Homebrewed Case Lube

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9mmepiphany

9mmepiphany

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Some of my local shooters have mentioned home brewed mixtures that they use for case lube...supposed to be the same as Dillon Case Lube.

I've been using Hornady One Shot for my handgun resizing (yes, I know I don't have to when I use carbide dies) and never give it a second thought, to powder contamination, as I'm careful to let it dry completely.

Wondering what folks think about leaving this home brew on after .223/5.56x45mm sizing or if I need to tumble it off.

Also wondering if other folks are using home brewed case lube and which dilution you're using.

It seems that the popular dilutions range from 8-12:1 of 99% isopropyl alcohol/pure lanolin
 
I use 2oz. off lanolin to 4-6oz. of 99% Isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle,just remember to shake it up before you use it.

I tumble after resizing
 
I'm using a mixture of about 16:1. I spray the inside of a 2gal zip-lock bag 2-3 times, dump in about 200 9mm and seal it up. Then with a towel on the bench (to protect the bag) I roll the brass around in the bag with my hand on top. I'll pick up the bag once or twice to redistribute the brass while rolling it around. It's then dumped into a large plastic cake carrier to dry.

A bag lasts for around 10-15 uses and gets cleaned once or twice by spraying in some straight alcohol and wiping it out with a rag. New and freshly cleaned bags my need an extra squirt of lube.

I've been doing 9mm this way but recently resized around 900 .223 cases down to .300 BLK without any problems.

9mm is sized and loaded in one pass on the progressive. The finished rounds are dumped on a towel and rubbed around to remove most of the lube. No contamination issues that I no of, but 9mm doesn’t sit around very long here.

For the .300 BLK I plan to do 2 passes. The first pass will be entirely brass prep: Tumble, lube, size and deprime, gauge brass and trim if necessary, then wash and dry. There won't be any lube left by loading time.

Hope this helps.
 
Wondering what would be the point.

The One Shot works great on .223, for me, and only requires a quick wipe with a rag, if even that. No powder contamination. I'm sure the Dillon works just as well, if not better, from what I've seen on this forum. The RCBS spray reportedly works well too.

So, since they are only $8-9 a can, and a can lasts for thousands of rounds, why bother with home brew? A jar of lanolin costs as much or more. Alcohol is a few bucks.
 
I just mix water with the Lee stuff in the toothpaste tube. I used to work it up with that different kind of alcohol that you have to buy at the drug store. Couldn't tell a difference.
 
moxie said:
Wondering what would be the point.

The One Shot works great on .223, for me, and only requires a quick wipe with a rag, if even that. No powder contamination. I'm sure the Dillon works just as well, if not better, from what I've seen on this forum. The RCBS spray reportedly works well too.

So, since they are only $8-9 a can, and a can lasts for thousands of rounds, why bother with home brew? A jar of lanolin costs as much or more. Alcohol is a few bucks.
Click to expand...
I think the price difference is a bit more...$8 for 14oz can vs. $19 for 52oz (4oz lanolin ($7) mixed with 48 oz of 99% ($3/12oz x 4)...$0.57 vs. $0.37 per oz. A $19 savings over 52oz.

It might not make a big difference to some folks, but I got the idea from a friend who's shoots a lot. His last family outing was 2-3k rounds of .223
 
I use 12:1, but I believe you can easily go to 16:1; this stuff is that good. You do need to tumble the brass afterwards. Cheaper and MUCH better than One Stuck.

Don
 
Sounds like it is definitely cheaper, arguably better but certainly not easier ... with my setup I can lube 254 2.23/5.56 cases at the same time with One Shot.

... but it also sounds like something worth giving a good try, so thanks, all, for sharing the info. :)
 
I use about a year 1:12 mixture of liquid lanolin/99% iso alcohol. Put into a larger spray bottle from home depot.

I just lubed and sized about 2k .223 cases the other evening.
I put about 6 large handfuls at a time into a 16qt plastic container and gave it 2 mist passes with the spray bottle.
Add another 5 or 6 handfuls and spray again.
Every 10 handfuls I shook the tub and all of the cases stood up. I did 1 spray pass to get into some of the case mouths.
After the container was filled up I stirred them all up by hand, sifting from bottom to top.
Wash hands well in dish soap.
After a 20 minute sit, started sizing.
Worked great without a single hiccup.
When sizing on a smaller scale, I will sometimes lay all the cases flat in a shallow cardboard box or plastic tube and give them all a mist or 2.
Roll them around a few times and let them wallow in their lubey mess :)
 
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To be honest I never use lube for pistol, the polished brass and Carbide dies run slicker than pig snot. I have two means of polishing them. I either use the Lyman walnut media and refresh is every so often or if i am going all wet I throw some Nu-Finish in the mix and be done with it.

Yet as far as it not being necessary for the Carbide dies, I have just washed my cases in Lemi-Shine and Dawn, dried and ran them but they really gave me the devil. I had to stop and throw them in the Lyman media and give them a quick tumble. Ran sooth as butter then.
 
Another one for the lanolin and alcohol. Put the cases in a plastic bag, spray a couple spritzed in there, mix 'em up a little and you're good to go.
 
I use the Lee lube in a tube mixed about 10:1 with rubbing alcohol and spray it on. Tumble after depriming.
 
2 oz Lee case lubed mixed with 2 bottle of Isoheet. Shake it till you can't shake it no more and then shake it some more. I tossed in a couple of old cases and set it in warm water to mix it all up. The warm water helps desolve the Lee case lube. I put 100 cases in a zip lock, spray them about 4 times and shake 'em all up. take them out and let them sit about 5-10 minutes and they're good to go.
 
the lee tooth paste has been the best I ever used. just wish lee would spring for better tubes. last 3 split and spit gunk everywhere.
I like the no dimple after drying feature.
 
Count me as another satisfied user of the Lee lube mixed with alcohol. I started using it mixed with water as a pump spray lube 25 years ago and only recently switched to using isopropanol. I like the alcohol solvent version better because it dries so much faster. For progressive loading of rifle cartridges like 223 or 300 blackout I really appreciate that you don't end up with a big pile of greasy ammo.

Ideal wire pulling lube is also an excellent non-greasy option, and $5 worth will last for years.
 
why is the homebrewed lube always lanolin and alcohol? had some dillon stuff and it made all my cases, trays or bags a seemingly permanent sticky mess so i tossed the junk. just curious why it's lanolin? bluetopper uses cooking spray...which seems like a good idea and it probably doesnt get sticky either. use tsi-301 from neco now but i may try a shot of pam next round...butter flavor or course
 
heymarine1833 said:
why is the homebrewed lube always lanolin and alcohol? had some dillon stuff and it made all my cases, trays or bags a seemingly permanent sticky mess so i tossed the junk. just curious why it's lanolin? bluetopper uses cooking spray...which seems like a good idea and it probably doesnt get sticky either. use tsi-301 from neco now but i may try a shot of pam next round...butter flavor or course
Click to expand...
It's not always lanolin and alcohol. Sometimes it's the Lee wax and alcohol or Ideal wire pulling lube and alcohol (or water) or cooking spray. FYI the cooking spray can get gummy just like the lanolin stuff can.

The best improvised lube I ever used was a type of cooking spray that came in a pump bottle rather than a pressurized aerosol can. I think it might have been Wesson brand, and it was mostly soy lecithin rather than the canola oil of most sprays. It was really great stuff and it dried without going sticky.

The main reason I prefer the Lee/alcohol lube is because it dries to a film and not a sticky goo.
 
Im a fan of the lee case lube. Its $3 a tube. I just squeeze a bit in a ziploc bag, smush it around and then tumble a bunch of cases in it. Ive been using the same ziploc sammich bag for atleast 6 months now. Im just now using it for 357 brass at the moment(saves a ton of effort) but Im thinking on throwing some in a spray bottle with some denatured alcohol for 300blk.
 
since we all seem to be open to experimentation, how about trying a teaspoon of coconut oil(76*) to 12 oz alcohol? coconut does not ever become sticky. hmmm, i'll do a test before the weekend and get back with you
 
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