Silicon spray lube for cases

[BC38]

The thread about removing case lube prompted me to ask a couple of questions I've been wondering about.

I have a can of "dry" silicon spray lube and was wondering about using it as rifle case lube prior to resizing.

Anyone ever used it for this purpose?
Would it need to be removed afterwards?
Will it gum things up?

In preemptive response to the inevitable "Why?", the answer is "because I already have it, and it is multi-purpose" (as opposed to being only useful for lubing cases).

Answers from actual experience would be preferable, but theoretical responses are also welcome.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Sorry but I never tried but this is a good question and I'm looking forward to hearing first hand reports too. Thank you...

 

[robertrwalsh]

I use a product marketed by Hornaday just for that purpose. It works fine and will not do bad things to primers. I am unsure of what the problems, if any, might be with a tad of dry silicon left over in a primer pocket.

 

[glenwolde]

I use it when I load .41 magnum on my Dillion to make it a bit easier to cycle. Never had a problem but I basically just fog the cases.

I spray a towel, dump the cases on, then just give a spritz in the air over the cases and let it fall on them. Gather the cases up in the towel and roll them around.

I don't remove it and I never had any gum-it-up issues. Having used silicone in many applications I've never found it to gum up anything.

 

[BC38]

I use it when I load .41 magnum on my Dillion to make it a bit easier to cycle. Never had a problem but I basically just fog the cases.

I spray a towel, dump the cases on, then just give a spritz in the air over the cases and let it fall on them. Gather the cases up in the towel and roll them around.

I don't remove it and I never had any gum-it-up issues. Having used silicone in many applications I've never found it to gum up anything.

PERFECT feedback glenwolde! Exactly the kind of first hand experience I'm looking for.
While a dedicated product might be "the best" for this purpose, something like the silicone spray that is multipurpose and will work well, even when used very sparingly (as you describe) is more my kind of solution.
I never buy a one-trick pony when a multi-purpose alternative is available.

 

[gwpercle]

It might ... the can of dry lube I have has a Teflon base not Silicon ,
Liquid Wrench Dry Lube , seems to be a micro-Teflon in an alcohol spray carrier and cotains Cerflon which seems to be a ceramic reinforced fluoropolymer PTFE . When dry it leaves a dry micro Teflon film as the lube .
If dry silicon works ... I'll try the dry Cerflon lube .

I can tell you STP Oil Treatment works on heavy duty resizing jobs like 303 British fired out of machine guns ...that resizing job was a bear !
Gary

 

[Wise_A]

I was planning on making a separate thread eventually, but--I recently tried out homemade spray-on case lube.

The recipe is easily found online. It's a 10:1 mix of 99% isopropyl alcohol to lanolin oil. The alcohol acts as a quick-evaporating carrier for the lanolin oil.

*Cheap as hell--less than $20 in supplies bought spray bottles and enough materials to make 2-3 batches. Significantly cheaper than buying an aerosol case lube.

*Completely non-toxic. The lanolin oil is a skin and hair product.

*Applies super-thin, dries in 5 minutes, easily tumbled off.

About the only downside is that, like a lot of spray-on lubes, it's a little tricky to get inside the case mouths, so it might not be the best choice for bottleneck cartridges with an aggressive expander ball, as the expander could pull the shoulder out of shape.

 

[OKFC05]

I use CRC "Dry" Silicone for a lot of purposes, including rifle case lube in certain cases. Super for cleaning pistol actions without stripping out all the lubrication.
CAUTION: The propellant is HEPTANE, better known as white GASOLINE, which is highly flammable and needs good ventilation.

 

[BC38]

I use CRC "Dry" Silicone for a lot of purposes, including rifle case lube in certain cases. Super for cleaning pistol actions without stripping out all the lubrication.
CAUTION: The propellant is HEPTANE, better known as white GASOLINE, which is highly flammable and needs good ventilation.

Well, not exactly. Heptane is one of the many hydrocarbons in gasoline. So gasoline has a certain percentage of heptane in it but it isn't even close to being the main ingredient. Your caution is very valid though, because heptane is a VERY flammable light hydrocarbon - more flammable than regular gasoline even.

 

[Racer X]

It might ... the can of dry lube I have has a Teflon base not Silicon ,
Liquid Wrench Dry Lube , seems to be a micro-Teflon in an alcohol spray carrier and cotains Cerflon which seems to be a ceramic reinforced fluoropolymer PTFE . When dry it leaves a dry micro Teflon film as the lube .
If dry silicon works ... I'll try the dry Cerflon lube .

I can tell you STP Oil Treatment works on heavy duty resizing jobs like 303 British fired out of machine guns ...that resizing job was a bear !
Gary

The ceramic is boron nitride, which is also known as white graphite. Except it is HARD, but still very slick. I LOVE using Liquid Wrench dry lube on all sorts of stuff, especially on the bolt and magazines on my Ruger .22 pistols, and a quick spritz on the internals/trigger components. Same with my AR trigger areas.

 

[gwpercle]

Boron Nitride ... white graphite...Hard and very slick !
This sounds like just the ticket for the internals / triggers where you want non gummy lubes. Will have to give the Cerflon Dry Lubes more use in those areas .
Haven't had a chance to use it as case lube ...that's on today's "to do" list.
Gary

 

[glowe]

Just a point of order here - silicon is a rock/sand and is a raw material used in the manufacture of silicone. Silicone is a synthetic polymer made from silicon, oxygen and other elements, most typically carbon and hydrogen and is a liquid in its manufactured state. Silicone is what is found in everything from lubes to caulks to adhesives.

Dry lubricants do not have the "wetting" properties of liquid lubes, so you may end up with dry spots that cause binding, or with the application of pressure, migration of the dry lube that will also give you dry spots on the case. Dry lubes yield at lower pressures than high performance liquids which could be a detrimental to sizing of brass. Lastly, the coefficient of friction is higher with dry lubes than liquids so should logically offer less benefits in case sizing than liquids.

Having said this, under normal circumstances dry lube should be OK in full length sizing of standard caliber cases, but I would avoid their use in reforming cases to different calibers requiring higher pressures.

ASME and metal working handbooks list several advantages and disadvantages of dry lubricants:

Disadvantages of Dry Lubricants

- Poor self-healing properties.
- Poor heat dissipation.
- Higher coefficient of friction and wear than liquid lubrication.
- Color associated with solids may be undesirable.
- Difficult if not impossible to feed into a lubrication system.
- Storage or service life is limited.

Advantages of Dry Lubricants

- Good sliding-friction reduction.
- Good chemical resistance.
- Low load-carrying capacity.
- Low coefficient of friction at low loads.
- Colorless film lubricity.

 

[mikld]

Feeble mind here. I "remember" reading about spray silicone lube for case lube several years ago (I started looking in reloading forums in 2006). I see some google hits of the subject from 2005 and think if it worked OK, more info. would be available and it would be more popular and reviewed in reloading forums...
silicone spray lube for rifle cases - Google Search

 

[S&WIowegan]

Hornady One-Shot

I am almost exclusively a handgun cartridge handloader using Dillon 650s. I have been using One-Shot for years with no problems. The primary benefit to me is less wear and tear on my damaged right elbow. The spray is especially helpful for larger diameter cases(.40 to .50").

 

[BC38]

Feeble mind here. I "remember" reading about spray silicone lube for case lube several years ago (I started looking in reloading forums in 2006). I see some google hits of the subject from 2005 and think if it worked OK, more info. would be available and it would be more popular and reviewed in reloading forums...
silicone spray lube for rifle cases - Google Search

LOL, yeah, we don't want go tryin' to think up no new idears. If'n they was good idears somebody wuda done thought them up already. Right?

Just curious, but how many of the links that your Google search brought up did you read? Seems like a lot of them contain experiences posted by people who tried silicon spray and found that it worked well for them. A lot like people have posted here.

FWIW, so far nobody has posted h (here or there) that they tried it and it was a problem for them. Lots of theorizing about reasons why not to use it, and lots of recommendations of what others use (which is OK), but so far no one has related a negative experience using it.

 

[jag22]

I really don't understand any of the chemistry discussed. I do know that I'm not going to fret about spending ten bucks for some spray that is designed for my specific use and last about six months.

 

[BC38]

Just curious, but are One Shot, or Dillon, or any of the others mentioned silicone based sprays?

Unless they are, they really don't have anything to do with the question or topic of this thread.

OBVIOUSLY a product specifically made for lubing cases is going to work.

That isn't the question.

Just to be clear, the question is (or at least was) has anyone tried silicone spray, and if so how did it work? Not what else works, or what works better or what else doesn't work or how to clean other lubes off.

Not to be a grump, but this is turning into an avalanche of answers to questions that weren't even asked.

 

[fredj338]

Not sure how you remove silicon from the cases but you do not want lube on loaded ammo in your chamber on firing.

 

[DumpStick]

Not to be a grump, but this is turning into an avalanche of answers to questions that weren't even asked.

Really ? Thread drift ? On the Internet ?

The horror !

I don't think that's ever happened before

 

[Shuz]

I have had Hornady One Shot fail to give me good performance on bottle neck cases and have QUIT using it. Now I use 10%lanolin and 90% alcohol. Works great and is cheap too!