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Thread: Water Removable Case Lube

  1. #21
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    RCBS lube. A little bit into a large Ziploc bag. Dump in your clean brass, (wet tumbled/washed/dried). Close and knead for a few minutes. Dump into a clean bowl and set to sizing. Wash off in hot water.

    Close the bag up to keep the lube inside clean. I usually get 200-300 .357 cases lubed before I need to add more. One little bottle of the stuff lasts me for thousands of cases.

    I've even used it when crunching .223 brass down to make .22-3000 Lovell, (.315 base diameter) which is a hydraulic press job. Don't see any advantage in the waxes. Stuff is cheap enough that I've never even thought about trying to make my own.

    STP is almost impossible to get off surfaces without heat and solvent. That's why we used it 50-50 with motor oil as assembly lube when I was building race engines.

    nb. I've always assumed that RCBS was mostly lanolin. Am I wrong?
    Last edited by uscra112; 02-04-2020 at 10:22 AM.
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  2. #22
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    I've always assumed that RCBS was mostly lanolin. Am I wrong?
    I'm not sure what's in it, but i doubt lanolin, as it's completely water soluble. I was thinking like a super concentrated soap, because it really does seem to clean the cases, and my hands.
    Whatever it is, i like it. Cheap, too. 5 buck for a bottle that seems to last forever.

  3. #23
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    I'm stuck on lanolin and alcohol simply because it works well and doesn't dent the cases. I can use it right away or come back hours later and it still works fine. Removal... I simply toss it back in the tumbler for a while and the cases come out without any residue of the lube. I don't want to try any water removal technique simply because of the wait time involved in getting the cases dry again for loading. With my tumbler removal I simply check the cases and see that they are once again clean and a quick blow with compressed air to remove any tumbling media dust.

  4. #24
    Boolit Master pertnear's Avatar
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    I wish I had a good answer for the OP's original question but I didn't even know that any water-soluble case lubes existed until I read this thread. I'm still learning...

    I once had a gallon of .223's sitting in front of me waiting to be sized. Fretting the lube job, I just sprayed them down good with WD40 & massaged it through all the cases with my hands. All cases sized fine without a hitch. Afterward, I agitated the sized cases in a bucket of grease cutting dish soap, then a water rinse, then into the pin tumbler. Not highly recommended, but it worked
    Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.

  5. #25
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    A water-soluble lanolin derivative does exist. No idea whether this is what's in RCBS lube.

    http://imperialoel.com/products/lano...n-derivatives/

    Lanolin is virtually insoluble in water. By reacting with ethylene oxide, it can be converted into ethoxylated lanolin, a water-soluble derivative.

    "LANIS PEG 75 is a PEG-75 lanolin; it is one of the most common derivatives, where 75 is the number of moles of ethylene oxide added per mole of lanolin. The derivatives have similar solubilising properties, but very different emollient properties: PEG-75 lanolin has a low degree of emolliency."
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  6. #26
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    WD-40 is basically just Stoddard Solvent. Lube properties on metal are fair to poor. I think pertnear lucked out.
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  7. #27
    Boolit Master 44magLeo's Avatar
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    I don't know what Stoddard Solvent is but the WD in WD40 stands for water dispersant. It's not a lube.
    It gets water out of the way so the parts can do what they should. When I was a kid most people with Chevy's carried it around with them. If there was water on the hood and you opened it this water ran right on top of the distributor. This water got inside and disrupted the spark flow. Open the cap, spray with the WD40 in the cap and on the rotor, all the water runs off. Replace cap and it ran fine.
    I never use WD40 as a lube or penetrating oil. For those jobs I use what's designed for those jobs.
    On case lubes I have used STP. Got a 270 case stuck in a Lyman die. Tried the drill a hole, tap a thread puller deal. No go. I ended up sending it back to Lyman and they sent me a new die. Never used it after.
    That's when I started using Lee's case lube. Just recently I got a can of Imperial lube. Can't really tell much difference between the too as far as sizing goes. The Imperial may size a case just a bit easier. It cleans of about the same.
    I also just recently learned about diluting the Lee to use in a spray bottle. Seems to work well. Just have to shake it well before use.
    The Imperial might have a more noticeable difference if I was case forming for a wildcat or something. My loading is for standard cases that are not hard to find.
    Leo

  8. #28
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    My first tube of LEE case lube lasted years and worked so good I bought four more (just in case they stopped making it) - used it with no problems reworking 348 to 45/75 (348 brass is pretty tough)

    I run a 22/250 and only neck size for it and I use a little bottle cap of graphite powder - dip the neck in and give it a shake to dislodge excess - thats a quick easy deal for neck size and expand as I dont need to clean the lube from the necks - just load em and shoot - not a good plan for the body of cases though!!

  9. #29
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    Stoddard Solvent is what's used in the cleaning tanks found in auto repair shops. As good a solvent as kerosene, but far less flammable. Basically a straight run naptha, with stuff added to inhibit ignition.

    I haven't needed to buy any for many years, and a quick scan of the Innertubes indicates that it's no longer easy. Even 20 years ago the EPA was clamping down on it. Companies that serviced auto shops had to be licensed as HAZMAT handlers. Which looks pretty silly considering the amount of WD-40 that's released into the environment every day.
    Last edited by uscra112; 02-05-2020 at 09:26 AM.
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  10. #30
    Boolit Master TheDoctor's Avatar
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  11. #31
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    Who's gonna buy some and give us a report?
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  12. #32
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    Here's the MSDS for the RCBS lube. Says it's 98% by weight of "oxyrane". Searching that, I seem to find a lot of entries for ethylene oxide. That might make the lube a form of ethylene glycol, but my chemistry-fu is 60 years old and so thin you can see through it in spots.

    https://www.rcbs.com/on/demandware.s..._CaseLube2.pdf
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  13. #33
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    I use an Alcohol - Lanolin mix sprayed on with a spray bottle. I don't wash it off after use, it seems to absorb into my hands when handling the ammo.

  14. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by dogmower View Post
    rcbs case lube is essentially super concentrated soap. works great, washes off and cleans the cases while you wash. it's all i use for case lube (except for case forming, then i use imperial case wax).
    I don't know what it is, but I have used it for many years and it works great. It easily washes off with plain water, great stuff.
    NRA Endowment member, TSRA Life member, Distinguished Rifleman, Viet Nam Vet

  15. #35
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    Has anyone tried ultra sound gel? Its cheap and slippery and water soluble also.

  16. #36
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    Isn't that stuff just glycerine? KY Jelly?
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  17. #37
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    I used to use Kiwi Mink oil.
    Worked as good a Imperial wax.
    At less than half the cost, for over double of the product.
    They don't sell it anymore.
    Something about them getting sued.
    At their suggestion, I got their Kiwi conditioning oil.
    It's almost the same, but not quite as good.
    I've used Lee lube, mixed with alcohol.
    It worked fine for normal sizing.
    Not so good with case forming.
    Good thing with the Lee lube is you don't have to remove it.
    It's a kind of dry lube, so won't affect the powder.
    With other lubes the powder might clump.

  18. #38
    Boolit Buddy gumbo333's Avatar
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    If you are 35 or 40 years old, buy some Imperial Sizing Wax. Maybe $7 to $10 a tin, whatever. You will still be using that same tin when you are 70. Costs just a few pennies a year and never fails. Having a tube of Lee around never hurts either.
    Never trade luck for skill.

  19. #39
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    The best " Water Removable " case lube .... STP Oil Treatment is not water removable and a lot of the lubes listed here are not water soluble / removable ... But one that is water soluble is good old fashioned Lee Case Lube...the white stuff in the tube .
    For heavy duty forming jobs use it as directed on the tube...apply with fingers from tube onto case .
    For lighter jobs and resizing mix it with denatured alcohol and strain into a small spray bottle , shake well and spritz cases , roll around and they dry in seconds...size them when dry .
    No need to remove with anything other than a dry (or slightly damp) rag wipe .
    Gary
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