proper lubrication

[crankycalico]

Well ive always seen that you are not supposed to get case lube on the neck or shoulder of a rifle case, case damage and all. But the question is, how bad CAN it be if the rifle die is vented,,

and if you use ANY of the spray lubes, how could you AVOID lube on the neck and shoulder?

And inside the case neck?

[earlmck]

As you say -- it can't be a very big issue. Back in the dark ages when I used the old roll-on technique I knew I didn't need to lube anything above about the middle of the case so mostly I didn't. I didn't know it was forbidden.

Now I am a big fan of the spray on and like you say you can't avoid lubing clear to the top. And one of the things I like best about the spray-on is getting a bit inside the neck to make neck expansion easier and more uniform.

[Petrol & Powder]

The problem isn't lube on the neck and shoulder but rather excessive lube on the neck and shoulder.

[EDG]

A little lube on the neck an shoulder hurts nothing but you cannot just apply it blindly. A tiny bit too much will build up in the die and dent or crease your cases.
I don't know what others experience is but it appears the vent holes don't do much except release trapped air. When using the heavy case lubes that are similar to STP the vent holes appear to be ineffective. The heavy oil does not really escape easily through the vent holes. This will sometimes result in small popping sounds as some of the trapped air is released.
Another bit of info
Redding dies seem to work as well as anyone's and they do not have vent holes.
Some dies also have poorly located vent holes or vent holes with burrs. These dies may scratch or scar the brass if you use the for case forming. Sometimes you can spin polish the die interiors with silicon carbide paper with a little oil. Be sure to spin the die in both directions to get the burr on both sides of the hole. 320 or 400 grit paper at about 200 rpm works well.

What works for you depends on the case lube you use and proper technique for that lube.
I have been using Imperial- Redding for about 15 years. It is easy to control for most sizing operations.
However for heavy case forming Mystik JT6 general purpose lube in the green 14 oz tube is cheap and works a lot better. The JT6 works great but it is really messy and us harder to apply just right and it is harder to clean up.

The only way to learn what is required is to lube a lot of cases.
If you use spray lube on small cases with weak rims be prepared to pull off a few rims.

[Texas by God]

I love the spray lubes and I use them generously. I'm much less concerned about a lube dent than a stick case!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[redriverhunter]

I use lube quite freely on the neck and mouth, I found when making 358 win brass from 308 a nice bit of lube on the inside of mouth helps a lot. I also use spay lube and have not found any problems other than I find it best to wet tumble get the lube off and out of the case.

[crankycalico]

Only lube I have right now is the dreaded Lee Case Lube, The mix it with water or alcohol option seems awfully good because it doesn't seem to stretch far at all when I use it with bare figners like their advertisement video says too.

[Char-Gar]

I have used micro fine graphite to lube case necks since 1958. Stick the case neck in a little tin of the stuff and it lubes both the outside and inside of the neck.

[country gent]

Most dies are vented but not all. Lube isn't compressable and the thicker lubes flow slowly thru the small vent holes. A small amount on the shoulder neck will make sizing easier and better. But it has to be done in a controlled manner to heavy and dings creases and collapsed shoulders result.
The spray lubes do well since most of the applied liquid is the carrier It shows the coating spreads and ten evaporates leaving the right coating behind. I believe the formula for home made is 80% heat to 20% lanolin so of that coating only the 20% remains behind.

The pads when properly treated and cases rolled on them did well also applying lube thinly and evenly. BUt to much added or using to soon you would get heavy layer of lube. I treated them with a little lube then spread it on thepad with a steel rule like a squeegee for a this even coat and let soak in. Here 2 pads work better one treated and being used the other treated and soaking in.

Finger coating works ( Weve all done it at one time or another) is hard to get that even coating and uses a lot more lube. It does make hands soft though too.

I have used a bath towel for large batches of brass this works very well once the towel is impregnated until then care is needed to make sure the coating is suffient. I use the towel and Imperial sizing die wax. lay towel on flat surface add some lube and grasp corners on each end in each hand, raise and lower hands to roll agitate cases in the towel. A couple minutes and a few thousand cases are lubed. Store towel in a large ziplock bag for future use. I use the towel as is to very lightly lube pistol cases sized in carbide dies even lightens the force and gives a better finish.

Until you experiment with your actual equipment and see what it takes you wont know

[Tom W.]

I lube the inside of the case with set of Midway brushes and some RCBS lube. The outsides , depending on what I'm loading, will get rolled on the lube pad or some Imperial wax. I found out that too much lube on the shoulders WILL cause lube dents, some which can be fired out and others that won't.

[crankycalico]

my whole experience with sizing cases is with 38 special.. that's really easy with a carbide die.... lube 1 by a thin finger coat on the outside and simply touch the case mouth to the finger used to get some inside, repeat after 6 unlubed cases through die. REALLY easy...

The guy in the Lee website video uses what looks like a 1/8 of a tube of lee lube in a sort of Caligula level lubrication method... and after the universal advice of "don't lube the neck/shoulders" I was a tad curious on the thing.

Is there any real hassle in getting the pre made liquid in a spritzer bottle versus the aerosol stuff versus simply diluting the lee case lube like they say?

[largom]

I use the Imperial die wax. I don't apply it directly to the case but rub a LITTLE bit between my fore finger and thumb. I can then apply a thin coating on the case including the neck. Have been using the same can of Imperial now for 10 yrs. and still have plenty left after many thousands of cases.
Larry

[FLINTNFIRE]

I found with the old midway spray lube that it was more of a pain to clean off when doing large batches of brass , so I went back to lube pad with lube that is water soluble then a rinse and dry and all is well and less mess and time spent . Case dents from to much lube on neck and shoulder , stuck cases from to little lube , find what works for you and stay with it.

[trails4u]

I use the Imperial die wax. I don't apply it directly to the case but rub a LITTLE bit between my fore finger and thumb. I can then apply a thin coating on the case including the neck. Have been using the same can of Imperial now for 10 yrs. and still have plenty left after many thousands of cases.
Larry

I am in this camp. Can't tell you how many thousand cases I've lubed with one tin of Imperial......and I've not put much of a dent in it. I will tell ya...not ONE single stuck case in any caliber since I switched to it exclusively.

[Hick]

You can also use Hornady Unique case lube-- you use it like Imperial die wax-- a little on your fingers and just run your fingers over the case. 1 tub usually lubes at least 10,000 cases.

[crankycalico]

I don't know I got my dies set up, but somehow I was able to run a fired case in, pull it out, feel a tad of resistance, and it wasn't even lubed. lee .308 die.

I don't want to toss more money into the mix right now, im going to use the lee case lube and water it down like they say and do a nice spritz bath in a ziplock. IF they get stuck im just sending the dies back to lee and have them deal with it.

[EDG]

You might want to plan on a lot of down time if you pull rims off.
You will spend a lot more time and money mailing your die back and forth than the cost of better case lube or another FL die. There is no avoiding good case lubrication.

[georgerkahn]

I do pretty much the same as Largom (Post #12) -- and, in the 30 years-plus using Imperial (now purveyed by Redding) I've yet to have a stuck or dented case! Benefits of using the Imperial lub include: Running cases through a die -- whether carbine, chrome, or plain polished steel -- WILL work the case, with this lub minimizing friction and that effect; it will not in any way compromise/affect primer or powder; and, a microscopic coating remains on your brass, which attenuates oxidation. I pin-tumble my brass to be shiner than new -- and when loaded, using the Imperial wax, it seems to stay shiny longer than same brass, before being loaded. There are indeed very few products I 100% endorse -- for lubing cases, imho, there is no better. A scant amount on a wood-handled Q-tip touched to the inside mouth of say, every fifth case, keeps the expander ball from extruding the brass as well.
geo

[MUSTANG]

On thicker brass (Military .308 and 30-06 particularly), I lube inside of the neck with a q-tip using the same spray lanolin/alcohol mixture I use for the outside. I spray an RCBS lube pad with the lube spray (lay the q-tip on an edge and give the cotton a small spritz to wet it) and then let it sit a few minutes, roll the outside of the case and lube the inside neck with the q-tip using a 360 turn with the fingers. Then size. All works well using this technique for me.

[crankycalico]

I got down and messy with the lee lube. Despite the lee video and literature, is NOT meant for finger tip application.

It works alright, but when you run into a pocket of milk like water in it,,,, it just goes bottoms over tea kettle. Yeah, everything got through the dies right, and I got my universal expander basically set up for .308 mouth flaring.....

This time around I did something right, the seater die took out the mouth belling I did, what little I did anyway.