RCBS Case Slick problem.

[Murphy]

I've been a fan of RCBS Case Slick for a long time. I purchased 6-7 bottles of it several years back and tucked it away, figured I wouldn't need any for a long time given the amount.

I placed them high up on a shelf and left them. I didn't have a need for any of it until recently, as in last week. When I grabbed the front bottle, it seemed a little low. I reached for the one behind it that was unopened. Hummm, seems like every bottle of it was down to less than a 1/3rd of what was suppose to be in it. I had no idea it could evaporate out and never had been opened, it has in this case.

I managed to get the top off of one (they don't just unscrew like one would think). I topped it back off with 91% isopropyl alcohol and proceeded to spray down a little over 300 9mm cases. I waited a few minutes before sizing a few, didn't seem to feel right, no scratches though. So, I figured what the heck and got down another bottle and mixed the two. Oh that worked real good! Slicker than snot I say. Maybe a little too slick I thought, no dents or anything, just didn't need that much and why waste it? Back to the drawing board. I opened it and poured about a 1/4th of it back into the empty and topped it off with the 91% alcohol. All seemed well, but still pretty slick.

All sized and ready to clean. I gave them a good hot water bath but something wasn't right. Once the soap bubbles stopped, I figured they were ready to wet tumble. Odd thing was, they still felt a little tacky to the touch. I went forth and pin tumbled them for 2.5 hours. They didn't come out a batch of pretty yellow shining brass. I've had it happen before, but here's the odd part I need advice about. The cases still feel tacky to the touch, ugh! I oven dried them for 30 minutes at about 200°. Strange, they still (to me) feel a little tacky to the touch. I cleaned my pin's and barrel with a 45 minute tumble using Dawn soap, they both seem fine.

Sadly, I have another 500-600 cases that are lubed with the same mixture, sized and waiting for a tumbling. Any idea how to get it off before tumbling it? I've done a lot of searching online and more and more, I'm thinking I'm going to have to tumble it off, before I can tumble wet tumble it.

Get a gallon jug of gasoline and swish them in it? Denatured alcohol?


Murphy

Note: That joker that wrote Murphy's Law's? Made zero exemptions for those with the same last name as his!

[JimB..]

The solvent in RCBS case slick spray is hexane, and yes it’ll evaporate. You could buy some to rinse the cases, but I’d try gasoline first just because it’s cheap.

The lubricant is a trade secret, but probably lanolin. Lanolin can be dissolved in alcohol or acetone, I’d try wetting a rag with acetone and wiping a case as a test.

Of course it’s 9mm brass, so just pitching it is probably the easiest answer.

[dverna]

You have put in a lot of work for 9mm brass that costs about $30-35/k.

I would throw away the cases and the rest of the RCBS lube and call it "lesson learned".

For pistol brass, I use the Hornady spray (https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-9991-...38374841&psc=1). No need to clean it off. I have cans of it ten years old that work.

I bought some lanolin and 91% alcohol to make my own from information on this site. Cannot comment on how long it will last sitting in a spray bottle but others might chime in.

[BLAHUT]

Simple Green, wash, tumble.

[Recycled bullet]

When I wet tumble my brass in the large Frankfurt arsenal wet tumbler I added the hottest water possible that comes from the tap, Dawn dish soap and citric acid and it completely removes the RCBS case slick resizing lubricant.

My brass shines like jewelry.

[Murphy]

Follow up on my case lube issue.

After a good deal of thinking, I decided to tumble it off. The local Harbor Freight is about a mile away and just happened to have crushed walnut media in fine, or course. $33 bucks OTD wasn't bad.

I have 3 tumblers, a Lyman 1200, a Tumbler's Tumbler 18 Ultra-Vibe and a STM Rebel 17. Okay, so I like having options. Any way, I decided to load up the Ultra-Vibe with the crushed walnut, then dumped all the brass in. I have a timer I use for my tumblers and set it to run for 7-8 hours. I went out this morning, and I'm a happy camper. All the ugly was gone, nothing sticky about the brass. I was surprised not to find a lot of the reddish dust associated with some walnut media. However, the inside of the cases looked like they had a tad of it. I split the batch and loaded them into the Lyman 1200 I keep loaded with corncob media loaded up with Graf & Son's brass polish. I ran the first load about an hour and a half. While not quiet as clean as stainless steel pin clean and shiny, they were sure close to it.

Don Verna, you're right. I do have a lot of time in this batch of brass. On the other hand, I'm retired and have a lot of time on my hands. I'm going to file this little experience under the category of 'piddling'. A life long friend of mine had to retire 9 years back due to congestive heart failure. Seems like every time I'd call him up I always ask what he's up to? His reply was always "Oh, just piddling". I asked him to start a book on how to piddle for retiree's so I would have a reference when I retired. Thankfully, he's still on this side of the dirt with us. I'm gonna chalk it up to his piddling and a dog named Oden that has to be let out 6-9 times a day.

Murphy

[Soundguy]

Lately I have seen NOS rcbs spray lube on shelves.. and all the bottles were half full.. definitely loosing their solvent...

I just buy lanolin and alcohol and mix my own now.. far superior to most OTC offerings.. way cheaper too.. by a huge amount.

[Green Frog]

I was going to suggest doing a wet tumble with the pins and a good detergent like Dawn, but it sounds like your walnut hulls did the job. I would have been hesitant to just toss out any reloadable brass these days!
Froggie

[Murphy]

I was going to suggest doing a wet tumble with the pins and a good detergent like Dawn, but it sounds like your walnut hulls did the job. I would have been hesitant to just toss out any reloadable brass these days!
Froggie

Bingo my friend!

2 years ago at this time, finding ANY brass on a gun range was uncommon. I garnered the above mentioned batch from a 5 gallon bucket of range brass. It was given to me by a son in law who works for an 'agency'. Quiet a bit of mixed 5.56/223 & 9mm and not that many in other calibers. Again under the category of 'piddling' I hand sorted it all by brand. Sitting on the back porch with a 1/2 moon of (5 or 6) coffee cans surrounding the front of me, the 5 gallon bucket right in front. All the coffee cans were labeled WIN/FC/REM/PMC...etc. The cases I was having the Case Slick issue with were all FC (564 of them), all nice and clean now. I wouldn't be surprised if the WIN brand doesn't go 1K+. Sure, I've fired many 1,000's of mixed head stamp cases loaded in 1,000 round lots back in my youth. I'm not a bullseye shooter by any means. That being said, I'm just enjoying my time piddling. Growing up in Oklahoma City the first 13 years of my life (I'm 69 now), I saw a few electric train set-ups in basements or a spare bed room. Typically, they were 'OLD MEN' who had them. Elaborate and amazing! And now, I get it more and more every day what those old fella's were doing, piddling!

Murphy