Question on case lube

[RAult]

Quick question for everyone. Lee case lube suggests lubing the inside neck of the case using a Q tip. That seems very time consuming to me but doable since I don’t plan on reloading thousands of rounds. Do you guys do that or do you use another product that is quicker? Thoughts either way. As I’ve stated before, I’m new and just trying to find my way through the maze. Lol!
Thanks,
Rick

 

[Tesoro]

I think most people, myself included, never lube the inside of the necks. Having clean brushed necks is more consistent than having varying amounts of lube inside of them.

 

[JohnW...ski]

I roll a neck cleaning brush on my lube pad and run it into the neck of 15 -20 shells before rolling on the pad and starting another 15 - 20 cases. You only need to do this if you are using an expander ball on your decapper.

 

[Tesoro]

True. I forgot about expander balls as I tossed them in the trash a long time ago!

 

[243winxb]

. Lee case lube suggests lubing the inside neck of the case using a Q tip.

Very bad idea for accuracy. A glop can get between bullet and brass on seating. Bad for accuracy.

 

[SEM]

dry neck lube only, everything else is just asking for more work

 

[jepp2]

Do you guys do that or do you use another product that is quicker?

If it "squeaks" it needs lube. If you are using an expander on the decapping rod and it is having to expand the case neck more than 0.002" (and most of the new dies I check clearly do) then it will pull the case neck off center even if it is lubed.

When seating bullets in new Lapua or any brass with the anneal marks showing, the bullet seating is very jerky due to the oxide layer and the undersize neck grabbing the bullet. Running a mandrel expander through the case neck will open it to the correct size for your desired neck tension. Never had real good success with the dry lubes. For the first firing I will use a Q-tip to apply a very thin film of Imperial on the inside of the case neck. After the first firing the carbon will serve as a lubricant.

 

[wkdickinson]

+1 for dry lube - I use "Imperial Dry Neck Lube" and apply it by dunking the neck into the little ceramic balls that are supplied in the kit.

 

[Tesoro]

Can also have a dedicated lube pad and roll the bullets on it if lube needed for seating purposes and not expansion. I used the imperial wax on mine.

 

[Fuj]

If you need to lube the inside of the neck, your FL die is sizing the
neck down too much.

 

[K22]

I do not lube the inside of necks.

Before sizing I clean the inside of the necks with a nylon brush chucked in a low RPM drill. I can do 50 cases in a few minutes.

I also have polished my expander buttons with very fine grit emery cloth, so they have a glass like finish. I have a few assemblies of difference diameter (.001" increments) for each caliber I load. I use the assembly that gives me the desired neck tension for the specific set of cases that are dedicated to a specific rifle - a poor man's way to control neck tension using a standard full sizing die. 

Cases slide smoothly through the appropriate button. There are no carbon deposits on the button after sizing either.

Many years ago, when I necked size. I used Imperial Dry graphite lube and it worked very well.

 

[cwebster]

Quick question for everyone. Lee case lube suggests lubing the inside neck of the case using a Q tip. That seems very time consuming to me but doable since I don’t plan on reloading thousands of rounds. Do you guys do that or do you use another product that is quicker? Thoughts either way. As I’ve stated before, I’m new and just trying to find my way through the maze. Lol!
Thanks,
Rick

I use lee lube on .22 Swabit foam. Works well..

 

[JMayo]

One shot spray !

 

[Rsadams]

Get the imperial dry neck lube with the extra thing of graphite... It will last you a very long time and works great.... I use it along with imperial case lube and love both.... Haven't had a stuck case in years and the ones that stuck were not lubed with imperial case lube... Try it you won't be disappointed... May take a little longer than spray on lube , I just lay a towel in my lap and start in lubing cases and resizing.... Rerun everything back in the corncob tumbler to get the lube off and away we go.. A tin of imperial sizing lube is almost a lifetime supply... You can see though there's a lot of personal preference....

 

[jpx2rk]

I use RCBS lube & pad for the volume jobs, and use a finger that has some lube on it from handling the lubed cases from inserting/removing the case in the shell holder and rub or scrape my finger across the top of the case neck. I do this every "x" case depending on the resistance I get. I use Unique lube for the lower volume calibers, but still use my "lubed finger" on the case necks. I wash all of my brass after sizing in dawn soap and rinse well. Then continue with the brass prep.

 

[SKWERLZ]

My brass has lube(carbon) from the previous shot.
No need to lube necks.

 

[NorCalMikie]

Lube (wet) inside the case necks will make the powder stick so you DON'T want that.
Dry lube is your best bet OR, size and don't clean the insides of the necks.
Too clean IS a problem. Carbon/burnt powder is a good neck lube.

 

[Killick]

If you are using a mandrel expander at any point (and you should) you need to lube each neck so the mandrel won't bind and gall. I use Redding/Imperial Dry Neck Lube when I expand the neck before I seat the primer and it works perfectly. The mandrel doesn't gall or bind and the bullet seats with very little drag or pressure needed. I use the Red./Imp. applicator media which distributes the graphite into the neck without leaving excess graphite in the case. Any residual graphite will not affect the powder or barrel. You can use wet lube but you will need to tumble your brass afterward to remove excess lube.

 

[CT10ring]

All above replies have solid info. I have a RCBS die 22-243 non/bushing - that clearly oversizes the (Lapua) brass and the expander pulls "hard" on the neck upstroke. So I dip case necks into Redding dry lube as others suggest. This seems to help somewhat in bullet seating. Measured seating tension is .0025. A bushing die or an expanding mandrel will help if you feel seating tension is too tight. In my case, my loaded ammo provides excellent accuracy so I'm taking the easy route of no action vs. buying a custom die. I've also used a tiny dab of Imperial sizing die wax q tip method in case necks (where tension is too tight) w no problems and "probably" better results on targets.

 

[AlNyhus]

Redding's floating carbide expander ball setup works well if you're using an expander. -Al