What is your preferred case lube for sizing 223 brass ?

LEE lube, diluted with rubbing alcohol and shaken not stirred sprayed on with a little spritz bottle Water soluble, no mess.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Old fashioned RCBS case lube applied with a roll pad. I have used this system for years, and never had a stuck case.......Something I can't say about some of the spray on lubes.

Larry

As I'm a card carrying Luddite, that's the same method I use. It worked for me in 1974 and continues today. I will say I use Motor Mica inside the neck to stop the "nails on a chalkboard" screech when the resizing button is pulled through tthe neck.

The only switch I've made is to go with the RCBS water soluble lube. I rinse the cases in the sink and place them in the sun during the summer or over a heat vent in the winter. I really don't like messing with solvents and having to rub individual cases with a rag.

Another RCBS lube and pad user here for the last 25 years. After I roll them accross the pad I give them a quick spin between the fingers from mid way down the case up and over the shoulders and around the necks to insure the neck and shoulder areas are evenly lubed as those areas dont make good contact with the roll pad . I too use the mica on a bore swab inside the necks. I load for a Tikka bolt rifle and dont mind the extra steps for the accuracy it gives me in return

10 Spot

imperial die sizing wax. best thing i have found. takes very little and cases clean quickly in a vibratory tumbler.

I sometimes use the Dillon spray lube too. A little goes a long way, and I clean my loaded rounds in a Dillon vibratory case cleaner afterwards.

Synthetic motor oil, 5W-30/40. Dip a case mouth into 1/8" of oil, resize, and the next 5-20 cases (depending on case size and die manufacturer) do not need any lube. Cheap, a quart lasts *forever*. Google "case lube synthetic oil" for a video, lube is about 4 minutes in.

Rule3's method Rules. Lee lube is a sizing die wax/lube that has been used in metal forming industry for years. I like it's non-greasy , washes up with water and will not contaminate powder or primer nature. And the 10 to 1 alcohol/ lube mix and spray is a convient way to apply. For years I used Lyman lube on a pad...the thick oil was messy and greasy, but didn't know any better then. Lee is cleaner and
Lee works for all cases not just 223.
Gary

Imperial sizing wax and the pad systems certain work and work well.

But who wants to clean off wax with a solvent or re tumble the brass? I don't. If for a few hunting rounds sure, no problem.

The LEE lube is electrical wire pulling lubricant.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I use the Lee tube of wax lube. rub it on with a finger, and back off after sizing with a shop rag. It doesn't dent shoulders like oil or grease based lubes if you happen to get a little too far up on the case.

Hornady One Shot spray. I'll never fool around with pads again.

Lou

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NRA Certified Instructor & RSO

Motor oil?

Same here, my RCBS pad is retired.

I bought a quart ($5.35 with tax) of "IDEAL ClearGlide Wire Pulling Lubricant" (water soluable) at Lowe's, and a quart of 91% Rubbing Alcohol $2.97 with tax) at Walmart. I used an RCBS spay case lube bottle because I had 2 empties.

I squirted 1" of Wire Lube and added 2" of alcohol to the RCBS bottle and shook it up. The lube needs to spray in a mist, not a stream. If you get a stream, add more alcohol.

I have an old "rescued" 9" x 13" aluminum cake pan that I layer rifle brass into neatly in rows. Spray the layer of brass until you see uniform LIGHT coverage of lube. Add another layer of brass and spray again. I've done 1 layer or 5 layers of brass without problems.

When you first start resizing brass make sure the alcohol is evaporated from the cases. A little bit of lube is all that is needed. I resized 2,500 cases and did not have a single dragging or stuck case after I found out the alcohol had to evaporate first. I also resized two hundred 300 Winchester Magnum Rifle cases in about 15 minutes without any problems.

I tumbled the loaded ammo (or cases if you chose) with corn cob media in a Midway or Harbor Freight tumbler and added 3 tablespoons of mineral spirits sprinkled on the media. The cases were perfectly clean in about 20 minutes. I load 200 rounds, start the tumbler, when I had the next 200 rounds loaded, I changed out the ammo in the tumbler.

I keep the alcohol in an old refrigerator with the mineral spirits so it won't evaporate on the shelf in the summer time. The quart bottle of Wire Lube will still be around for my grandchildren to use.

Based on this last reloading session I think I have enough material to lube 200,000 cases for about $9. This has to be at least a 12:1 cost savings over factory RCBS case lube.

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S&WHF 366

In an effort to save money I catch the slugs that slime my driveway at night and put them in my flat pan of brass. They slime all over it and it's free.

Trying to go Green on this reloading stuff,

The slimy smashed frogs did not smell good at all.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Up north here we have 9 months of snow and the slugs are kinda hard to find. That method would force me to only load during the summer months when I prefer to spend my time shooting. Winter is the time to reload.

I'll send you some and you can raise them in a small aquarium. They make great pets.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I've tried the wire pulling lube before and I didn't like it. I've used Imperial which worked good, but now prefer Hornady Unique or One-shot if I'm lazy. I also like 1 part 99% isopropyl alcohol to 4 parts pure lanolin.

Dillon sprayed into a zip lock bag.

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Professional Trainer

Imperial sizing wax !!!!
Wipe off with rag/lighter fluid.

Dillon spray: easy, simple and cheap. I use it for all my reloading brass.

+1 best there is in my opinion

Yup, synthetic motor oil. As in this video @ the 4:25 mark.

Any left over KY, I use to lube my .223 cases.

Lanolin, lightly applied with my fingers, every few cases. Works great, bit you have to wipe off the cases When you’re done.

This is a 7-YO posting.

I call them LOB Posts...

Like Lazarus of Bethany ... they come back from the dead !
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Make your own:
100% lanolin -- bought it online
Red Bottle "Heet" ---iso-propyl alcohol
Mix 12oz. lanolin with 1 to 2 oz of iso.
Spray bottle-- lay shells on towel-spray rotate 180' and spray. You can do lge or small quantities as you please.
Jim

As they say, "Everything old is new again!"

Left over from what ?

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Funny this would pop back up. I started reloading 223 for the first time a few weeks back and sure enough, I got a case stuck in the full length sizing die...BIG TIME (Lee die). It was a serious pain to get apart. I had been hand applying Dillon lube and apparently, that isn't slick enough, or something.

On a whim, I used th small packed of Lee lube that my die set came with and it ran a-ok...but seriously messy stuff.

One thing I did not do was lube in inside of the neck...when you guys do this, do you re-rumble afterwards? How do you get that lube back out of there so it won't interfere with the powder?