Home made case lubes......

[Skipper]

Believe it or not, Alberto VO-5 works pretty damn good.

[cast367]

3006 guns
I use armament clean oil with flanel and wipe the cases. Its very simpel and cheap.
Its works exelent.

leo367

[GabbyM]

I've been working through a bottle of Dillon case lube for years.
When I've a big batch of cases like 5.56mm. I place several hundred in a cardboard box. Spray on the lube then using my hands stir to coat all cases. Takes about fifteen seconds start to finish. After sizing and cleaning primer pockets I tumble with corn cob media in a vibratory machine. after they clean up which is easy to determine since the corn cob quits sticking. I add a dollop of case polish. The most annoying part is using a wire to push though every flash hole ensuring no media is packed in their or inside the case.

I must have ten thousand cases done with that one bottle of Dillon lube. I did cut it with alcohol when it was about half empty filled it back to the top. Still plenty slick. If I ever empty it I'll probably makes up some from the lanolin I keep for mixing bullet lube. Out of alcohol but I think it's available at paint supply stores.

[UweJ]

Like Calamity Jake I use the same recipe exept for one alteration. I only use 1 tbs full of lanolin. I don´t have to clean the cases after the alcohol evaporates.
Uwe

[Dale53]

GabbyM;
When I was shooting Big Bore i learned to "batch process". I used a Lee universal decapper and decapped all of the cases. I preferred Military Match cases for my 30'06 and .308 cases as well as the later .223 cases. After the first decapping, I swaged the primer pockets on the cases that required it. On the others, I just cleaned the primer pockets. Following the lead of Ed Harris, I diluted Lee's water soluble case lube on the basis of 10 parts water/one part case lube. I found a french fryer basket that fit a .50 caliber GI can, put the solution in the can, filled the basket with clean (tumble cleaned) decapped cases, shook the excess off and spread them out on newspapers to dry overnight. The beauty of Lee's water soluble case lube is that it is a wax and doesn't have to be cleaned from the case. It drys as a dry film INSIDE and outside. It is inert so it doesn't damage powder. It completely eliminates drag of the expanding stem on the size die and THAT is a distinct advantage.

To emphasize the order of things:

1 - Tumble clean fired cases
2 - Decap and clean primer pockets (this automatically takes care of groundcorn cobb
in the flash hole - the decapping stem clears it
3 - Dip the cases in Lee's diluted water soluble case lube and spread out
on newspapers to dry overnight
4 - Enjoy the freedom from drag over the expanding stem
5 - The GI can is sealed tight after use and the case lube will last for many,
many uses. It DOES need to be shaken before each use as it will
separate while sitting.


I did a thousand cases at a time, then batch loaded them with my Dillon 550B. Doing things this way, I put only clean cases through my sizing dies, they were well lubed both inside and out and did NOT require cleaning afterwards to remove the sizing wax. However, if leaving the sizing wax on the outside of the cases bothers you (possible extra back thrust on the rifle bolt, etc, then it is an easy matter to tumble loaded rounds for fifteen minutes to clean the exterior).

People worry about tumbling loaded rounds. The factory tumbles loaded rounds on every one they make. Just limit the time to fifteen minutes. Then I ALWAYS remove them immediately from the tumbler (don't want any possible solvent fumes to infiltrate the primers and damage them).

This system has worked well for me for many years.

Dale53

[1hole]

"Believe it or not, Alberto VO-5 works pretty damn good. "

I believe it. Actually soaps can be a very effective lube. Wire pulling lubes and Lee's excellant white toothpaste lube are soaps, I think RCBS "water soluable" lube is as well.

Waxes are excellant. Both Imperial and Hornady's "Unique' are reloader marketed soft waxes. Others that work very well are Kiwi Neutral Shoe Wax, Sno-Proof and Mink Oil boot treatment. Johnson's paste floor wax and Chap-Stick lip balm are pretty good too.

Thick oils with a high percentage of lanolin work well, including some sun screens and nursing mother's nipple balm/creams.

KY Jelly and it's generics work.

Crisko cooking shortening works, as do kitchen spray "butters" and PAM. Messy but they work!

I like Imperial, Mink Oil or Sno-Seal boot treatments (all soft waxes) best. Cheap, easy to apply with finger tips, clean and easy to remove.

But NOT WD-40, as I recently read of one guy trying!

[longhorn47]

And I thought I was the only one to use nursing mothers nipple balm cream but not on cast bullets please

[rockrat]

I am using liquid lanonlin from a health foods store about 1 pt lanolin to 16 parts isopropanol. Will try the tumbling to get it off. Only drawback, it wants to stay on the case.

[Dale53]

When I am bulk loading (1000 rounds or so at a time) I have found it useful to keep my old dirty media in a separate container. I have the LARGE Dillon vibratory tumbler. Using the OLD (dirty) media, I add two caps of odorless mineral spirits and tumble my loaded rounds for fifteen minutes. NOTE the time. I then IMMEDIATELY remove the loaded rounds (I don't want fumes from the mineral spirits to possibly infiltrate the primers).

Fifteen minutes will remove the case lube completely and the rounds are both dry and clean. Fifteen minutes will NOT cause any problems with the powder or primers.

FWIW
Dale53

[Ekalb2000]

mobil one

[MtGun44]

If price is the problem, buy Lee Carbide pistol dies. Cheap and good.

I'd NEVER lube any pistol caliber that I was going to load in quantity on the
550 !

Bill

[Netherwolf]

...After the alcohol evaporates, leaving the lanolin for resizing...how do you remove it, or is it even necessary? Anyone care to share their experience? Thanks!

I'm not gonna wade through 3 pages of replies to see if anyone actually answered your question (the thread seemed to morph into a discussion about various lubes rather than how to get the crap off after use). I work for a commercial remanufacturer who tumbles his brass after resizing to get the lube off before resuming the loading process. Yes, it's a bit more expense in terms of extra media but it works, works right now & is less time comsuming than hand washing/wiping the stuff off - no muss, no fuss, so to speak.

Netherwolf

[Calamity Jake]

I'm not gonna wade through 3 pages of replies to see if anyone actually answered your question (the thread seemed to morph into a discussion about various lubes rather than how to get the crap off after use). I work for a commercial remanufacturer who tumbles his brass after resizing to get the lube off before resuming the loading process. Yes, it's a bit more expense in terms of extra media but it works, works right now & is less time comsuming than hand washing/wiping the stuff off - no muss, no fuss, so to speak.

Netherwolf

All you need to read is the 1st page.

I answered his ? on post #10

[Shooter6br]

I use 2 parts veg shorting and 1 part beeswax melted .I use it as a finger lube for my 45-70. Member Junior receipe

[Netherwolf]

All you need to read is the 1st page.

I answered his ? on post #10

I didn't make it to #10. Just got impatient that no one was answering the guys question. Oh well, if getting egg on my face is the worse thing I do today, I'll be in pretty good shape.
Netherwolf

[R.C. Hatter]

I have used common Crisco with great satisfaction to lube cases. To remove lube,
use isopropyl alcohol on a shop rag to wipe off cases, then tumble as usual in tumbler
if you so desire. It's cheap, doesn't stain clothing or shop rags, and just plain works.

[Texasflyboy]

I believe it was Ed Harris that suggested diluting Lee sizing lube (it is a water soluble wax) 10/1 water/lube, putting several cups of the mixture (you'll need several tubes of the inexpensive lube) in a .50 caliber ammo can.

LOL. Deja Vu. I watched Ed do just that a few months ago when I over at his place. I thought then "That is slick, I need to do that myself".

I still use Imperial Wax. I don't load nearly the volume Ed does. At the moment.

[zxcvbob]

I haven't tried this yet because I have a couple of bottles of Dillon spray case lube (plus I usually use Kiwi mink oil for a case lube) but castor oil is an EP lubricant and it's soluble in alcohol. And it's cheaper and easier to find than lanolin. So you should be able to make a good spray case lube using castor oil (the laxative) and denatured alcohol -- not sure what the dilution would be, but I'd start out maybe 7:1 (one Tablespoon castor oil in a 4 ounce spray bottle and fill with alcohol) and see how that worked.

[JKH]

zxcvbob,

Thanks for the idea! I have been toying with making a lanolin based spray lube but no appropriate lanolin is available locally, ordering it pushes the cost over buying ready made lube.

I bought a bottle of 99% isopropyl alcohol for $4+ and a 6 oz bottle of Castor oil for $5, mixed 1.5 tablespoons of oil with 4 ounce's alcohol and put it in a spray bottle, lubed 40 .30-06 cases the other day and ran them through the die, not quite as smooth as the old Hornady Unique paste I have used for 25 years (same small tub! still half full) but amply slick to get the job done and a LOT faster than applying lube to each case prior to sizing.

Now, the only issue I have is quick and easy removal of the castor oil, I tryed washing with hot water and Dawn dish detergent with so so results, it wipes off easily but I dont want to have to wipe each case as it is tedious and very time consuming, and I do not own a case tumbler so that is out.
Any suggestions? How about a bath in cheaper 70% isoporpol alcohol? Or?

Even if I have to hand wipe the cases I will stick with this lube for now, it takes a lot longer to set the cases up than to spray them (I could leave themlying down but like to hit them from both sides at a 45 deg angle and let the spray go into the case mouth to lube the expander, seems to work well at elast with LEE expanders). The supply I have should last a couple years or at least 3 or 4 thousand cases.

Jeff

[Char-Gar]

Mobil Vactra No 2 Way Oil makes a nifty case lubricant. For fun, I just used a little on an unsized GI 30-06 case and ran it into an 8 X 57 form die. I now have a long necked 8 X 57 case as easy as pie. It wipes off with a paper towl.

Those folks will lathes and mills buy this stuff by the gallon for about $18.00 per. It also makes a great lube for autopistol raceways. I keep a thin coat on the bolt of my Clark Ruger Mk II race gun.