Case Lubricant

[SNSCaster2]

I will never again reload without massaging my brass with case lube. Easier on my wrist, elbow, shoulder, and machine.. The downside is a shell plate that gets cruddy after a few years and having to take the time to clean off the case lube, but it's well worth it to me.

[rhd2542]

I use dillon lube . I lay my cases in a shoe box lid and spray a very small amount of lube then shake the lid. Let dry for 10 mins

[mcracco]

Tumble then very quick spray of One Shot in plastic bag. I use all carbide dies.

[kevin c]

While neither is absolutely required with carbide dies, wax and case lube DO help smooth out the press operation. Especially helpful if you're older and have some joint pain already.

I will never again reload without massaging my brass with case lube. Easier on my wrist, elbow, shoulder, and machine.. The downside is a shell plate that gets cruddy after a few years and having to take the time to clean off the case lube, but it's well worth it to me.

I agree with the above comments wholeheartedly. I also think the smoother press action makes for more consistent ammo.

I've used One Shot for years. Recently I've been having good results using silicon spray (ZEP Par).

[dark3d]

Carbide dies. I clean with stainless steel media so brass will sometimes stick on the powder funnel because of no lube. One shot works wonders. Just hit about 1/2 the brass with the aerosol and they keep everything lubed up just fine.

[astephenson]

I don't use lube on pistol brass.

To clean/polish I use Nu Finish car polish. After about 20,000 round loaded I'm finally at the bottom of my first bottle.

[TCKev]

I will never again reload without massaging my brass with case lube. Easier on my wrist, elbow, shoulder, and machine.. The downside is a shell plate that gets cruddy after a few years and having to take the time to clean off the case lube, but it's well worth it to me.

This is great advice. I have done it both ways and the lubed version with a dab of lanolin is the only way to go

[TreblePlink]

The majority of my reloading has been .40 cal - straight-walled pistol cartridges and carbide dies - and for many years I used lube because it made the 550B stroke smoother. And I used the products and processes (shake inside plastic bag) mentioned here.

But I had infrequent reliability issues with failure to feed in my STI. When I examined my entire process - vibrating in corncob with the Dillon additive, then lubing and loading, I found that the corncob, the media additive abrasive, and the lube combined to form a slightly sticky, slightly abrasive surface on the cases of my finished cartridges.

When I started wiping them thoroughly with a rag and solvent after loading, I had no more feeding problems, and the inside of the mags collected less dirt.

Now I use neither the abrasive media additive or the lube, and don't clean post process - and it works fine. In five or ten more years I may have to buy another $35 carbide resizing die (Lee U-die)? Ok.

[kevin c]

Yeah, I usually clean off the lube. I found OneShot to get sticky on regular brass cases (but not on nickelled cases), so I dump 100 to 200 newly made rounds into an old bath towel and spritz them with rubbing alcohol. A quick rubdown and they're good.

The silicon stuff doesn't get sticky, so I haven't been cleaning it off. I keep my mags pretty clean, and my home range is mostly gravel, which keeps the dust down when the spent mags hit the ground. I would guess those generous OEM Glock chambers also make feeding jams from dirty rounds less likely.

[wirecounter]

I have a bottle of Dillon case lube I bought 15 years ago. I add alcohol to it and it lasts forever. If you buy a bottle of Dillon lube fill it up with alcohol when you have used approximately 1/8 of the bottle. You can do this 30 + times and it still does a great job on the cases. The more you dillute it the eaiser it is to get off of the cases.

Mahalo for the great tip. I bought a spray bottle and mixed in the alcohol with the Dillon case lube ~ 4 to 1 mix. Works just like you said.

[photog]

I started Lubing cases for 40 cal push through sizing. It's easy enough to put cases in a large plastic container like you get Parmesan Cheese in from Costco, add a dab of Lee lube to the lid and shake for 30 seconds. The cases come out dry and ready to load. One does need to clean the finished cartridges after this.

[Seeker]

+1 for One Shot and the plastic bag method. After changing to Redding Comp Dies from Hornady dies I started to develop some shoulder issues. At the recommendation of more experienced shooters I started to lube my pistol brass. I also use the alcohol and towel method for removing the lube from the loaded cases. I will never load without lube again.

Bob

[TGriff]

I use DuPont Teflon/Silicone spray. http://www2.dupont.com/Consumer_Lubricants/en_US/products/silicone.html

I spread all the cases out flat on a piece of cardboard then spray, roll around, and spray again. It dries in a few minutes and will leave virtually no unwanted residue. I don't keep track but one can should do 10-20k cases.

[DTHN2LGS]

Imperial sizing wax for my rifle cartdridges. Nothing for pistol loads (carbide dies).

This is what I use too, with excellent results.

[okie_ipsc]

Since this post was revitalized... Here's the stuff I use to prepare brass and my ritual.... Note the car wax near the Dillon tumbler pic (add small amount with unit running as media circulates... for about 1 minute or so, then power down, add brass, top on, let it rip for 2 hrs). I use a cookie sheet and lay the brass out on their sides... spray case lube moderately across entire sheet, give a little shake and let sit for one minute to dry, then dump into load bin attached to press. Once cartidges are assembled and case guaged, I lay out a clean t-shirt on clean floor and dump rounds onto that... wrap up like a hobo bag on a stick and massage excess lube off of cartridges (takes about a minute) with t-shirt, then box rounds... then drink beer

-forgot to mention the media I use is crushed corn cob from either walmart or feed store, whatever's cheapest... I experimented with walnut at one time but didn't care for it. I throw the media out after two runs in the tumbler. I shared more info than needed for the post but bottom line, IMO you can only befefit from case lube for the high volume handgun reloader.

[benos]

To OP

Research and decide whats best for you but this is one of those Ford V Chevy debates.

FWIW: after many, many 10,000's of loaded rounds in pistol caliber with carbide dies I would never consider NOT using lube.

Too much work, hard on equipment, and on and on and on..........

Plus something that never gets mentioned you are forming brass it work hardens it really work hardens without lube.

Yes to what Greg said.

Even with carbide pistol dies - once you've lubed with One Shot, you'll never go back.

[Paul Burtchell]

To OP

Research and decide whats best for you but this is one of those Ford V Chevy debates.

FWIW: after many, many 10,000's of loaded rounds in pistol caliber with carbide dies I would never consider NOT using lube.

Too much work, hard on equipment, and on and on and on..........

Plus something that never gets mentioned you are forming brass it work hardens it really work hardens without lube.

Yes to what Greg said.

Even with carbide pistol dies - once you've lubed with One Shot, you'll never go back.

+1 Nothing like it !!