Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Bullet Swage Lube isn't just for bullet making!

There was a time when I used to buy case lube for my reloading, but I couldn't always get it right away, and it was expensive for what little you got. About the time that I started to make my own bullets, I discovered the wonder of making my own - cheaply!

You can do an Internets search for the recipe. The 'magic formula' is a solution of anhydrous lanolin mixed with 70 to 90% isopropyl alcohol. Anhydrous means that the lanolin has no water in it. The lanolin and iso combine to form a solution that you can spray on bullets, bullet cores, cartridge cases, etc. The iso acts as a carrier for the lanolin, and evaporates quickly. Depending on what you are doing, you can use the solution wet, or wait for the iso to evaporate, leaving the lanolin.

When I first mixed these two, I lived in blissful ignorance. I was told to use a 10 to 1 ratio of iso (70% or higher) to swage lube. Shake. Spray. Swage. But along came the Internets...

Like many things on the Internets, this simple recipe became more than it needed to be. It somehow evolved into a complex, secret recipe only the knowledgeable and brave should attempt. It's kind of like when some people discuss their reloading procedures. A simple task made complicated, to impress the reader. (I have a native shaman on call to bless and fortify all my reloading components. )



I have seen all kinds of iso/lube ratios - 5 to 1, 10 to 1, 12 to 1 and others. I have seen all kinds of iso substitutes. The simplest and cheapest way to make your own - a 1 to 10 mix of lanolin to iso. For anhydrous lanolin, shop at either Dave or Richard Corbin's websites. $35 will get you 16 oz of swage lube (anhydrous lanolin). $5 will get you a litre of iso at Walmart. You'll have enough lube for a long, long time.

The picture above is a bottle of swage lube I bought about 10 years ago from Richard Corbin. It's about a third full now. You don't need much at all! You can use a couple of drops (a small smear), undiluted, to lube five or six cases. It wipes off easily. Mix it with iso and you can lube up a bunch of cases, like this.



When I am processing cases, I lay the cases out on a garbage bag and spray a light coat of the iso/lube mix over top. I roll the cases around and I'm done. It takes 30 min for the iso to evaporate. If you are careful, you can place the cases on the garbage bag with the case mouths facing away from the spray nozzle. That way, you do not get any lube inside the case necks.

In this picture, I don't care about the case orientation because they are going into an ultrasonic bath after.

I have been doing that for quite a while. It has been so long that I'm no longer on Dave's Christmas list. Swaging my 44 bullets is one of my pastimes. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

It's all well and good for you Canadian types to talk about using alcohol for that, but it's Unobtanium down here right now. I needed some and had to resort to aerosol at about 10x the price of generic rubbing alcohol.😱

I use that stuff in the little tin for my cases. Still working on one I bought when Hector was still a pup. Got another one in reserve.

Shocking!