Average Joe
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I lube them, it makes them slide in easier, I learned that trick from using lubed condoms.
Lubing straight wall handgun brass
- Thread starter chas442
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doubleh
Member
I only lube 44 magnum. It helps my worn out old shoulder. I'm still tough enough to handle those pooty little calibers you mentioned.
I only do light loads in the 44 mag now. It helps my worn out old wrist.
Arkansas Paul
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CLP
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Another great show!
tcoz
Member
This is exactly what I started doing a couple of years ago and for exactly the same reason. It just cuts down on the friction and I feel it's also easier on the die.
What kind of presses are you guys using that requires lubing such short cases as 9mm? I have never heard of this before and on this thread there seems to be several handloaders having problems with unlubed 9mm sizing. I have just a Lee Challenger and Classic Turret but even they have fairly long handles and lots of leverage. In fact, I normally have the press handle chocked up 1/3 way to reduce the length of swing, which reduces the leverage. At full extension it has a LOT of leverage. I'm 63, have been reloading for 30 years and reading gun mags and online forums most of that time (all the way back to Compuserve days online) and I have never encountered anyone that regularly lubes pistol cases with carbide sizing dies. I'm just not getting the issue.
tcoz
Member
NWPilgrim, nobody has a press that requires lubing 9mm cases when using carbide dies. I only lightly lube every fifth or so case and as I mentioned in my post, it makes the sizing process nice and smooth and I feel that it’s easier on the die. Also, I had a lube pad and a bunch of Lee lube to use up since I use Imperial on bottleneck rifle cases.
Load Master
Member
If not lubing works for you great! However, the reason a lot of people lube, those who wet tumble will find added resistance and some people read reloading manuals to learn details of how to reload. The maker of your press and dies tells you to lube 9mm, even with a carbide die.
From the Lee Modern Reloading Manual:
jaguarxk120
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The 9MM is not a straight walled case! It taper's and it can stick even in a carbide die.
Dillon make's a carbide die in 223 and those small case's have to be lubed. The carbide die in 223 is for ultra high volume loaders
that will wear out regular steel dies quickly.
Dillon make's a carbide die in 223 and those small case's have to be lubed. The carbide die in 223 is for ultra high volume loaders
that will wear out regular steel dies quickly.
TheDomFather
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I load 9mm using Hornady dies which are Titanium nitride and Ive never used lube. They do require a bit of force to resize. Has anyone tried lubing 9mm cases with TiN dies?
Thanks,
Dom
Thanks,
Dom
I use an LNL, and it will size them just fine with no lube and did for years, but after playing and coaching baseball until I was 52 my shoulder is about worn out. Lube sure makes running 500 9MM cases through to be sized a lt easier.
For years I considered sizing 9MM good exercise for my throwing shoulder, and it was, but now..... I wonder how many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of times I threw a baseball when practicing, playing, coaching, infield practice at first, third, outfield, pitching, throwing batting practice, messing around......not to mention working hard with my upper body.
TheDomFather
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I use an LNL, and it will size them just fine with no lube and did for years, but after playing and coaching baseball until I was 52 my shoulder is about worn out. Lube sure makes running 500 9MM cases through to be sized a lt easier.
For years I considered sizing 9MM good exercise for my throwing shoulder, and it was, but now..... I wonder how many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of times I threw a baseball when practicing, playing, coaching, infield practice at first, third, outfield, pitching, throwing batting practice, messing around......not to mention working hard with my upper body.
What lube are you using and what dies are you using? Maybe I will give it a try. I typically use Hornady one shot case lube but will be switching to lanolin with 99% alcohol one I finish it up.
Thanks,
Dom
Point_Taken
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Same here, I do it this way for pistol brass on carbide dies. Put it in a container of some sort, give it a good spray for 5-7 seconds, mix it around for 20 seconds or so, spray again for 5-7 seconds, mix around again and you should be good. With rifle brass I use a block holder and ensure that I spray the neck of each from both sides.
I would venture to guess that yes, a super lubed case is less "worked" than a non-lubed case, but the "bulk" of the "work" is coming from the actual sizing and not the friction of case going over the resizing die, so the friction part is probably so little that it's not worth noting/caring about compared to the process of actually reshaping the brass.
I have been lubing every 10th to 15th or so case with RCBS Case Lube II putting it on with my finger tips as I pick it up and put it in the shell plate. I recently mixed up a batch of Lanolin and 99% Isopropyl alcohol to try.
Blue68f100
Member
When these dies start take more force they need to be cleaned. Learned that many years ago.
Load Master
Member
I've made my own for years using the liquid Lanolin and the 99% Isopropyl Alcohol at a 1 part lanolin to 12 parts alcohol with excellent results. I use a spray bottle to give a light mist. I've used the zip lock bag method but most of the time I just spraying in a tray of brass and mixing up by hand. Allow the alcohol to evaporate a few minutes before dumping in the collator. The lanolin is actually good for your hands.
thomas15
Member
So what are we doing wrong for those of us who are able to size pistol brass without lube? Is it more of an issue for those who wet tumble?
Use of NuFinish with walnut does make things more slick ... I guess you could call residual polymer on brass "lube"
Not changing my practice after 25 years and almost 500,000 rounds ... Just saying.
Way back in time, before I started reading internet forums for professional advice and back when I was using the oh-so-mediocre single stage Rock Chucker press for 9mm (and Lee carbide dies, I accidently purchased the most awesome premium dies to go with my blah press), I stumbled on using a finger touch of regular rifle lube on every 5 cases to make things go smoother. Now I lube everything regardless of caliber and dies and the liberal use of Nu-finish/mineral spirits in walnut.
Haha! I have lots of left over lube too from trying different stuff. I like One Shot for loading lots of .223 but prefer Imperial wax for the .30-06. I know there is lube pad and some liquid lube bottles stashed back in the depths of the bench somewhere.
I use an LNL, and it will size them just fine with no lube and did for years, but after playing and coaching baseball until I was 52 my shoulder is about worn out. Lube sure makes running 500 9MM cases through to be sized a lt easier.
For years I considered sizing 9MM good exercise for my throwing shoulder, and it was, but now..... I wonder how many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of times I threw a baseball when practicing, playing, coaching, infield practice at first, third, outfield, pitching, throwing batting practice, messing around......not to mention working hard with my upper body.
Well that makes more sense to me. I didn't think about shoulder injuries. Whatever helps us stay in the hobby and sport is a good thing! So far my "too old to run the press plan" is my son-in-law who is an avid reloader. Working on a grandson to enjoy shooting and in a few years try him o reloading. I will promote myself to munitions operations supervisor or something.
Yup that is what started me lubing 9mm cases.
They required so much more force that I sprayed a tray of cases with One Shot and insert one ever 4-5th case into a friend's LNL AP
Iron Sight
Member
whatever method I have used to lube cases I worried about getting lube inside the cases. I spray the "Lyman Spray lube" on a towel then dump the cases onto the lubed towel, wrap the towel around the cases then do the lube application by moving and shaking the cases inside the wrapped towel.
Toprudder
Member
There is the heat caused by deforming the material. Then there is the heat caused by friction.
I believe (I may be wrong) that deformation is what causes work hardening, and any heat produced is just a byproduct.
Toprudder
Member
The ONLY time I felt I had to lube straight wall handgun brass was recently, when I had new Starline 44mag brass that was sticking on the expander. I stood all the brass upright and used some One-Shot, sprayed just a tiny amount into the case mouths. Big difference. I've never felt the need to use any lube for just for resizing.
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