Lubing straight wall pistol casesI

[rooster mcbee]

I made a statement in an other thread that I lube my .38 Supercomp brass. I will elaborate a little about that here. Whenever I would load a batch of new Starline .38 supercomp brass, I would have a lot of brass shavings and tiny brass particles all over my shell plate. The cases would be hard to pull out of the sizing die and I was getting different degree's of case mouth flaring causing an occasional crushed case when I would seat a bullet. After the cases were fired once, the brass shaving stopped but the were still a little hard to pull out of the sizing die. Then one night while surfing the web I came across a blog from an esteemed member of this forum, DaveRe, who talked about the benefits of lubing cases before loading them. I decided to give it a try, so I put the cases in a cardboard box and gave them a shot of Dillon spray lube. I let them sit as recommended by Dave, while I filled primer tubes and poured my powder. Then I dumped the lubed cases in the plastic box that I pick empties from to load and started pulling the handle. I could tell the difference immediately. No more sticking on the powder drop/expander die, no more binding feeling. Case mouths were expanded uniformly from case to case, so bullets seated more uniformly without the occasional crushed mouth. Lubing the cases before loading them made the whole process go much smoother, and was a lot easier on my arm as I raised the ram up and down. I feel like it definitely increased the consistency and therefore the quality of my reloads. After I finished, I took all of the loaded bullets and put them in the tumbler for 30 minutes or so to remove the lube. I am very pleased with the results I get from this added step to my reloading process. One minor concern that really doesn't have anything to do with lubing the cases is that when I tumble the loaded rounds, a grain of tumbling media gets stuck in the cavity of the jacketed hollow point on about half of the bullets. At first I picked the media out, then I decided it probably wouldn't hurt anything and now I shoot them as is. As I said earlier, I got this idea from DaveRe's blog. Lots of interesting information there from a smart shooter who is willing to share. I'm going to use his tip on fixing the wandering windage adjustment on my red dot scope next. Thank you Dave!

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

When I started reloading, I was told as long as I had carbide dies, I did not need to lube. In those days, lube was on a pad. I really think I ruined a lot of brass that way with a scratch that soon turned into a split.

With spray lubes and vibrating tumblers, I now lube everything and the process is much, much easier. Of course loading 1000 rounds on a 550 sure beats reloading 1000 rounds on my RCBS JR

[johnhurd]

why tumble after reloading??? Does the lube it make the rounds to slippery in the mag?? Do they enter the chamber to fast due to the lube ??? Just had to ask why????

PS been lubing for as long as I can remember and never tumbled \ wiped the lube off

Edited September 5, 2012 by johnhurd

[rooster mcbee]

The reason I tumble them is to make sure the lube doesn't attract dirt or dust. Honestly, once they have been through all 4 stations on my 550, there barely feels like there is any lube left on them. Still, I'm just taking the precaution.

[herky]

John, you need to find a job!

[rooster mcbee]

He had me going with that "entering the chamber too fast" thing!

[johnhurd]

Hey Herky how's it going................? Set these kids on the straight path...................

If yer worried about dust on yer reloads y'all ain't shooting fast enough.......................

Edited September 5, 2012 by johnhurd

[johnhurd]

PS ......Hey Herky I went and interviewed for a job (TSA) but my diapers kept setting the powder sniffer off............ damn I hate old.

[D.Hayden]

You can always try OneShot to do the same thing, vs the Dillon lube.. it's probably more common for this. after it dries, you'd never know there was something on the cases at all.. at least I can never tell

No need to tumble it off..

[Youngeyes]

I lube everything. My bullets are so slick that they sometimes slide through the target without leaving a mark.

[rooster mcbee]

I bought a can of OneShot to try. I didn't think it lubed very thoroughly. It didn't seem to get all around the cases to me. Maybe I need to try it again. Give it a TwoShot.

[johnhurd]

I put the cases on a old bath towel spread them out then spray up and down then across, then grab the corners and seesaw the towel to spread the OneShot works for me

[lowlands]

Hornady One Shot in the aerosol can version works best for me, way better than the sticky Dillon case lube. I throw two to three hunderd cases in the case feeder of my 1050 and just spray the lube on in the feeder itself. Works like a charm

[BillD]

I'm a luber and finish tumbler. I probably loaded 40K rounds before I started lubing brass. It makes it so much easier to run the press and more importantly the press (650) is so much smoother. Smoother means I don't have near as many case feeder jams and I don't spill powder all over the shell plate.

I loaded up a couple thousand .40 nickel cases for match ammo and those really needed lube.

[GrumpyOne]

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=151490&view=findpost&p=1771533&hl=lanolin&fromsearch=1

[Litlratt]

I'm a luber and finish tumbler. I probably loaded 40K rounds before I started lubing brass. It makes it so much easier to run the press and more importantly the press (650) is so much smoother. Smoother means I don't have near as many case feeder jams and I don't spill powder all over the shell plate.

I loaded up a couple thousand .40 nickel cases for match ammo and those really needed lube.

I'm with you on this Bill.

It also makes it easier on a damaged wrist.

A 4 to 1 solution of liquid lanolin and 90 to 99% iso alcohol makes a great, inexpensive, homemade lube. Works as well or better than any commercial lube that I ever bought.

Edited to add that I checked the link from TheGrumpyOne after posting. Liquid lanolin will not require heating. The difference you will find between the different grades of alcohol is that you will have to remix (shake) the container (spray bottle) with a lower grade, 99% alcohol will not need shaken as it won't separate.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Litlratt

[lugnut]

I'm with you on this Bill.

It also makes it easier on a damaged wrist.

Yes!!! I usually reload 9mm (tapered) and lube makes the chore MUCH easier. When I lube enough my wrists don't hurt. (this doesn't sound good does it? LOL) But really- I wouldn't deal with reloading without lube. That's for all ammo.

[lablover]

Just learned something new...Lube with carbide dies. I have the RCBS tungsten carbide and was not using lube.

[Trident]

I just load a zip lock gallon bag full that the hooper will hold spray one shot for a few seconds, squeeze the bag by hand a few times to move everything around, wait a few seconds to dry and dump in hopper. Works perfect every time and keeps the hopper clean. One shot for pistol and Dillon for rifle brass.

I do usually tumble for 15 minutes per 1000 in corn and Dillion polish just to final clean and polish.

[Lebayer]

One minor caution about lubing pistol brass: don't over-lube! I get carried away sometimes, thinking if a little is good, more must be better but sometimes powder sticks to the lube at the top of the case as the flare is being pulled out. Spills a lot more powder than I'd normally get. During one session, I actually dumped the brass out of the feeder, tumbled it - without fresh polish - for a few minutes and reloaded it. There was still enough lube on the cases to allow for smooth loading but not enough to attract powder. BTW, I use Longshot for .38 Super loads.