FLS - Case lube and cleaning lube off

[secondtry]

OK "Just stop it" prompted these thoughts, and I though I might get more input if I started a fresh thread.

I neck size because I find the whole process of lubing clases and the cleaning the lube off atime consuming a tedious process, even though I usually only get two firings before the bolt handle may get a bit "clicky" when it hits the ramp/cam.

I would prefer to FLS.

What do others use for FLS lube ? How do you apply it ? How do you clean it off ?

[mchughcb]

Well,

First clean the brass in the frankford tumbler wirh detergent and pins.Dry in oven. Then
I use the imperial wax. Put a bit on the rcbs lube tray. Roll 10 at a time with my palm. Deprime. Throw back in tumbler with detergent. It cleans pockets now and removes the wax. Dry in oven and then ready to prime.

[mchughcb]

Haven't used a neck die in years. All cartridges load in all rifles and still shoit better than moa.

[Vaughan]

I run shells through a universal depriming die. Wash in a tumbler, FL resize and wash again. It's not as much of a pain as it sounds as I usually accumulate deprimed cases over time then wash in a big batch. I then resize and clean again by calibre as needed. Case prep is tedious, there is no way around that.

I don't use neck dies but I'm a hunter not a LR competition shooter. Neck dies are not the edge I need....

[JPBlaser]

When I start case prep I just wipe the cases of any dirt or debris, after that I either deprime them with the depriming die or resize and deprime them with the FL die. After that`s done, I clean the primer pockets and put the cases in the ultrasonic cleaner.
Once ready with that,they are pretty clean. If I plan to load practice ammo - I don`t tumble them. If I'll be preparing shiny hunting ammo with norma ,lapua or rws cases I tumble the cases with corn media,and put on the cotton gloves.
Since I don`t have too many barrels and rifles,I'm preparing to make my own body die for my 308 barrel. And see if I can get it to shoot better than now - sub moa with whatever factory ammo and reloads I put in it(still can`t match the one hole groups the barrel does with RWS Target elite plus factory ammo..).

Best regards,

[SPEEDY]

I'm rough as guts, I just put them in the tumbler, shake them off when done, clean the primer pockets and chamfer.
Then a light rub on the lube pad, lube inside every 5 necks and just plug away.
My loads won't win any bench rest comps but usually manage a 1/2 inch or so and kill game close or far.

That will do this little black duck just fine.

[stokesrj]

My methods came from high volume case prep using a Dillon 550 and 650 progressive presses for the .223. I used to clean all brass prior to FL sizing but gave that up to hasten the process when the Florida jr high power rifle team began loading at my home. This was 5-15,000'rounds a year for 12 team members, plus myself and my son. Using Dillon carbide dies, the same ones for 15 years now, not a scratch. So the advice I always got about deprime and clean before sizing to avoid damaging dies is hogwash.

Now my process goes like this, place 100 cases in a shoe box, insure 20-25% have the case mouths up. Spray liberally with hornady one shot, or RCBS, or Dillon, or home made mixture of lanolin and alcohol. Shake the cases in the box to distribute the case lube and give it a few minutes to migrate then resize.

When two batches of 100 cases have been sized, they go into the stainless steel media tumbler for three hours, rinse and then in dehydrator for 45 minutes to dry.

I then trim to length, chamfer, and deburr in one step with the Giraud case trimmer and prime (no need to clean primer pockets the stainless media does that) on an RCBS bench mounted primer station.

The cases are now fully prepped and ready for a charge and bullet to be seated which I do on a separate Dillon progressive press with case and bullet feeder. This ammo will normally shoot 1/2 to 3/4 MOA from a well set up rifle.

If I need more precision than this, or for small batches I use Imperial size wax on the case body and Imperial dry neck lube in their application media (little ceramic balls) and just dip the neck only.

After sizing a paper or cloth towel removes the lube easily. Some time I then clean the cases in the stainless media to get the dry lube out of the neck some times I don't and have not detected any difference.

[Corjack]

Imperial wax is my fav. I actually clean lube off with an old bath towel folded in half lay about twenty rounds on it on a table, then flop over the other half, and give em a good filling with your hands.

[7x57]

Imperial wax is my fav. I actually clean lube off with an old bath towel folded in half lay about twenty rounds on it on a table, then flop over the other half, and give em a good filling with your hands.

My process as well. Really like Imperial wax after having used just about every other lube out there.
Still clean in SS media after depriming in Universal die.

[9.3x64]

Imperial wax is my fav. I actually clean lube off with an old bath towel folded in half lay about twenty rounds on it on a table, then flop over the other half, and give em a good filling with your hands.

My process as well. Really like Imperial wax after having used just about every other lube out there.
Still clean in SS media after depriming in Universal die.

Same as me.

[SPEEDY]

Now my process goes like this, place 100 cases in a shoe box, insure 20-25% have the case mouths up. Spray liberally with hornady one shot, or RCBS, or Dillon, or home made mixture of lanolin and alcohol. Shake the cases in the box to distribute the case lube and give it a few minutes to migrate then resize.

I used to lube my cases like that beck when I used to load a couple hundred cases at a time, now I only load 50 or so at a time.

[stokesrj]

Yes, I agree, it doesn't make sense for small quantities but that process saves a bunch of time over Imperial when doing a few hundred at a time and produces just as good of results.

[SPEEDY]

I just need a smaller container, I used to use a moderate size tub, but I should be able to get away with a much smaller one.

[Gun Barrel Ecologist]

Another vote for imperial sizing wax for FLS, trimming, and chamfering, I then bung them through the ultrasonic with a squirt of dishwashing liquid, rinse in clean water then metho, then tumble. I seem to resize and wash one weekend then reload the next.

[secondtry]

Thanks folks

It never entered my feeble brain that there may actually be case lubes that would wash off in a water/stainless pin tumbler.
I have been using an old RCBS lube that must be cleaned off, one case at a time, using solvent on a rag. , hence my avoidance of the process. I have always been concerned about back thrust if I wasn't careful enough getting the sticky stuff off - it is certainly not water soluble.

So I'll get some Imperial and probably a new lube pad as well, cos I certainly wont be able to use my old one. Wiping the Imperial on with fingers one at a time sound tedious, but if it works, that's fine.

I have also found that if I neck lube with moly before FLS, that the moly gets impacted on the shoulder, which can't be a good thing, so will need to do something else there. Have tried touching the case mouth in/on Hornady one shot wax when neck sizing, which works better that dipping in powder (which is prone to simply fall off), but does require cleaning the inside of the neck with a Q tip (easy to do).

I like Bob's system. but I am only a 20 or 40 at a time reloader. Like others, I tend to sneak up on the task, by wiping all outside necks soon after firing to remove any carbon then simply putting them aside until enough accumulate for the next step.

Certainly if I go to 100% fls, it is going to make brass management and record keeping much simpler, so probably worthwhile for that alone. Currently for say, 308, I have brass sorted and labelled according what it was fired in, number of firings, number of sizings, etc. Gotta be able to simplify that.