Clean case lube off 223's?

[Matt1911]

Do you clean the case lube off your finished rifle bullets?
I've just started reloading for my AR, and with all i've heard of keeping it spotless,seemed like i should.I am using a rcbs lube pad,and they feel sticky when finished.
What do I use,rubbing alchol?
Do you lube every case,every other....?should I pop for carbide dies?
I'm loading off a dillon 550 if it matters.
Hope these arn't to much of newbie questions.....

 

[Jim Watson]

You must clean the case lube off the ammo. It will, in effect, amplify chamber pressure and increase stress the gun.

I used to roll finished ammo on a towel with lighter fluid; you can try the alcohol. There are people who tumble finished ammo but there are also people who freak out at the danger of crumbling the powder or one round's bullet tapping another's primer just right. There are people who use the minimum of spray lube and just hit it a lick with a dry towel to wipe off the worst of the residue.

I load rifle calibers single stage and tumble the sized brass before loading. Not fast, but it is just part of the attention target ammo needs.

An expensive carbide die for a bottleneck caliber will still need case lube, they are made for long wear, not unlubricated use.

 

[dakotasin]

to get the lube off, i either tumble the cases after sizing, but before loading, or i'll just use a dish towel and wipe 'em off - again, after sizing, before loading. i don't want that stuff in my seating die.

 

[Edward429451]

Re-tumbling the brass after sizing is the most thorough way and the way I do it. You do have to clean the flash holes again to get the media out.

 

[dakotasin]

edward- fwiw, when i went to a corn cob media instead of walnut, i had a lot less stuff in the primer pockets... still need to be checked, and occasionally there will be something in it, but the corn cob does really reduce the amount of stuff in the pocket.

 

[LIProgun]

I also retumble after resizing. FWIW, after years of using walnut and corn cob, I now use only liquid case media for cleaning. No media stuck in flash holes; no powdery residue left on the cases; no separating cases from media; removes lube quickly; no spilled media to pick up, etc. the only minor drawback is one has to wait for the cases to dry before reloading. That can be hastened by low-temperature heating in an oven.

 

[cisco]

C;eaning Brass

After sizing, trimming, deburring and cleaning primer pockets I toss all my brass into a large plastic bowl then add some Dawn dishwashing liquid and hot water. I let it sit for awhile then put my hands in the bowl and toss the brass around for awhile. I then rinse everything off will clean water. I pour out all the water I can out of the bowl leaving the brass in the bowl. I then pour the brass out on an old bath towel and roll it around until the outside of the brass is dry. I gather the brass up in the towel and head for the bathrooom where I use my wife's hairdryer set on high. I lay the towel out with the brass in the middle and wave the hair dryer over the brass until it is dry inside and out. Usually no more than 5 minutes. The brass is pretty warm when I finish. After all that the brass really shines and is lube free inside and out.

 

[Nero Steptoe]

Use Hornady One Shot case lube, then tumble the loaded rounds for just a few minutes in dry corn cob media. There's absolutely no chance of having a round go off, if you're using a vibratory "tumbler".

 

[444]

Do you clean the case lube off your finished rifle bullets?

Are you shooting cast bullets ? If so, you want to leave the lube on the bullets.

 

[Edward429451]

Corncob eh? Good I'm going to have to try that cause I just went through almost 1300 of em and it was a pita to poke out all them flashholes not to even mention trimming...

 

[Rockdoc]

Don't want to start another "tumbling loaded ammo?" thread , but I tumble my loaded rounds .223, .308, and .30-06 to remove the lube. About 30 minutes with corn cob media does it. After loading 1000 rounds of .223 I don't really feel like wiping off the lube at any point in the loading process.

I have chronographed the rounds and could detect no difference in performance compared to untumbled rounds.

 

[oscar]

I also load on a 550 and tumble my loaded rounds for about 10-15 minutes. It cleans the lube right off.