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Water soluble case lube

dcali

Bullet Maker
I’ve been using lanolin based case lube forever and it works great. Until it’s time to clean it off the cases. Anyone have any experience with a water soluble product or home brew that works (or doesn’t work)?
 
Anyone have any experience with a water soluble product

Many (many) years ago I used the Lee case lube. It is water soluble. It is a very nice lube, but I had great difficult applying it without having it heavy and getting case dents. And as with any water soluble lube, they can rust your dies.
 
I've been using RCBS II case lube for several years now. Like it a lot.

Method of application: Found a locking cover flat storage container thingy (Walmart? Don't recall exactly where, measures about 11" wide by 16" long) I put a piece of 1" white foam padding into, cut to fit. The case lube is spread onto then worked into this.

So when I have a bunch of cleaned, annealed brass to process I dump 50 at a time onto the foam then roll each one briefly on the foam to coat, then size.
When all the cases I have to process are completed, the container gets the cover locked back on to keep foam clean for next use.

Works great.
 
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And as with any water soluble lube, they can rust your dies.

I suppose this is possible though since I started using the RCBS II stuff I haven't noted this happening. I tend not to clean my dies after use, more often take the time before next use. Maybe it depends on what the RH is where I keep my dies? Seldom if ever over 55%.
 
I have been using the Redding Imperial Bio-Green case lube for some time. Absolutely love the stuff. Never had an issue with dies rusting. Easy to clean the cases, stuff dissolves in water, I add a little Dawn Dish soap to the water, swish it around and rinse.
Another benefit is cleaning the dies, the lube buildup in the dies can easily be removed with a little CLP and a rag. Keeps the dies clean, lubed and ready for the next operation.
 
I’ve been using lanolin based case lube forever and it works great. Until it’s time to clean it off the cases. Anyone have any experience with a water soluble product or home brew that works (or doesn’t work)?

I tried Lee case lube and gave it up wen I found out that after drying it hardens like a rock. Don't want water in my dies or hardened whatver it is. I lube with cheap oils. Now using a light petrolium based hydraulic fluid from AutoZone. About $8 a quart. I wipe the oil off with a paper towell, about 5 sec a case. Seldom do more than 50 cases a a time. Put some Lee lube on a piece of paper, let it dry and see what it looks like one day later. Easy to remove excess lube from a die, q-tip, brake cleaner. How do you remove something like concrete from a die.
 
I use the home made lanolin lube and after resizing I run the cases in my wet ss pin tumbler with Dawn, Lemishine, and hot water. It removes all of the lube, inside and out. I run the cases for about 30-45 minutes. Then rinse in cold water and then dry the cases.
 
RCBS and their pad for large volume, Hornady Unique for the small jobs. Both are water soluable, can just rinse in rubbing alcohol as well.
 
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Hornady one shot spray on small stuff but unless you are adept at using stuck case tools, don't use it on any very long cartridge.

Edit: added "spray".
 
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How about .308?

Never tried it. I only use it on .223, .17FB, 20P and 6BR. 6.5 and up, I use Imperial. With the spray, it seems to work better if you spray them and then let them sit for a half minute or so.
 
RCBS water soluble lube and their pad as well. Water or rubbing alcohol on a rag easily removes the lube. Good stuff and never have shoulder dents.:D:D

Paul
 
I remove the lanolin-based lube with 91% isopropyl alcohol. The first rinses are with previously used isopropyl and the final rinse is with fresh. For some reason, other alcohols don't work.
 

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