Originally Posted by
1hole
"...what I'm wondering is, what lube were you using when you stuck a case. And also, has anyone stuck a case while using either unique case lube or imperial sizing wax?"
Okay, a couple of good, short questions. But, they really don't have short proper answers, it's just not as simple as you appear to surmise.
First, I've been loading a loooong time and have used virtually every commercal lube on the market and have tried a LOT of other things as substitutes, just out of curosity. With the commercial lubes I have stuck quite a few cases but each one was MY FAULT, not the lube's. I mean, IF I properly applied a proper lube I've never had a stuck case. I've made a good number of .22-250 cases from .30-06 cases and know that the lube used makes little real difference if it's used correctly, they all get stuck if not done properly.
When I started loading, all case lubes were pretty much the same; all were basiccally STP, applied with a pad that was soon "dirty" as well as messy. It worked good but I hated those pads and hated getting my fingers in the goo. So I soon started trying to find a better choice. Ditto the loading companies, so today few of us use the old oily types that can harm both powder and primers.
Basically, we have three lube types; spray, water soluable and wax. Which we use, or should use, depends a whole lot on the volume and how we prefer to apply it. They all work very well and, so far as I know, none of them are harmful to powder or primers.
Water soluables, Lee's white stuff, RCBS, etc, are basically soaps. They are easy to apply with finger tips or even a pad if we wish. They are excellant case lubes IF properly applied. Good substitutes include some bath/bar soaps having a high lanolin content. Some "saddle" soaps. The various electrical cable/wire pulling lubracants (soft soaps) such as Gardner-Bender (GB) are sold in quarts at Lowe's, H'Depot and electrical supply houses for very little cost considering the quanity.
Commerial wax lubes include Imperial and Unique. They are soft enough to touch our finger tips to and transfer the wax to each case as we pick them up. Waxes are clean and easy to remove from both fingers and cases. I really like them. Good substitutes include Kiwi "Mink Oil", "Sno-Proof", "Snow Seal", etc., leather boot treatments, all soft waxes. Pretty good, workable for sure, substitutes include Johnson Paste Wax and others of that type, Kiwi (Neutral) Shoe Wax, the soft wax-lube sticks marketed for lubing auto door latches, Chap-Stick lip balm, Oldham saw blade lube for woodworkers. Some of the toilet wax ring seals sold to plumbers are good too but tend to be more greasy than other waxes.
Sprays seem to be mostly mixtures of lanolin and alcohol. Sprays are best when doing large quanities of cases, especially so with a progressive press. All of the spray lubes have the lube itself mixed with a rapid drying solvent, the alcohol or another "carrier". They don't stay mixed so it's necessary to shake the containers well before AND during use to keep them mixed. Then allow sufficent time for the carrier to evaporate before attempting to size.
It appears that many users get failures with sprays because they spray their cases standing in a loading block which effectively shields the lower part from getting much lube in the critical area! That's NOT a good idea! When I use sprays (which is seldom because I'm not a high volume loader) I place the cases on a sheet of newspaper to catch the over-spray and that allows me to spray the entire case, IF I roll them around a little while doing it.
If the user only shakes the spray once before use the contents will seperate. By the time he gets to the bottom of the can there is ltttle lube left. With only carrier remaining, he WILL get stuck cases. Moral: Shake it up, often, as it's used and cover the full case length.
No matter the type of lube, WE MUST LUBE THE LOWER CASE OR THEY WILL GET STUCK! Sticking has virtually nothing to do with the internal finish of a sizer die, nor the brand of case, nor how much the case must be sized down; it has to do with a lack of lube where it's needed, period. It's clear that many reloaders over-lube the upper half of their cases and apply too little to the lower part. Excess lube up high makes lube dents on the shoulder, too little on the thicker, harder lower part assures many stuck cases.
A final factor, especially when a die has been cleaned internally, is to cover the die wall with a good layer of lube before sholving the first few cases home. Doing that is easily achieved by giving the first 2-4 cases an extra thick coat AND then inserting those few cases into the die in a series of 4-5 short strokes, allowing the lube to move around on the die walls a bit before pushing the the cases fully up. I clean my size dies internally prior to each use so this start-up step is VERY important or I will get STUCK CASES, no matter what lube I'm using.
Bottom line; the type or brand of case lube we use is largely irrelivant but the way we apply it and use it is not.