Ok, Since the first ammo rush when nothing but the odd 270, 450 Bushmaster, and 350 Legend ammo was available, I decided to invest in everything needed to reload every caliber I own, (except for 22lr and 22WMR) right down to the bullet molds, just in case they outlaw everything.
I purchased 2000 9mm cases and bullets, 500 of the 45 acp (no 45 cal bullets yet) and 1000 of the .223 cases and the basic 55 grain FMJ bullets.
I do have the LEE 55 grain mold, and the Arsenal 225-77 "Elvis" as well as the 225-61 "Elvis" still on order.
So far I have only cast #4 buckshot, #00 buckshot and the 7/8 oz slugs as I'm still looking into bullet alloys.
I have something like 50+ pounds left of pure lead after casting for the shotgun, 50+ pounds of Pewter, and about the same of linotype just to start with.
I decided to start prepping the batch of .223/5.56 removing the primer and full length sizing them.
I'm using the LEE Deluxe 4 die set made out of carbide, and supposedly they do not require lube.
Well, about 50 cases in, a case jammed in the die ripping off the rim.
I pulled the de-priming pin retaining nut and forced out the jammed case.
That one case was a military case and the primer was staked in, and the de-priming pin was not happy about it and decided to bend sideways.
I heated it and straightened it but it only lasted 5 more cases before breaking.
None of the other dies I purchased use the same pin so had to order one.
Lee offers them for free, in sets of three no less, but ILLINOIS passed some silly tax ruling and Lee will no longer send them out to Illinois at all so I had to purchase them and wait for delivery.
I ordered three of them and 1 extra for every other rifle die set I have.
So I assume case lube is on the menu so I got out the case lube I had for the steel dies sets and it said water soluble, so I watered it down as I'm prepping over 1250 cases and want it to last as I only have 1 tube, but after prepping those cases over the next 3 days I pulled the die and there was a little bit of rust on the threads.
After seeing all the crud from the lube on the mouth of the die, I pulled the die apart and found that it was beginning to rust on the inside, luckily, most of it was focused high on the de-priming pin.
I removed all the rusty crud, polished the pin on the bench grinder that has a fabric polish wheel, scrubbed the inner die with a poly bore brush and acetone, then once everything was spotless, I doused everything in a rust preventing gun oil from the 1960's.
I figure the Sears branded, catalog purchased bolt 22 and bolt 30-06 that it came with have not rusted, it probably works well, though probably toxic as hell.
So, I assume the resizing lube was not intended to be watered down?
BTW, after leaving the USMC decades ago, I have had 0% mentor-ship in anything gun related so am stumbling through reading as much as I can and hopefully relying on the mistakes of others.