Reloading: Don’t Forget The Lube

The do’s and don’ts of case preparation/processing is a debate that has lasted as long as we’ve been reloading and will continue. However, there are a number of immutable points to consider. Not least of which is the fact that clean cases are essential for optimum, consistent performance, increased life and the reduction of wear. Initial cleaning with the aid of an ultrasonic bath or media tumbler will rid the fired brass of combustion residues and any other soiling that has become attached - subjects that we’ve explored before. The end result; cases that are fit for efficient reworking prior to reloading.

TIGHT FIT!

Re-sizing our cleaned brass is a relatively painless exercise in those instances where dies with carbide inserts are available. However, that leaves a whole family of necked, tapered and rare case designs for which such dies cannot be used or simply do not exist. Enter the plain steel sizer die. Easy to machine to the desired size but therefore rather soft and vulnerable to surface damage from grit and other soiling inclusions.

Even worse, it has no natural lubricity and could easily seize in operation with dry brass cases. The answer is lubrication, the use of a virtually incompressible liquid, paste, spray or powder-based materials with excellent slip properties. There are a multitude of recipes and brands available – so many that I imagine few people have tried them all – I confess that I’ve not!

Indeed, a ‘one size fits all’ approach to the choice of product is confounded by your actual production process. If you shoot Bench Rest then neck sizing just one case using an easily cleaned, water-dispersible lube will be a likely choice. Whereas full length mass production on a progressive press or batch production on a single station will make different demands.

 

TYPES AND STYLES

The range of lubes that are most readily available are best divided into their two most common means of removal. Those that are water soluble/dispersible and those that require a solvent such as alcohol to break them down. Within both of these we commonly find aerosol and pump spray liquids, gels, waxes and a number of dry lubes. However, the means of removal should often be your starting point since it can influence the entire cartridge production process!

By way of example, I reload volume batches of ammo on my Dillon RL550B. This progressive offers me a ‘start to finish’ process, making it most efficient to complete the production using cases that still have lube on them. I therefore dry media vibrate them before use, leaving the spent primers in place. I then have two options; for full length resizing the cases are laid in rows on an old towel and pump sprayed with an alcohol soluble lube (either Dillon Spray Lube or my own 1:9 recipe Lanolin/Isopropyl Alcohol brew), rolled to rotate them and sprayed again.

 

VIBRATOR!

I roll the edge of the towel up over the case heads to keep the primer pockets free from over-spray. If I miss a small amount down near the web there will always be enough over-spray dragged down by the die! After production the finished cartridges are vibrated in a separate bowl of untreated corncob media moistened with a few cc’s of alcohol. This ensures the removal of residues from the most vulnerable area of the cartridge, the shoulder. Vibrating live rounds? Yes, I had reservations about that but Dillon’s tech people say that it is perfectly safe and over a short duration will not dust the propellant. However, that is my choice, so the decision is yours! My alternative when only neck sizing is necessary is to finger wipe lube the cleaned brass with Redding Imperial Bio and then wipe each finished round with a cloth dampened with water and a little washing-up liquid.

If I’m reloading small batches on a single station press for optimum performance then the process changes slightly. Cases are dry media vibrated as before, then either pad-treated with Forster High Pressure Lube or finger wiped with my favourite, Imperial Sizing Wax and sized/de-primed/expanded as necessary. I then clean them down using alcohol wipes bought on Amazon before giving them an Ultrasonic bath. To avoid recontamination from any lube residues floating on the top of the bath I always do a second bath with clean water and additive.

After drying they’re ready for assembly. However, in order to prevent a build-up of dried crud I ALWAYS scrub the sizer body and expander plug with a nylon brush dipped in alcohol or swab with an alcohol wipe and then lightly re-smear with fresh lube before I commence work on the new batch. Why do the cleaning before sizing the batch rather than after it? Because the residual film of old lube will protect the surfaces of the tools between usage. Job done.

 

DIY JOLLOP DANGERS

I mentioned my home brew – well, it’s not really mine. It is a widely used crib of the Dillon recipe. However, there are some concoctions on the web forums that really should be avoided, especially those that contain even a hint of ammonia as it will react with the brass alloy, potentially causing irregular and dangerous hardening. Mineral oil products should also be treated with suspicion since they are quite difficult to thoroughly remove and in the case of light oils can have a dangerously low flash point when under pressure. (I’m sure many of us have encountered the accidental ‘dieselling’ of an airgun pellet due to the presence of light gun oil? Well, our chamber pressures are MUCH higher and after all, that’s how a diesel engine works).

 

MY LUBE DEGRADES!

Some of the lube makers claim that there is no need to remove their lube residue after the work is done. Not so. Even the ‘bio’ and ‘green’ labelled materials will leave something on the case. In any event, residual lube can and will change the dynamics of the firing sequence. Our brass cartridge case has been designed as a gasket, momentarily gripping the chamber wall during firing. The presence of even a tiny amount of lube undermines this process, thereby increasing the thrust pressure on the head of the case… and on to the bolt or breech face.

Furthermore, these surface contaminants can pressure flow to the area of least resistance along the case wall, usually the shoulder and taper, where dents and deformation will occur. In the worst case, this is the region in which dieselling would be likely to occur. Whatever lube you chose to use, apply it sparingly. In theory the film only needs to be a few molecules thick for it to get the job done… the rest is wasted, merely adding to the amount of cleaning that is required. If you use a proprietary lubing pad, keep it from being flooded with lube and store it in a plastic zip bag to prevent contamination. My thanks to Lee at UniqueTek Inc. for some of the tech data.