Lubing cases???

[Sitting Duck]

I finally received all of my late brother's RCBS reloading equipment from his estate. It cost me $75 to ship it from Ohio to Arizona but, to me, it was worth it to have something of his that was a lifelong hobby.

Anyways, I've been reading and watching videos about reloading. So much that my eyes ache. My question is do you lube the entire case prior to FL resizing or keep the lube off of the neck and shoulder area? Some advocate lubing everything with generous amounts to the entire case and inside the mouth with a spray lubricant. Some only lube the non-bottle necked part of the case in addition to a q-tip lube to the inside of the neck.

So, for .308 cases what is the proper way. Or should I just spritz away.

[fgw_in_fla]

Use a Q-Tip to goop up the inside of the neck. Take it back off with a clean one. The wooden stick kind work great. Like the kind you can swipe from the Dr.'s office..... Or, if your significant other just happen to work for a dr.
Lube the outside up to the bottom of the shoulder. If any lubricant collects in the shoulder area of the die, it'll cause dents since the lube won't compress & usually can't escape.

I never cared for the spray stuff. I kinda like Imperial. It lubricates nicely & it comes off easily with paper towel. Hornady sizing wax is OK, too but it's seems a wee bit sticky & a little harder to convince to come off the case.
I think I saw a recipe for lanolin & alcohol that hear works good & cheap to make. Probably on this site.
Enjoy your new OCD / Addiction.
The rest of us do.

[jhelmuth]

+1 to frank...

Myself - I'm a DIY organic lanolin solution guy (mix my own). I take my cases and place them in a small cardboard box (which I reuse just for this purpose) and spray them a couple of times. Then simply swril them around in the box such that the lube spreads pretty evenly over them. Then I leave them alone for several mins. to let the alcohol in the solution evaporate. Now the cases have a thin film of pure lanolin on them.

I decap and FL size them all, then wash them in soapy water. Clean the primer pockets (and uniform them too if these are new-to-me once-fired brass) and let dry completely. Now tumble/vibrate in my walnut media for 4 to eight hours.

Looks like new!

Now I take them to my annealing machine and anneal each case - perfecto!

Trim each case for length and chamfer the mouth... finally I do a neck size to ensure the neck tensions are as identical as possible.


LOAD 'EM!


Good luck and safe shootin'

Jim

[yobuck]

i use imperial wax. i simply put a very small ammount on two fingers and scrape a very small ammount onto the
inside of the neck. then lube the outside with the fingers as im sticking it into the shell holder. the die lets me know
how much lube it needs. some cases get very little based on how the last one felt. dents in the shoulder are caused by
a buildup of case lube inside the die. used sparingly that rarly happens. it is a good idea to dissasemble the die occaisionaly and
clean the inside. especially if the die hasent been used for awhile.
there are lots of things a loader can do during the loading process. some are important and some are important
to some individuals more than others. you will become your own judge of that. at this point in your loading i would be
doing just the basics. forget about things like annealing etc etc. for what its worth i never annealed a case in 60 years of loading.
i can introduce you to record holding 1000 yd shooters who never did either. that said im not implying its a bad thing to do.
learn the basics then move on as you gain experience.

[Elkbane]

Here's my process.

1. Hold case in left hand.
2. Twirl qtip in Imperial Die Wax with right hand - just a dab.
3. Swirl qtio inside case neck.
4. Swirl qtip around outside case neck (lightly)
5. Make one swipe of qtip on case body.
6. Put case on lube pad.
7. Repeat for 7-9 cases (depending on size)

Roll cases on pad to spread out lube on case body.
Size all the cases.
Wipe off each externally with blue shop towel. Clean interior of necks with clean qtip.

Repeat until you're done. Shop cloths and Qtips are your friends.

I've never stuck a case with this method loading for .223, 22-250,243,260, 7mm-08, 7mm WSM, 7mm Rem Mag, 308, 30-06, 300 WSM and 30-378 Wby. Inside neck lube helps lower distortion to the neck during expansion phase. Having thin uniform lube coating on case body keeps cases from sticking.

If you ever see case lube on the shoulders of your brass after sizing, you need to remove the seating stem assembly and clean out the inside of you dies - you're probably putting too much on the O/S of the case neck.
Elkbane

[fgw_in_fla]

Let me add another $0.05 worth. When I started reloading a few years ago, I was reading a lot more into it than needed. Considering I was about to assemble the components to create a controlled explosion that will take place 3 inches from my face, I was just a little concerned & you should be, too....
However, get yourself a Lyman reloading manual or equiv. & thoroughly read the first half of the book. It's got lot's of cool pictures, too. Get thru the basics & make up a half dozen lightly loaded rounds & have a go of it. You'll pick it up quickly. With my mental disability of being Polish & Italian, I did it. And you can, too.
Ask questions when in doubt. You have a few hundred years of reloading & shooting experience on this site from a bunch of guys that are the best & always willing to help.
Lastly, we have Savage Addiction & Reloading OCD support groups here every day. Stop on in & have yourself a cup of coffee with us.
Good luck -
Frank in Fla

[Sitting Duck]

Thanks, for the replies. I will ordering a Lyman 49 reloading manual if I can't pick one up at the gun show in Tucson this weekend. The case lube was kinda throwing me because of all the different ways of going about it. Just trying to narrow it down.

[jb6.5]

I use the rcbs lube, role the case over the pad. Then I've got a skoal can with lead shotgun shot in it coated with molly. Just stab the neck in and swirl it around a bit and move on to resizing.

[langenc]

Ive had luck with a homemade neck lubber..

Gert a small oint jar and empty the shot from 3 or so shot shells into it, 7 1/2 or 8 shot. Add 1/2 teaspoonful; of graphite, more or less. Shake it up and then dip the case neck into the pellets/graphite. Still need to lube the bal of the case. I prefer Imperial wax to every 2 or so case.

Lubbing the inside of the neck make the expander ball come out so much easire and dont stretch the neck which throws off the shoulder and makes bolt closing HARD.