Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Case Lube

I should have said over lubing. I resized 40 pieces of brass last night. Using a RCBS Lube pad and RCBS Case Lube 2. After 20 Remington and 20 Winchester, both were lubed the in the same fashion. But 19 of the Winchester's had dents in the shoulder/neck after resizing.

There seems to be a fine line between too much and just right. Is there a better product so I don't keep wrecking brass? Or do I just need to use less?

I recently tried the Hornady wax lube that comes in the small tub. Some say it is very similar to Imperial that I've never tried. A little goes a long way, and it worked great.

Imperial or similar is still my favorite way to roll, after trying One-Shot and the RCBS Lube pad as alternatives. A little on the fingertips goes a long way and no more dents.

Just rub it on the cases?

Put a bunch of casings in a zip loc bag, add a good spray of Hornady One Shot, shake, rattle and roll, resize. Simple as that.

I haven't used the Hornady in a long time, but I remember it as feeling like softened butter. The Imperial feels like Kiwi shoe polish.

You're using too much & your technique might be making it worse also.

When you apply the case lube to the pad, you need to take a finger & rub it well into the pad; less & more frequent re-lubing is better.

Also, when you roll the cases (when I was using the RCBS pad, I would usually from do 4-6 cases at a time), apply most of the pressure to the rim/base area of the cases; applying the finger / hand pressure too much to the neck half of the case can easily press the shoulder into the pad too hard & over lube that area.

For all but the most demanding cases today, I mostly use Hornady One Shot & if I need more oomph, I use Imperial.

One shot is for all my high volume reloading & I just put the cases in a loading tray & spray from all 4 sides on about a 45-60 degree down angle.

MM

Yep, the upper half of the case anyway. And if an expander ball is dragging and making sizing difficult when lowering the ram on the press, a q-tip with a very light coat of wax can be run around the inside of the neck of the occasional case and it will reduce the friction.

How about the dry lube on the inside of the neck?

For sure I used too much. I put 5 at a time on the pad and rolled them on the pad.

I suspect you're right. I probably pushed too much near the shoulder. I just put my hand on them and rolled em on the pad. I'll use less pressure next time and put it towards the rim.

I use the Imperial dry lube inside the neck, but I don't size with an expander ball. I expand the necks in a separate step using a mandrel holder die.

Dry lube on the neck doesn't work well for me, I get a lot of friction on the exp and concentricity shows it. The best method I've found for lubing cases is imperial on the outside and Lee's lube inside the neck. I personally don't like petro based lubes inside the neck, which is why I use the water based Lee lube. I take a dab of the Lee lube and coat a Qtip well, then make a couple rounds in each case(Usually 4-5 cases then reapply a little lube to the Qtip). A tube of Lee lube will last for many thousand cases. The Lee actually works well on the entire case as well, but imperial is easier with a more slicky trip through the die.

That's what I'm avoiding by pushing the mandrel into, rather than pulling the ball out of, the neck during expansion.

I can see that working fine. On dies that decrease the neck too much with certain brass thickness, I expand in a separate step and it greatly helps concentricity. When you say mandrel, are you referring to Lee's collet mandrel? I haven't tried my Collets for expanding, but man do they produce straight necks(Heck of a combo when paired with a Redding Body Die for an occasional bump). When the die/neck thickness/exp Dia all jive well, the Lee lube does quite well for concentricity. Definitely more lubricity than mica.

I use Lyman M-dies or a mandrel holder die from a neck turning set.

The Imperial dry lube beats mica to death too.

Imperial sizing wax is the best, just put a little on. RCBS lube is too thick. I had dents with it too, but they disappear when you pull the trigger.

Is it safe to do that? Cool if it is!

Yes it is safe, they blow right out.

I suppose it might be possible to have dents that are so large they cause headspace. But I doubt that is possible since I've never managed to do it.

And Imperial or Hornady Unique are infinitely superior to the STP clone lubes.

I could never avoid dents,no matter lube or technique, until i tried Imperial.

A little on my pointer finger, spin the case. After your finger and thumb get
coated, you can do about 3 cases per wipe in the wax can. If you start stretching
it too far, you will feel the friction increase in the die. That will not be close to sticking