Is Neo Lube Better than Imperial Dry Neck Lube

[Kracken McGraw]

You should try the 21st century moly kit. Youll be pleasantly surprised

https://21stcenturyinnovation.com/buy-online/ols/products/moly-dry-neck-lube
This one?
Has anyone compared it to the Redding Imperial dry lube, and have noticed a significant improvement?

 

[LVLAaron]

Even if that lube is better than the redding stuff, I'm not crazy about the application process.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Even if that lube is better than the redding stuff, I'm not crazy about the application process.

I know what you mean. I use the Redding dry just for lubrication of the inside case neck getting pulled over a ball sizer in my Forster dies. I wish it was slicker feeling and more evenly applied.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I know what you mean. I use the Redding dry just for lubrication of the inside case neck getting pulled over a ball sizer in my Forster dies. I wish it was slicker feeling and more evenly applied.

It works the same as the redding except the moly being finer and the ceramic balls in there it seems to put a lot more even coat in there. Seating is a lot more consistent and theres no buildup like on expander balls

 

[LVLAaron]

Neolube

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I have bunch of once fired LC that I tumbled washed, no pins, the brass came out very clean. No carbon residue in the neck,case body. I wanted to try -0.004-.005 neck interference, because seating effort/drag was very noticeable. I went to the auto parts store and picked up a Blaster dry graphite spray(8.99). I put a couple ounce of lead 7.5 shot in a container,sprayed a couple shots and mixed it. This made an easy way to apply with a q-tip. Seating bullets was smoother/less effort, felt much like a -0.002 neck tension. These rounds are dedicated for AR use, I'm trying(experimenting) to reduce a slight bullet movement that occurs when chambering off the mag with the bolt release button. Will compare group's and seating depth stability next range trip.

 

[divingin]

Dave, I’m not a chemical engineer, for sure, but at their core, both products are simply graphite in a carrier solution. From what I am reading the carrier solution might be slightly different between the two, but I don’t know if that would make any difference in the end or not. I also do not know if there is a difference in the concentration of graphite between the two products. Perhaps someone with a bit more knowledge in this area might offer some input if there is any difference between the two. I’m really interested as I have two almost new containers of Lock-Ease on my bench and a thing of NeoLube will cost me around $35.

Difference, I believe, is the particle size of the suspended graphite. NeoLube has sub-micron graphite. LockEze is standard graphite powder, likely in the 40 micron range (I could never find a particle size for it, probably because most people wouldn't care.)

No idea if that would make a difference in neck lube applications.

 

[Rset]

I have used imperial dry lube mixed with 99% alcohol and applied to the inside of the neck with a Q tip. Sounds like the same thing as Neolube to me.
I now just dip the case neck into the dry lube with the applicator media balls and wipe off the outside of the case neck. A lot less work. Similar to the 21st century except graphite instead of moly.
When I run out of imperial, I will buy a quart of ultra fine graphite for less than $20 and have a lifetime supply.
Might even mix some with a pint of 99# alcohol and create $100 worth of home made Neolube.

 

[Timon]

After reading everything I could about it, I’m going to try the 21st Century moly kit and see how it does. Pete, at 21st Century told me that both the Neolube and their moly product are very good and did not really try to sway me in any one direction, but I’m going to try the moly.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

After reading everything I could about it, I’m going to try the 21st Century moly kit and see how it does. Pete, at 21st Century told me that both the Neolube and their moly product are very good and did not really try to sway me in any one direction, but I’m going to try the moly.

Looking forward to you see how you like it!

 

[CaptJim]

Maybe the methods above are better, but I've been spraying my brass with Hornady's One Shot Die lube, insuring that some gets into the necks. It definitely aids in the resizing, but the mandrel and seating could be better. Couldn't I just spray a Q-tip with this and achieve the same result as above??
CJ

 

[drop_point]

I've been using the Redding stuff and I can say I don't like the application process. I just bought some Neo Lube #2, but haven't used it yet.

For bulk reloading, I've been using One Shot a long time and honestly, its better than the Redding stuff.

 

[Fire Dog]

Have used both Imperial and 21st Century and had problems with the Imperial Dry Neck Lube due to it scratching my neck bushing and the brass case necks... I suspect that the ceramic media they use is not cleaned and contains very minute particles of ceramic that are attaching to the brass.
Further, both of them are a mess to use as one is graphite and one is Moly, black dust gets everywhere and a mess to clean up. Not to mention that Moly attracts moisture and that lets the Di-sulfide turn to acid...
Another reason to use Hbn instead of Moly on your bullets...
I have managed to secure some 2mm ceramic balls from a lapidary supply will wash them first and then use some Hbn {often refered to White Graphite} and see how it all goes.
Since I already use Hbn to coat bullets I have a goodly amount on hand but you can buy a small amount for the Foster Graphiter {Bonanza Graphiter which I have from years ago before Foster bought them out} As you can see it involves bore brushes to put the lube inside the necks and not on the outside of the neck... I use Imperial Die Wax there but if I can get a good result by dipping the neck I will go to that and save wiping the case neck/shoulder after sizing. My graphiter is mounted on a piece of 5/8" form ply to give it a good base and be able to just pick it up and put it away when done rather then have it mounted permanently to the bench also makes cleaning up the surrounding area easy.

Case Neck Graphiter

When sizing a fired case, pulling the expander button through the case can present a problem because residual deposits left from firing can create friction...

www.forsterproducts.com

UPDATE 07/24/23
Still had scratching using the Hbn and ceramic balls.... {:~(
Have gone back to using Imperial Die Wax on the exterior of the neck and the Foster Case Neck Graphiter.
I suspect that the ceramic material is still contaminating whatever dry lube it is mixed with...
I will give the Neo Lube #1 or #2 a try if I can secure a bottle of it outside of the USA.... Perhaps have one shipped in by a rello... Micro-Mark or GRĒ-TAN RIFLES carry it.

 

[Fire Dog]

Of all the lubes I have tested in a neck neolube was the best at the reloading bench. It reduced seating force the most and consistency was the best. But everything I ever used it in shot terrible. Now, everything I tested it in was already tuned and I just tried the lube. So maybe you could tune around it. But it ruined the accuracy in anything I tried it in. The redding powder, did not hurt accuracy. It just didnt improve it.

Thanks for the feed back, have you ever tried Hbn?
I will be giving this a go as I already use a Foster Graphiter to dry lube the necks but now have some 2mm ceramic balls that I will clean and see if just a dunk to coat both the neck inside and out will work and get away from Imperial Die Wax on the outside and dry lube on the inside... That will save having to wipe necks after sizing.
Did you ever have problems with the Redding product? I had scratching of both the neck bushing and the brass case neck and quit using their product immediately...
I suspect that the very fine {1.6-1.8mm} ceramic beads had contamination from extremely small particles of ceramic that were mixed into the lubricant and sticking to the case and causing the scratching problem... Fortunately I was able to restore the bushing with careful polishing using 1,200 grit wet and dry as only four cases were sized before I quite using the stuff.
UPDATE 07/24/23
Still had scratching using the Hbn and ceramic balls.... {:~(
Have gone back to using Imperial Die Wax on the exterior of the neck and the Foster Case Neck Graphiter.
I suspect that the ceramic material is still contaminating whatever dry lube it is mixed with...
I will give the Neo Lube #1 or #2 a try if I can secure a bottle of it outside of the USA.... Perhaps have one shipped in by a rello... Micro-Mark or GRĒ-TAN RIFLES carry it.

 

[William Vogel]

I think lock ease is something like mineral spirits because it takes a while for it to dry. I’ve run into ball powder sticking to it inside my necks after about 15 minutes. My Qtip will be dry the next day. I’ve also mixed graphite with denatured alcohol and it dries fast. I use lock ease with a light shallow swipe after charging with powder now and put a light coating of the Redding dry graphite on the bullet before seating. It feels lighter to seat.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I have not tried hbn

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I’m liking 21st Century moly better than Imperial dry.

 

[moondog]

I have started using Greg's 2 part Neo Lube kit over the last few barrels. It seems to have helped with fouling and clean up.
Just started in on a new batch of 6.5x47 brass. I tried it on Virgin brass, and it made a big difference on target. I probably won't use it on fired brass during load work though. I will definitely give it a try next time I turn brass.

 

[Longtrain]

A number of years back I used WS2 (Tungsten Disulfide), to coat my bullets. I had very good success with that application. FWIW, boredom or whatever, I went back to bare bullets. Although my accuracy was ok, SD’s and ES’s were higher then I liked. Enter Neolube, it gave me better SD’s and all seemed ok, except for that extra step of handling cases another time.
I found on line that I could possible use the water application method of applying WS2, eliminating the dust and mess. Behold, it worked and I was able to coat bullets easily in batch. Well, accuracy was there as well as SD’s etc. So, I’ve gone back to WS2 coated bullets in lieu of Neolube. Bullets seat easily and I can load ammo in advance without the worry of welding. So far so good.

 

[LVLAaron]

Of all the lubes I have tested in a neck neolube was the best at the reloading bench. It reduced seating force the most and consistency was the best. But everything I ever used it in shot terrible. Now, everything I tested it in was already tuned and I just tried the lube. So maybe you could tune around it. But it ruined the accuracy in anything I tried it in. The redding powder, did not hurt accuracy. It just didnt improve it.

Neolube #2 user here... I always run pretty light neck tension and didn't notice anything negligible.

The best thing about it is if you coat the inside of the necks, there will absolutely be zero galling on your mandrels.