Dillon case lube when reloading

[Shak3s1977]

Dumb question, but I'd be dumber if I didn't ask and then screw up 100 rounds. My Dillon 550 is hanging up on the 45acp expander pretty bad today for some reason. I'm using wet tumbled brass and I know that's the main reason.( I did run 100 dry tumbled brass thru and it was much smoother.) I haven't had this problem before. I've had some rough runs, but this is crazy tonight.

I have 2 bottles of Dillon case lube that I've never used. Can I spray the cases and load them when they dry? Or will the lube contaminate the powder? I feel like I'm going to tear my arm out, when they get stuck on the die.

I did some googling first, but even the Dillon YouTube video say spray, wait to dry and then resize. They don't mention using it to make the press smoother when loading? Thanks for any replies as always.

 

[rsrocket1]

The case lube shouldn't contaminate the powder but the lanolin does leave a sticky residue on the case. Some people dry tumble after sizing but that means tumbling twice. You could avoid all this by simply dry tumbling once. I dry tumble once to clean the cases, not polish them. A shiny case doesn't make the bullet go any faster or make it more accurate. If shiny brass is more important than anything else, have at it.

 

[twistytorn]

Yes, spray the cases and then let them dry. Sounds like you're running a carbide die set, so you could just spray a few and then sequence them through.

Not sure about your last comment--

They don't mention using it to make the press smoother when loading?

If your issue is the sticky brass (and super clean brass can be sticky in carbide), the lube will solve it.

 

[lightman]

Is your wet tumbled brass tumbled with dish washing soap or wash and wax? If you are using dish soap your brass may be so clean that thats your trouble.

 

[Shak3s1977]

Yes I'm using dawn, lemi shine, and pins. I actually quit for the night. I was pounding on the handle to get the case unstuck from the bell/powder throw station. It's been rough before, but never like this.

I just wasn't sure if it would contaminate the powder or not. I've seen videos where people spray it on, roll em, and wait 10-15 minutes to dry. They then resize the brass. In my case they aren't getting stuck in the sizing die. It's the Dillon powder thru die, that they are getting hung up on.

 

[cfullgraf]

I prefer to clean the cases after sizing and mouth expanding. Lots of folks think that is dumb to do on a progressive but the sizing process goes quick and the later loading process has less to worry about.

If the cases are real dirty, they get cleaned before sizing and after.

I do not like handling the lubricated cases when dealing with powder and bullets. But, do what ever floats your boat.

 

[Big Wes]

I use Dillon Spray Lube on every thing I load, then when I'm done loading, I just wipe them with a rag and put them into ammo boxes. Been doing it for years this way.

 

[lordpaxman]

I wet tumble everything now and use Hornady One Shot case lube to smooth things out. You don’t need a lot since it’s a carbide sizer and it’s mainly the expander causing an issue. Try just a very small spray at first and let it dry. As mentioned above, excess can get sticky with any lanolin spray. Good luck.

 

[Rule3]

I spritz every caliber brass even with carbide dies
Diluted LEE lube.

 

[jmorris]

Carbide dies/regular dies won’t make any difference at all with your problem because no one makes a carbide powder funnel, where your cases are sticking.

I lay them in a cardboard bankers box lid, a not “packed” single layer is a good collator load 3 or 4 pumps in a sweeping motion and a back and forth motion with the box rolling the cases, then let the alcohol flash off.

You might pop off your powder measure and remove the powder funnel, check and see if your squeaky clean brass has galled onto the powder funnel (it will look something like the photo below), making things extra sticky. If so, you’ll want to polish that off to get smooth running again.

 

[Shak3s1977]

Carbide dies/regular dies won’t make any difference at all with your problem because no one makes a carbide powder funnel, where your cases are sticking.

I lay them in a cardboard bankers box lid, a not “packed” single layer is a good collator load 3 or 4 pumps in a sweeping motion and a back and forth motion with the box rolling the cases, then let the alcohol flash off.

You might pop off your powder measure and remove the powder funnel, check and see if your squeaky clean brass has galled onto the powder funnel (it will look something like the photo below), making things extra sticky. If so, you’ll want to polish that off to get smooth running again.

View attachment 1037343

That is exactly what my expander looks like. I polished it with some mothers polish and it looks better. This is from last night.

 

[Blue68f100]

You need to remove all of the brass streaks. Being hard you can use 400 sand paper if your spinning the expander in a drill/lathe.

 

[Soonerpesek]

7 Powder Funnel sticking in case. Brass residue can also build up on the end of Pistol Powder Funnels in the flaring process. 1.Polish the end removing any brass buildup and lightly lube with Case Lube.

This is from the Dillon 550 Manual....
Looks like they recommend to lightly lube the POWDER FUNNEL....

Like @jmorris stated, no one makes a carbide powder funnel...I think some need to read your original post again to see what your question is...

You do what you do, but that also looks like a lot of bell in your pic ...( looking at the slight line on top of the funnel )...

 

[Soonerpesek]

Why is it very hard to get expander and powder funnel back out of case?
There are two situations that create this problem. The first is one seems to be associated with the Dillon powder funnel and only a couple of calibers (45 Auto and 40 S&W). The land for expanding case mouth is too long and when you begin to bell mouth the bottom of expander gets into the thicker taper of case and wedges causing it to be very hard to get back out. We have modified several by increasing radius on end and slightly shortening expanding land and this eliminated the problem completely. Call Starline and we will take care of it if you wish. One other cause can be a burr at case mouth created by the final trim operation, which grabs onto expander as it comes back up. This situation does not often appear and can be fixed by deburring case mouth or inside lubing cases.

This is on the Starline website....Just for your information.....

Shortening and radius(ing) can be done yourself if you have a drill press...

 

[Shak3s1977]

7 Powder Funnel sticking in case. Brass residue can also build up on the end of Pistol Powder Funnels in the flaring process. 1.Polish the end removing any brass buildup and lightly lube with Case Lube.

This is from the Dillon 550 Manual....
Looks like they recommend to lightly lube the POWDER FUNNEL....

Like @jmorris stated, no one makes a carbide powder funnel...I think some need to read your original post again to see what your question is...

You do what you do, but that also looks like a lot of bell in your pic ...( looking at the slight line on top of the funnel )...

Must just be the way the pic looks.This is what the bell looks like when it's done. I just flare enough to get the bullet to barely stand. Thanks for the Starline link. I'll be giving them a call in the morning.

 

[bullseye308]

I stand up most of my 9mm brass in a shallow box lid or similar and spray with lube so as to get some inside and outside then roll them around to get a little all over. It just makes sizing go easier on the elbows and shoulders as well as the expanding step. Dillon lube, Hornady, Lee, or homemade lanolin/alcohol mix should be god to go and powder safe.

 

[Shak3s1977]

I stand up most of my 9mm brass in a shallow box lid or similar and spray with lube so as to get some inside and outside then roll them around to get a little all over. It just makes sizing go easier on the elbows and shoulders as well as the expanding step. Dillon lube, Hornady, Lee, or homemade lanolin/alcohol mix should be god to go and powder safe.

I'm going to try this tomorrow morning. As long as it doesn't contaminate the powder, I'll be happy. If it smooths the reloading process also, I'll be even happier.

 

[Shak3s1977]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I literally had to beat on the handle for about 10 of them. They were really stuck on there. Strange that I have loaded thousands before with no problem, but thinking back,, most of that brass might have been dry tumbled.

 

[bullseye308]

I’m using the lanolin/alcohol mix, one 12 oz red bottle of iso heet into a graduated spray bottle and one ounce of lanolin. I’ve done it with thousands of 9mm, a thousand 38, thousand 357’s, and 1500 223’s with no negative results. Quite a few on here have much more experience with it than I.

 

[dcloco]

Don't lube case necks - this will attract powder on the expander....and you will have more problems.

Polish the expander and keep clean.