Lube & Resizing Question

[Edwin]

It's better to run the lube even though you don't have to. Your elbow will thank you. I roll my rounds in a rag right before I case gauge to clean it off the final product.

[Mitch]

I use hornady one shot on pistol rounds as well. It definitely makes things smoother and I can load considerably faster when I'm not fighting the press. I don't bother cleaning the lube off.


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[mtnbkr]

Thanks all for the replies. To answer the questions mentioned (and to ask a few more of my own )....
How does one do this with a progressive press? (Or what would be the correct sequence of events). I'm struggling to see how you could use the progressive press to it's advantage if you have to take out every case from station 2 to wipe it clean and then go again? Am I missing something there?

I wouldn't use dies that required case lube on a progressive. Neck size or carbide only if you want the full benefit of a progressive.

Chris

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Thanks all for the replies again.

So what I have learned from this is:

1) I don't need to lube my cases, however the press will run smoother if I do... but it comes down to personal choice.

2) If I choose to lube the cases, there is no downside (besides dirty hands) if I choose not to wipe the lube off after loading

3) If I choose to lube the cases, an easy way to get most of the lube off is to place all the rounds in a towl in bulk, and roll them from side to side by raising one end and lowering the other, and vise versa.

Please let me know if I've misunderstood or you disagree.

Cheers

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[JV_]

3) If I choose to lube the cases, an easy way to get most of the lube off is to place all the rounds in a towl in bulk, and roll them from side to side by raising one end and lowering the other, and vise versa.

It depends on the case lube. That method won't do anything to remove Dillon case lube.

[Sal Picante]

Dude... I load a lot.

Anything that makes the press run smoother is good.
Anything that get me shooting more sooner is also good.

Hornady 1-shot (red can) doesn't affect the function. (A little goes a long way...)

[olstyn]

I used to not bother lubing when loading pistol rounds (9mm and .380 in my case), and then I read some recommendations about using One Shot and figured, eh, a can of it is cheap enough that if I decide it's not worthwhile, I'm not really out any money. I tried it and haven't gone back; as others have said, it makes the press run smoother/lower effort, and the cleanup required is essentially nil unless you feel like being super anal.

[chances R]

Like others have said....I lube to make the press run more smoothly. Hornady One Shot applied very lightly and I don't bother wiping it off. In fact IMO it makes the ammo run more smoothly in the gun, just like it does in the dies.

[gringop]

I only have an old set of steel 380 dies, when I reload 380, I lube them with One-Shot. All my other pistol dies are carbide, no lube needed. Some of my rifle dies are steel, some are carbide, all my rifle brass gets lubed with One-Shot.

The issue with cleaning the lube off the finished cartridges is that if there is a lot of lube when the shell is in the chamber and you fire it, the lube can allow the brass to not adhere well to the chamber walls under pressure and put more stress on the brass and the boltface. The lube can also heat up, get mixed with combustion gasses and gunk up the gun pretty well.

I don't worry to much about religiously cleaning all the lube off of my 223 reloads, the little that is on there gets removed by handling between being QCed, loaded on stripper clips, and boxed. On my bigger high pressure calibers, all lube gets removed with a rag.

One final note, if you do lube cases, keep them, their containers and the work surface clean and do not let grit and dirt get on them. It is expensive to buy new sizing dies because the old ones are so scratched that cases start sticking in them.

Gringop

[SecondsCount]

You can always tumble your loaded rounds for a short time to clean off the lube. Your media won't last as long but it does a good job at getting them clean.

Be careful with One Shot on rifle cases. If you don't get it applied right, the cases will stick in the sizing die.