Rifle reloading: case lube removal advice

[Dog Doc]

I am currently working on some .308 loads, and I am using my Dillon 550 in somewhat of a single stage type setting.

I have loaded quite a bit with good success with new lapua brass and processed brass, but up until now I have not really got into the sizing/trimming side of reloading.

My current thought was that I would size/deprime using the dillon FL die. The case would be lubed with Dillon case lube. I then measure and trim/chamfer/debur all brass with Possom Hollow gear. Following this I tumbled the brass in corn cob(Lyman) for about 20 min. to remove the lube.

Here is the problem: Looking inside each case, 3 out of 10 cases had media stuck in the flash hole, and I couldn't get it out. So... what is recommended?

I was planning on size/deprime/prime/trim/chamfer/debur a good quantity of brass to be ready for loading, but now I am wondering about waiting to tumble until after seating the bullets.

So 3 questions:

1. What should I try to avoid media in an already primed flash hole?

2. If it is recommended to not tumble until the bullet is seated, can I leave case lube on brass for an undetermined amount of time before bullet seating?

3. Does case lube if not removed affect how tight the bullet is seated... meaning will the lube worsen risk of set back?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[hitman]

Little shot of compresed air.

Also Lee used to make a universal deprimer only die.

[Chills1994]

1. use a universal decapping die in station 1 of your Dillon 550. it will punch out the remaining "kernels" of tumbling media left in the flashhole.

2. case lube left on the brass for an extended amount of time may tarnish the brass or make it change colors. I am assuming since you are spending the big bucks on Lapua brass that you want to keep it looking pretty.

3. I don't know about that, but I have heard/read that firing a still lubed up round can cause too much "uumph" to be applied to the bolt face...since the case normally swells up just for a split second and supposed/theoretically via friction "grabs" the sides of the chamber...supposedly.

Me? at least for now, for .223, I tumble the lube off the loaded rounds...just for a few minutes, maybe like 10 to 20.

I also have the Possum Hollow Cutters and toolholders and spin them (the chamfering/deburring tool also) in a drill held in a vise.

But I have recently ordered a Dillon RT1200 trimmer to be used on my 650. work is eating up too much of my waking hours right now to make reloading and/or case prep any kinda fun...not that holding brass in my hand like a pencil in an electric pencil sharpener until my hand started cramping was much fun to begin with anyway.

besides that, handling each piece of brass two or three times by hand in a batch process just seems so inefficient to me.

I went with the RCBS X-sizer die by the way so hopefully in the future I won't have to trim my twice, three times, four times, etc. fired brass each time. the initial trimming is done 20 thousandths under the trim to length, so I trimmed my .223 brass to 1.73"

[Dog Doc]

Little shot of compresed air.

Also Lee used to make a universal deprimer only die.

I thought about this but I worried that any moisture in compressed air could affect the primer..

Have you done this without it affecting primers? I will try it if this has been done with no effect on primers!

[Dog Doc]

1. use a universal decapping die in station 1 of your Dillon 550. it will punch out the remaining "kernels" of tumbling media left in the flashhole.

2. case lube left on the brass for an extended amount of time may tarnish the brass or make it change colors. I am assuming since you are spending the big bucks on Lapua brass that you want to keep it looking pretty.

3. I don't know about that, but I have heard/read that firing a still lubed up round can cause too much "uumph" to be applied to the bolt face...since the case normally swells up just for a split second and supposed/theoretically via friction "grabs" the sides of the chamber...supposedly.

Me? at least for now, for .223, I tumble the lube off the loaded rounds...just for a few minutes, maybe like 10 to 20.

I also have the Possum Hollow Cutters and toolholders and spin them (the chamfering/deburring tool also) in a drill held in a vise.

But I have recently ordered a Dillon RT1200 trimmer to be used on my 650. work is eating up too much of my waking hours right now to make reloading and/or case prep any kinda fun...not that holding brass in my hand like a pencil in an electric pencil sharpener until my hand started cramping was much fun to begin with anyway.

besides that, handling each piece of brass two or three times by hand in a batch process just seems so inefficient to me.

I went with the RCBS X-sizer die by the way so hopefully in the future I won't have to trim my twice, three times, four times, etc. fired brass each time. the initial trimming is done 20 thousandths under the trim to length, so I trimmed my .223 brass to 1.73"

Thanks for all the input!

My problem is that the brass is already primed..so a universal decapping die would not work.

I have a variety of brass and the Lapua I would like to utilize as long as I can...and keep clean...dont really care about shiny but I like clean!!

I have also been thinking about the Dillon trimmer!! I figured I would work some brass with the Possom hollow at least for now!

[whistlepig]

try Hornady one shot case lube..... aereosol spray, it drys and very very little, if any, gets in case mouth. No problems noted here with "setback". After your round is loaded, wipe it once with a cloth, excess lube removed easy. Dont tumble already loaded ammo, the powder gets abused and actually can start to break into smaller pieces and different shapes. That affects burning rate, which affects pressure. Different pressure means wide variances in velocity, BC and then group size. I trim rifle brass when needed as a seperate step. The Dillon power trimmer works, but I spend the money on more bullets.

[wide45]

try Hornady one shot case lube..... aereosol spray, it drys and very very little, if any, gets in case mouth. No problems noted here with "setback". After your round is loaded, wipe it once with a cloth, excess lube removed easy. Dont tumble already loaded ammo, the powder gets abused and actually can start to break into smaller pieces and different shapes. That affects burning rate, which affects pressure. Different pressure means wide variances in velocity, BC and then group size. I trim rifle brass when needed as a seperate step. The Dillon power trimmer works, but I spend the money on more bullets.

One Shot no worky for rifle.

[njl]

If you're sizing and trimming primed brass, it sounds like you have your steps out of order.

I've only done a little bit of rifle (.30 carbine) reloading, and the steps I took were:

tumble

lube

resize/deprime

trim/chamfer/debur

tumble

load on the RL550b in the usual way with a universal decapping die in station 1

One problem I ran into was that little pieces of corn cob could get stuck in the primer pocket out of the way of the flash hole, so the universal decapper couldn't be relied on to clear them. I think I need to mount something like a tooth brush somewhere near the right side of the press that I can press the base of the case against and give a little twist to knock anything out of the primer pocket.

[whistlepig]

try Hornady one shot case lube..... aereosol spray, it drys and very very little, if any, gets in case mouth. No problems noted here with "setback". After your round is loaded, wipe it once with a cloth, excess lube removed easy. Dont tumble already loaded ammo, the powder gets abused and actually can start to break into smaller pieces and different shapes. That affects burning rate, which affects pressure. Different pressure means wide variances in velocity, BC and then group size. I trim rifle brass when needed as a seperate step. The Dillon power trimmer works, but I spend the money on more bullets.

One Shot no worky for rifle.

Silly Doctor..... One Shot worky great for rifle. In Dillon 650 for .308 and .223 and on single stage with 25-06 Ackley, .243 and 6mmX using Redding Dies.

[ScottyPotty]

I had some issues with one shot - enough that I stopped using it and haven't missed it.

Once you prime the brass its too late to tumble off the lube until after you load your rounds. After loading I throw my rounds in the tumbler for about 10mins to clean them up. check this out. http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=42&t=303242&page=1 they did tests with microscopes showing before and after tumbling and what happens to the powder.

If you already have corn cob stuck in your primed case then you should ether try to blow it out with an air gun (make sure you wear glasses...lol) or just leave it and shoot it out. I have read several reports of people doing tests to see if a corn cob/walnut in the flash hole made a difference at 100 yards. From their tests it made no difference in accuracy. To be fair they were not bench rest shooters shooting little tiny groups.

[g56]

If you are getting media stuck in the flash hole, the easy way to fix that is to use a finer grade of media, I use a fine grade of walnut to clean the lube off the brass, that totally eliminated the problem of media stuck in the flash holes or primer pocket.

One Shot works pretty well, but its coating is less uniform, when using One Shot I pay careful attention to the force its taking to resize the case, if a case starts getting tight I back off and add some more lube to the case, Dillon lube is much more uniform and I never feel like a case is going to stick in the die.

[Suicycle]

[/quote

One Shot no worky for rifle.

That is all I ever used on my Rifle ammo with a Rock Chucker. Also handy release agent to bed rifles, I have since seen the error in that use though. When I was loading for a 41 Rem I always used RCBS carbide dies. You don't lube with them. I am about to start loading again, are they a thing of the past?

Edited April 24, 2011 by Suicycle

[whistlepig]

Carbide dies rock.... all I use for pistol calibers and no lube needed.

[g56]

Carbide dies rock.... all I use for pistol calibers and no lube needed.

In pistol calibers you normally don't have to lube if using carbide dies, the only exception to that I have found is 44 magnum, its quite a workout if you don't lube them.

Rifle calibers are an entirely different animal, Dillon says on their website that carbide rifle dies still need to be lubed, and they recommend carbide dies in rifle calibers for commercial loaders for longer die life, don't waste your money on carbide dies in bottle neck rifle calibers for the average reloader.