Removing lube?

[Flexmoney]

I pulled this question (from Berkim) ouit of another thread.

I know this subject is covered all over, the search led me here (among others)..

For the pistol rounds, I use One Shot and leave it, for .223 seems better to use the Dillon lube (reading Eriks posts and his die problems). To get that off, do most of you tumble with fine corn cob?

I've seen 10-15 minutes mentioned, that about do it?

[ErikW]

I just tumble in walnut media for 10-20 minutes.

[CSEMARTIN]

I use One Shot, squirt a little on and forget about it.

[eric nielsen]

Brian's reloading video from a few years back shows him tumbling it off. Which is harmless, even with pointy bullets.

Since then he's stopped tumbling it off, just rolls the rounds in a towel. That's all you need to do. If you shoot in an EXTREMELY dusty location like Reno NV you might consider taking the extra time to tumble.

Hornady One-Shot is much much better than Dillon (wax) lube. I don't know why they still sell it - they could just sell the Hornady.

If you're gonna tumble an extra time, I'd suggest this: spray-size-tumble-spraythecleanprimerpockets&sides-load. Esp. if you've ever had misfires, or shoot Glock or revolver/fullmoon clips. Loading is effortless & no misfires in last 6 years.

[D.Hayden]

csemartin, eric..

you do this for rifle brass?

for 40's and One-Shot, I leave it on, that seems to be contrary to most of the 'removing lube' posts, and it seems the concensus is One-Shot doesn't cut it for the rifles....

[dillon]

Dillon lube isn't wax, it's lanolin. The reason to remove lube from cases , especially bottleneck cases, is that when the round is fired, the case does not adhere to the chamber wall, increasing the standing breechface thrust. In some firearms, this can accelerate wear, as the round acts is if it is overpressured.

Sometimes, such as when shooting older surplus ammo through belt fed machine guns, this lube is necessary to prevent cases separations. For this application, spray furniture wax is often the lube of choice.

[ErikW]

Here's my rifle loading method...

Set up the XL650 with a dedicated, sizing-only toolhead. Place about a 100 clean cases in a plastic bag and spread them out flat on the bench. Spray generously with lube (lanolin/alcohol: Dillon, Winchester, etc.). Shake the bag and roll the cases around each other. Dump the bag in the case feeder and start pulling the handle. Run the sized cases in the tumbler for 15 minutes.

Set up the loading toolhead (with a neck-size only die, primarily to "decap" walnut media from the flash hole, but also to resize any necks dinged in the process). Dump the clean processed cases in the feeder and get busy.

BTW, in setting up the sizing toolhead, I'm adjusting for proper headspace and checking that most of the brass doesn't need trimming. (I only run once- or twice-fired brass to avoid trimming.) Anytime you change the brass source (e.g., different headstamp, fired through different guns, etc.) you need to confirm headspace and sized length.

[D.Hayden]

Thanks (again) Erik.

I'm going to have more toolheads by the time I get finished, that's a good idea.

Would you ming sharing your .223 die setup (makes, types)?

Now, if I could trade-in all my extra large powderbars to Dillon for a 650...

[EricW]

To get lube off a few rounds quick, I wet down a towel with denatured alcohol, drop the rounds in the middle, swirl 'em around and...done.

===============================================

FWIW,

I've never sized my rifle cases separately and never would unless I had to trim.

[warpspeed]

Here is my rifle reloading process

Once fired 223 brass gets tumbled in walnut just to clean it. Brass gets put in a loading block and sprayed with OneShot. Brass gets resized on a Redding single stage press w/ a RCBS small base 223 die. Brass is sized to pass a LE Wilson case guage and Dillon case guage. Brass goes back into tumbler for about 15 min to remove lube. Next, brass gets trimmed to length with a Gracey trimmer primer pocket reamed with Gracey reamer. Once again brass back into tumbler to remove any brass shavings. Now brass goes into different media for final polish.

I load 223 on a Dillon 550. First postion has a RCBS universal decaping die to make sure no media is in the case or pluging the flash hole for the primer. Next is powder drop. I use a Redding Competition Seating die to seat bullet and a Redding taper crimp to make sure that there is no flare on the case neck that might cause a feeding problem.

[CSEMARTIN]

BerKim,

I only do this for my pistol reloads. I don't shoot a rifle.

[ErikW]

Would you ming sharing your .223 die setup (makes, types)?

Whichever one doesn't have a stuck case. Just got the RCBS small base back... we'll see how it goes.

[TBF]

I use Hornady One Shot, leave it on.

Never had a stuck case.

The bolt thrust issue makes me wonder if I should be removing it.

Should I ?

I absolutely hate tumbling brass with the primers removed, the media in the primer hole thing makes me cuss.

I use Hornady dies in 223, standard not small base.

I used to use a Lee FCD, but omitted it recently. My hornady expander measures .220 which gives plenty of neck tension.

Travis F.

[George]

My method is very similar to Warpspeed's. I also use a 550.

Tumble clean and size separately on a RockChucker using a Dillon (non-carbide) die and Dillon lube (I just spray it on about 100 at a time in a shoebox and shake them until they are coated evenly). Tumble lube off (separate tumbler and media for this). Inspect & check in L.E. Wilson & JP drop gauges then trash any rejects. Nothing in 550 station one (I poke media from flash hole while inspecting & gauging). Redding Competition seating die, and Dillon taper crimp die to kiss the neck for good measure.

IMHO, Dillon lube and Dillon size dies are the best choices. The Redding seating die is a luxury that I cannot live without because it allows me to change OAL on the fly.

If trimming is needed (it is typically required after each sizing if you care about accuracy), it happens right after the sizing, but before tumbling the lube off. I trim with a Gracey, and then use a Lyman VLD reamer to put a real shallow angle on the inside of the case mouth (your match grade bullets will thank you for this).

--

Regards,

[TBF]

OK so now I'm obsessing about tumbling the lube off...

DANGIT ! leaving it on was working fine til now.

I know gobs of greasy lube on the rounds would be a bad thing.

But is my leaving the ONE SHOT on the cases gonna leave me with a bolt carrier sticking out of my forehead?

I never considered the bolt thrust issue, I will definately stop doing this on my 300WSM rounds. I have chills and shivers alll over....

Anyone have data on the subject ?

Bad personal experience ?

Engineering expertise on the subject ?

I'm only half kidding around , and I'm not sure which half...

But, really I have loaded quite a bit of 223 with ONE SHOT and never tumbled it off.

Never tumbled it off other rifle stuff either.

I am also willing to admit I'm not worlds foremost ballistic engineer, and could be absolutely wrong.

IN fact I could be a freakin idiot....

SO...Tumbling off ONE SHOT ?

TRUTH ..... or ..... URBAN LEGEND ?

Lets cuss and discuss...

Travis F.

[shred]

OK so now I'm obsessing about tumbling the lube off...

DANGIT ! leaving it on was working fine til now.

I know gobs of greasy lube on the rounds would be a bad thing.

But is my leaving the ONE SHOT on the cases gonna leave me with a bolt carrier sticking out of my forehead?

I wouldn't worry about it a lot for .223. I'm not super-convinced that a little one-shot is any slicker than a polished-nickel case, and those do OK. Also, FWIW, several early machine guns actually had oiler pads to lube cases so the mechanism would run.

[warpspeed]

The main reason I remove it is that it tends to build up in the trimmer & reamer, not to mention on your hands

[bhg]

I've never reloaded 223, but with 243 and 7mm One Shot is not enough. It got to the point that I could hardly cycle the machine. After using the Dillon lube it felt like I was running 38 super again.

I am with Erik on the seperate sizing and seating toolheads. I have found that cleaning the primer pockets after sizing greatly increases accuracy.

After seating and inspecting I tumble in walnut media for 10-20 minutes. The Dillon lube leaves them so sticky that they will not chamber reliably.

As for pistol reloading, One Shot is the only way to go.

[kurtm]

For pistol I trust in the carbide gods! For rifle I have switched back to RCBS Case LubeII. It is water based. Yea you have to roll the cases on a pad, but I use this step as a final case check. After it is loaded...this stuff is as slick as Dillon spray lube, I dampen a towel with water and just roll the cases on the towel. The loaded rounds come off the towel completely lube free and shiney as the day they were made. It works for me! KURTM