Resizing Lubricant...Anyone make their own?

[SCC]

I use 6ml of lanolin oil in 100ml of 99% isopropanol, that's about a 16.5 to 1 ratio. I like the high ratio because it allows me to spray more for better coverage without over lubing.

I too use the plastic bag method, but only with pistol brass. I spray the inside of the bag first and press it flat to distribute the lube on the inside surface of the bag before adding the brass. Then the bag of brass is rolled around to get lube on only the outside of the cases. Adding brass first, then spraying the lube would get lube inside the cases. The rounds are then loaded and the lube is removed later by tumbling for about 10min in corncob.

I do it differently for rifle brass since I want to get some lube inside the case necks. In a plastic bin the brass is sprayed lightly. It's then stirred by hand and sprayed again, twice. This insures that many of the cases will be facing up when sprayed so that they get some lube in the necks. The necks that don't get lubed get by with the lube picked up by the expander ball. Rifle brass is cleaned (washed) and tumbled to remove the lube before loading.

 

[doubleh]

I just can't see a reason for making my own. I use spray lube and it's not that expensive to purchase or wasn't. It's been awhile since I needed to buy any. I've started on my last bottle and hope I don't find a huge increase in price when I do need to resupply.

 

[SCC]

doubleh, I kind of agree with you. It's kind of like the argument about reloading 9mm with factory ammo prices as they currently are. If you include your time it's not worth reloading it. The pluses as I see them are that I like to make stuff, I get to make it to my specifications, and the components are useful for other things. The isopropanol is great for cleaning things, just don't get it on acrylic.

The costs: From a 4oz bottle of lanolin I've used about 2.5oz in 4 years. That equates to about 1.25 liters of lube at my ratio. My gallon of isopropanol is nearly empty, so the rest has gone to cleaning stuff. I think I paid about $10 for the lanolin and $25-30 for the iso. So I've made the equivalent of around 5 8oz bottles of Dillon case lube at $12 per bottle. $60 for the Dillon and let's say about $38 for the home brew. Savings of around $22. Spread over 4 years, not really worth the effort. But I did get my ratio, and a bunch of extra iso for cleaning stuff. I also never have to worry about running out and by only mixing 100ml at a time any spill will be small and easily cleaned up.

So I agree, not worth the effort for the lube only.

ETA: Isopropanol is a byproduct of other chemical manufacturing processes. As a byproduct, it gets treated as a waste chemical. I think there are some rules that prohibit selling it as say rubbing alcohol and probably not enough market anyway. Because of this it can be had cheep, for little more than the cost of shipping from some suppliers. It saves them the cost of disposal.