Streight walled rifle case lube?

[Eric F]

Do you have to lube the cases on straight walled rifle cartridges? Like 45-70 45-90 50-90 or 50-140?

 

[rcmodel]

Unless you are using a carbide sizing die, yes!

And even with a carbide die, a little case lube never hurt a thing.
Makes sizing much easier.

Anytime you resize a brass case of any caliber in a steel die, you must use case lube. Otherwise, the brass will gald and tiny particles will stick to the steel surface.
After that, every case will have matching scratches.

rcmodel

 

[Seafarer12]

I agree with rcmodel.

Only thing I don't lube are straight walled pistol cases. All my dies are carbide and I clean the cases before I size them.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I load .45-70 and .45-120 Sharps. Both must be lubed prior to sizing. I've found the spray lubes to work best for me.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[snuffy]

The "straight walled" name is misleading. They are actually tapered to a small degree, so they absolutely need to be lubed. They are tapered so that they will release from the chamber after being fired. Any tapered item shoved into a tapered hole will stick. Tapered shafts are the foundation of many machines. They naturally hold by their design.

Not lubing will result in a stuck case. Then you will be on here asking "how do I get a stuck case out of my die"? As RC said, it may gall the case leaving some brass behind that will have to be removed.

 

[flashhole]

The carbide dies in the sizes you are talking about are prohibitively expensive to make. Yes, you need to lube. I load 45-70, the best lube is Imperial Die Sizing Wax.