Believe it or not, Alberto VO-5 works pretty damn good.
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Believe it or not, Alberto VO-5 works pretty damn good.
3006 guns
I use armament clean oil with flanel and wipe the cases. Its very simpel and cheap.
Its works exelent.
leo367
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.
Like Calamity Jake I use the same recipe exept for one alteration. I only use 1 tbs full of lanolin. I donīt have to clean the cases after the alcohol evaporates.
Uwe
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
"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! :)
And I thought I was the only one to use nursing mothers nipple balm cream but not on cast bullets please
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.
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
mobil one
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
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
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
:violin: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.
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.
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
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.
I've used Sorbolene cream for years it's cheap and softens your dry hands at the same time.
Lead foot;
WHen I sold my 69 Ranchero, I had a quart of ATF thats been kicking around in the shop for years. A few months ago I tried it on some milsurp cases Im bringing back from thier rusted slumber.
Im using the same ATF for all my cases. you only lube every 4-5 case, and it cleans the dies real nice.
Iso-HEET (red bottle) found in the auto section of your local mart store. Its used for fuel-line antifreeze & water remover. Costs around $2.00 for 12 oz.
Liquid Lanolin found at Drug Emporium or online in 4 OZ bottle about $7.00 bottle. Is also ingredient that I use in felix lube. 4oz bottle goes a long way.
4 parts Iso-HEET
1 part Liquid Lanolin
I use it in a 4 oz pump spray bottle, but if you use this stuff you had better test the applicator bottle itself first because it can potentially eat it up.
I wipe all my cases off by hand using laquer thinner that I always have on hand.
I never lube pistol cases unless they are bottle necks. As for this lube mixture, I've never had a stuck case however I cannot say that for the One Shot.
A case lube demands "film strength". Ordinary oils do NOT get it.
The old classics are Lanolin and STP. Now, THOSE have film strength. The only complaint I have about STP is that it requires a solvent cloth to remove from the cases (or tumble the loaded rounds, after). Lanolin was used for years with draw dies to draw brass. It used to be available from every drug store. Now, you just about have to order it.
STP is readily available and is much cheaper than commercial case lubes. However, a small jar of commercial case lube will last nearly forever.
When I was shooting big bore and IPSC three gun matches, I loaded rifle cartridges by the thousands. I use Lee water soluble case lube diluted into a "dip" and used an old french fry basket to dip the decapped cases. Then I spread them out on newpaper to dry overnight. The dry wax is inert and doesn't have to be removed from the cases after use. The beauty of this is the case necks were lubed for "no drag" from the expander. Still the best way to do large quantities of rifle cases. This tip came from Ed Harris and was/is "spot on".
Dale53
Castor oil (from the pharmacy) is an extreme pressure lubricant with a high film strength. It's a pretty good substitute for lanolin. I haven't researched jojoba, but it's a possibility too. One other thing worth a try is any 2-cycle motor oil.Quote:
The old classics are Lanolin and STP. Now, THOSE have film strength. The only complaint I have about STP is that it requires a solvent cloth to remove from the cases (or tumble the loaded rounds, after). Lanolin was used for years with draw dies to draw brass. It used to be available from every drug store. Now, you just about have to order it.
I am no chemist so I don't know if this is true. I heard that GB Wire Aide ( Gardner/Bender) which can be bought at Lowe's for one place for about $5 a quart is the same thing as Lee's water soluble case lube which runs about same price for a small 4 oz tube. I put it on my hands and handling the cases lubes them. I have heard you can dilute it with either alcohol or water and use it in a spray bottle. I especially like the sounds of doing as Dale53 mentioned,
diluting it and submerging the cases to get rid of the expander ball friction. Maven you mentioned making 6x55 cases. I heard someplace that you can't shoot cast bullets in a 6x55 at high velocity???
Ray, I use the wire pulling lube you mentioned, but usually for FL resizing rather than case forming, although I suppose you could use it for that as well. It's also good for lubing CB's before shoving them through a Lee sizing die IF you lube them normally afterwards as I do. As for the 6.5 x 55mm, occasionally I'll use .30-06 brass and reform them into 6.5 x 55mm cases, but it is labororious. However, at least with CB loads, performance has been indistinguishable from actual 6.5 brass. Speaking of performance, many years ago I questioned the assertion of one of our members about accuracy at higher velocity in the Swede. I said it was possible, but considered ~1,800fps the upper limit, and I had targets and chrono. data to back it up. If you have a well-fitted CB in a VG+ bbl., use the "right" powder*, and are an adept shooter, I don't think the fast twist will preclude accuracy, but it will surely test your patience.
*I don't know what the right powder is, but I've had more success than failure with faster powders: WC 820; VV N133; AA 5744; IMR 4198. For higher speeds, I think I'd try IMR 3031 or 4064, but I've never needed to do so.
If no one has mentioned it, ( haven't read all the pages on this subject) "KIWI outdoor mink oil" at wally world, as good or better than Imperial and you get 3 times as much for less than half the price. been using it for a long time and it works for myself, cleanup with a paper towel.
TTC
I usually use lanolin. I once bought a one pound jar many years ago and used it to refill a couple of small tins once sold by Lyman under the name "Easylube". They lasted the better part of 10 years; I'm still refilling them as they are handier on the loading bench than the one pound jar. The jar is not even 1/4 gone. I had it packed away when I last moved and could not locate it for a while...so in the interim I bought a small tube of white lithium grease...about 2-3 ounces for a buck and a half and tried it, figuring that if it didn't woek I could always use it on my presses. It worked great and of course needs to be wiped off with a solvent, and I did 15,000--9 mil cases lubing every fifth case with carbide dies plus another 1500--06 cases and theres still about 1/3 of the tube left. I wish that I had known about mink oil, GB wire pulling lube, STP, and some of the other formulas mentioned here, but it sometimes takes time to hear about and learn some things. LLS
I posted on this thread earlier, but should have mentioned my present method. I sold my rock polisher some time back, and now my procedure is thus:
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I use a large ziplock bag, squeeze a small amount (squeeze about 2 kidney-bean-size blobs of CD-2), zip it shut, and massage the bag to spread the lube out. Unzip, dump in clean brass, zip, and hand-tumble for a couple minutes. Unzip and dump into a Cool-Whip container, and have at it. Dump the sized cases onto an old towel and rub off as much as possible. Continue with the reloading effort, and after bullets/boolits are seated, dump back on towel that has had some mineral spirits splashed on. Grab ends, see-saw for a couple minutes, and Voila!
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Tried some spray-on lube, and stuck my first case. Tried again some time later, and did the same thing. Something about spray-on and me don't match...
Film Strength huh! I had to look that up. Seems like it is the ability of a lubricant to keep an unbroken film on what it is placed on. I guess that is why Vactra 2 Way Oil works so well for me. Way oil is designed to go on machine ways which are often "V" in shape and stay put.
It also works well for raceways of auto pistols. I put a thin coat on the bolt of my Ruger Mk II race coat and it stays in place through several thousand rounds. Great case lube as well.
i have been using bear grease for years.5 pound coffee can full will last a long time.
i am using a can of "amoco super gear lube" from 1971. Still some left, maybe another 10-12 years. I'm on my third lube pad. Does a great job!!!!!
Just tried Alberto VO-5, like Skipper recommended. It does work, is handy at the store. Got this idea from Ed Harris on CBA forum. It's incredibly slick and goes quite a ways.
Usually plains oils aren't going to work. Some members have found that out with ATF. One of the abilities of ATF is that it not only is a lubricant, it's designed so those clutches can grab...if they didn't you'd burn up your transmission. Problem with the gear oils is that they stink. I remember back in my chevy days that SAE90 smelled like it had onions in it. If you got it on your clothes you couldn't wash the smell of it out. STP doesn't stink but it's hard to get off. If you like STP for case sizing you might want to try Wynn's Friction proofer or Lucas oil treatment.
About the dry lubes like the Lee that leave a dry film in the case necks. Yup, that's all well and find for your expander ball not dragging but it ruins the neck tension grip. In fact you can feel your bullet go in such a lubed case neck much easier. I just brush my necks with a dry bronze brush. The expander pulls through them just fine and I have good neck tension grip on the bullet.
I use imperial wax for my sizing lube, but most everything I just neck size.
Joe
I use the NOW brand lanolin they sell at health food stores around here in it's liquid form. Just use a little daub on a paper towel and lightly touch it to your fingertip and thumb. Do not lube the case neck outside or you will get dents.
I use a capful or 2 of laquer thinner in my vibrating case polisher and it gets the stuff off the cases.
To get the lanolin off my fingers, I use GO-JO orange hand cleaner.
stp has been good to me for over 20 years. Same can. Used very lightly on the pad.
STP is a SUPERIOR case lube having VERY high film strength. I used it for years. The ONLY complaint I ever had was that you really needed a bit of solvent on a rag to remove it from the cases (or tumble loaded ammo for a maximum time of fifteen minutes to perfectly remove all lube from the cases). It doesn't wipe off easily with a rag without the solvent.
Dale53