Wanting to make my own resizing lube...

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Josh45

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I have been using the Hornady One Shot and have had no problems using it what so ever. No dented cases nor stuck. I like the fact I can just spray it on, Wait a minute and then resize.

I know I can buy resizing lube that's cheap as well. I been researching it for a little while now about how people have used STP, Pam, Motor Oil and others with success. But most of the problem came with wiping it off....

Then I found one that was with Pure Liquid Lanolin and 99% Isopropyl Alcohol. Which can be used as a spray. I'm liking this one because I can use it as a spray. I don't really wanna use the ones you have to use a roll pad with. I have nothing against it but rather go this way about it.

So, I went looking and I couldn't find Lanolin nor 99% Alcohol but! What I do have available to me is 100% Beeswax and 91% Alcohol. I was thinking about mixing this one the same way as the Lanolin one.

I also can try Castor Oil but it isn't 100 % Castor oil seeing as it is found in the hair aisle. What do you guys think about Beeswax and Alcohol for spray lube?

I like the idea of trying things and experimenting. I would like to try this as a spray formula if possible. Sorry if I am beating a dead horse here but I did search my question and didn't find an answer to it.

Any info is appreciated. Thanks.
 
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Don't forget that whatever you are spraying will end up inside the case as well and you want to make sure that it does not contaminate your powder or primer.
 
91% alcohol is not ideal. Too much water in it.

You can get the 99% at a CVS or Walgreens and some WalMarts. Ask the pharmacist as some keep it behind the counter.

You can get the lanolin at the hippie health food stores. It's not cheap and it takes very little to make a copy of the Dillon Lube.

I don't think the beeswax will dissolve in the alcohol but I haven't tried it.
 
I'm going to try to find the 99% at WalMart but to what I understand that 91% would work just not as well and needs to be shaken every time you use it. Plus, I live in a rather small town and don't have a hippe health food store...

Demos,

Yeah. That is another thing. If anyone has tried anything like this without contamination of powder or primers like One-Shot, I'm all ears! Or eyes...

Edit: I just found out from searching that the only way the beeswax will melt in alcohol is if the alcohol is hot. I remember the lanolin and alcohol mixed require being warmed up?
 
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I had a difficult time finding 99% at the drug store.

However, it's easily found at AutoZone or PepBoys, etc. Look in the cold-engine-fluid or gastank cleaner section. I can't recall the name , but it's in a tapered red bottle.

thorn
 
Why not use denatured ethanol instead of isopropyl?

Castor oil (from a pharmacy or a soapmaking supply shop) is a good extreme-pressure lube, and I think it is soluble in alcohol. So you could thin it with alcohol to make a spray lube, but I haven't tried it.

Kiwi Mink Oil leather treatment is what I usually use to lube cases. Put a little on my fingertips and use it like Imperial Sizing Wax.
 
ZXC,

The reason for the Isopropyl is simple. It's the one I keep seeing mentioned over and over. I have done quite a bit of searching and most of the time, Isopropyl came up. I seen once or twice where Ethanol type was used. I could always try that if it would make the stuff work.

Hondo,

I'll give Glock20 a shout. Thanks.
 
Heet? Hmm...Seems like it can work seeing as it is advertised to remove water just like the alcohol. Wonder if it would work with the beeswax.

Might have to try it. Thanks for the tip.
 
Hello,

I hate sprays.

I make my own using refined beeswax. I soften it up just a bit by mixing in vegetable oil, and the beeswax, with addition of a bit of vitamin E, keeps the oil from going rancid.

I just run my fingers over it. The amount I get on my pointer finger -- not enough to even be visible, no chunks -- is plenty to size a rifle case with.

I've not found it to mess with powder, and it doesn't gunk up the dies as much as a few other roll on or wipe on lubes do.

The stuff I have will likely last me for a lifetime. Good for your hands too! LOL

Regards,

Josh
 
Josh M Smith,

Could you go into a bit more detail? How much veg oil and vitamin E? I would mean you have a liquid version of it right? Sorry for the question but it is late...
 
Go to the shoe dept at any big box store ie; Walmart and pick up a tim of Mink Oil waterproffing. Will more than likely last 10 years.

Or better yet go to your local gun dealer and purchase some case lube made for the job.

Sound like we're walking past dollar bills to pick up pennies and nickles.
 
jcwit said:
Or better yet go to your local gun dealer and purchase some case lube made for the job.

Sound like we're walking past dollar bills to pick up pennies and nickles.
Click to expand...

In thirty years of reloading, I am on my second or third bottle of case pad lubricant. Of course use depends on how much you reload.

I am still on my first tin of Imperial Sizing Wax after 15 years.

Not what I would call high use items

I find spray lubricants much less thrifty.

USSR's signature line says it well.
 
I would suggest trying Lee's resizing lube. It's cheap for one and works fine. All I do is add some to a ziplock bag and add some brass and shake it around. Then I resize the cases and toss back into the tumbler for final cleaning. One tube is good for about 2000 cases doing it this way.
 
If thrift is your objective you will save more money digging bullets out of backstops than making your own lube. The Dillon stuff is cheap and lasts forever.
 
99% isopropyl alcohol - order it from your local pharmacy, buy it in the gallon size for best price.
Lanolin oil: http://www.amazon.com/Lanolin-Oil-P...BSIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323194219&sr=8-1

start with 4oz of oil per gallon and work up to your desired slickness

You can also use lanolin that isn't liquid, but it is a pain, it must be heated to be combined, and quite a bit drops out as sediment.

http://www.soapgoods.com/Lanolin-Anhydrous-p-1115.html

1lb will last you a while at your volume.
 
If you're using carbide dies but need lube anyway (like with .30 Carbine) try using Silicone Spray. It is cheap, easy to use, and does an adequate job. Let it dry before you size the cases, and keep the stuff away from your primers. Residue inside the cases doesn't hurt the powder -- at least if you don't go crazy with spraying it.
 
You're right zxcvbob, altho I use spray teflon Blaster brand. I buy it at the home improvememnt stores. Bought 4 or 6 cans years ago "as in 5 or 6" and still have 3 unused cans. Cost was $ .00 as Menards had a FREE coupon on it.

Yes I load handgun calibers by the thousands.
 
Josh M Smith,

Could you go into a bit more detail? How much veg oil and vitamin E? I would mean you have a liquid version of it right? Sorry for the question but it is late...
Click to expand...

Hello,

Enough vegetable oil to soften it up a bit, and a couple, few gelcaps worth of vitamin E. Just poke holes in the gelcaps and squirt it out!

I would say 4:1 beeswax to veggie oil. Adjust as needed. I really do not know for sure -- I just did it until it felt "right".

I'm not 100% sure how it would mix. I'm going to try mixing in a little lanolin first, when I get around to buying some, and then maybe take a small sample of the whole mixture and try it out in alcohol.

I would think that it would clock a spray bottle's tube eventually, though, and both oil and beeswax will float on top of water when cool, so I would suppose the same would be true with floating on top of alcohol.

All this is my long-winded way of saying I do not know. I designed it to be an inexpensive, long-lasting lube that doesn't mess with smokeless or black powder as much as petroleum bases lubes. In fact, I have an old oil dampened Redding scale I enjoy using, and I use vegetable oil, slightly thickened with beeswax and preserved with vitamin E, in the well of that bad boy. It works nicely!

Regards,

Josh
 
Thanks for the tips. Just gonna have to find the things first. If not, Might try to order in. We will see I guess.
 
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