Case Lub

[Deaconllb]

In the old days, of course as I am old we bought a non inked stamp pad, of course today you can buy a pad for this purpose also a little larger than the old ink pads I use RCBS case lube wiped into the pad with my finger real good so as not to put on too much when I roll the cases across the pad and then wipe with a rag
but I am a small lot loader hast makes waste

Deaconllb

[RED BEAR]

i started off using lee case lube many years ago and never found a reason to change. i like handling each case for inspection. cleans off easy with warm water or just throw them in tumbler. if it aint broke don't fix it.

[gwpercle]

If you use Lee case lube it will wipe off easily , just roll them around in a towel.
I mix the Lee case lube with alcohol and mist it on the cases with a small sprayer.
When it dries just enough is left on to size and what little that remains wipes off easily.
Gary

[yeahbub]

The easiest solution for large lots of clean brass I want to process is to give it a minimal spritz of store brand pan spray coating, usually canola. I stand the cases on a tray and apply a very quick pass from above and to the side at 45 degrees so some gets in the case necks to lube the expander and/or M-die. They are then mixed/massaged to spread the lube over all the cases. It seems to have good film strength and just trace amounts will facilitate sizing just fine. Removal is by generously applying lye-based oven cleaner and a good squirt of dawn and agitating in a bucket with tap-hot water. No doubt brake cleaner or other industrial degreasers or solvents would also work, but I don't care for the fumes they often have. The goal is to get them squeaky clean and bone dry with no trace of residue, or there will be a film on them which picks up debris and gets tackier as it ages, possibly leading to feeding and extraction issues.

As for shooting with (freshly) lubed cases, the increase in bolt thrust I would think to be a problem only if the loads are at or near the limit of action strength. For extending brass life, I shoot lubed cases routinely at pistol pressures without a second thought and case length stretch is barely measureable. If the action is proofed to 60-80 kpsi, who cares if lubing the cases increase bolt thrust from 40 to 45 kpsi, which is well below the limit? Hoop stress is always greater than end stress, so if the barrel holds in a modern bolt action, the bolt will. I could have missed it, but I don't recall ever reading of a bolt failure which didn't also destroy chamber and receiver.

[Engineer1911]

I load rifle ammo on a Dillon 450 or 550. Lube cases with home made spray lube, load ammo, tumble loaded ammo in Thumler tumbler for 40 minutes, clean dry ammo.

[str8wal]

My method is to pick up a case with my left hand, which has lube on two fingers, twist the case in my fingers to apply some lube and insert it into the press. No waiting for alcohol/solvent evaporation and I haven't had a stuck case for many, many years...

This ^^^

I use Hornady Unique and then just wipe it off with a rag after loading.

[DeanoBeanCounter]

Thanks to all who replied. Such a simple chore but look at all the knowledge there is in it.

[greenjoytj]

The first cases I ever resized I used the LEE sizing lube. Checked the dies a week later to use them again and inside it was orange with rust. I called LEE and was told the lube is water based. I kept the tube to remind me never to use it again. Now I use Imperial Sizing Wax. I smear some on my lube pad and roll the cases across it. This lube wipes off very easily with a micro fiber towel. The towel get washed and reused.
I tried Imperial Bio Lube but I didn't like it, as it was very hard to wipe off the cases compared to the Imperial Sizing Wax. You use so little of the Imperial Wax that one tube will probably last me many years.

[Rcmaveric]

I mass deprime my brass then soak in citric acid for an hour. Rinse and dry over night. Then tumble with either nufinish or floor polish. Protect the brass from tarnishing and keeps them shiny. Honestly at this point i am convinced anything slippery will work as sizing lube. I ran out a long time ago and started using random things around the house. For a year a i have been using Johnsons Paste wax as sizing lube. Since the brass has all ready been polished i just wipe them down with a rag.

[trixter]

I bought a tub of Hornady Unique case lube in 2001 and I use it on all my rifle shells. I bought the biggest plastic bowl at Dollar Tree and coat my finger tips and massage about 500 at a time. I've never had a stuck case.

Try it, you'll it!

[David2011]

I tumble my ammo for 10 minutes in corn cob with car wax added. This removes the lube and your fingerprints, and applies a wax coating to prevent tarnish.

NuFinish car polish helps make brass look good and resist tarnishing. It is not a wax.

Others report good results, but I had never stuck a case before I used Hornady One-Shot, so now, I use Dillon Case Lube, which seems to work well, Inside and outside...the sizer may be carbide, but the expander isn't! I throw them in my vibratory tumbler to clean, shine and remove the excess lube, with a 50-50 mixture of corncob and Lizard Bedding, plus a capful of whatever brass polish I happen to have at the moment. Couple of hours... Works good!

The ammonia in brass polish can cause embrittlement and cracking of cases so it's best to make sure your polish is ammonia free. I polish my rifle expander balls with 500-600 grit wet-or-dry and a little oil, not enough to reduce the diameter. It greatly reduces the force required to pull it back through the neck.

Case Thrust; Ok so riddle me this...I resize pretty quickly after lubing a case because I feel way more resistance, and sometimes stuck cases if I wait too long. Does anyone lube their cases, then wait say an hour, a day, or more, to resize?

Sounds like you're using an alcohol/lanolin spray lube but all spray lubes need some resting time before sizing. The lube needs a little time to migrate around the case and then the alcohol, if present, has to evaporate. If the alcohol is still on the case it reduces the lubricity and the case can get stuck. It only takes a few minutes, depending on temp and humidity.



For my personal use, I use Dillon or a homemade version of it for large batches of case processing and then tumble it off with 20-40 corncob with some NuFinish and mineral spirits. The 20-40 corn cob is very fine and doesn't get stuck in flash holes. For smaller batches of rifle ammo I use Imperial Sizing Wax. A tin of it will last MANY years. I apply it with my fingers and remove in the polisher as above. For really stubborn cases like large belted magnums or .500 S&W I like pure lanolin applied in a very thin film. It has much better lubricity than Dillon or Imperial for high pressure resizing.