How necessary is case lube when reloading 9mm?

[Bello]

my first few thousand i never used lube on my 9mm then i looked over one day and was like hell i will try it.. it was like butter in my 650 so now i just lube my 9mm and rock and roll

[wurm]

I started using case lube with 9mm this year and am hooked. I get more consistent OAL and it is way easier to operate the press. I am using an EGW U sizing die and it used to take a fair amount of muscle to load before the lube. I started with Dillon case lube which worked great but am now using One Shot so I can be like everyone else on here

[CSEMARTIN]

I went through a whole can of Hornady One-Shot today, prepping .223 brass, there it IS necessary.

I just don't see the benefit on straight walled short pistol cases. My brass lasts longer than I care to shoot it, I don't get stuck cases, my dies have not worn out. I've measured cases before and after sizing with and without lube and measure no difference. Not saying it hurts, sure it helps, but it is NOT necessary. I've not had a squib, but several of the guys that lube their pistol brass have had squibs or very low power rounds. I don't trim pistol brass either.

What does case lube have to do with squib rounds? I followed your logic up until you made that comment.

Without case lube, a lot more stress is put on part #13409. A friend of mine was without his machine while Dillon repaired it free of charge. But at $7.95 per can, what is the issue man?

[Bello]

I went through a whole can of Hornady One-Shot today, prepping .223 brass, there it IS necessary.

I just don't see the benefit on straight walled short pistol cases. My brass lasts longer than I care to shoot it, I don't get stuck cases, my dies have not worn out. I've measured cases before and after sizing with and without lube and measure no difference. Not saying it hurts, sure it helps, but it is NOT necessary. I've not had a squib, but several of the guys that lube their pistol brass have had squibs or very low power rounds. I don't trim pistol brass either.

What does case lube have to do with squib rounds? I followed your logic up until you made that comment.

Without case lube, a lot more stress is put on part #13409. A friend of mine was without his machine while Dillon repaired it free of charge. But at $7.95 per can, what is the issue man?

where did you get the information about stressing out that part? this is a pretty big piece of cast aluminum and sure over 1 million rounds it will never break! also it works on a push/pull system. i mean i have crushed a 9mm piece of brass barely pulling down on my 650 handle with minimal force. i.e. 9mm brass wasnt seated in the shellplate correctly. it dont matter if it is lubed or not with carbide dies just lubing is a hellofalot easier

[CSEMARTIN]

Taken from Dick Metcalf's article in ShootingTimes May '07..Handloading the 9mm for Accuracy

"When loading any handgun cartridge, you should always use carbide dies (if available). Steel dies won't really save you any money because if you load in any volume (say for competition practice) the cost of case lube will soon eat up the price difference. Having said that, we recommend you lube 9mm cases anyway, even brand-new cases. You only need to lube one case out of every five or 10. (More than that will quickly accumulate excess lube in the small 9mm die chambers and can lead to case dimpling problems.)

Of course, carbide dies are advertised as not needing to be lubed. But small, tapered auto pistol cases, like the 9mm in particular, when brand-new or dry, can gall the carbide and leave brass deposits that will eventually adversely affect the sizing or even pressure-scratch the carbide insert. The best choice of lube for carbide dies is an aerosol type that goes on wet but dries before being used in the die. Wet or greasy conventional lubes are unnecessary and messy. If you handload the 9mm using carbide dies with a one-in-five-case aerosol lube that is dry going in, loading will be quicker, cleaner, and easier."

"Always clean your cases. Dirty cases eventually ruin any die set, steel or carbide, and the smaller the case you're loading, the quicker this will happen."

[Erik S.]

I'm suprised to hear how many people use lube with carbide dies. I'm not closed to the idea, but I have not found it necessary in my 550B loading 9mm. The cases are so dinky already and if you have a reasonably clean sizing die, it shouldn't require much effort to work the handle. Another +1 for Hornady's OneShot since it doesn't need to be cleaned off after loading and is inert. I see alot of guys using this greasy/oily mess to lube their cases and they never clean it off. They wonder why they get dimples on the sides of cases, increased case setback, and flattened primers... When lube is left on cases and the round is fired, the case expands to fill the chamber but the lube doesn't allow the case to grip the chamber walls and can cause undue stress on the slide.

[redmanfixit]

I have been using a Dillon 550 to make pistol ammo since I purchased it 25 years ago....or so. Carbide dies were expensive and new as the technology for working that material was ....primitive. With hardened steel dies lubrication was not optional. What a pain in the A**! Joy and happy day, here in the future we have not only carbide dies that won't take a mortgage payment to buy, but we also have TiN vacuum coated dies! Harder than the hubs of hell...actually. With these wonderful dies a little lube goes a long long way. I would recommend having two containers of brass near your loading station. One with cases that have been lubed and the majority that have not, again assuming carbide or TiN coated dies. About every 5th or so case you feed to the press, grab a lubed one. The lube that remains in the die after you size one that has been lubed is good for several cases before you need to do it again, you'll be able to tell by feel. If you load a lot, keep the routines simple, clean and easy to tidy up between sessions. In the long run you'll have fewer bad rounds and your equipment will last longer.

Any bottle neck cases require lubrication! Even in a commercial production die!!! Thing is too much lube will give you dimples in the neck and shoulder area from the pressure of sizing. It always reduces to balance and attention, every where you look in our sport!

[BMartens]

I use a little silicone spray on a rag, dump in a couple hundred cases and work them around in the rag. A huge difference in effort and the press runs so much smoother with just a little bit of lube.

[MARKAVELI]

Fairly new to reloading, when I first started reloading I didnt use lube for my brass. A month into reloading and reading forums tried it and I can notice the difference in how smooth my press opperate, Oneshot goes a long way!