Best way to lube 223 brass for sizing

[mdi]

Manually applied Mink Oil Boot Dressing. When lubing a small amount of brass I just stick the tip of a finger in the dressing and rub the glob on my fingers evenly (thumb and first two fingers) then, roll a case between my fingers, applying the dressing thinly and evenly. Normally, I can get 3 or 4 cases lubed with one glob. I also use Lanolin and alcohol in a spray for larger batches. Lay out cases in a single layer, spray a bit of mix on the cases, it don't take much. Let alcohol evaporate and depending on the Lanolin to alcohol ratio, I have a thin layer of lanolin lube on my brass.

Mink Oil and spray Lanolin can be wiped off easily with a rag or paper towel (enough stays on the brass to act as a corrosion preventative), and my hands are so soft and smooth afterward...

[Cmm_3940]

I just dump the brass on a clear section of work surface (yes, I know that can be difficult...) and spritz lightly with spray lube. I've been using Dillon, I think it's just lanolin and isopropyl. No need to roll them around or anything; after the first one or two, the die has a coating of lube on the inside.

[Patrick L]

I sort of do it all. For small batches (50-100 or less) I tend to do the pad with RCBS water soluble. Sometimes I tumble it off resized brass, sometimes I wipe, sometimes I soak in not water and set out to dry. A 100 watt light bulb really speeds that up. Bigger quantities get Dillon spray in a copy paper box lid, then tumble off of the resized cases. Either way a good tumble before lubing will clean inside of necks and make things go smoother.

I guess it all depends on how much of a hurry I'm in. I tend to load batches ahead of time, so I'm usually in no rush.

[Jailer]

For larger batches, after sizing I wash the brass in the same solution I use in my wet tumbler; water, dish soap, and a sprinkle of Lemishine.

Use a cheap car wash soap with wax instead of dish soap and your cases will stay shiny and clean looking without any water spots.

This is how I lube large batches also, but using homemade lube from red bottle HEET and liquid lanolin, mixed 12:1. I spray a couple pumps over the cases, shake, spray a couple more and shake. I then dump them in an Akro-bin and do another batch. Leave those sitting in the box to dry while you're processing the ones in the Akro-bin. From then on, dump the dry batch, mix a new one, process, repeat.

I use a mix similar to that but with 99% isopropyl alcohol and liquid lanolin. Dump about 100 or so in a gallon ziplock bag with about 3 or 4 squirts of lube. Close the bag and knead until they are all coated. Size em and repeat.

Isopropyl alcohol:
http://www.amazon.com/For-Pro-99-Iso.../dp/B0006Q006M

Liquid lanolin:
http://www.supplementwarehouse.com/v...FWqCMgodPG4AVA

Those two link will make you enough to last a lifetime for the average person.

My process for large batches:

de prime
wet tumble
lube
size
wet tumble
dry in food dehydrator

[5Shot]

I dump them into a large paper grocery bag. Spray a couple squirts with homemade lube (lanolin & iso) then shake. Add more lube if it looks like they need it. You can do hundreds of cases at a time. Let them dry and have at it.

[kryogen]

rcbs lube die with dillon trimmer on top, cant beat that. Or at least, rbls lube die on a progressive with case feeder.
And then use a WFT trimmer. or giraud (too expensive)

[troyboy]

Lee case lube and alchol. Put 10 parts alcohol to 1 part lube in a spray bottle and mix well. Clean and tumbled brass in a 1 gallon zip lock. Spray and mix brass in zip lock. Dump onto newspaper and let dry. Little goes a long way and experience will dictate amounts of lube used.

[Mauser48]

Put the casings in a bag or a small box and spray a bunch of hornady one shot case lube and shake them around. It works pretty good for 223. When they become a little harder to resize spray some more in.

[kryogen]

hornady one shot wasnt slick enough for 223 to me, I got stuck cases.

If you dont mind the mess, the best lube I have found is engine oil.... but then you need to SS pin tumble, with lots of soap, so it's not really worth it to me.

I use RCBS case lube on a pad or imperial sizing wax for smaller batches.

[1Shirt]

For a number of years now, have been using about 30% olive oil and 70% Alch, in a spray bottle.
1Shirt!

[oldlincoln]

I have been reloading since l was Knee high and have used every case lube on the market. The lanolin/ Isopropanol spray lube was my choice for bulk resizing and Imperial die wax for forming or sizing 7.62 MG fired brass and other tough jobs. That is until I found Royal case and die lube. This stuff is almost unreal in it's high pressure lubricity, it works for bulk and forming equally well and it only takes a tiny bit. Very economical, I'm still on my first can and I have a progressive and do runs of thousands. And I'm not plugging it just cause it's from Kansas!
[/URL][/URL] http://www.sharpshootr.com/royal_case_and_die_lube.htm

Eric

[slughammer]

I didn't like the tackiness of lanolin. The effort it takes to clean lube off doesn't matter much when I'm loading 20-50 rounds, but more than that is too much for me.

My favorite right now is 12oz of 91% isopropyl and a bottle of RCBS case lube. I put this in a sprayer bottle with some marbles to agitate it every time I use it.(though I'm not sure it needs that). I use either quart or gallon ziploc bags. I spray 2 or 3 squirts in the bag and then add the brass, work it around and dump them into a cookie tin for the small batches or onto a cookie tray for the big batches. The alcohol flashes off quickly. The bag is pressed flat and reused until dirty, then replaced with a new one.

I loaded a bunch over the holidays last year. Several thousand pistol rounds on the progressive and also about 800 .223's. For these big batches the lube cleans off in a few minutes in clean media in my vibratory tumbler. Smaller batches clean off with a rag misted with water. Since then I've also prepped 400 30-06 cases and loaded several 50 round batches of 222 and 22 hornet multiple times. I've used about half of the mix, but that is for 5000+ rounds. That probably cost me $3.

I like the RCBS and alcohol mixture. Easy to find ingredients. Easy to apply. Ziploc keeps the spray waste down. I've already bought another bottle for when this one is done.

[trixter]

I get my favorite big plastic bowl from Dollar Tree, and a a bunch, several hundred 223 cases, that have been tumbled and Horndy Unique case lube. I dab some on all for fingers of both hands and massage all the brass for several minutes. This gets everything lubed up nicely. I tried putting some on each case individually, but always got too much and that caused hydraulic dents in the cases, the 'bulk' method eliminates dents and even if you don't get each one covered with lube, the residual lube in the die will keep them from sticking. When I am done massaging the cases I just rub my hands together and use up the excess, to keep my hands soft. I love this hobby.

[Cmm_3940]

I get my favorite big plastic bowl from Dollar Tree, and a a bunch, several hundred 223 cases, that have been tumbled and Horndy Unique case lube. I dab some on all for fingers of both hands and massage all the brass for several minutes. This gets everything lubed up nicely. I tried putting some on each case individually, but always got too much and that caused hydraulic dents in the cases, the 'bulk' method eliminates dents and even if you don't get each one covered with lube, the residual lube in the die will keep them from sticking. When I am done massaging the cases I just rub my hands together and use up the excess, to keep my hands soft. I love this hobby.

Can we call that the 'meatloaf method'?

[randyrat]

A couple shakes just before you use this spritzer and spray your brass, works like a charm. Adjust the mixture to your liking, i use about 10% Lanolin to Alcohol. To make it just drop the bag in a small pot of hot water melt the Lanolin (100 deg f is all you need) add about what you need to Alcohol, seal the bag for another batch.

[r1kk1]

I have been reloading since l was Knee high and have used every case lube on the market. The lanolin/ Isopropanol spray lube was my choice for bulk resizing and Imperial die wax for forming or sizing 7.62 MG fired brass and other tough jobs. That is until I found Royal case and die lube. This stuff is almost unreal in it's high pressure lubricity, it works for bulk and forming equally well and it only takes a tiny bit. Very economical, I'm still on my first can and I have a progressive and do runs of thousands. And I'm not plugging it just cause it's from Kansas!
[/URL][/URL] http://www.sharpshootr.com/royal_case_and_die_lube.htm

Eric

ive been a fan of sharpshootr products and picked some of this up when I was in Missouri. I have some case forming to do for my wife's revolver. I've used Imperial and Unique for years.

take care

r1kk1

[OBIII]

Plus 1 on the gallon zip lock bags. I have a bottle of spray case lube I picked up over a year ago, have processed several thousand rounds of .223/5.56 and still have over 1/2 a bottle left. I fill the bag about 1/2 full of brass, spritz a few times, seal the bag and rotate around to allow all of the brass to be coated. One advantage is you can leave the bag sealed and keep the dust and dirt off while you are resizing from another bag.

OB

[StratsMan]

A year ago, I would have given the "Thumbs Up" to Hornady Unique... that 4 oz tub lasted for many, many thousands of 223 cases... But the lube would dry to a sticky goo on the brass if you didn't wash it off... Luckily, it's water soluble...

But then I discovered SharpShootr case lube, too.... it's more slippery than anything I've used, and you don't need to wash the brass afterward!! (as long as you use a very thin layer) So far, I've sized 2,000+ cases, and barely put a dent in the jar. I've only done the "fingerwipe" method so far... But if I was planning to do several thousand more, I'd heat it like lanolin and try the 10-1 ratio with 99% iso-alcohol...

BTW, my fingerwipe method is a little different... I put dry cases in the casefeeder and let them come to the first station. I keep my fingertips lubed up on my left hand, and quickly wipe my lubed fingertips over the case before I pull down down on the handle. This slows me down slightly, but I can still run 500+ cases per hour through my 1050 this way. Obviously, you don't need a 1050 to do this... but auto-indexing and a case feeder sure helps to speed up case prep...

A friend who does commercial brass prep uses motor oil as a sizing lube... Just inexpensive 5-20w.... sprays a little bit over a Rubbermaid bin with ~600-700 cases in it and tumbles them around for a minute in the bin... But the industrial-size case feeders for those presses are doing a constant tumble as well, so the lube gets spread around in the casefeeder. Gotta clean those cases thoroughly, too...

[osteodoc08]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I ended up using a gallon ziplock, couple squirts of Dillon sizing lube and kneading around.

[BucolicBuffalo]

Has anyone tried the Forster lube on a pad? What about lubing the inside of the case necks? The sprays solve some of these problems. But if you roll on a pad, what do you do for the necks?