Printable View
I am just getting into reloading... Using a Lee breech lock hand press. I notice you're suppose to lube the body and inside the case neck, but there are warnings eveerywhere about avoiding lube on the shoulder due to some hydraulic deformation that can occur. How do you avoid this while still lubing cases quickly? Handling each case individually for lubrication seems to take longer than any other step of the process.
Rolling them on a case lube pad is the easiest way, it only puts lube on the body. Don't be afraid to get your fingers messy.
I wish there was an easy answer that would fit in a paragraph to answer your question but unfortunately there isn't. Don't buy 100 pieces of new premium brass and try to start reloading it. Start with range pickup or junk brass to set up your dies and play with before touching your good brass as you will loose a few pieces starting out. Read as much as you can in well written reloading manuals, don't believe a lot of the internet reloaders, try to find some match winning F class shooters locally and pal up to them. Back to the op, I finger wipe a thin film of lube on my cases and avoid the shoulder datum line and Q-tip the inside of the neck with lube, Measure your shoulder bump. You can use a straight wall case with calipers to measure to measure the bump, to much and you will start separating cases and ruin them. A set of Harbor freight calipers is minimum mandatory, don't forget your 20% coupon and free gift. The free micro-fiber cloths make great reloading wipers. The old screw your die down to touch the shell holder and then 1/4 to 1/2 turn to size is Bull. Measure your base to datum. With my Redding dies and shell holder I can't get anywhere near the shell holder and I'm getting .002 shoulder bump. By the same token if I'm going to load 223 on the Dillon I mist the cases with Dillon spray lube and it gets on the shoulders, it's never given me a problem with shoulders. So go slow and practice with your junk cases.
Here's my golden rule for re loading- carefully weigh out your desired powder charge and pour it into a primed cases and that's your master charged case to look at. Before you seat a bullet shine a flashight or other light in each and every case to make sure that's where your powder level is. I look in every case with a light even if I'm loading on the Dillon before setting the bullet. Don't load more than 5 started load rounds before you fie them. Nothing worse than a bunch of rounds you have to pull a part.
Re loading is a very rewarding venture. Best of luck, don't get discouraged we all started from scratch at one time.
I started mixing the Lee Lube with 99% alcohol and lightly spraying the cases.....much faster and a nice even and thin coating.
The reloading manuals tell you after lubing your cases to wipe off the case shoulder and neck of the case. And a quick spin between your thumb and forefinger and a rag in your lap to wipe your fingers off on is more than good enough.
That being said Hornady One Shot is a dry film lube that does not need to be removed and when lubed properly even gets inside the case neck.
I use aerosol lube and don’t worry about hydraulic dents. Haven’t had any problems with this so far. I’m sure there are differing opinions on this.
I like to use liquid lanolin mixed 1:10 with 99% isopropyl. I apply it with a spray bottle to the inside of a plastic bag, then I add the brass and agitate the cases till they are all coated. Then I dump them out into a container and allow the alcohol to flash off. Leaves a nice film of lanolin, which is an excellent high pressure lube. I reuse the bag so the left over lanolin isn't wasted. I've tried many other methods and this is the best and easiest that I've found.
I used a lube pad for decades. When I started reloading for rifles again a couple years ago I went with the Hornady One Shot. So much less messy and easy. Yes, more expensive, but one can lasts for at least 1000 cases. I spray from three or four sides and the cases go through the full length resize die easily.
I use a dry (powder) lube for the inside neck sizing. Imperial Dry Neck Lube.
And I deprime, lube and bump resize without an expander, clean the case and then do a separate neck resize with the dry lube, then prime. Adds a little time but has very little runout and works great for small batches.