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Spray case lube on the cheap, Make your own
FrancF
Member Posts: 35,278 ✭✭✭
Lanolin and Isopropyl alcohol. That $7.00 bottle Costs about 25 cents to make.
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In contrast, the two-ounce tin of Imperial Sizing Die Wax I bought ten years ago has barely a dent in its surface and will undoubtedly last the rest of my reloading life. This is that one and only can, after loading several thousands of rifle rounds:
I just finished sizing about 15,000 223 cases(range brass) while using less than $7.50 worth of Midway's elcheapo spray lube w/o a single stuck case. I lube 250 at a time in a plastic tray from squad MRE's which has streamlined my sizing process immensely. For my own use, that cost per round is acceptable and I'm sticking to it.
What is the mix rate?
+1, curious too.
quote:Originally posted by fastcarsgofast
What is the mix rate?
+1, curious too.
In the Factory 8oz spray bottle about a table spoon + (spray,feel adjust) and the rest is 91% Isopropyl alcohol.
A case of 20 8oz bottles from Dillion is $135. Pure Lanolin 4oz from any health food store is about $6-8.
Rocky Raab is right about the wax. I am only offering this as a "gotta have some case lube now" or your in a last minute pinch.
Imperial is really good stuff, but I can't stand lubing one case at a time. Anhydrous lanolin on its own is almost as good and a lot cheaper. I DO have a can of Imperial, but it only gets dusted off for the most radical case reformations.
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No extra steps, no waiting for anything to dry, no mess, no waste, no clouds of oily mist drifting around the room. But if anyone happens to prefer all those things, be my guest.
Jonk, you do handle your cases one at a time, right? A whisper of Imperial on your fingertips, and the case is lubed as you place it in the shellholder to be sized. That's it.
No extra steps, no waiting for anything to dry, no mess, no waste, no clouds of oily mist drifting around the room. But if anyone happens to prefer all those things, be my guest.
Depends. See, there are these things called "progressive presses" which aren't so progressive if you have to take the case out to clean off the oil based goop that doesn't dry after sizing. I don't handle my .223, 7.62X39, .30 carbine, or any pistol brass 'one at a time.' Even for rifle cases I still load on the single stage, it's a lot faster to have the whole batch lubed, and just keep moving back and forth from the box of lubed cases to the press to the 'done' box, then it is to go to the box of cases, wipe some lube on my fingers, handle the case into the shellholder, size, put in the box destined for re-tumbling, go back to the first step, etc. I am NOT saying Imperial doesn't work well; it does. I'm just saying that I have limited time for reloading and want to make the most of my time for both volume and quality, and if another lube lets me do that better than Imperial at a lesser price, it's a no brainer.
You pass your fingertips across the wax, VERY lightly. After you have placed ten or 15 cases in the press, swipe again. There is no "oily goop", only the faintest shiny fingerprints on the brass. That's REALLY all it takes.
Jonk, I don't bother cleaning Imperial off, at all. There isn't enough there to matter after sizing, and what little is left does seem to dry after a while. Eight bucks - spent once and once only.
You pass your fingertips across the wax, VERY lightly. After you have placed ten or 15 cases in the press, swipe again. There is no "oily goop", only the faintest shiny fingerprints on the brass. That's REALLY all it takes.
If I were only lubing the outside of the case, I'd not worry about cleaning off the lube either. However, to avoid sticking in the die and excessive stretching of the neck, I always make it a point to lightly lube the INSIDE of the case neck as well- another reason why spray lube works so well. Otherwise on the downstroke I often have to really yank on the press handle HARD to get the expander rod through the neck, which leads to unneeded neck stretching and unneeded cursing at the press.
Additionally, some dies are just 'stickier' than others. I find Lee dies are best as they are well tapered, Hornady is also very good, and Lyman and RCBS just stink as they have such abrupt shoulders on the expander balls.
I don't see an easy way to apply imperial to the insides of case necks, nor to remove it; and when I DO use it I have to apply it with a Q tip, which is very slow. Even then to avoid powder contamination, I feel the need to remove any traces of lube if not water based, preferably by immersing in boiling soap/water for a few minutes, then tumbling again.
No thanks.
If you look at my photo, you'll see evidence of little rings in the wax. I tap the occasional case mouth on the wax, and that transfers enough to the expander ball that there's no "squeaky draggy" for ten cases or so - about the same number of cases I can go between finger swipes. And there is SO little of it involved that I don't clean the insides, either!
Since I started using the Imperial wax and neck meadia I have to clean the rust and re-lube my unused RCBS stuck case remover every once in awhile due non-useage storage!