ARmy Rumour SErvice

Originally Posted by Alsacien

If your case is tight in the die, the rim will just get pulled out of the case holder. With cases with weak rims (like Snider), this is easier than with some more robust cases.

Ahhhhhh

Thanks

No need to lube carbide dies, otherwise lube.. but you need to have clean cases to start with...

AFIK only straight case pistol dies were obtainable in carbide.. most bottle neck dies are usually steel, unless you are using S (adjustable neck) dies for which you can get carbide inserts..

If you are resizing large calibre, thin cases like .577/.450 or Snider then lubing is very important otherwise you simply rip off the case rim. I use Hornady 1 shot aerosol spray (NOT the pump version - which is, well, pump), which is getting like rocking horse poo these days.. and Imperial sizing die wax for Martini and Snider cases..!

Be very sparing with resizing lube.. you only need a smear - if you use too much you can cause blisters and creases to form at the neck. You can also kill your primers and powder with too much lube.. One guy at our club was "slapping it on" like KY to the extent that the primer was firing, but not the powder.. not a good scenario! I tend to bung cases back into the tumbler for an hour after resizing. You have to poke the medium out of the flash holes on occasions, but it gets the lube off the cases before reloading. Lube on your case will also increase the bolt head pressure as the case can slide against the chamber, which is not a good thing, particularly in rifles which lock at the rear of the bolt like the Lee..

Carbide dies were introduced for use in progressive presses so that you could resize and reload without using lube. This is fine with straight wall pistol cases, particulalrly if they were nickel plated, however not so sure I would do it with rifle cases. I have never been convinced that progressive (i.e. resize then reload in one pass) presses were the way to go for necked cases. In Industry there is always a break for cleaning (pickling) between case forming and loading to get any lube out of the way..

WTF do you need to load that many necked cases for anyway? Got an MG42 stashed away somewhere?

Oh, and the "dies" and "dice" thing is just down to bad spelling..

So as I gather:

No need to lube if using carbide dies…..unless its bottle necked rifle carbide dies!

Originally Posted by Flying Felix

So as I gather:

No need to lube if using carbide dies…..unless its bottle necked rifle carbide dies!

You're probably OK not lubing carbide insert neck resizing S dies like Hornady, otherwise lube!

...and make sure you clean it off after!



..not on the curtains!

Originally Posted by Flying Felix

So as I gather:
No need to lube if using carbide dies…..unless its bottle necked rifle carbide dies!

Just so. Incidentally I prefer aerosol spray lube like "Hornady One Shot" rather than a lubricant pad. Works well for mass production.
I don't use a progressive press. Tend to agree with HE117 particularly in regard of case hygiene.

B

Screw hornady 1 shot.

Take some industrial alcohol (that bio-ethanol stuff is great), put 2% RCBS case lube in it. Mix well, put it in a mister spray bottle from a garden centre. Put the cases in a tray, give 'em a spritz, roll 'em around and let the alcohol evaporate off.

Once sized, I use white gas, acetone or similar in a tub to get rid of the residual lube.

I can see why I have not come across bottle-neck dies - the price! A straight side pistol die only has a carbide resizing ring insert where a bottle-neck will need a complete carbide die, much more expensive the manufacture.

All spray or liquid lube pads are messy and frankly unnecessary. I lube case necks in and out using imperial sizing die wax and it lasts for ever. I do though only lube the case before decapping/resizing, it then goes into a tumbler which removes the wax and leaves the case at a very low risk of having a dodgy primer due to lube. It also means I always reload in sequence and my fired and cleaned cases are as a rule all decapped and resized!
Routine is the key. You can still get a stuck case in a die even with lube, poor rims or dirty dies can cause it but its usually a lack of lube and I've never charged a tenner and even loaded dies out whilst repairing the stuck ones!