Shoulder dents in 223 cases

[1hole]

... I just finished resizing 80 cases and had a lot of shoulder oil dents. I am using Bag Balm for lube, applied by wiping on with fingers, a generous amount. I learned early not to lube neck or shoulder, that reduced number of dents but did not eliminate them.

Cases get stuck in the lower (thicker) parts. You're almost certainly making the new guy mistake of lubing the upper case too much and the lower part too little. A THIN film of lube on the neck and shoulder is helpful and only a very little more on the lower case is quite sufficient.

A clue to how well you're doing is the effort required to jam the cases into the FL sizer. If it's hard to do then withdraw it and apply more 'slick-em' to the lower case and do it again; do that and you'll never have another stuck case.

I doubt there is any commercial case lube that's actually "better" than others when correctly applied. The real working difference between lubes is how they are best applied; determine how you wish to lube your cases (roll, spray or finger rub) and get a lube that works well that way.

To each his own but I tossed my messy old lube pads decades ago and will never go back and I hate the mess of over spray AND the lube that's wasted. But I love the finger applied soft waxes (Imperial, Unique, Kiwi Mink Oil, bag balms, etc); done right they are super fast to apply with just fingertips and they leave my hands, dies and ammo clean.

[Steve Steven]

Latest report: Well the extended case holder did not work, the Lyman case holder I am using is 70 thousands to big to go up inside the threads, I don't have a tool post grinder to cut it down, besides its my only 223 holder. Wonder if a Lee one is softer and could be cut down with lathe tooling?

On another note, boys are shooting my M1 Garand next match in a "as issued" M1 match, so I pulled out some R-P factory primed brass I had. Checked cases in my FORSTER case length gage, they were 3 to 5 thousands too long. I resized them using the Bag Balm and was surprised at how little was required. Maybe I was using too much lube on the 223 cases.

Next step is to get some Hornady "One Shot" and try that.

Steve

[oldhenry]

For me Hornady Unique used sparingly (just a slight amount on my finger tips) for the outside & a slight amount on a Q-tip for the neck inside.

I haven't used my RCBS lube pad in 30 years.

[gnappi]

Either switch to an alcohol/lanolin lube or imperial wax.
>>SNIP<<

Agreed 100%

[Wayne Smith]

Bag Balm is an alcohol/lanolin lube with a touch of antibiotic added.

[Fireball 57]

SteveSteven: While I use Imperial Sizing Wax for all rifle case sizing, I use it sparingly as It can cause shoulder dents. After sizing the case, I take a clean cotton cloth and put a few drops of lighter fluid on the cloth, wipe the case in fluid and by the time I put the sized and wiped case in the loader block, the case is dry! Be careful, no smoking while reloading and NO SHOULDER DENTS, EVER!! Have a good day. Fireball

[SweetMk]

I hope the case dent problem is resolved,,
and, I hope that you are not tossing the damaged 223 cases,,

Any friend that has a 300 AAC Blackout would love to have dented shoulder cases.
The process of making 300 AAC brass cuts that shoulder off first, so, those brass surely would still be useful.

[Steve Steven]

Latest on my case dent problem:

I needed 20 more cases to fill out a box of 50, so I broke out some commercial once fired brass (Winchester) I had, it had been deprimed, citric acid cleaned and bagged up for 6 months.

I sized it using a Lee die I just bought (RCBS was involved in case holder work) using less case lube as several here had advised. Worked great, only 2 minor dents out of 20, these were early in the task as I was learning how to apply less lube.

Think thats the answer, the amount of lube I had been using was based on my previous work with '06 and 308 brass, and was clearly too much for the smaller 223 cases. large case, large lube; small case, small lube

Thanks for the advice and thoughts, its appreciated!

Steve

[Bazoo]

I have found myself not lubing far enough down the case sometimes if I wasn't paying attention, those are hard to size regardless of how much lube is on the upper half.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I've used the case lube pads a lot in past; It helps to occasionally clean the pad thoroughly, then re-apply the lube.Yes - they do get looking nasty grungy otherwise, LOL

[brstevns]

Easy fix.......Imperial Sizing Wax

Been using it for almost 40 years, the best case lube I found.
A tin will last thru 1000's pieces of brass. a little goes a long way. I use to get those shoulder dents whenever I used any of the liquid lubes.

[Steve Steven]

Got the Lee #4 shell holder and tried cutting it down in the lathe, it cut easily and clean with a carbide tool. Finishing up now, the air vent hole is an 1/8" above the lock ring.

Steve

[Bazoo]

I think I'd have tried drlling a hole in the lock ring at the vent hole. Course I ain't got a lathe though.

[wv109323]

I use Hornady case lube and a lube pad. No stuck cases and very, very few dimples over 7000 resized cases.

[Thin Man]

To avoid lube dents in .223 brass I smear a modest amount of RCBS lube on a pad. I first size a lubed case, then an unlubed case. Repeat this cycle until all brass is sized. If I find occasional stiff sizing with the unlubed brass I switch over to 2 lubed cases and one not lubed because the amount of lube on the pad has reduced to cause the need to go this way. The RCBS lube is very easy to removed from sized cases, something I really enjoy.

[JeffG]

I roll mine in a lube pad, which takes care of the main body. When I take them off the pad, I spin the neck and shoulder between thumb and fore finger which lubes and removes any excess. No lube dents.

[Steve Steven]

Just finished sizing 50 .223 cases, no dents! Used a minimum amount of lube with my Lee sizer, no stuck cases. Thanks to all who recommended to use less lube, it worked!

Steve

[Three44s]

With the Hornady Unique lube, I use it sparingly like the Imperial.

I place a tiny bit on the neck as I spin it in my fingers but AVOID getting any on the shoulder. I then transition to the case body, preferably starting at the base and work towards the shoulder but again stopping short of it.

Even getting too much lube on the outside of the neck can lead to shoulder denting so go easy on the neck lubing.

Three44s