Dies, lube, and a progressive press

bassassassin007

Hello all. I just bought my first progressive press and Hornady New Dimension dies for .223. Prior, I have been reloading with a single stage press and with dies that didn't need any lube. My questions are, do I need to lube cases with these dies? If so, Will running the finished cases through a tumbler be enough to remove excess lube?

Thanks, Dave

jonk

WEll it depends. As I'm not familiar with the New Dimension dies, if they are full length dies I'd sure lube them. If neck dies, you could try it either way.

I'd use either Lee's lube or Hornady 1 shot as they both truly dry and work best once dry; unlike Dillon or Imperial or whatever, they don't stay tacky. Why does this matter?

Well- that way you can take your brass, lube it, run it through the progressive press, and charge/seat bullet in the same run. Then tumble the loaded rounds. The dry lube inside the case won't contaminate the powder or primer. Some folks will tell you tumbling after loading is a no-no, others swear by it. I'm the latter ilk. I have seen no problems doing so anyhow. Otherwise (if you use a tacky lube that DOES contaminate if you don't remove it) you gotta take the brass OUT of the progressive press and then tumble after sizing, then put it BACK in the press which kinda defeats the purpose.

But, if it does come to that, yes, tumbling will remove the excess lube.

Nwcid

I am not aware of any rifle dies that do not need lube.

Here is how I do it, I use a RCBS 2000.

Tumble
Stage 1, Lube die, de-prime
Stage 2, Size die
Tumble
Prime (either by hand or with the press)
Stage 3, Powder
Stage 4, Set
Stage 5, Crimp if needed.