I will echo post No. 6 and add that 2 Tbs of lanolin and a half Tbs of castor oil just fill a 35mm film can. I think that it is just a touch tackier than than Imperial so I just touch the home made and get enough to do the job.
Some times it's the pot,
Some times it's the pan,
It might even be the skillet,
But, most of the time, it's the cook.
I suppose I can chime in here with my method of application. Put enough brass in a large ziploc bag to fill it half full. Add a half teaspoon (at most) of liquid lube, close the bag up. Knead for a couple of minutes to distribute the lube. Pick the lubed cases out one by one for sizing. Next batch, there'll be enough lube stuck to the inside of the bag that you won't need to add more. Works best with pistol-size brass and rifle brass .30-30 or smaller. .30-06 and 7.5x55 Swiss I still do on a pad.
n.b. Not denigrating anybody else's formula, but I've used lanolin diluted with alcohol for as long as I can remember, even for serious crunching to form .22 Lovell from .223. I don't use rubbing alcohol - the water in it degrades the lubricity of the lanolin. If you have no other source of straight methanol, HEET does fine. But you can buy denatured alcohol in almost any paint department. I get it at Lowes'. Lots cheaper than HEET.
Last edited by uscra112; 06-18-2019 at 10:07 AM.
Cognitive Dissident
I use a product called Bag Balm.... it's made for cows udders and I've
been using the same can for over 8 years and will probably outlast me.
Denny
Last edited by leadhead; 06-19-2019 at 10:36 AM.
Yupper! Everyone in dairy country knows Bag Balm.! It was my father's hand cream for when his hands got chapped. I think it's mostly lanolin.
Cognitive Dissident
I just buy a spray can of cheap furniture polish for re-sizing. It works great for re-sizing and fabricating cases from brass. You can apply as little or much as you need. I just ran 2500 9mm cases through my sizing die with no problem using a light spray on the cases.
Now THAT is some really great "out of the box" thinking.
I well remember when carbide sizers, "size without lube" dies, for handgun cartridges came along. But "no lube" dies only worked right until super cleaning cases in tumblers began and true lack of case lube problems due to brass galling came in.
It was expected that loaders would continue to reload fired cases with a thin coat of bullet lube and powder soot would provide the very light coat of some kind of lubricant to prevent galling.
A LOT of people think their sizers are "scratched" when they begin to see case scratches. But, there is little that can scratch a common case hardened steel sizer and virtually nothing but diamonds can cut tungstun carbide! So, what actually scratches our cases is tiny bits of galled brass that have rubbed off and firmly adhered to the harder metal surface when they were rammed together under great pressure without lubricant; i.e., dry case sizing.
I know it doesn't take much lube for TC dies to work right but they sure benefit from a little help. So, with a tip of my hat and thanks to you sir, I WILL try a good spritz of the wife's Lemon Pledge furniture polish on my next batch of handgun loads!
When I asked Grumpa what he used for his case forming he told me 50% anhydrous lanolin and vaseline melted in a double boiler. Haven't had a chance to try it yet but I'm gonna. Probably about a teaspoon of each to try it. RIP Matt.
Threads like this make me think about the banned members who I respected. Sad to read their contributions, and that they are gone. So much experience and knowledge lost.
Don Verna
It works quite nicely , I use it with a lube pad when resizing rifle brass .
I mix down a tube of lee case sizing lube in about a pint or so of 99% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle.
My wife gets it for me at the local pharmacy. It is special order, but retails at around $18 gallon or so.
Fill a cookie sheet with rifle brass, give enough sprays to wet all and shake around to help distribute to the bottom side. Let dry and size away.
One spray into a gallon of pistol brass and then pour back and forth between two buckets a few times and it's slicker than snot on a doorknob in your carbide pistol dies.
It does settle out when you let it sit, but a quick shake of the bottle is all that's needed.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |