Should I case lube pistol brass?

[JDGray]

I tumble my reloads for a half hour or so, removes all the die burnish marks, and lube haze.

 

[atek3]

i've heard that tumbling loaded rounds is sketch...

atek3

 

[JDGray]

OOOPS! I have a viberatory type case cleaner Never had a problem.

 

[jeepmor]

I tumble my handloads

Gets my fingerprints off them, removes any lube I put on them and makes them nice and shiny before I put them away for storage.

jeepmor

 

[45auto]

I lube all the cases, 45 ACP, with One-shot lube just because it reduces the loading "effort" substantially. Makes my machine run smoother and faster while loading. Well worth the expense to me.

 

[YodaVader]

OK guys - I tried lubing the 9mm and it was infinately easier. The press had virtually no effort required to size the cases. What a tremendous difference it made. I will lube all my straight wall cases from now on!

Yep! For years I never considered lubing handgun brass for carbide die resizing. Once when using the little Lee C press the effort required to resize some magnum cases seemed pretty excessive and I thought , "Let's try some lubing"

So I sprayed with One Shot and the effort required to resize was reduced to the point where the fired cases seemed like they had already been resized when going through the die!

 

[atek3]

I've got carbide dies, and I don't like tumbling loaded rounds, and I'm too lazy to wipe lube off 1000 rounds. The minor extra effort to size them hasn't really bothered me.

atek3

 

[jmorris]

Do you have to? no. However, if you try lubing with dillion's case lube one time, you'll never stop. It makes .223 (in carbide dies) feel like your sizing 9mm and 9mm feels like your just pulling the handle.

 

[.38 Special]

The supposed downside to tumbling (or vibrating) loaded rounds is not that you are likely to set any off, but that you are removing the deterrent from the powder and possibly changing the size/shape of the powder kernels. Both of which may change (increase) the burning rate.

I have not conducted any velocity tests with pre- and post-tumbled rounds so am simply repeating warnings I have read.

And it still seems to me that lubing cases for a progressive with carbide dies is going to a lot of trouble to save a little trouble.

 

[WayneConrad]

The urban myth that it's harmful to clean loaded rounds with a vibratory cleaner has been soundly debunked numerous times.

If vibration harmed ammo, how in the world would ammo survive in the back of a military truck on bouncy dirt roads?

Several fellows have done chrono tests of tumbled vs. non-tumbled ammo and found no statistically significant differences between them.

Ammo factories use huge vibratory cleaners to clean the lube off loaded rounds.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

To tell a huge difference quick:

Try either 454 or 357 MAX with and without lube. NO QUESTION that lubing is a good idea, even if not required.

But hey, it's your arm, your press, and your 7 bucks.

 

[mugsie]

Ahhh Lube

Now that I'm an old hand at lubing (did a zillion 9mm the other day using one part lanolin to four parts alcohol), this evening I thought I'd do some .38's with lube. When I cranked the handle down I actually checked the press to make sure I placed a round in it! The effort was so slight I thought there was something wrong. I knocked out 50 rounds and felt guilty it was so easy. The 38's are easy to begin with but this was obscene! I haven't done any testing (but I'm sure someone will) but lubing pistol cases I am positive will increase the cyclic rate at least another 10 - 15% I would think. Lubing is the way to go, and yes I use Dillon carbide dies too.

 

[.38 Special]

The urban myth that it's harmful to clean loaded rounds with a vibratory cleaner has been soundly debunked numerous times.

Sort of. Seems like you'd have to tumble every powder made in order to be sure of such a blanket statement.

I am primarily recalling a Sierra technical bulletin to the effect that tumbling loaded cartridges could increase pressures. I'll see if I can find it on the web.

<edit> On their website. http://www.sierrabullets.com/index.cfm?section=techservice&page=xring&fuseaction=Vol7no2#tumbling

 

[snuffy]

tumbling loaded ammo

Here's one of the threads concerning tumbling lave ammo.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=156750&highlight=tumbling+live+ammo