My Homemade Case Lube

[GRUMPA]

Figure I would put this here since this is a case forming section. And from time to time get PM's on how it's made.

I realize folks seem to have a variety of lubes they use for there own uses, and this is just mine that I use for everything.

All I use is a 50/50 mix of Anhydrous Lanolin and Vaseline. I got this mixture somewhere off this site when I got my swaging dies and decided to roll my own j-words from spent brass, but that's another story.

I wanted something that worked for me, and something that the ingredients were easy to obtain and didn't cost me an arm and a leg.

The Anhydrous Lanolin I got from a member on the site by the name of randyrat. This Lanolin has had the moisture removed from it so don't get confused with other types of Lanolin.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?96820-Pure-Anhydrous-Lanolin

And the Vaseline can be found at your local $1 store.

I use a small Mason jar and just melt the Lanolin while it's sitting in a pot of hot water. When it's melted to 50% by volume in the jar I'll add the Vaseline the remainder of the way. I'll keep stirring gently while the Vaseline is dissolving to keep it well mixed, and it will resemble a watery tea in appearance when done. Just let it cool down a few hours out of the hot water till it solidifies. In my climate I take no special care of the lube, I just leave the lid off and have the jar sitting on my table.

When I use it I use it very sparingly, on that stuff a little does go a long way. I just dip my finger in it and smear it on my fingertip rather gently and put some on the base of the case and roll the case between my fingers. I always stay away from the shoulder/neck area to prevent dimples, which can and will happen.

Removing the lube is simple for me, I use the stainless media and after about 20min it's all washed off.

With all the conversions I do in an average month, at times 20K that mason jar will last me at least 6 months before I need to make more. I know it's a darn site cheaper to make my own and this way I'm never really out of lube. Just a Lb of the Lanolin goes a long way.

I've tried to use the alcohol Lanolin mix, and other lubes on the market at some point in time, but the stuff I make for myself still out performs what I've used, and I've used a lot of them.

Hope that helps some folks out....

[toallmy]

Thank you for the info. I just started using imp. Wax a cuppel years ago and thought it was great so this should be real great .just sent a PM to randyrat .this is a nice bunch of fellas on this sight. Thanks agan

[LaPoint]

Grumpa, I use that lube also. My reloading mentor recommended it. He has been reloading for over 65 years and said that was by far the best lube he has used.

[floydboy]

I have some 223 brass I was waiting to convert to 222. One of my winter projects. I do search a lot of Grumpa's threads for reforming advice and had already read about his lube recipe. Figured I'd get around to trying it someday. Well last nite I was bored and had read his latest thread about making this stuff and thought I'd mix some up and give it a try. I'd been using some RCBS lube I had for years. It works but not great.

I have to admit I was utterly amazed how easy this new mix works. I sat down and did 60 cases in about an hour with only one that I won't use. I could use it but all the others turned out so nice I didn't want to keep one with creases. I know forming 222 from 223 isn't a hard change to make but this stuff works great.

If you haven't tried it you definitely need to.

Thanks Grumpa......Floyd

[toallmy]

Just sent out to randyrat for some of the fixens to mix some up myself. I have not been around but a year as a member and while as a lurker ,but I pay attention whean I see a post from Grumpa and a lot of the members hear .if I am lucky enough to learn as much as thay don't think about anymore I'll be a wise caster. Thanks to all.

[GRUMPA]

Figure I would add something before I get asked or someone does something a bit different than I do.

SPARINGLY: Ever clean a mirror super clean, no streaks, no imperfections or anything?

Now take your finger and run it down the mirror and notice the smear that you just created. Now that's what I mean by sparingly, just put enough on the case to have it look just like that, don't over do it with the lube. Like I said a little does go a long way with that lube.

Even if folks use it to size 1x fired 308mil brass, it doesn't take much lube.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I agree that the vaseline would add to the slippery-ness of the lube. Back in the day when I knew no better I just bought a 1 pound jar of anhydrous lanolin and have used it ever since...it has lasted forever and I still have half the jar. I suppose that I could add some vaseline, but it then would last more than forever. I wipe the cases with a rag dipped in a solvent to clean the lanolin off even though the coating is very thin. LLS

[marlinman93]

I like spray lube, but it gets spendy. I found a recipe for making your own on youtube, so gave it a try. Very simple, and it works great! I can make up enough to do about 8,000 cases for under $20.
Purchased a 4 oz. bottle of liquid lanolin for $8 delivered off Fleabay. Then went to Walmart today and bought a 4 pack of Iso Heet from the automotive section for $6.84 for all 4 bottles. That's under $15 for what ends up being 52 oz. of case lube!
I measured the bottle of lanolin, and put marks on the side of the bottle, so I can pour out 1 oz. at a time. Poured the ounce in the spray bottle, and added one 12 oz. bottle of Iso Heet. Shook it up well to mix it, and sprayed a small batch of .32-40 cases. Let them dry (happens very quickly!) and then ran them through the dies. Worked as well as any case lube I've used, and only took a few pumps of the spray bottle to give them a good coating. Labeled the bottle, and put it on the shelf. Put the other 3 bottles of IH, and lanolin aside, so I can mix it up as I run out.
7 oz. of Hornady is about $10, so this is about 7.5 bottles. $75 of case lube for under $15

[Kraschenbirn]

I been using Randyrat's lanolin mixed with 91% rubbing alcohol for several years: one heaping tbsp. of the lanolin to an 8 oz. spray bottle of warmed alcohol. Lanolin will tend to precipitate out as alcohol cools to room temp but 15-20 seconds in the microwave and it redissolves completely. (If it doesn't redissolve, you've got the mix too "rich" on the lanolin and need to up the alcohol content.)

Bill

[minimax357]

hello everyone new member here, never made any homemade lube but i may give it a try after reading these post. Always used rcbs lube very good info here. thanks Rich.

[GhostHawk]

Well this thread inspired me to order some lanolin and mix up some lube.

It is in my opinion a match for imperial sizing wax, but you get a lot more for your dollars.

Thank you Grumpa!

[Good Cheer]

Got a pail years ago from a chemical warehouse in urban cowboy country... caint beat it for boolit lube recipes and case forming.

[randyrat]

GRUMPA's the man, that recipe works great! especially for the heavy stuff, like new brass.

For the everyday variety I use the Iso Heet mixed with Lanolin in a small spritzer bottle.

[dverna]

No way I am wiping off lube or tumbling loaded rounds to get them clean after reloading them. Can you leave the Iso-heet and lanolin mix on the cases and shoot?

Note: I do not reform cases. Just reloading pistol and rifle cases. Using One Shot now but looking for something less expensive.

Thanks,
Don

[craig61a]

Well I've got two tins of Imperial left (that stuff lasts forever), I'll have to try that; I've got a boatload of Anhydrous Lanolin, and probably what amounts to a lifetime supply of boolit lube made up...

[toallmy]

I can't help myself , at first I used the lee case lube so I got a lot of it , then the rcbs , so I got a lot of it . Tried imperial a couple cans still have it " and love it " , but I am going to mix up some with randyrats lanolin and Vaseline as grumpas post . Funny thing is I don't use much case lube . I'm trying to control myself , I mixed up a couple pound of beas wax and crisco with a little oil for bullet lube and have been trying to use it all up , before trying another lube . I don't know if I will be able to stand it. Randyrats sent me a pound of lanolin and I can't stand it I want to mix up some more lube.

[Happyguy]

I guess I am going to have to try it.

[craig61a]

I whipped up the 50/50 Lanolin Vaseline mix the other day. Good Stuff.

[paul edward]

Has this case lube been compared to Mystic JT-6?

[runfiverun]

there are variations on the lanolin lubes but they all have one thing in common LANOLIN.
I make case and swaging lube by mixing lanolin and castor oil 2 to 1 then add in an additional 10% on neets foot oil.
mink oil works too.
I started making it for just swaging then when I had to make some argie cases from 0-6 I gave it a go since it was right there.
the trick like Grumpa say's is to use a minimal amount.
I put 100 cases in a gallon sized zip lock bag and add a swipe on a Q-tip worth, small glob, or about 1/3 a pea sized piece.
then just mash everything around in the baggie until it's coated.
that's all you need.
I have even used it to lightly coat boolits [same method as above] I shoot in some 38 special loads at target velocity's and it works there too.
add some bees-wax and it makes pretty good lip balm or use it to keep your boots water proofed.

[harrelson]

Grumpa what do you add to the stainless pins when cleaning . I have used heat and lanolin to lube cases but when I use LSD to clean i get a Black coating on my pins and brass .

[GRUMPA]

Here's all I use:

Well water
HOT<-----( Not boiling just hot water from the tap)
Lemi-Shine
Dawn Original Dish washing soap

Rinse after 20 minutes with hot water....

[pretzelxx]

I've cut out dawn in my ss cleaning. Someone said somewhere the two are opposite on the pH scale and sort of counter each other a little bit. Hot water and lemishine works just peachy for me, if not about 10 to 20% faster than before.

Thanks for the recipe, I've been needing something for my 223 cases, got about 1200 I need to do, hope I can get this stuff churning quick and get the job done.

[harrelson]

and you dont have the black coating on everything ? are you using lanolin for case lube

[GRUMPA]

and you dont have the black coating on everything ? are you using lanolin for case lube

I don t get the black coating, and I use Lanolin on ever case I process. The pins are as clean as they were when they where when I bought them....

[GhostHawk]

Cut, trimmed, formed 50 rounds of .223 into .300BO brass this week. Used a slight variation of Grumpu's lube recipe.
I don't have any good vasoline in the house so I made some from a DIY recipe of equal parts beeswax, coconut oil, and olive oil.

To this I added a glop of lanolin, warmed it up, stirred well, and let cool. I used spareingly, mostly greased my fingers up as I was loading each case I made sure it got a slight smear. Even on the lee hand press it took no strength, and 20 minutes in walnut hulls after priming left cases clean, bright shiny, and not slippery.

Good stuff that lanolin.

[fast ronnie]

I've been using the old rcbs case lube that comes in the tube to re-size cases but the stuff is pretty picky about how much to use, and is a pain to clean off after sizing. Is this stuff made from lanolin, and what would be good to mix it with to make it a little more user friendly? I have several tubes of the stuff and would like something that works better if I could find a mixture for it that works.

[edp2k]

On the SS pin tumbling, if you are getting a black coating on your brass
there is some carbon steel in the mix.
Either a carbon steel screw holding the "ribs" inside the vessel, or a steel case in the pile (russian steel cased ammo).

[edp2k]

Also I find that a couple of tablespoons of laundry detergent works better than dawn.
The dawn tends to make a huge amount of suds, so rinsing the brass and pins is a bigger PITA.
And I have found that laundry detergent works better at cutting heavy grease and dirt.

[GONRA]

GONRA sez to doit the easy way - just PURCHASE
STP Oil Treatment or TriFlo Synthetic Grease.
Either makes a GREAT cartridge case sizing / reforming grease!

[Savage99]

Grumpa. I like your recipe. I have been using up my RCBS stuff and looking for additional supplies. I found a jar of DAX 100% pure Lanolin hair conditioner. It has lanolin and other goodies. I have used this to reform some cases seems to work ok but I have nothing else to go against except the RCBS. I will get some lanolin and mix it with this DAX stuff. Have you heard of this dax stuff?

[swamp]

I made up some of the 50-50 mix. I really like it. Used it to make 8mm Mauser from 270 Win. Works great. Also used to recharge a lube pad. Does not take much. Thanks Grumpa for sharing.

swamp

[GRUMPA]

Grumpa. I like your recipe. I have been using up my RCBS stuff and looking for additional supplies. I found a jar of DAX 100% pure Lanolin hair conditioner. It has lanolin and other goodies. I have used this to reform some cases seems to work ok but I have nothing else to go against except the RCBS. I will get some lanolin and mix it with this DAX stuff. Have you heard of this dax stuff?

Never heard of that DAX stuff in my life. Keep in mind when I posted this thread I tried to keep things simple and easy to get.

[5Shot]

What do you do for inside the case neck?


Figure I would put this here since this is a case forming section. And from time to time get PM's on how it's made.

I realize folks seem to have a variety of lubes they use for there own uses, and this is just mine that I use for everything.

All I use is a 50/50 mix of Anhydrous Lanolin and Vaseline. I got this mixture somewhere off this site when I got my swaging dies and decided to roll my own j-words from spent brass, but that's another story.

I wanted something that worked for me, and something that the ingredients were easy to obtain and didn't cost me an arm and a leg.

The Anhydrous Lanolin I got from a member on the site by the name of randyrat. This Lanolin has had the moisture removed from it so don't get confused with other types of Lanolin.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?96820-Pure-Anhydrous-Lanolin

And the Vaseline can be found at your local $1 store.

I use a small Mason jar and just melt the Lanolin while it's sitting in a pot of hot water. When it's melted to 50% by volume in the jar I'll add the Vaseline the remainder of the way. I'll keep stirring gently while the Vaseline is dissolving to keep it well mixed, and it will resemble a watery tea in appearance when done. Just let it cool down a few hours out of the hot water till it solidifies. In my climate I take no special care of the lube, I just leave the lid off and have the jar sitting on my table.

When I use it I use it very sparingly, on that stuff a little does go a long way. I just dip my finger in it and smear it on my fingertip rather gently and put some on the base of the case and roll the case between my fingers. I always stay away from the shoulder/neck area to prevent dimples, which can and will happen.

Removing the lube is simple for me, I use the stainless media and after about 20min it's all washed off.

With all the conversions I do in an average month, at times 20K that mason jar will last me at least 6 months before I need to make more. I know it's a darn site cheaper to make my own and this way I'm never really out of lube. Just a Lb of the Lanolin goes a long way.

I've tried to use the alcohol Lanolin mix, and other lubes on the market at some point in time, but the stuff I make for myself still out performs what I've used, and I've used a lot of them.

Hope that helps some folks out....

[swamp]

I put a bit on a Q-tip and run it around the inside.
swamp

[Blanco]

I had the same problem of using a petroleum based lube and it turned the inside of my tumbler black too.
So I got to thinking about a water soluble lube that might work and you wont believe it... Astroglide and it works fantastic as a resize lube and cleanup is as easy as warm water.

[GRUMPA]

I put a bit on a Q-tip and run it around the inside.
swamp

That's how I do it ....

[Muddawg900]

No way I am wiping off lube or tumbling loaded rounds to get them clean after reloading them. Can you leave the Iso-heet and lanolin mix on the cases and shoot?

Note: I do not reform cases. Just reloading pistol and rifle cases. Using One Shot now but looking for something less expensive.

Thanks,
Don

dverna,

I too would like to know if you can just load up and shoot after the case lube. I certainly don't care to have to re-clean the cases after sizing if I don't HAVE to. But, as I am new to the rifle loading process, and am trying to attain the absolute best accuracy from my rounds as possible, I will re-clean if needed. Thanks.

-Muddawg

[poppy42]

I have been using bensred if it lubes my cast Boolits in ain’t gona hurt my cases. I clean with citric acid and dish soap then tumble in corn cob or walnut shell. I’m cheep and broke I wash my media also.

[Good Cheer]

Here's all I use:

Well water
HOT<-----( Not boiling just hot water from the tap)
Lemi-Shine
Dawn Original Dish washing soap

Rinse after 20 minutes with hot water....

I use Dawn and a shot of denatured or 90% alcohol in the soak water. If I had some ether laying around I try throwing some in to experiment.

[vzerone]

Thank you for the info. I just started using imp. Wax a cuppel years ago and thought it was great so this should be real great .just sent a PM to randyrat .this is a nice bunch of fellas on this sight. Thanks agan

You can make your own version of Imperial Wax by mixing Vaseline and any wax (I prefer Beeswax) . You have to do a trial and error for the amount of Vaseline to add to get the near the consistancy of Imperial Wax. Depending on type of wax you use will determine how much Vaseline you have to use. Remember use little Vaseline at first and if you have to add more remelt and do so.

On leaving lube on the cases and shooting them I believe we all know or have heard that both your cartridges and chambers should be void of any lubricant. The reason for this is that it puts less thrust on the bolt because the case obturates to the chamber upon firing and grips it tightly. Yes there have been firearms in the past that had to use lubricated cartridges. The Type 99 Japanese machine gun is the first one that comes to mind.