Lubricant for brass in tungsten carbide die?

[LeonardC]

From the RCBS RELOADING DIES instructions:
"CARBIDE SIZER DIE
...When using a Carbide Sizer Die, it is not necessary to lubricate a pistol straight-wall case. However, the 30M1 Carbine is heavy-walled, tapered, and must have some lubrication. The .500 S&W and .480 S&W need occasional lubrication as well. We recommend lightly lubricating ever fourth or fifth case for best results..."

I think they meant to say .480 Ruger. I follow the above instructions for .500 S&W and .480 Ruger. I use RCBS lube. I haven't had a problem with other handgun cases in Carbide Dies.

[alamogunr]

I use my one and only mixture of lanolin/alcohol. The lanolin doesn't want to stay in solution so I have to shake it every time I use it. Then I only lube about every 5th case. For bottleneck cases I use Imperial Sizing Wax.

As for WD40, I only use it to spray my toilet auger after use. Take advantage of "water displacement"

[nueces5]

thanks for all the opinions
I think I had forgotten to use furniture polish, I'm going to try that again.
As for the wd 40, I don't think it is as bad as they say, a while ago a friend did an analysis of the wd40 and it had a small amount of oil.

[bimus]

I think the spay RCBS sales work better than anything I have made or bought over the years once I bought some lube from Cabela's ended up pulling the carbide insert out of my die.

[Jtarm]

The whole point of carbide is so you don’t have to lube.

Keep your brass clean if you want it to run smoothly.

If you’ve been using the WD40 on even mildly dirty cases, I’d recommend giving your sizing die a good hosing with carb cleaner, mineral spirits, something. There’s probably a good bit of gunk built up in it.

[justindad]

I have a bar of Felix world famous lube. When I convert .40S&W brass to .357Sig, I will lightly roll every 4th case over the block of FWFL.

[Winger Ed.]

As for the wd 40, I don't think it is as bad as they say, a while ago a friend did an analysis of the wd40 and it had a small amount of oil.

That's kind of the issue with it being used on guns. 'A small amount of oil'.
Plus, it dries rather quickly and leaves a stiff, gummy, sticky-- dirt attracting goo in places you don't want it.

It's about the fastest way I've seen to gum up a trigger group, and even more or less seize everything in a pump shotgun.

[Froogal]

The whole point of carbide is so you don’t have to lube.

Keep your brass clean if you want it to run smoothly.

If you’ve been using the WD40 on even mildly dirty cases, I’d recommend giving your sizing die a good hosing with carb cleaner, mineral spirits, something. There’s probably a good bit of gunk built up in it.

Supposedly yes, but I was loading brand new brass and got one seriously stuck in the die. I've been using the Lee sizing lube ever since.

[Jtarm]

Supposedly yes, but I was loading brand new brass and got one seriously stuck in the die. I've been using the Lee sizing lube ever since.

I’d look seriously at another die then.

I’ve been running carbide sizers almost 50 years and have never lubed a case.

[20:1]

+1 on this! WD-40 was never meant to be a lubricant! And if the loud to dry it will gum up everything!

My old neighbor was an electrician, he was a very interesting old guy with a lot of great lessons to pass on. One involved when he was working in a factory and an expensive electric motor failed. He ordered a replacement motor, then checked the service history for the machine that used the motor. It had been serviced a month earlier, so he asked the guy who serviced it if he remembered oiling the bearings in the motor. The guy did, and showed him what he used. It was WD40. So he autopsied the motor and found the bearings were fouled with a substance that resembled dried varnish. WD40 was banned from the premises after that. I've had similar experiences with it when I used it on guns in my younger days. It's quite a pain to remove when it hardens.

[Clyde Wadsworth]

Another vote for One Shot.

[glockshooter]

I use Dillon case lube and will make my own when that runs out using 99% isopropyl alcohol and liquid lanolin. I run my processed brass through a FA pin tumbler sans pins to clean the lube off. The best price/availability for the alcohol was Amazon.

[charlie b]

FWIW, the reason I use a lube for my 9mm. HK uses a 'stepped' chamber. Resizing the bottom half takes a lot of effort, even with lube in a carbide size die. .45, .357, etc, no problem with carbide and no lube.

[jules]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iYkDaW5bWcM

[BobT]

WD-40 is evil, and should be punished.

People are evil, and so are punished with WD-40.

Amen!

When it comes to guns I only use WD-40 for one thing and that is for wiping down the bore on a muzzle loader after cleaning with water. Over the years I have found 2 sure fire ways to ruin a tank of bluing salts, one is WD-40 and the other is red Dykem, I don't know about blue Dykem but I won't take a chance with it after the experience with the red.

[bcraig]

That's kind of the issue with it being used on guns. 'A small amount of oil'.
Plus, it dries rather quickly and leaves a stiff, gummy, sticky-- dirt attracting goo in places you don't want it.

It's about the fastest way I've seen to gum up a trigger group, and even more or less seize everything in a pump shotgun.

There is an old saying that all you need on a farm is WD-40 and Gray Tape.
If it wont move and you want it to move use the WD-40 and it moves and you dont want it to move and it does use the Gray Tape .
And if working on Farm equipment in some situations there is some truth to that.

As far as guns go, almost everyone I knew in Central AR that deer hunted used either a Lever action 30-30 or a Remington 740 or 742 chambered in 30-06.

Almost all cleaned their gun 'maintained' their gun by pulling the Bolt back on the Remington and spraying WD-40 inside the the action for a second or two and then spraying the 'clip' and then some who were Very meticulous would take the Forend of and spray the action bars and where the rode until dripping wet.
Same with Remington Pump and auto shotguns.
With the Lever actions open lever and slobber it inside the action.

As a teenager in our old deercamp was always interested in guns was always eager to keep everybodys gun running like it should.

I FINALLY got MOST of my Farmer Friends to understand that my way which was to take a wrag with a little gas or alcohol on it and clean all the WD-40 off of Everything and not to use it again went a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOng way to prevent Jams.
Run them dry
Also taught them to stop Farmer tightening the scope mount screws !

Old saying is "you live and you learn'
I learned long ago ,I dont want a Can of WD-40 anywhere close to my guns.

All Malfunctions were for the most part gone.
There were very very occasional instances where a bad 'clip' was responsible for a jam.

[Polymath]

WD-40 = Water Displacement - version 40. Not meant for guns. It was meant to dry out and protect electronics.
Contains a shellac that will gum things up. Try it. spray some on a piece of glass and lay it down in the sun. a day or so later you can take a razor scraper and peel it right off. I use this to kill primers in live ammo, when I want to save the cartridge for display purposes.

[Anchorite]

https://thedermreview.com/bag-balm/
What’s Inside Bag Balm?
The Original Bag Balm Skin Moisturizer has a very simple formulation of only four ingredients:

Petrolatum
Lanolin
Paraffin wax
8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate

This. I used imperial die wax too, but Bag Balm for the win. Your wife/GF will let you reload more if you use Bag Balm than Imperial.

[.429&H110]

Per kit instructions, I roll every 10th case on the RCBS lube pad, makes old brass go smooth.
I am still using the first bottle of lube that came with the kit 19 years ago. You don't need much.
It does get crud in the carbide die that has to be wiped out.
My brass is not at all shiny, just shaken in dawn and citric acid, rinsed and dried in the hot sun on tinfoil.
I shot that brass and saved it, let me say factory load Federal will not fly straight out of my Super Redhawk.
So I have here a few thousand brass that almost convinced me I could never hit anything. Old boxes say $19.95.
I retire them after 50 cycles, haven't split one yet, they do get grubby looking.
This forum taught me the how and why. Thank you.
I think that carbide die will outlive me.

[Kevin Rohrer]

This has been asked and answered too many times.

No lube is needed for reloading straightway pistol cases (M1 Carbine is the exception), especially something as minuscule as the 9mm Punibellum.