One of the most important aspects of sizing and reloading fired cases, is to make sure that you use a high-quality sizing die lubricant. Proper lubricant prevents the unfortunate situation of getting a case stuck in the die. Customers often ask us “What’s the best lube to use for resizing my cases?” To help you decide which one is right for you, this article will explain the different lubes and what each can do to make sure your sizing operation goes smoothly and flawlessly.

The first type of sizing die lube is the one that many of us first started with. You just squeeze it out onto a case lube pad and allow it to saturate into the pad, then roll the cases across the pad to apply the lube to the brass prior to working it through the sizing die. One of our favorites is the Redding Case Lube and Pad Kit (RD12012). Lubricants for lube pad use are either petroleum-based or water-based. If the task is full-length resizing or case re-forming, we recommend the petroleum-based lubes. If it’s a shoulder bump full-length resizing operation or neck sizing, any of the water-based lubes will work well. Redding offers both formulas with their Redding Case Lube (RD21000) and their Water Soluble Case Lube (RD21011).

Another extremely popular high-lubricity type of lube is die wax, such as Imperial Die Wax (IMP) and the Hornady One-Shot Case Sizing Wax (H9989). These are typically applied directly to the case with your fingers. A very light application is all that’s needed – a little die wax tends to go a long way. These lubes are also great for heavy-duty sizing needs, and many of our customers who work with wildcat cartridges really like them.

Dry lubes can be especially helpful if you’re having some problems with the inside of the case neck when using a sizing die with an expander ball installed. This will ease the effort needed to pull the case out of the die, as well as minimize any case stretch in the necks. The expander ball sizes the inside of the case neck and is critical to making sure that the proper bullet-to-neck tension is maintained. As a rule, it’s not necessary to remove a dry lube from the inside of case necks, which makes application quick and easy without clean-up. The Imperial Application Media (RD07900) is a favorite of ours. It consists of high-density ceramic spheres impregnated with dry lube. All you have to do is dip each case necks into the convenient container.

A favorite of high-volume reloaders, spray lubes such as the Hornady One Shot (H9991) and RCBS Case Slick Spray Lube (63-09315) are usually available in aerosol or in a pump style applicator. They are best used with the Sinclair Case Lube Rack (08-7000), which allows a more even application of lube to the cases. We received a simple tech tip from a customer who puts waxed paper under his lube racks so they’re easy to rotate as needed, enabling consistent application of the lube. He says it also cuts down on bench cleanup, too. Sinclair Lube Racks are made of Delrin and wipe clean easily – they’re even dishwasher safe.

The cleaning method for case lubricants that have to be removed depends on the lube selected for the task. If your favorite lube is water soluble, you can use good old-fashioned water to clean your cases. Most other lubricants will need to be wiped off, washed, or tumbled. Many reloaders with a lot of cases to clean briefly rinse cases in acetone or mineral spirits. Just use a container large enough to hold the cleaner and use a strainer that fits inside it. Simply “swirl” the liquid for a minute or so to remove the lube from the brass. This will leave the cases clean and ready to reload. The cleaning product can usually be reused several times; return it to a storage container for subsequent cleanings. (We’ve tried various alcohols, and they will clean the lube off, but they tend to re-deposit the lube back onto the cases instead of dissolving it.)

I hope that this will give you some guidance as to which lube might be the best for your reloading needs. As always, if you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact any of us on the Sinclair Reloading Technical Staff. We look forward to assisting you.

Cordially,

Bob Blaine
Sinclair International, Inc.
Sinclair Reloading Technician
NRA Certified Reloading Instructor & NRA Certified RSO

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 29th, 2011 at 4:46 pm and is filed under From the Sinclair Staff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.