Mixing up lube - ratio recommendations?

[OnceFired]

I've decided to go down the road of roll-my-own on the case lube side of things. If I'm trying to be as self-sufficient as possible, it seems like a good idea to go that route with as many components as is feasible. I think I can handle combining two non-hazardous substances together now that I have handled accelerants, explosives, and me-made-projectiles.

I've picked up a 12oz bottle of red HEET 99% isopropyl alcohol and have a 4 oz bottle of pure lanolin oil on order. I'm currently planning for 6:1 ratio but I have heard from a couple sources I might want to go 10:1 or 12:1 in a spray bottle.

Thoughts?

Good experiences or bad would be welcomed.

[Grasslander]

154643

I use 12:1 Seems to be just right..

[ole 5 hole group]

OR you could roll your own by powder coating your cast bullets to cut down on smoke and maintain a very clean seating die.;-)

[mdi]

I would guess that lanolin to alcohol ratio wouldn't matter much. Not so thin as to not leave enough lanolin on the cases after the alcohol evaporates, and not so thick as to clog the sprayer. I keep a jar of my case lube on my bench (I've used it for other stuff even wiping a bit on my hands) and my best recollection is it's about 6 or 8 to one, alcohol to lanolin...

[Dragonheart]

I use a 12 to one mix and it works just fine, a little goes a long way. There is no advantage in over lubricating your cases. I use this lube when cases require a lube, when I bulge bust cases and on my powder coated bullets to make them glide through the sizer. The alcohol evaporates quickly and the lanolin remains. I have even found my local $ store sells the alcohol gas treatment for a buck, such a deal.

[wordsmith]

I use 1:10 currently, and for my preferences, it might be a tad thick. I will go 1:12 on my next batch, which is probably many years away. A little does go a long way.

[OnceFired]

Much appreciated. My order should arrive next week so I will try it out then.

[OnceFired]

My amazon purchase arrived today, so I mixed up a batch of 6:1 lanolin:isopropyl alcohol solution. I'm waiting for the alcohol to evaporate from the brass I just spritzed & rolled around.

Pretty simple setup.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/630/23571075196_cdfa744b40_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/BUTVsd)

[Grasslander]

OnceFired,

I think you will want to thin your ratio out. What I have found is, if you use too much lanolin, it will accumulate in your resizing die and give you dimples on the case shoulders.

You really don't need that much lanolin for lubrication. It just takes a little, to do a good job.

Like I said in my previous post a 1:12 ratio is about right. Even at that, I still have to clean my die out with a mop soaked in alcohol once in awhile.

I think a 1:14 might be even better.

Also try and get some inside of the case mouth on at least half of your batch. It makes it easier to pull the button through.

As always, your mileage may vary...:)

[OnceFired]

@Grasslander - agreed that I want it thinner / more diluted. I just wanted to start a bit thicker and see where it goes. Harder to make it thicker again since I have to mail order the lanolin, so I figured start thick and go as thin as desired since I can pick up HEET anywhere.

The problem I have is the decapping die. I swear I bought one that was messed up. The decap pin constantly gets stuck INSIDE the throat of the case. And, the lube didn't help this time either - so I got yet another 5.56 case stuck in it.

I think I need to get a universal decapper.

OF

[Dragonheart]

Who made your die?

[toallmy]

You may have to pollish the top of your expander pin , or sizing the case mouth down to much.

[OnceFired]

So I took photos of my beat up decapping pin & the clamp that holds it in the die and sent them to Lee. I expected to order replacement parts at my expense, but instead I was sent a new pin and clamp for free.

I got them installed in the same old die and voila, everything is working. I compared the two pins side by side and wouldn't ya know it, the old one is bent. Curved is a better word - it actually looks bowed slightly inward on both ends with one side being slightly worse. I couldn't tell until I had a new one to compare it to.

I'd given the top end a pretty good beating trying to get cases unstuck, to the point where the top end of the pin flattened out more like a tiny nail head. So I figured I had done damage to it for sure while dealing with stuck cases.

But, once I saw how badly the old pin looked I figured I got something craptacular from CraigsList. I bought that die several years ago and met the guy in a Home Depot parking lot for it. And my guess is that I inherited a problem. There is no way that pin bent that way from what I was doing to it - it should have punched straight through any stuck brass case before it did that.

Ah well. New one is working nicely along with the new lube. :)

Got 100 cases deprimed just while tuning it up.

OF