Case lube for bottle neck rifle cases

[ameridaddy]

In pistol reloading, I use tumbled clean cases and carbide dies and don't use case lube.

For bottleneck rifle cases, I use a one stage press and deprime one step, then tumble clean, uniform primer pockets, anneal, lube, size, trim to length before I prime.

For the lube, I've used Lee Case Lube in the tube, and Hornady One-Shot in the spray can.
I find the Hornady One Shot very convenient to use and [knock on wood] have yet to have a stuck case.
The down side is with the Hornady, my cases and die become filthy with a black coating that is difficult and tedious to remove after only about 50 cases. For a big batch, I guess I'll have to put the cases back in the tumbler.

The Lee lube works well, no stuck cases ever, but for a large batch, finger or Q tip lubing one case at a time is really tedious.
I've noticed my cases are much cleaner after sizing than with the Hornady lube.

I've got the pistol cases down pat, and I manage OK for a run of about 50 rifle cases.
However, I'm looking at a couple thousand rifle cases, so I'd sure appreciate any comments or recommendations you have to improve my rifle case loading, especially the case lube issue.

 

[ken158]

I don't understand the black coating you speak of with Hornady One Shot. I have been using it for years with no issues. Do you give it a few minutes to dry before you size? Have you cleaned your sizing die lately?

 

[ameridaddy]

I don't understand the black coating you speak of with Hornady One Shot. I have been using it for years with no issues. Do you give it a few minutes to dry before you size? Have you cleaned your sizing die lately?

The sizing die was brand new, cleaned before installing, and sprayed with the One Shot per can directions, and this appeared within a few cases and continued on until 50 cases. The coating isn't a dense black, like paint, but rather sort of a film, like the black you get on a cleaning rag from using Brasso.
It turned my fingers black just from wiping off the cases after sizing. I cleaned the die and it was filthy black inside. I think the stuff is reacting with the brass, just as the ammonia does in Brasso.
Can you recommend another brand, or do you like the Hornady best?

 

[tlawler]

I don't understand the black coating you speak of with Hornady One Shot. I have been using it for years with no issues. Do you give it a few minutes to dry before you size? Have you cleaned your sizing die lately?

That puzzles me too. Hornady one shot is quick evaporating with no residue. I've never had any issues with a coating or buildup forming because of it. You get a lot of gunk from bullet lube and what not, but not One Shot.

 

[Sevens]

Well I understand where you are coming from. I have to load .223 in volume (somewhat) to feed one annual prairie dog hunt. The ammo for the trip and the ammo to fine-tune before the trip ends up being around 800 rounds. That's nothing compared to high volume rifle shooters but it is a load of ammo that I get built in one single run.

I have "solved" the hassle of high volume bottle-neck rifle loading by almost never shooting my AR's. Not the best solution for everyone but works great for me.

I have further reduced my volume of work for the task because my .223 ammo is basically all going through just one single rifle and it is a bolt action rifle. So... I neck only size whenever possible.

By neck-only sizing, I'm skipping full length sizing, skipping case lube, skipping neck lube, and I'm barely seeing any need to trim and chamfer.

Mine is probably not the solution you were looking for, but it is definitely a solution that works incredibly well for me, for my bolt gun, and for all the p-dogs that I launch off the prairie and in to low orbit.

 

[fltbed]

For me, the issue has always been, whats the quickest and easiest way to remove the case lube after sizing.
In my experience, just putting the cases back in the tumbler, while I do something else, is the easiest. When loading large batches, I've found using clean media with no additives, the best. I use fine grit corn cob blasting media from Harbor freight and find it also puts a decent shine on the brass as well.
After a few hundred cases, the media will get loaded up with lube and need to be replaced though.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

 

[ameridaddy]

Well I understand where you are coming from. I have to load .223 in volume (somewhat) to feed one annual prairie dog hunt. The ammo for the trip and the ammo to fine-tune before the trip ends up being around 800 rounds. That's nothing compared to high volume rifle shooters but it is a load of ammo that I get built in one single run.

I have "solved" the hassle of high volume bottle-neck rifle loading by almost never shooting my AR's. Not the best solution for everyone but works great for me.

I have further reduced my volume of work for the task because my .223 ammo is basically all going through just one single rifle and it is a bolt action rifle. So... I neck only size whenever possible.

By neck-only sizing, I'm skipping full length sizing, skipping case lube, skipping neck lube, and I'm barely seeing any need to trim and chamfer.

Mine is probably not the solution you were looking for, but it is definitely a solution that works incredibly well for me, for my bolt gun, and for all the p-dogs that I launch off the prairie and in to low orbit.

Yours is the solution I'm trying to get to. I bought a CZ 527 Varmint and I have close to 2,000 mostly one headstamp, once-fired .223 brass shot through AR's, and I'm working toward my bucket list bolt rifle prairie dog hunt. I've got to put up with the tedium one time, then I hope to be where you are for the bolt rifle easy-peasy reloads.

 

[ameridaddy]

For me, the issue has always been, whats the quickest and easiest way to remove the case lube after sizing.
In my experience, just putting the cases back in the tumbler, while I do something else, is the easiest. When loading large batches, I've found using clean media with no additives, the best. I use fine grit corn cob blasting media from Harbor freight and find it also puts a decent shine on the brass as well.
After a few hundred cases, the media will get loaded up with lube and need to be replaced though.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

I thought about that and I think you are right. Rather than try to clean each case as I go and get black fingers, I'll wait until I have a tumbler load and clean them that way. I use pin tumbler with lemi shine and dish soap, so that will degrease the cases thoroughly and I can just rinse the pin media.

 

[Sevens]

FWIW, when I do have to full length size my cases before the first use in my bolt action rifle, I use the tedious finger application method, but I use the best case lube on the market, Imperial Case Sizing Die Wax. Buy a little tin of it, gasp at how small it seems to be, and then laugh 15 years down the road when you are still using the same little tin.

I also throw them in the tumbler to remove the lube, and I do a simple 15-20 mins in corn media.

For reloading these cases that have already been through my p-dog red misting tool, I use the Lee collet neck-only size die. I prepped my die by removing the mandrel and polishing it with Flitz to take it's OD down by the tiniest of hairs. Doing this gives me just a touch more grip on the bullet.

When I seat my bullets, I use no crimp whatsoever and I'm loading with the 50gr Hornady V-Max and H-335 powder and my results are perfect for my needs. If the wind isn't giving me grief and I have done my part in figuring out the distance, no prairie dog to 400 has a chance to escape.

 

[mckenney99]

I clean unsized cases in bulk crushed walnut hulls from Grainger with Midway polish added. Cleaned cases are then spray lubed with Hornady One Shot, then sized and de-primed. Cases are then dumped into a tumbler with bulk clean crushed corn cob spritzed with a little mineral spirits to remove the lube and to give the cases a like new finish. It only take 10-15 minutes to remove the lube and do the final finish. For smaller batches of rifle cases I still roll the cases on an old RCBS case lube pad.

 

[rockquarry]

A tiny amount of any case lube or vaseline lightly smeared over the case neck with your fingers works well and you needn't do every case, usually only every third or fourth one. I tumble the brass in a plain vibratory tumbler with corn cob or walnut hull media long enough for the lube to be cleaned out, but the necessary time may vary on this. The more complicated cleaning processes may also work well.

 

[growr]

Ran out of Hornady One Shot near the end of a run of .223 for prairie dogs here in Montana.....what do I already have that might do a good job???'

Had a can of Pledge spray on furniture wax.....let's see what that does....not only does it do a GREAT job but it was lemon and smells good to boot!!!

Last can cost me $1.00 at the Dollar Store.

Might work you as well.................

Randy

 

[Cdog]

I used Lee case lube with an RCBS pad for years. No issues for me.

I now use the same method(roll pad) with Hornady Unique mink oil.

The wax based lubes like the Lee seem to work better with difficult to size brass. I have a batch of new Lake City .308 brass that's a devil to size after firing in any rifle I own. The Lee wax is far superior to the Unique/mink oil for them.

I tumble after FL sizing.

 

[Mike0251]

After lube, sizing, trimming, I throw them in a bucket and pour a whole bottle
Of isopropyl alcohol to remove the lube. Recycle the .98 cent alcohol too.
Then throw in my dehydrator for 20min. Cuts the lube right off.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I will use a Q-tip for just a few cases........

but if doing a lot, I wet my pad and roll a plastic bore brush across it, then lube the inside of the rifle necks.

RCBS has a large green handle that accepts lots of parts, that makes holding the bore bush a lot easier.

Have yet to buy the spray.

 

[2152hq]

Ran out of Hornady One Shot near the end of a run of .223 for prairie dogs here in Montana.....what do I already have that might do a good job???'

Had a can of Pledge spray on furniture wax.....let's see what that does....not only does it do a GREAT job but it was lemon and smells good to boot!!!

Last can cost me $1.00 at the Dollar Store.

Might work you as well.................

Randy

Pledge Furniture Polish and others of the same type are mostly Silicone Oil.
That's the main ingredient that lays down the shine and the slippery surface.
There is a bit of plain water in with it as well. The rest is propellant in the form of butane, propane and stuff to make a flame thrower at partys.

I use Pledge on the plastic primer tray of my MEC 9000 so the primers slide easily and make the auto feed system work nicely.

Way back when,,,when we didn't have a dime to our name to buy special case lube we used STP as a substitute.
An 'empty can' of the stuff in the trash outside a gas station would usually yield all you'd need if left to drip completely dry into another clean container. Slippery stuff.

 

[Drm50]

I load rifle cartridges in batches of 100. I still use a single stage press and load for quality not quantity. I still use lube pad with case lube. None better that the next and STP works as well. The only stuck case I ever had was a 223 years ago, due to a Lee shell holder. I size & deprime, then clean. Has worked fine for 60yrs. I think a lot of today's loading problems are brought on by the need for speed.

 

[mikld]

Hint; When relading any more than 50-75 rounds, I'll get a tupperware container, about 2 qt. size, goop up, apply extra lube on two or three cases and add the brass and gooped cases to the container, shake for a few seconds and all come out with a thin coating of lube. "Hand tumbling" brass in a container with lube...

 

[dave1918a2]

I have used hornaday one shot since it first appeared. Never a stuck case. Does the neck just fine. I clean with a rag and isopropyl alcohol one at a time. Wet rag, little time. Had Your problem once with 45-70 brass, Dillon lube and Lee dies. Also scratched the cases. Same solution. Got redding dies.

 

[len917]

Ran out of Hornady One Shot near the end of a run of .223 for prairie dogs here in Montana.....what do I already have that might do a good job???'

Had a can of Pledge spray on furniture wax.....let's see what that does....not only does it do a GREAT job but it was lemon and smells good to boot!!!

Last can cost me $1.00 at the Dollar Store.

Might work you as well.................

Randy

GREAT....Now I can predict a Pledge price increase and shortage