Used this case lube for several years. Couple notes: First, this is the exact same stuff as the Dillon spray lube - just a lot cheaper to DIY it. Secondly, be VERY sparing with it. A little goes a very long way. Third, it's best practice to let the alcohol evaporate OUTSIDE, so you don't have alcohol vapors in your house. Fourth, I've found the lanolin mixes into the alcohol best if you heat them. Heat water in a pot, and stick the bottles of alcohol and lanolin in the hot water (you should be able to dunk a finger in and hold it for a second or two before needing to pull your finger out). Fifth, don't try to size the cases until ALL the alcohol has evaporated. The cases should have a thin greasy film on them. If you rush to start sizing while they're still wet with alcohol, you'll get stuck cases. Sixth, be advised that if you use stainless tumbling media to clean your brass, you can't put too many cases in there at time. 50-75 will be fine, but if you do large batches of 100+ (I usually do 200-250) there won't be enough soapy water in the tumbler to emulsify all of the lanolin. You'll have to drain the nasty water out and replace with fresh soapy water to actually get your cases clean. Lastly, liquid dishwashing soap (Dawn, Ivory, Palmolive, etc) work even better as caselube. Put a tablespoon or two of it in a ziplock bag with ~200 cases, knead the soap onto them, dump them out into a USPS medium flatrate box and let them sit/dry for 15 minutes and start sizing. Huge benefit here is there is no grease/oil, so getting them clean in your stainless tumbler is a breeze.
Yes - be very sparing. I was surprised how something that goes on so thin can work so well. We also received replies on our Facebook page from folks using ratios ranging from 16:1 to 32:1. Naturally YMMV.
I have been using that lube for years on everything from .223 to 30.06 and never had a problem and I use a 1:15 ratio and I find that I still have to make sure I clean my dies after every 500 rounds or they gum up, I don't shoot as much as you guys do so sitting may be the cause. Recently I heard that the Sinclair case lube is exactly the same stuff and people rave about it. good videos and advice keep up the good work
I go super cheap. I use a 5W 30 full synthetic motor oil as lube. I think it cost me somewhere in the $4 range when I bought the quart, and I've barely put a dent in it. You put pour a very small amount into the cap (or on a plate, or something you can dip a finger into), put a rubber glove on one hand, dip you index finger into the little dab of oil and rub it on the fingers of the glove. Just enough to give the fingers an ever so slight skin of oil. Then as you grab the cases you roll them between your fingers to get the oil on the outsides of them. Every now and then ( about every 5 to 10 cases), you drag a finger across the bullet opening to get some oil inside the neck and let it lube the sizing ball. Do this to the first case you size as well. I've done this for a couple of years now, and went through a few hundred cases of different calibers and have never had a stuck case.
I have been doing cartridge design for 25 years doing a lot of extensive expanding and forming. My case lube of choice is liquid lanolin which can be bought on Amazon.
I used to used Lee lube, and Imperial, only with case forming 375 to 458 Lot. I now use mink oil, for everything. I lube and size each case, individually, with very little lube. I’ve never stuck a case, with any lube, even now that I’ve started sizing range scrap.
I have been using Lanolin for years and my next stuck case will be my first one. Hint ; I have three 50 cal round balls in the bottle to agitate the mixture as it settles.
I size thousands of brass cases every year with Hornady 1-shot Case lube and never had a stuck case. Read and FOLLOW the instructions on the can and you'll never have a stuck case.
Try Ilofform 700 by Castrol. $275 for 5 gallons. It's cheap if you cost share. A teaspoon will lube 100 cases. It's the same as Lee lube. Water soluble. Gunblue, on youtube will show you how to apply it. Basically you just shake it up in a plastic container. I tried lanolin, but didn't like the residue. Even water soluble lanolin was a pain.
Old video I know, but wanted to say that RCBS Lube-2 is much better than Lanolin. RCBS Lube-2 is water soluble. None of the Die waxes nor One-Shot are water soluble. Lanolin also isn't water soluble and can be a pain to remove from the cases, whereas Lube-2 is not. A quick rinse and you're done. 10:1 through 15:1 ratios have worked great.
this is the same as dillons lube I get about 150,000 to 200,000 out of a single bottle and it is a whopping 8 or 9 bucks if I remember. 10 minutes in some corn cob media and presto about 1000 to 1200 clean rounds of ammo. ( yes I tumble mine after I load them, just like the big factory ammo makers)
Hi Guys: Liked your video on the case lube and I agree with you once you use this method you won't go back to your previous ways. So my question is after you go through your resizing and what ever else you need to do before starting the reloading it self do you leave the lube on the case or do you remove it and if you do remove it what’s the best way to do that process? Thanks JR
Acetone could likely be substituted but we haven't tested it and we would would still recommend using the 99% isopropyl alcohol. Acetone is much more flammable and caution should be taken to have proper ventilation using acetone. Additionally, acetone would be more expensive and can be corrosive with some plastics.
I know some folks who do that with smaller cartridges, although we wound't recommend it. The lubricant would prevent the case from sticking to the chamber under pressure and result in more pressure on the bolt and a sticky bolt lift. You'll notice the same thing if it's rainy and you chamber a wet round. Lots of folks tumble their lube off loaded rounds (about 10-15 minutes in walnut media) without any problem.
Great video, guys! I just placed my Amazon order. One question, though. Are you simply pouring the two ingredients into the spray bottle and then shaking it up? No heating, and no other process to mix them?
In my experience it is good to submerge the lanolin bottle in some warm water so it pours easier. I mixed mine in a 12:1 ratio of alcohol to lanolin and it works great. Another tip is to tumble the cases in corn cob media for 30 min after resizing to remove the lube. YMMV
Yes MadPick - I just poured the lanolin into the bottle and shook it up. However, the lanolin pours like very thick honey. I like Neil Harris' suggestion to heat it up in warm water. I also clean with walnut media.
Thanks for the input, guys. Regarding tumbling, I recently bought a Thumler's Model B rotary tumbler, and I've been doing the wet method with stainless steel pins . . . oooh, shiny! For simply removing the lube after sizing, though, my corncob does a nice job.
MadPick I also stainless steel wet tumble first and keep the dry tumbler as a way to clean the lube off after resizing. I went with the frankford arsenal rotary tumbler, it had a much higher capacity than the thumler tumbler, but both work very nice.
Hi Ed: one other question re: lubing the cases. What would happen if you did not remove the case lube after your case prep and just continued to finish reloading the round? Also I have a question about neck trimming. I noticed some of my case necks are larger than the neck mandrel ( the ID itself is way larger than the mandrel). What do you do to the case when this happens? Thanks Again JR
Hi John - Assuming you are using the proper mandrel, you will need to use a smaller bushing. Some folks leave the lube on, especially when loading with a progressive, and they remove the lube as the last step. 10 minutes in walnut media will do the trick.
Are you cleaning the brass again before loading to get the lanolin off? I do when using imperial but this looks like it leaves such a thin layer of lubrication.
Ed, are you getting any dented shoulders with this lube? It reminds me somewhat of the Franklin spray lube, which seems more viscous and will accumulate enough in the die to dent the shoulders. I use imperial die wax now and like it, but I wouldn't mind a simpler method. Also do you wipe or clean the cases before shooting them?
problem is, its still inside the neck and powder sticks to it. I see powder clumping around the neck and have to be careful seating the bullet and push the powder down inside.
You should remove the lanolin afterwards. This is fairly easily to accomplish by running the brass through vibratory cleaning media (walnut or corn cob media) again for a 2-3 hours to remove the lanolin.
is there a way to expand the case neck on new lapua[7mm-08 that i got] w/o using full-size die? an expander mandrel?? i wanted to just use wilson hand dies to avoid using single stage press...
Andre Isis Question: If you have 7mm-08 brass and are looking to seat a 7mm bullet, I assume you are not expanding the neck - you are just looking to remove dings? Sinclair has a 7mm mandrel 749-001-176WS
Not sure why you would need to mail order 99% Alcohol....Hmm, maybe it's a USA thing?. In Canada most drug stores (Shoppers drug mart, Rexall) sell 99.9% pure Alcohol....And cheap as well.
