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How Do You Lubricate Brass?


Migs

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Friends:

I use a Dillon 1050 with Dillon Case Lube. About two spray pumps for about 4 big handfulls of brass into the feeder. The problem is the reloaded rounds end up not clean. I have heard this lube can be diluted with alcohol to reduce the problem. What do you all use? What yields decent results?

Thanks in advance,

Migs

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Friends:

I use a Dillon 1050 with Dillon Case Lube.  About two spray pumps for about 4 big handfulls of brass into the feeder.  The problem is the reloaded rounds end up not clean.  I have heard this lube can be diluted with alcohol to reduce the problem.  What do you all use?  What yields decent results?

Thanks in advance,

Migs

I use Hornady One Shot, sparingly. Let the lube set up for a couple of minutes before putting it in the case feeder.

Nolan

Skilled, but otherwise unremarkable.

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Hornady One shot - I put the cases in a large mixing bowl (a carboard box will work too), spray the 1 shot and swirl the bowl around. The Dillon case lube works too, but I like the Hornady stuff better, as it seems not to disapate as fast as the Dillon stuff does from the cases.

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Lee resizing lube. It lubes great but at the end of the loading process it makes my brass look green. I don't care though because my mags run great now with this dry lube on the bullets. Plus it makes it easier to find my green brass on the ground. :P:lol:

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I use OneShot

A commercial loader I know takes the pump spray Dillon case lube and sprays a car wash mitt and then runs the mitt through a batch of brass before it goes into the case feeder.

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Maybe it's different for rifle vs. pistol cases, but here's my two cents worth...

I moved to Hornady One-Shot from Imperial Sizing Die Wax on my single stage turret press a little while before I actually got a progressive. For doing .223 and .308 Win cases, it worked pretty slick... fill a Sinclair 50rd loading block w/ cases standing up, spray at a 45 degree angle from all four sides and lube problems, both outside and inside the case mouth were *gone*, at least as slick as the Imperial, plus it got the inside of the case neck in one fell swoop. No problems.

Then I got a Dillon 550B, and it seems like while doing .223 cases, if I take a couple big handfuls of cases, enough to fill the little Akro bin on the intake side, put them in a bag and spray them down, rub around and all that stuff, they get lubed up OK... everything works fine when I start running them thru the 550... but by the time I get about half-ways thru, about 60-70 cases or so... it's like the stuff starts drying out / gumming up, and it ain't so slick anymore, almost have to (actually *have* had to) put them back in the bag and re-spray again.

Doing the same thing, even bigger batches w/ the Dillon Case Lube... no problems, damn stuff is still greasy way after I finish running them thru the press :D Problem there is getting it *off* without having to hand wipe every single round... seems like I have to tumble an awful long time to get the stuff off completely; longer than I'd like w/ loaded ammo, so I've been hand wiping 'em.

Monte

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"Doing the same thing, even bigger batches w/ the Dillon Case Lube... no problems, damn stuff is still greasy way after I finish running them thru the press Problem there is getting it *off* without having to hand wipe every single round... seems like I have to tumble an awful long time to get the stuff off completely; longer than I'd like w/ loaded ammo, so I've been hand wiping 'em. "

-could be wrong but I beleive that Dillon spray on lube is nothing more than natural source lanolin and alcohol. It is effective and economical. Good product.

To remove it from the cases, simply wait until the loading is finished and then tumble the loaded ammo for about 10 min. in fresh corn-cob media.

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Well it might sound wierd but here's what I do. I use walnut media from Frankford Arsenal to tumble the brass in. When I actually tumble the brass I put a half cup of mineral spirits in it to keep the dust down. Well I noticed that if I reload them within a couple of days or tumbling the mineral spirits keeps them slick as butter through the press. The brass is a lot shinier, the insides are cleaner, and the dust is gone.

This is based on personal experiences alone, and cannot be held responsible for any damages.

JOe

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Put 200-400 cases in a file box lid on their sides. Spray Horandy one-shot over them, agitate the lid, spray again and agitate again. Wait a couple of minutes, pour brass in case feeder. Reload until empty, repeat if necessary.....

Brian suggests leaving the one-shot residue on the loaded rounds, while it's messy, he argues that it improves feeding......

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At least with my .223, if I leave the Hornady One Shot on the reloaded cases, I found that it tends to attract dirt and grit, which can cause chambering problems in an AR. So now, I remove all the lube off the reloaded rounds by giving them a couple of minutes in the tumbler.

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  • 1 month later...

I bought one of those large plastic trays that go under a washing machine to catch water spillage at Home Depot for somewhere around $7-8. It's large enough to hold a couple of thousand rounds and has a nice tall lip around the edge. It makes a nice area to inspect the cases and cull out the off-size stuff.

After sorting I spray lightly with the Dillon pump-spray lube (couldn't find any One-Shot and tried the Dillon since it was available). I wait 5 minutes, shake the tray around a bit and respray. 10 minutes later they go into the case feeder. I've loaded ~4,000 using the Dillon spray and haven't noticed a huge difference from the One-Shot so far.

The tray is a cheap solution and provides a good area for working with the brass.

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Ive found that what works really well for me is to get a large(old) beach towel,put a few dabs of LEE case lube on the towel,spread the "blobs" of lube out a bit,then pour on a 1000 or so cases at a time,then pick the whole lot up an agitate it to and fro for a minute os so.Puts a really fine layer of lube on.

LEE lube is a lot cheaper than the spray lubes and lasts for quite a few thousand rounds of reloading.I usually tumble the rounds for a few minutes after loading them to get the lube off.

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I use the Dillon stuff for rifle and pistol. For pistol, I dump it all in the hopper of my case feeder, give it a couple shots and start loading. For rifle I put a bunch of cases in either a box or a large gallon can, spray and move em all around and then size etc. I leave the lube on till the rounds are loaded then tumble them in corn cob for up to 20 mins. They come out nice and slick without the lube on them anymore. I tend to use the same media for tumbling my brass clean as I do for getting the lube off. Seems that the corn cob sucks it all up.

Vince

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I use a Lee U die (EGW) die on a 1050 for resizing and do not lube pistol (.40) cases. I use walnut media (from the pet store chains, bird bedding) and add 1-1.5 oz of nu-finish car wax per 1# of media in a vibratory tumbler every batch(run uncovered for 20-30 min to ditribute and dry up the liquid carrier of the car wax). The polish keeps the dust down (almost non-existant) and leaves a "showroom" wax finish on the cases (reduces tarnish rate on loaded cases when stored).

I notice no significant increase (without lube) in press opperation other than for the $#!+ "glock guppied" brass (using once fired range brass) for initial loads and once they have been sized and fired through my guns the second reload is smooth.

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