What’s the best case lube? Mine isn’t cutting it for Lee APP

I purchased a Lee APP to handle my primer pocket swaging, bullet sizing and case sizing for .223 and 308. I have always used Marvel Mystery oil to lube cases and it has worked for me for over 30 years. Unfortunately, it doesn’t cut it for the Lee APP and I keep getting stuck cases. I started using Marvel Mystery oil when I started reloading at the age of 16. I needed a case lube and that was what was sitting on the shelf at the time. Probably not the best but has always worked and you know what they say about old habits.

Imperial Sizing Wax for me.

Another vote for imperial sizing wax. Give it a try, the 2oz can last nearly forever and it wipes off so easily.

I have the APP and think it is a great tool. But I can't see it lasting long sizing 308 brass . It gust seems to be to light for that kind of work .
When you say stuck do you mean to the point of pulling the case head off ? Or does it lack the leverage to pull the case from the die ?

Anhydrous Lanolin and castor oil, mix them together and SLOWLY heat until mixed.

I use sizing lube by Hornady, easy on and easy to clean off. A little tub of it will last literally years!

10 parts 99% isopropyl alcohol to 1 part of liquid lanolin. Wait untill the alcohol evaporates off.

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Originally Posted by Pipefitter

Anhydrous Lanolin and castor oil, mix them together and SLOWLY heat until mixed.

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The same works for me. Sometimes I mix it with alcohol so I can spray it on.

It's gonna sound crazy but I've been using a spritz of Pledge furniture polish for years for cases and boolits with nothing but success. I also like to convince myself that the lemon in the Pledge helps clean my cases too.

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Originally Posted by onelight

I have the APP and think it is a great tool. But I can't see it lasting long sizing 308 brass . It gust seems to be to light for that kind of work .
When you say stuck do you mean to the point of pulling the case head off ? Or does it lack the leverage to pull the case from the die ?

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I just set it up last night and was sizing some 223’s running along very fast about the 10th case in it pulled the case right out of the shell holder and was stuck all the way in the sizing die. Happened 3 times averaged about every 8 to 10 cases. Has to be the lube.

Hornady, RCBS or Imperial. I try to save the Imperial for case forming. 3 stuck cases in 60 years of handloading. None were the fault of any of the lubes.

The APP isn't meant or designed to me used to resize cases with the express shell holder. There isn't enough rim contact and you will pull cases out of the shellholder and stick them on a regular basis, probably with any case lube. Save resizing brass for a press with a regular shell holder.

Lee states somewhere to use a regular shell holder for resizing. So you loose the automation of sizing cases. And the leverage isn't there, so Id just use a real press and save myself the aggravation of having to remove stuck cases from the die.

Under the Lee APP instructions in the section about Xpress, shellholders, they state not to use for sizing bottleneck cases.

"The pass-through design reduces the amount of "pull" that can be applied to the cartridge. That said, we do not recommend full length resizing rimless bottleneck case. If you insist, we recommend using only Lee dies and Lee case resizing lubricant #90006, Only Lee dies include a built in stuck case remover in the event you damage a rim and stick a case"

I wonder if the case feeder would feed into a regular shell holder if you manually removed the sized case .
Any one tried that ?

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Originally Posted by fralic76

10 parts 99% isopropyl alcohol to 1 part of liquid lanolin. Wait untill the alcohol evaporates off.

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Or Imperial sizing wax especially for 223 or thin rimmed cartridges. I spray the lanolin in a baggie and roll the cases around till coated...... And keep a stuck case remover handy especially with 223's.

.223 (or 5.56 if you prefer) is bad about sticking cases. I have stuck a few others in my time, but by far the most common was rifle fired 5.56 LC cases.

Case lube? Most slick things will work, I've even used WD-40 and tumbled in walnut media afterwards. The best I've found is Imperial Sizing die wax, with plain old STP a close second. The Imperial is less messy though.

Bag Balm is supposed to work fine, never tried it for case lube though.

Robert

I took about an ounce or so of Hornady Unique Case lube and resolved it in Heet(12oz) in a spray bottle. I placed the spray bottle in some hot water and after several minutes the case lube had dissolved. Place your brass on a plastic tray, spray them and allow to dry for several minutes after which you can now resize. It works slicker than snot.

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Originally Posted by fralic76

10 parts 99% isopropyl alcohol to 1 part of liquid lanolin. Wait untill the alcohol evaporates off.

Sent from my SM-G975W using Tapatalk

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+1 for this mix. I had to get my pharmacy to order the 99% alcohol but it works.

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Originally Posted by murf205

+1 for this mix. I had to get my pharmacy to order the 99% alcohol but it works.

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Won’t have any problem getting this. I’m a pharmacist.

Of the spray on, Dillon lube. Hornady Oneshot s better than spit but not by much. Hornady’s Unique lube, works great though better than any spray lube and of what I have tried #2 to only imperial sizing die wax.

Hornady Oneshot works great for me.

I have been using Mink Oil from the shoe section of Wal Mart the past several years works better than anything else I've used.

unique

I personally use lee case resizing lube. A tiny almond size dab and 200 cases in a container and shake and it coats all the cases in a light haze of it. Have not had any issues with this method

WD-40. Everybody has some. Just need to drop cases into soapy water after sizing, and rinse.
Very convenient for 100 to 1,000 cases; probably a lot of trouble for 10 cases.

I have had good results with Imperial Sizing wax for bottleneck cases.

I like Hornady Unique, works on the machine gun fired 7.62x 51 in an RCBS Ultra Small Base Die ( only use it on machine gun .308). A tub does thousands of cases, I just wipe my finger across the lube and turn the case in my fingers.

I use Dillon cut 50% with alcohol for volume and imperial for all else

I had a bit of trouble finding case lube in the stores around me in the early '80s. I was shopping in a Walgreens and noticed a jar of Mink Oil Boot Dressing Cream in the shoe polish dept. and grabbed one. I have used MOBD cream since on every cartridge I've sized with not one stuck case, even the "machine gun fired" 7.62x51 I purchased as "once fired". Easy to apply, easy to remove, inexpensive, and good on my old mechanic's hands. I have also experimented with a bunch of different formula and the alcohol/lanolin and Pledge spray also worked OK, but I found the Mink Oil Dressing was just a bit better...

been using the rcbs lube for 40 years never had a stuck case,yet.

KIWI CONDITIONING OIL Paste LEATHER conditioner is the best thing I have tried.

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Originally Posted by murf205

+1 for this mix. I had to get my pharmacy to order the 99% alcohol but it works.

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Isoheet - no need to go to the pharmacy
https://www.goldeagle.com/product/is...ector-cleaner/

12 oz isoheet and 2 oz lanolin is what I use, but after sticking one in the APP I won't use it for sizing. Walmart has isoheet for $2. STP works just as well but is too messy for me.

For general case sizing I use Hornady Oneshot spray. For heavy duty sizing or case forming the Mink oil boot dressing has worked for me for years.

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Originally Posted by murf205

+1 for this mix. I had to get my pharmacy to order the 99% alcohol but it works.

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I was having issues with stuck 556 cases until i started using this mix. Great stuff !!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Jsm180

12 oz isoheet and 2 oz lanolin is what I use, but after sticking one in the APP I won't use it for sizing. Walmart has isoheet for $2. STP works just as well but is too messy for me.

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Were you using the Xpress shell holder???

I'm asking because I've NEVER stuck a case with lanolin.

once i used imperial sizing wax; there was no need to try anything else. why on earth would anyone use marvel mystery oil. you can use motor oil too; but, that dosen't mean its good for the job of case resizing.

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Originally Posted by Burnt Fingers

Were you using the Xpress shell holder???

I'm asking because I've NEVER stuck a case with lanolin.

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Yes, Lee says don't use the APP for sizing because the shell holders don't give enough support and I proved them right. I prefer the rock chucker for sizing, although the APP does ok with 9mm sizing. I think 223/556/300aac are pushing the limit on the xpress shell holder.

Just about every post says something like "I've used XXX case lube for 22 years and never stuck a case", XXX being every case lube used today. Which leads me to believe proper application, amount, and method will work with nearly every method of lubing cases...

Plain old STP. Cheap and a little goes a long way.