Your residue will be almost nil.

 

[celem]

I think the Hornady one shot is the best Ive used at not gunking up the case. That's probably due to the fact that it's a crappy lube. But for your application (pistol) it would be more than adequate at lubing the case. That's what I'd use.


So, if you want to have to wash your pants after every loading session, do what RC said...if you want a nice gunk free case and a little lube on there to boot, do what PH said

Ace hardware and Amazon sell SUPER LUBE DRI FILM spray lube. If you compare the MSDS it is identical to Harnady One Shot case lube - powdered Teflon and hexene. It is an excellent lube for my press - really smooths operation with no gumming.

 

[Blue68f100]

Dies do make a difference. I used exclusively RCBS carbide for decades and need a new set of dies to replace the cheap 9mm Lee set that I bought. It was all I could find at the time. It was not desirable on the LNL due to short threads and small radius sizer. So I purchased the Hornady TiNi set, what a difference. The sizing load was almost 1/2 what it took with the Lee. So then I ordered the Hornady set for my 357mag to give it another test. It too proved to be about 1/2 the load of the RCBS set I had. I now only use the TiNi coated sizing dies for my LNL-AP. It just makes the machine runs smoother. I ended up replacing all my carbide pistol sets with Hornady's TiNi.

I do not use lube but could see it being required depending on who's dies your using. Try the Hornady TiNi coated dies you will be surprised on how smooth and slick they are.

I clean all my brass in a 50/50 mix of Walnut Hulls and Corn cob blast media with a little NuFinish added. I use a brass feeders, so they go straight in the hopper, no additional lube added once cleaned.

 

[Walkalong]

They must have improved the process of the nitride coating. I had one in 9MM around 20 years ago, and the coating wore off in under 1K rounds. Folks keep posting how smooth they are compared to carbide, so I guess I need to try a new one.

 

[ljnowell]

Dies do make a difference. I used exclusively RCBS carbide for decades and need a new set of dies to replace the cheap 9mm Lee set that I bought. It was all I could find at the time. It was not desirable on the LNL due to short threads and small radius sizer. So I purchased the Hornady TiNi set, what a difference. The sizing load was almost 1/2 what it took with the Lee. So then I ordered the Hornady set for my 357mag to give it another test. It too proved to be about 1/2 the load of the RCBS set I had. I now only use the TiNi coated sizing dies for my LNL-AP. It just makes the machine runs smoother. I ended up replacing all my carbide pistol sets with Hornady's TiNi.

I do not use lube but could see it being required depending on who's dies your using. Try the Hornady TiNi coated dies you will be surprised on how smooth and slick they are.

I clean all my brass in a 50/50 mix of Walnut Hulls and Corn cob blast media with a little NuFinish added. I use a brass feeders, so they go straight in the hopper, no additional lube added once cleaned.

I only use Lee dies, with the exception if a single die that I want to replace. My 38/357 sizing die is very smooth as it's seen well in excess of 100k cases through it.

It's not that I am having a hard time resizing, I just want to do everything I can to make the process as smooth as possible now that I'm loading on a progressive and there are three things happening at once. The sizing die is obviously where the most resistance is located, so I'm just looking to reduce that by a small amount.

Having lubed 45 colt cases before I know that it makes quite a difference on longer straight wall cases, I think the 38 could benefit from this as well.

 

[Walkalong]

The first time I tried some lube using a carbide die to see what it would do, I almost threw my arm out. Almost zero resistance. That said, I don't use it as of now, but see the day coming when I use a little spritz or lightly lube a case here and there. If I was sizing while loading, I might already be doing it to keep things smooth.