Bullet Seating: Lubing

[Gargoyle]

Lubed the necks of a batch of annealed brass with:

Hornady Unique
Redding Imperial dry neck lube

I lube the inside of my case necks for FL sizing. I Q-tip out the lube with 91% alcohol so the powder doesn't stick inside the case necks. I found the bullets seated better/more consistent CBTO with just a wiping of the Unique off the case and onto the base of the bullet than I did dipping the bullets in the dry lube. Really, whatever film is on my fingers handling the Unique lube was enough.

What have ya'll found?

 

[nettle]

I lube the inside of my necks with Redding Imperial dry lube. I swipe the inside of every 5th case with a Q-Tip dipped in it. Some say this causes a build up inside the neck. I tumble after each shooting session. I want it to stick inside the cases.

 

[qldreloader]

I recently gave up stainless steel wet tumbling and went back to dry vibratory cleaning with walnut media. Bullets are seating more consistently. I think I'm done with wet tumbling.

 

[Martin52]

I use Lock-Ease on a Q tip, makes seating smoother and gives a better feel for any neck tension differences compared to seating without inside neck lubing. Powder does not stick either.

 

[ARW]

I use Lock-Ease on a Q tip, makes seating smoother and gives a better feel for any neck tension differences compared to seating without inside neck lubing. Powder does not stick either.

I use neolube no. 2 and it seems to do a good job, but it is a little on the expensive side.

I never thought of lock-ease before....learn something new every day. Thanks for the tip, I have some and will definitely be trying it.

 

[Big Mc]

Lubed the necks of a batch of annealed brass with:

Hornady Unique
Redding Imperial dry neck lube

I lube the inside of my case necks for FL sizing. I Q-tip out the lube with 91% alcohol so the powder doesn't stick inside the case necks. I found the bullets seated better/more consistent CBTO with just a wiping of the Unique off the case and onto the base of the bullet than I did dipping the bullets in the dry lube. Really, whatever film is on my fingers handling the Unique lube was enough.

What have ya'll found?

Mobil one on a Q,tip . One quart will last a lifetime. Tommy Mc

 

[jepp2]

What have ya'll found?

For most of my brass, I anneal after I return home after depriming. Then I tumble in plain corn cob with either Nufinish or Maguries added. It puts enough of a coating on the outside of the annealed necks the oxide doesn't pick up on my sizing die. I mostly rely on the carbon left in the neck for the lube.

On new brass or brass I have wet SS pin tumbled, I always tumble them afterwards to dry them and put a protective coating on to prevent tarnish and to put some coating on the inside of the case neck. I find some Lapua brass necks are seriously undersized and very grabby when bullet seating. The coating makes running a mandrel through them much smoother as well as the bullet seating.

I've tried the dry lubes for bullet seating and it just didn't work for me. Before I started relying on tumbling, I would use a Q-tip and add some Imperial inside the case necks on new brass. A bit of powder would stick, but the bullet would shove most of that off. Just time consuming work I would rather avoid.

 

[47WillysGuy]

I like the Lock Exe for case necks, also. Q-tip it on, let it dry with case-neck down vertical, wipe off dried excess. Bullets seat consistently smooth.

 

[Tesoro]

The K&M controlled depth neck chamfer tool and a bit of imperial on thumb and trigger finger works well for me. A couple of rolls for the bullet on the way from the box to the press.

Lee collet die = no need for lube.

 

[Loggins J]

Mobil one on a Q,tip . One quart will last a lifetime. Tommy Mc

I believe everyone in PA use’s Pennzoil

 

[RustyInBend]

Watched a video and got some recommendations, and started using NeoLube No.2 inside the case necks before my mandrel step. Super easy, dries in seconds, powder doesn't stick to it, and enough hangs around in the case neck to make seating go smoothly as well. On my AMP Press it shows a smoother seating line, and about 5 lbs lighter terminal seating force compared to no lube. I'm a believer.

 

[Big Mc]

I believe everyone in PA use’s Pennzoil

Some like Chevys others Fords . LOL Have a great Christmas. Tommy Mc

 

[K22]

After tumbling in corn cob media, I brush out the necks with larger caliber nylon RCBS neck lube brush using a low RMP drill.

My expander buttons are polished to a mirror finish that significantly reduces drag on the necks.

Using the above methods, I don't need to lube the inside of the necks since they slide smoothly through the expander button.

 

[Gargoyle]

After tumbling in corn cob media, I brush out the necks with larger caliber nylon RCBS neck lube brush using a low RMP drill.

My expander buttons are polished to a mirror finish that significantly reduces drag on the necks.

Using the above methods, I don't need to lube the inside of the necks since they slide smoothly through the expander button.

No worries about "cold welding"?

 

[K22]

No worries about "cold welding"?

No because I haven't seen any effect on performance. The nylon brush does not remove all the carbon coating on the inside of the neck, just smooths it out. In other words, it does not take the inside of the neck down to bare brass. I'm not even convinced that it matters if a bullet is seated in virgin cases relative to so called "bullet weld" adverse effects. With the polished expander, the neck sides through smoothly.

I've preloaded ammo in the winter for the upcoming spring and summer varmint season for more years that I can remember. I've never had an issue with this practice. I've never seen any affect either at the range in practice sessions in the spring / summer or when hunting said hogs.

I never heard about "bullet weld" until I went on the internet. Maybe ignorance is bliss. Regardless, it's irrelevant until I can see that it has some effect on my ability to hit the target zone. It's as simple as that.

Read less - test more.

 

[Gargoyle]

No because I haven't seen any effect on performance. The nylon brush does not remove all the carbon coating on the inside of the neck, just smooths it out. In other words, it does not take the inside of the neck down to bare brass. I'm not even convinced that it matters if a bullet is seated in virgin cases relative to so called "bullet weld" adverse effects. With the polished expander, the neck sides through smoothly.

I've preloaded ammo in the winter for the upcoming spring and summer varmint season for more years that I can remember. I've never had an issue with this practice. I've never seen any affect either at the range in practice sessions in the spring / summer or when hunting said hogs.

I never heard about "bullet weld" until I went on the internet. Maybe ignorance is bliss. Regardless, it's irrelevant until I can see that it has some effect on my ability to hit the target zone. It's as simple as that.

Read less - test more.

Yeah, same sentiment here. I've never experienced it. I've pulled bullets from 15yr old loads and no welding. I've bought surplus ammo from the 70-80s and no welding. I just plain don't believe it.

 

[rijndael]

FWIW: Lock-Ease works great on your press ram too. Super smooth gliding.

 

[K22]

Yeah, same sentiment here. I've never experienced it. I've pulled bullets from 15yr old loads and no welding. I've bought surplus ammo from the 70-80s and no welding. I just plain don't believe it.

There may be something to it since if you run a loaded round that has been in storage for a while through a seating die and push the bullet in deeper you can sometimes feel it "snap" or resistance.

However, as I said, I haven't noticed any effect on performance at least for loaded rounds in storage anywhere from 6 months to sometimes 2 years.

 

[M-61]

Never lubed the bullets.
Never lubed the neck insides.
Never had a problem.
Never am surprised at how many things I don’t do.

 

[mikecr]

I would not want a wet lube for bullets. It may make seating easier but it would likely affect bullet grip & release. I use dry WS2 (tungsten), where I've lost my perfect carbon layer.