lubing cases

[Ruffnek]

Thinking about buying a progressive press but I'm a noob so I have a question. Can lubed cases be reloaded? I see YouTube videos of people reloading on their progressive presses, which includes resizing as a step. I know that rifle cases should be lubed before resizing, especially if you're full-length resizing. So are these people just not lubing the cases or just reloading lubed cases or what? I was talking to my wife's grandfather, who reloads infrequently, about buying a progressive press and loading .223 on it and he asked me about this in an attempt to play devil's advocate. I was stumped. Help?

Sorry if this is jumbled.

 

[ljk]

I processed about 5k 223 cases over the Christmas break. I use Lee de-capping die on a single stage.

You must lube the cases. I refuse to pay the brand name stuff, instead I mix it myself with 1:8 liquid Lanolin oil and 99% alcohol.

I soak the cases in 1:40 vinegar/water mix over night, dry them out on a beach towel. throw about 500-600 in a ziploc bag, spray my homemade case lube, shake it well.

De-cap/resize. Then wet tumble.

There's no die on my 550B stage #1.


[video=youtube;0117UuXiSS4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0117UuXiSS4[/video]

 

[Ruffnek]

I use Lee de-capping die on a single stage.


De-cap/resize. Then wet tumble.

There's no die on my 550B stage #1.

Makes sense. Is there anything "cool" and useful to fill that empty space?

 

[red_zr24x4]

I size/ deprime on a single stage.
Trim if need be.
Tumble to remove the lube.
Leave the die out of station 1 on the dillon 550. The case goes through the hole on the up stroke, then the rest of the stations as normal.

 

[ljk]

Makes sense. Is there anything "cool" and useful to fill that empty space?

 

[red_zr24x4]

.

 

[ART338WM]

FWIW I have been using Hornady One-Shot spray case lube for thousands of rounds now and it works better than anything else I have tried including all the wax based lubes from places such as RCBS and similar companies. One little shot and your done. A little go's a LOOOOOOOOONG way. I also spray the inside of my spotlessly clean reloading dies prior to every use. Although I never (pause to knock on nearest wood object, fates please take note of) had a stuck case prior, but have reloaded more on the Hornady One Shot than I did using wax type lubes. Great stuff air dries zero mess or residue to clean off.

 

[blkrifle]

FWIW I have been using Hornady One-Shot spray case lube for thousands of rounds now and it works better than anything else I have tried including all the wax based lubes from places such as RCBS and similar companies. One little shot and your done. A little go's a LOOOOOOOOONG way. I also spray the inside of my spotlessly clean reloading dies prior to every use. Although I never (pause to knock on nearest wood object, fates please take note of) had a stuck case prior, but have reloaded more on the Hornady One Shot than I did using wax type lubes. Great stuff air dries zero mess or residue to clean off.

If you dont need to trim your rifle brass its not a problem to size the case at the first station. Hornady one shot and you are good to go as it doesnt hurt the primer. Tumble the loaded round to remove the lube.

 

[Ruffnek]

Tumble the loaded round to remove the lube.

I'm gonna be wet tumbling, not sure I like the idea of stainless steel pins tapping on a loaded round.

 

[17 squirrel]

I would be more concerned about contaminating the powder / primers of the loaded rounds than having a discharge.
Loaded ammunition swimming in Water especially with a surfactant added is not a good thing to with ammunition.

#19 reason not to wet tumble, you can't tumble loaded rounds in liquid to do a quick cleanup after reloading.

 

[Ruffnek]

Even if I went with a dry tumbling method, I'd not feel comfortable doing live rounds.

 

[Ruffnek]

I size/ deprime on a single stage.
Trim if need be.
Tumble to remove the lube.
Leave the die out of station 1 on the dillon 550. The case goes through the hole on the up stroke, then the rest of the stations as normal.

I'm probably gonna just go with this advice. Anything useful to fill that hole? My OCD would kill me to have a station not doing something.

 

[17 squirrel]

It will work just fine, your vision will be better served keeping a eye on the priming and #2 station after powder has been dropped.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Even if I went with a dry tumbling method, I'd not feel comfortable doing live rounds.

Tumbling is not a good idea for live rounds. Vibratory cleaning is perfectly safe and fine.

 

[Lee S. Forsberg]

The first thing I do is deprime then clean, tumble wet in SS pins. Preform necessary case prep, swage primer pockets, ect. Then lube size and trim with a Dillon Rapid trim. Then clean the lube off loaded rounds with Toilet Paper in a tumbler. I use Lanolin and alcohol and a spray bottle to lube.

 

[Thegeek]

I send them through the vibratory to clean, then shoot them with One-Shot and decap/resize. Then send them through the ultrasonic for final clean. Then gauge them to see if a trim is required, and load.

 

[Ruffnek]

Dillon Raped trim.

There's a joke in here somewhere.

 

[ryknoll3]

I'm probably gonna just go with this advice. Anything useful to fill that hole? My OCD would kill me to have a station not doing something.

Some people run a Lee Universal Decapping Die to make sure there's no stray pieces of tumbling media in the flash hole.

 

[Ruffnek]

I see YouTube videos of people reloading on their progressive presses, which includes resizing as a step...So are these people just not lubing the cases or just reloading lubed cases or what?

Still curious to the answers of these questions.

 

[oldpink]

Eh, just clean first, lube, size, wipe off with paper towels, then continue with the remainder of the process.
No need to deal with fiddling around with tumbling for a second time just to remove case lube.