What Case Lube Recipe Are YOU Making & Using for YOUR cases

[usmc1974]

1 hour ago, vince said:

I have RCBS and Hornady and Redding dies. I do like Hornady`s elliptic expander, that seems to work smoothly. But my high-end Redding dies are the best of the bunch that i have. I noticed a long time ago, the cleaned (wet tumbled) brass was usually the most troublesome. Clean brass can stick real quick if not lubed well. Unclean brass was usually ok due to the carbon inside the necks allowed the expander to move more freely, a lubricant if you will.

 

I`m a machinist, tool & die maker, surely have lots of mics & calipers. I do have a rather large machine shop. Reloading is not new to me, many many decades of it under my belt. I`ve actually worked with a large reloading die maker doing engineering & designing a few years back, so i`m pretty knowledgeable for an old guy...lol, but i`m always open to hear others suggestions, thoughts, ideas.

 

As for reloading pistol. Never a problem there... straight cases are, well, pretty simplistic. I have many single stage, turret, and progressive presses as well.

 

As for your term pressure, and putting pressure on the cases, there isnt a problem going up into the die that is the problem, its when the case is coming back down out of the die is where the problems are. All cases will have some stretch as they come off the expander. Its the nature of the beast. Some cases are just more sensitive to it than others. Measure your case length before you resize it, then measure it again after resizing it. You`ll find that most will be longer after resizing, and more so if not lubed. Thats what i`m see/finding anyway.

You seemed very well versed in this area, and have a great understanding of what you are doing . What you might try next time is don't wet tumble your brass. use like walnuts or something to clean it and see if that works better. That's what I do I use crushed Walnut Hulls I'm leaving in overnight and then Lube the outside with pure lanolin very thin coating. Then I trim everything with my RCBS 3-way cutter. And after everything is sized and trimmed, I tumble for about an hour to get the lube off. I use both RCBS and lyman go no-go case gauges.

[vince]

3 minutes ago, usmc1974 said:

You seemed very well versed in this area, and have a great understanding of what you are doing . What you might try next time is don't wet tumble your brass. use like walnuts or something to clean it and see if that works better. That's what I do I use crushed Walnut Hulls I'm leaving in overnight and then Lube the outside with pure lanolin very thin coating. Then I trim everything with my RCBS 3-way cutter. And after everything is sized and trimmed, I tumble for about an hour to get the lube off. I use both RCBS and lyman go no-go case gauges.

Thank for the kind words usmc... you seem just as well versed as well! I could sit here all day and talk reloading with you. Just wishing i had more time to pick your brain.

 

I`m going to try your method with walnut, see how it goes. Like i said, i`m more than willing to try others ways. I might be very old, but by golly, i`m ALWAYS happy to learn from others!

 

Yes, i have one of those RCBS 3-way cutters too... sure makes things alot faster, once you get it dialed in...lol, it can be a touch finicky, but i blame me, until i understood it better.

I`m use to those "old timer" 2, 3 & 4-flute face cutters. They were a god send for over 40yrs for me. But this new RCBS cutter is the way to go for sure. One process, and your done. 

 

Its probably going to be awhile before i get back to reloading bench, and to also wait for the gun shops to reopen again before i can get some walnut media.

Right now i`ve got alot of progressive press mod projects i`m working on for awhile.

 

Thank you so much for sharing some of your knowledge and process too usmc, i really appreciate it! 

 

Be safe out here my friend!

 

vince

[Dwbsig]

I tumble clean in corn cob or walnut with any auto wax, before sizing I use lanolin and alcohol spray I put my rifle cases in fifty round tray and spray on a 45 degree angle so that I get lube inside the neck this really helps your case neck when coming over the expander ball. I have a concentricity gage that I have used on my sized brass and this is the best method that I have found to keep the necks straight. After sizing I trim and work my primer pockets then tumble with corn/walnut for about thirty mins before loading.

[vince]

3 hours ago, Dwbsig said:

I tumble clean in corn cob or walnut with any auto wax, before sizing I use lanolin and alcohol spray I put my rifle cases in fifty round tray and spray on a 45 degree angle so that I get lube inside the neck this really helps your case neck when coming over the expander ball. I have a concentricity gage that I have used on my sized brass and this is the best method that I have found to keep the necks straight. After sizing I trim and work my primer pockets then tumble with corn/walnut for about thirty mins before loading.

Excellent!