• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Is Case Lube a Necessity when only Resizing the Neck?

I've loaded and reloaded over 1,000 rounds so far and have yet to use case lube. I know you are supposed to use it. But, other then the case getting stuck, are there any other benefits?

Thanks.
I always lube. It may not be necessary but I think it make sense when you have two surfaces rubbing against it other with a lot of contact pressure. Should eliminate galling or brass transfer to the dies if you don't chamfer.
 
Steel resizer .. Yes, or you'll get brass streeks stuck in there.
Carbide .. No
My existence comes from fl die bushings, not from neck sizing only
 
I've resized 1000's of 20 Vartarg's in a Redding neck die with a titanium nitride bushing with no lube.

Never stuck a case that I can recall.
 
Steel dies will gall brass with no lube. Funny thing is I see people at the range
say I dont do this or you dont need to do that, I been doing this since I was three years old and have no issues.

Then you see their handloads and the brass is galled or the bullet is loose or some
other BS.


OH yea find me a winning competitive shooter that uses no lube.
 
According to Redding, their titanium nitride bushings will produce slightly better results when lube is used. I follow that advice even though I probably couldn't tell the difference.
 
My experience using neck sizing dies is that once the case starts getting hard extraction (case web expanded) it is hard to bring that case back to proper dimensions using a FL die. A small base die may help but IME the case now has a memory and will resist sizing attempts. And annealing won't help because you do not want to anneal near the base. I got rid of my NS dies long ago. I don't download cartridges to near starting load pressures unless it's for someone who is recoil sensitive and then I FL size those anyway. I have come to the realization that brass wears out and other than annealing the necks, when FL sized cases start giving problems they are discarded.
Lube is cheap and easy -it's just not worth the chance of getting cases stuck in the die. Also, in the process of applying and/or removing the lube it gives one a good chance to inspect the cases.
 
Last edited:
My experience using neck sizing dies is that once the case starts getting hard extraction (case web expanded) it is hard to bring that case back to proper dimensions using a FL die. A small base die may help but IME the case now has a memory and will resist sizing attempts. And annealing won't help because you do not want to anneal near the base. I got rid of my NS dies long ago. I don't download cartridges to near starting load pressures unless it's for someone who is recoil sensitive and then I FL size those anyway. I have come to the realization that brass wears out and other than annealing the necks, when FL sized cases start giving problems they are discarded.
Lube is cheap and easy -it's just not worth the chance of getting cases stuck in the die. Also, in the process of applying and/or removing the lube it gives one a good chance to inspect the cases.
Agree, lubing the necks gives me a chance to examine the necks for the tiniest hint of cracking. I noticed several times that after length trimming I could see a fine black line on the shiny cut surface. It was the beginning of a crack that couldn't be seen on the O.D. surface. The cracks start on the end and travel inward.
 
I've resized 1000's of 20 Vartarg's in a Redding neck die with a titanium nitride bushing with no lube.

Never stuck a case that I can recall.
Don't understand many guys don't think TiC bushing don't gall. TiC isn't self lubricating. Maybe it just resist Cu bonding to it.
 
I've loaded and reloaded over 1,000 rounds so far and have yet to use case lube. I know you are supposed to use it. But, other then the case getting stuck, are there any other benefits?

Thanks.
Question is why are you neck sizing only? Eventually you will need to full length size, and neck sizing saves no time, so why not full size every time from the start.
 
Question is why are you neck sizing only? Eventually you will need to full length size, and neck sizing saves no time, so why not full size every time from the start.
Yes I eventually have to FL resize with lube.

When loading 1000's of rounds for PD colony shooting it eliminates the need to clean the lube from the completed cartridge.
 
Because they can sell a small amount for a big profit. The trick is to convince you that you need it.
Wrong. Completely wrong. They sell it because it is essential to making repeatable full length sized brass. Whether you need their lube is up for debate, whether you need LUBE in general IS NOT up for debate if you are full length sizing brass. You only need to stick one piece of brass in a die to learn never to let it happen again.
 
Wrong. Completely wrong. They sell it because it is essential to making repeatable full length sized brass. Whether you need their lube is up for debate, whether you need LUBE in general IS NOT up for debate if you are full length sizing brass. You only need to stick one piece of brass in a die to learn never to let it happen again.
I use low vis petroleum oil $8.50 a quart. Didn't say lube wasn't necessary.
 
Mr Wick said:
I've loaded and reloaded over 1,000 rounds so far and have yet to use case lube. I know you are supposed to use it. But, other then the case getting stuck, are there any other benefits?

Thanks.
Not really

I find that lubing properly (thin film of Imperial) makes for great reproducibility of shoulder bump (+/-0.0005"), which in turn makes it easy to hold trim length variation to <0.001".
 
Last edited:

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
165,794
Messages
2,203,252
Members
79,110
Latest member
miles813
Back
Top