Lubing A Lot Of Cases

[Johnw...ski]

I will soon start sizing and decaping about 2500 .223 once fired rifle brass cases for next years high power season. I usually use RCBS Case Lube 2 on a lube pad and a neck brush to lube inside the neck. After the depriming and sizing I wash the cases with dish detergent then tumble wet, to polish the cases, and then dry them.

I would like to find something to just dip the cases in and then let drip dry before sizing. It should be something that can be removed with a wash of dish detergent after the sizing is completed.

Any ideas?

John

[deltaenterprizes]

LEE has a water based lube that can be used like that. I like the Dillon (or home brew equivalent) with lanolin and 90% alcohol spray on lube.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Lee resizing lube , water soluable mix it up dip the neck let dry and size works wet or dry actually can even be mixed with rubbing alcohol to speed drying cleans with dish soap

[curiousgeorge]

I loaded 1800 .223's two years ago, and probably not as good as what you are already doing, but I tossed the sized case with the lube still on it into my tumbler with some about 1/2 worn out corncob media. I would size approx 200 cases and let them tumble to polish and remove the lube.

Yes, I did have to check the primer pockets after I removed from the case media, but that really went pretty quick. A Lee pilot from the case trimmer set up popped the media out of the ones that did have blocked primer pockets.

Steve

[Moonie]

I like the 91% alcohol lanolin mix for large numbers of cases, about 5 or 6 to 1 should work but I believe you can dilute it down more if you wish.

[Sagebrush7]

Go to the health food store by 4 0z liguid lambs lanolin. Mix 2 oz with a small bottle of alchol in a spray bottle and go to work. Cheap and easy to make. Spray your cases in a pan over paper towls. Shake them around to get all wet. Let them dry and you are ready to size.

[dragonrider]

Hornady One Shot, or Dillon case lube, or home made, put a few hundred cases in a plastic bag and spray some lube in the bag and then seal the bag and massage it for bit untill all th cases are lubed, dump out let dry and have at it.

[blueeyephil]

In addition to the spray on lube I have been told to dip the case neck on graphite about every 5th case. I haven't tried it yet myself so I'd like to get your take on it, if you have tried it.

By the way I use the home made lanolin spray when loading pistol on a progressive. Haven't loaded any rifle as of yet but plan on doing .223 myself soon.

[beex215]

i use motor oil to lube cases. just dump some on a rag and roll a hand full of cases. its quicker than the lee lube that comes in the bottle. well to me it it.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Dipping your case necks in powdered graphite (and then tapping them so that the excess drops off) will make neck expanding much easier and lengthen the life of your expander button or "M" die. If you are case neck sizing only it makes that easier too. Powdered graphite isn't the cleanest thing to work with, but who cares as it is easy to clean up. if you don't want to be bothered with cleaning the stuff you can leave it on; it looks gloomy but won't hurt anything. LLS

[canyon-ghost]

A cheap, convenient lube that contains lanolin, Alberto VO5 Hairdressing gel. It smells but, does work and it's cheaper than case lube. RCBS seems sticky, One Shot doesn't last long for me (although I love it).

Got the idea from Ed Harris on CBA forum
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx228/3rdshooter/contenders/22Hornetcases005.jpg

Takes very little to do 100 cases at a time.

[Johnw...ski]

A cheap, convenient lube that contains lanolin, Alberto VO5 Hairdressing gel. It smells but, does work and it's cheaper than case lube. RCBS seems sticky, One Shot doesn't last long for me (although I love it).

Got the idea from Ed Harris on CBA forum
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx228/3rdshooter/contenders/22Hornetcases005.jpg

Takes very little to do 100 cases at a time.

Maybe it will be worth buying a tube and mixing it with some alcohol.

John

[MT Gianni]

I have put some cooking oil in a 2 1/2 gallon plastic tub and coated things, then sealed it well. It didn't take much 1/3 cup or so and left them corrosion free when spring came around. I sized then washed it off.

[Hip's Ax]

While I don't do 2500 at a time, I make smaller batches of 1000 for my service rifle. I use Hornady One Shot, the Sinclair lube racks and I throw them in the tumbler with a set aside batch of corn to remove the lube. Guess I do 300+ at a time in the Thumler's Model B. Fastest way I've found to get service rifle match brass sized and I guess theres something about tumbling with the lube and corn as they look really nice when they come out. About an hour is all it takes in the tumbler.

Then I trim and chamfer on my Giraud, talk about a time saving!!!!

One Shot is sort of expensive by the single can but I bought a full case of 12 from Widener's a couple of years back, much cheaper per can that way.

[HeavyMetal]

Out of curisoity why are you not using a Lee Collet neck sizing die?

Granted if these are case's purchased from an unknown source they most likely won't fit the chamber but if they have all been fired in your gun they should all work once they are neck sized.

I've been doing this with very good success with my 30-30 brass for my Contender no lube, no fuss, no mess, and best of all I only need to clean them one time before loading.

Once again new to me once fired 30-30's are sized differently for the first go round and then Neck sized only from there after for the Contneder.

[HangFireW8]

Out of curisoity why are you not using a Lee Collet neck sizing die?

Granted if these are case's purchased from an unknown source they most likely won't fit the chamber but if they have all been fired in your gun they should all work once they are neck sized

He said hi power probably an AR, and they stretch cases on extraction beyond max headspace.

[BD]

Imperial sizing wax. I put the open tin to my left and every third or forth case I trail my left finger tips across it before I reach in the box of cases. Basically you just pick them up and size them, the little bit of Imperial that's on your left finger tips is enough lube as you pick them up with your left hand and pull the handle with your right. As you never pick up two cases in exactly the same way, the lube gets distributed sufficiently. if things start to feel a little dry, just be conscientious for a case or two. No separate process is required and after the first 1,000 you won't even think about it. I have no idea how many rifle cases I've sized in the last 15 years. 25,000? 30,000? In any event I'm on my second tin of imperial. I think they're about $6.00 these days. I'm knocking on wood hard, and I'll kick myself tomorrow for saying this, but I've never stuck a case in a die. And, I haven't had a lube dent on the shoulder since I started using Imperial. IMHO the mica on the inside of the necks is a much bigger PITA.
BD

[Hip's Ax]

Out of curisoity why are you not using a Lee Collet neck sizing die?

Granted if these are case's purchased from an unknown source they most likely won't fit the chamber but if they have all been fired in your gun they should all work once they are neck sized.

I've been doing this with very good success with my 30-30 brass for my Contender no lube, no fuss, no mess, and best of all I only need to clean them one time before loading.

Once again new to me once fired 30-30's are sized differently for the first go round and then Neck sized only from there after for the Contneder.

M1, M1A and AR-15 are the only NRA and CMP legal service rifles for competition. Semi autos must be full length resized every time. I also case gage every piece of brass before priming as an added bit of safety.

Many NRA "Match Rifles" are also based on AR's these days. Even if its a bolt gun match rifle there are rapid fire sections of the course of fire where FL resizing is almost required for 100% feeding reliability.

I have a lot of Lee collet dies and I love them. They really save time and make some great ammo but I only use them for my slow fire bolt guns.

[3006guns]

I asked this question about a year ago and got basically the same responses, although the Alberto VO5 is a new one. Might have to try it!

One member stated that he shot quite a few pistol matches each year and had to process hundreds, if not thousands of cases each week. His method was to mix Lee lube with water in a .50 caliber ammo can, then submerge the cases in a wire basket. Slosh it up and down a couple of times, drain and dump on an old terrycloth towel to dry. Resize/deprime then wash the cases in hot, soapy water/dry, and finish loading (lubes should be removed anyway in my opinion, even the one shot types).

Despite seeming to take longer, you're processing one heck of a lot of brass without the gooey lube pad or expense of the one shot lubes. I would imagine the lube mix could be stored in the ammo can for quite awhile.

[canyon-ghost]

Maybe it will be worth buying a tube and mixing it with some alcohol.



I don't mix it with anything, use a dab on the case pad. Alcohol does dissolve it, if things get too slick, that's what I use to remove it. Soak down a tee shirt corner with rubbing alcohol and wipe the cases.

It's heavy on parfum but, has petroleum jelly, lanolin, etc. that make it work. I like the idea of not constantly re-ordering case lubes, gets to be a vicious circle!

[Jailer]

You can make your own lube with liquid lanolin and 99% anhydrous isopropyl alcohol. You have to make sure you use anhydrous Isopropyl or the lanolin will fall out of suspension and you risk corroding your dies (water in the alcohol).

I mixed 1oz of lanolin with 16oz of alcohol in a $1 spray bottle from Wally world. Total cost for one bottle (including the bottle) was $5 and it will do THOUSANDS of cases.

Dump about 100 or so cases in a large ziplock bag. Add a few shots of mixed lube and knead them around until they are all covered. Dump them out on a cookie sheet and wait a couple minutes as the alcohol evaporates off. The cases end up slicker than snot and size with ease. I lubed sized and de primed about 4000 cases in a 4 hour period using this method.

Find the stuff locally if you can to save on shipping. I got mine from the links below since neither could be found locally. I bought in quantity and split it up among some reloading buddies to make the shipping cost effective.

Anhydrous Isopropyl Alcohol (http://www.thisthatandeverything.com/Sunmark_Isopropyl_Alcohol_Anhydrous_p/1722651.htm)

Liquid lanolin (http://www.vitaglo.com/7730.html)

[troy_mclure]

i just lubed/sized/trimmed 2700 .223 cases.

i put all the cases in a 5gal bucket with a lid. add 1table spoon of motor oil(clean) per 1/k rounds.

shake, swirl, tumble for about 5 mins. you will have a very light coat of oil on the brass, inside and out.

after sizing and trimming simply run thru the tumbler to remove the oil. saves tons of time and money.

[uscra112]

Tumbling isn't going to remove all the motor oil! It may cut it down some, but once the cases and the media achieve equilibrium, no more oil will leave the cases. I'd rate using motor oil as potentially dangerous, unless you're going to wash in very hot water and strong detergent after sizing.

Lanolin lubes wash off easily with dish liquid and water. I swish 'em in a clean dishpan with the soap once, then four rinses and they're completely lube free.

I love the idea of using VO-5! But if it has Vaseline in it, well, that's very hard to remove completely. Probably even harder than motor oil. ;)

For necks, I long ago bought a Lyman neck-lubing tool which is an orange plastic box with neck-sized brushes in it. You keep a level teaspoon of graphite or motor mica in the box, and get it on the brushes by shaking with the cover on. I went one better by cutting a case-diameter hole in the cover, above the appropriate brush, and just shove the lubed case in onto the brush and draw it out with a slight twisting motion. The graphite doesn't fly all over the place that way. Every 20 cases or so I put my finger on the hole and shake the box again. I have a rubber plug that closes the hole when the tool is in storage.

That's about as close to the idea of "dipping" your cases as I can get. :smile:

[Dale53]

The water diluted Lee case sizing lube IS The way to go. I discovered a french fry basket that just fits in a GI .50 caliber ammo box works very well. Fill the box about half full with the mixture, fill the basket and dip in the lube and let drain back in the box (just shake off the excess. Dump out on newspaper and let dry overnight. You can do several thousand in a short period of time (I tumble the cases first to remove any grit and possible corrosion). I decap the cases after tumbling before dipping.

The case lube does not need to be removed from the inside. While it perfectly lubes the case necks (inside as well as out) you can easily wipe off the cases with a damp cloth (use a large damp towel and put a pile in the center and give it a see-saw motion). The dry case lube is inert and will NOT bother powder or primers.

I shot big bore for several years and used both bolt guns and autos (30'06, .308, and .223). This is, by far, the best method I tried - nothing else comes close.
FWIW
Dale53

[rmcc]

Dillon Spray Lube. Pump spray. Alcohol and lanolin.

[Lloyd Smale]

my 223 dies are dillons with a carbide expander so i dont worry about necks. for the case what i use is anhydrous lanolin. I buy it by the tub. When doing a whole bunch of cases at a time i put them in a box or container of some kind. Put a dab about the size of 1/4 teaspoon of lanolin in the palm of my hand and rub it in to the palms of my hands. then just take your hands and give the cases a good work over in the box. It does a suprisingly good job of getting just enough lube so you never get a stuck case and not so much that you get dents. I can do upwards of a 1000 cases at a time like that. I tried the diluteing it with alcohol but allways seem to get a bit to much on the cases and get dents.

[Wayne Smith]

To lube case necks - fill a perscription bottle with shot, add graphite powder, replace cap. Shake well. Dip necks in the shot. The smaller the shot the less you have to shake out! Peridocally put the lid on and shake again. No mess, no fuss, and it's right there waiting for you on your bench.

[Johnw...ski]

It payed to ask the question, the plan is to use a carbide expander ball and lube the cases with the lube pad as usual. To me it gets tedious using a neck brush to individually lube the inside of the case necks but I can zip right through the cases rolling them on a lube pad. I purchased a Hornady carbide expander conversion for my RCBS die, it seems like a worthwhile investment, much better than what I thought would be a one time cure by dipping the cases in some kind of lube concoction.

Thanks,

John

[1Shirt]

Been using 85% Olive Oil and 15% Lanolin in a pump spray btl. Needs to be frequently shaken, but it works for me.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[RKJ]

I just did some (only about 1000) 223 cases and I used the cheap spray cooking oil from Walmart. I think it costs $1.00 a can and it does a bunch of cases. At first I would use a loading block but that got tedious so I just spayed them inside a coffee container. You don't want to use too much as it does get sticky but just like Brylcreem "a little dab'll do ya". I did have some mess when I used too much and tumbled the cases with Walnut media, the dust collected on some of them, it wiped off easy enough but it was annoying.