How do I lube rifle cases for a progresive press?

[put]

I have a new Hornady Lock n Load AP press. I will be loading 223s. I have loaded some 357s and 38s in it, but I used carbide dies so there was no need to lube. I normaly lube with Hornady One Shot when I use my sigle stage press on rifle loads?

What is a good procedure for rifle brass in a progressive press?

Thanks

Put

[Newtire]

Use the same Hornady One Shot is what I'd do. I set the cases in the case holder block & spray like they tell you to and works great for a whole run of 243 or 30-30 or 30-06. I also have used RCBS case-slick but tumble after that so as to get the lube out of the cases.

[SharpsShooter]

The Hornady One Shot is great stuff and will work perefectly with your progressive. Tip for you. After lubing the cases, give the sizing die a quick spray (internally). Sometimes the first case feels sticky to me and I am wary of the "stuck case" in the die. A quick spray into the die solved the "sticky"


SS

[put]

Thanks for the info.

So spray wait a while before loading and wipe afterwards?

Put

[SharpsShooter]

Set the cases in a loading block. Spray from all four directions to be sure of good coverage and get some in the case mouths too. Wait a few seconds and get started. I just wipe em off before boxing them up.

SS

[Bullshop]

When loading on a progressive and having to lube a large quantity of cases I will lube in this way. Treat a medium size towel with case lube well worked into the towel. Lay the towel flat on a table and place a quantity of brass on the towel. Now pull up on the sides as to make a cylinder of the towel and fold those sides together. Then twist the ends together so that you now have a brass sausage with a towel skin. With an end in each hand shake side to side so the brass moves back and fourth in the towel. Takes about a minute to get just enough lube on the cases. After cases are lubed I store the towel in a 1 gallon wide mouth plastic pickle jar until needed again.
I observed this method being used by a loading facility that had a contract to supply 1,000.000 per month each of 9mm and 223 to the gov. They had three men feeding four Camdex machines and they used this method to lube.
When I finally went to a progressive press to fill volume orders I adopted this method and it has worked well enough that I have never felt the need to look for another.
BIC/BS

[garandsrus]

Put,

I use Lanolin and 99% Rubbing Alcohol mixed together in a spray bottle. It is the same as what Dillon sells for their spray lube.

Keep in mind that you will need to check the length of the sized rifle brass to see if it needs to be trimmed before loading it. I use a progressive press but do the resizing as a separate step. Then I load the cases on the progressive.

John

[nicholst55]

Put,
Keep in mind that you will need to check the length of the sized rifle brass to see if it needs to be trimmed before loading it. I use a progressive press but do the resizing as a separate step. Then I load the cases on the progressive.

John


+1; Especially for larger brass like .308, I size it separately to reduce flex with the Dillon, and to allow me to clean primer pockets, trim and deburr, etc. It takes longer than sizing and loading at the same time, but I think it's worthwhile. I know a lot of other people who handle it the same way.

[Patrick L]

I second resizing as a separate operation.

I do this on the progressive press, which basically means all you have to do is feed them in, they end up ejected into the catch bin. Then I either tumble them, or if I use a water soluable lube I rinse them in the sink with hot water and let them air dry for a day or so. In the summer time I'll even shut them up in the car in the hot sun; that dries them out fast.

I then run the dry resized cases thru the rest of the loading sequence on the progressive. I know its an extra step, but I think in the long run its easier than wiping lube off of hundreds of loaded rounds. I tend to reload in large, planned batches, so its really no problem to plan this out a few days ahead of time.

[cohutt]

Toss a couple handfulls of 223 in a shoebox, spay lightly, shake, repeat. Let them dry for a few minutes, you are good to go. Keep the box as a dedicated lube box (keep covered with lid to keep out dust, in my shop anyway).

[Herb in Pa]

I've had good luck using the generic equivalent of PAM I just stand the cases up and give them a spray on all sides. It works fine in my Dillon 550.

[No_1]

Now that is a capital idea and cheap cost to boot. How hard is it to get off?

R.


I've had good luck using the generic equivalent of PAM I just stand the cases up and give them a spray on all sides. It works fine in my Dillon 550.

[toecutter]

Separate resize/reload cycles. Sure it takes longer, but gives me a chance to do all those other operations that's needed between the two. If you want to run it as one cycle, get the dillon carbide sizing dies for .223 (about $200) and get the trimmer die and trimmer head (also from dillon). Since I didn't want to spend the money on the trimmer, I am doing all my trimming using a gracey trimmer (works great for .308 and .223) as well as a gracey primer pocket reamer/cleaner. Cases are then primed and fed into the hopper on the 1050 for charging seating and crimping. I'm still using the Lee factory crimper (One of the few decent products made by lee) to guarantee good grip, yet avoid bulging the necks (as often happens with taper crimp feature of seating dies).

[Lloyd Smale]

I may get some flak for this but have been doing it for years and have never had a problem. I tried the one shot lube and still get an occasional stuck case. Especially with 223s and 308s shot in semi auto chambers that require a little more sizing down then ammo shot out of a bolt. What i do is as im feeding the press just rub a little lanolin on each case with my fingers. Just dipping my fingers in the jug of lanolin when needed. Then i load them just like i would any other case and when there all done throw the loaded rounds in a tumbler for about an hour and the lube is gone. I used to do it in a seperate operation like some of you but when your loading a couple thousand 223s it just takes to long for me. Ive been loading ammo like this for over 10 years and probably load 5000 .223s in a year and about the same in 308 and have never had an incident doing it. Do it at your own risk though. Ive checked ammo over the chrono to see if i was upsetting the burning rate of the powder many times and have never seen it effect velocitys one bit and have a hard time beliving that in a vibrating tumbler theres enough action to ignite a primer. I guess if a guy was worried about it he could run the tumbler outside away from everything but mine runs 10 feet away from me while im loading and i sure dont loose any sleep over it. Only time i load in steps anymore is if i have a fresh batch of once fired brass that needs primer pocket crimps removed. Then i size deprime and tumble then swadge the pockets and go back and finish on the press.

[toecutter]

Another good thing, if you are interested in making your own lube. Just mix up some liquid lanolin and alcohol and put it in a spray bottle. Usually a 1:5 mix (favoring the alcohol). Put them in a big pan (I use cat-litter pans obtained new from wally world).

The big problem is that certain oil based compounds may inactivate primers. I'm a little bit ADD about it, and usually wash (soap and water) and then tumble.

[Diamond-City-Bob]

I dump a couple hundred .223 cases into a gallon zip-lock, hit 'em with about 15 seconds of One-Shot, shake the bag for a minute or two and they're good to go.
Bob

[Sundogg1911]

I use one shot as well. toss 'em into a beer case size box with the sides cut down to about 1" and spray shake the box around a bit and then spray again. I wipe them off after reloading. Like Lloyd said, I also occasionally get a stuck case, but I can live with that rather than go an extra step. I only load .223 and 762 x 39 russian with my Dillons, all of my other rifle I usually do on a rock chucker. but I tend to squeeze off way to many with my AR and AK to load'em up single stage.
Those rifles are my "stress relievers" :)

[DanM]

I think the Lee white case lube is just lanolin in a tube. I squeeze about a 1" piece into a small travel size spray mister bottle, fill with denatured alcohol and shake it up. Dump cases on foil sheet, spray, and jiggle them around. The denatured alcohol evaporates quickly. Wipe finished rounds before boxing them up.