bulk reloading lube?

Not sure this fits...

I bought quantity 3, of the 2-ounce bottles of RCBS Water Soluble Case Lube in the early 1990s. I'm in the middle of my last bottle. I can't remember what it cost, that was almost 20 years ago.

You probably reload more than I. And I don't use it when neck-sizing only, which I do if a fired case fits a chamber easily. (Edit: that should be if all fired cases in a set chamber easily)

It is too think to spray on. I put it on with my fingers -- left hand, right stays more or less clean. That may rule it out for your "bulk" purpose.
 
I should have been more clear. "Bulk" is anything over 100rds at a pop and generally not quite BR spec, but still fitted/chamfered/deburred/trimmed/etc. I load thousands of rounds for customers' hunting rifles. Tonite I was doing a run of 300 325WSM's, some already fireformed, some twice-loaded and 150pcs new.... For these new ones I have to first neck the virgin cases UP, then reset the necks for false shoulder, and blahhh-blahhh-blahhh. Handwiping and cleaning inside necks on hunnerds of rounds is not only a pita, it's costly.

I need spray lube that's neutral to the powder.

al
 
Knew a guy who used RCBS soluble at the rate of 1 bottle to a couple of litres of water. He soaked the cases in them, set them up to drain & dry & claimed there was enough residue to size & decrimp military cases without needing to clean up after.

I ain't tried it myself,
 
I also use Horonady 1 shot .
I have not found anything any better for my use.
I now use it for re-sizing 220 Russian cases to 6PPC.
I use it to resizze my bulk 6ppc cases(200-250) at a time.--After resizing just put in a primer and throw in vibrating tumbler with corn-cob media and come back in 2 hours and everything is cleaned and looks great and ready for reloading.
Been doing this for about 5-6 years now and dont know of a easier way for me. I have had zero problems with this method.
If you order the Horonady 1 Shot by the case you can get a case discount at most suppliers (usually 10%).
At matches this method of course is impractical-impossible.
When I was Prarie Dog shooting our group resized cases-cleaned cases with this same method. Usually did between 5-10000 cases per year this same way.
CLP
 
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I am also a Hornady One shot user. I use it for all resizing including at matches. So far I have yet to see another shooter use it at a match, but I wouldn't go back to anything else. It is definitely expensive, and I wonder if I will be as happy with the new non- aerosol pump bottles. It goes for $7 can from Widener's, and they show it as out of stock. I would be interested to hear if you find a good case price.

Scott
 
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al,
i do not have a great answer.
i use midway lube...less name, less cost works well...not powder friendly.
the only real bulk i still do is 223/308/30'06.
this is case prep for brass sold as ready to load for the average shooter/or sent out for loading.
i use 3-4 squirts from a pump bottle on a 1 gal baggie...aprox 400 pcs of 223.
when processing is complete...we tumble in fine corn cob for 2-3 hours...even then we have an occassional case with media/lube on the inside of the case..in 223..not an issue in 308/30'06.
quicker claen up is to wash the cases in soapy water, rinse,and then dry in the oven....pretty fast on 300 caes.
mike in co
 
I ruined some cases drying them in the oven - not only ruined them but may have had a near miss safetywise. Pretty sure it's done all the time but don't get them too hot. Don't know what too hot is either but I do know that too hot exists within a household oven.

Some lubes can easily be removed with lacquer thinner but that adds to the cost - dependent on how many times you can use a gallon of thinner.
 
Wilbur said:
I ruined some cases drying them in the oven - not only ruined them but may have had a near miss safetywise. Pretty sure it's done all the time but don't get them too hot. Don't know what too hot is either but I do know that too hot exists within a household oven.
Click to expand...

I use the oven in the kitchen all the time to dry cases.

BUT -- we have one of the new-fangled ovens with a thermostat. I set it to 200 degrees F, and it does a good job. I don't know where too hot begins -- I'd say anything over 400F is risky, but don't really know. I do know 200 is OK.

I use to wash cases in warm water with soap. One thing I found was that the flashhole would plug with soap, and not even a good rinse would get rid of all of the plugged flashholes. That plug probably wouldn't hurt anything, but why test? I just make sure to blow out the primer holes before drying in the oven. It's also a good test to see how bad you lungs have gotten.
 
I TEND TO USE 150-175 DEGREES.....heck on small lots when in a hurry i have used a hair drier !..base up in a loading block...

mike in co
 
Evaporation

After I slosh the cases around in CTC to dissolve the carbon it also removes any lube just as well and I get them drained and back into the loading block there dry and really clean. The stuff evaporates that quickly.
Andy.
 
Carbon tetrachloride

Hi all

I thought I'd put my two bits in (okay, another essay, but I care about your health) about the safe use of solvents for reloading since it's come up. I use solvents of every variety every day at work and I've just set up a new lab for a new employer where I've almost entirely eliminated the use of dichloromethane (DCM, 1 carbon, 2 chlorines, 2 hydrogens). It's like carbon tetrachloride (CTC, 1 carbon, 4 chlorines). This isn't to pick out the use of CTC but to give some advice about getting rid of oils from brass. Oils kill primers faster than anything else you'll come across reloading.

Some of the suppliers I've dealt with asked "you're still allowed to use DCM?!?"

Like CTC, it does such a good job. It mixes with other solvents, dissolves stuff, won't mix with water. It's denser than water, but when I mix 30% dichloromethane and 70% hexane (similar to gasoline) it separates and floats on water. Great for extracting solvent soluble things from water (like drugs from blood or urine in my job). Just take it off the top and dry it off. Use chlorobutane if you don't want to blend solvents - it's the most chlorine you can put into a solvent and still float on water.

DCM evaporates quickly - it's boiling point is just above body temperature. Doesn't burn readily - strange for such a volatile solvent. When it does burn it decomposes into phosgene, a chemical agent popular in WWI and Northern Iraq. Nice. Latex gloves are not fully protective - wear nitrile (and glasses - always wear glasses with just about everything - you only go blind once). And use it in a fume hood - if your environmental agency lets you use it at all.

Andy - you're right about carbon tetrachloride (CTC, 1 carbon, 4 chlorines) - don't ingest it in any way, but where does it go when it evaporates? It doesn't absorb well into activated carbon filters. Please don't quote me and I'll stand corrected, but something like 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of CTC destroys something like a ton of ozone. CTC is also much like chloroform (1 carbon, 3 chlorines, 1 hydrogen). It's not used for general anaesthetics any more, just in the lab.

I use gasoline for cleaning oils from cases. It does a great job and as far as solvents go it's really cheap and clean, cheaper than thinners, and it's the oils that stop primers from going off and powder from burning. I've used acetone (old formula nail polish) with similar success, but it costs more. Acetone is also good for helping dry wet cases since it's miscible with water (but not in the oven!). And it won't give you cancer or destroy the ozone layer. Just don't pour it down the drain when you're done. ;-) Leave it to evaporate outside and away from an ignition source when it's too contaminated to reuse. Luckily for me I've got another couple of litres of acetone from the lab that was recently used to clean the electronics from a mass spectrometer. Still perfectly good to sonicate brass! Ethyl acetate (new formula nail polish remover) is good, but isn't completely miscible with water like acetone.

Reloading is fun and should be safe well into your cancer free old age. And leave some atmosphere for the grandkids to inherit. :)

Regards
Ben
 
I started to post that since the nitro benzene was removed that Hoppe's #9 is mostly kerosene, and therefore pretty safe, but just to be sure, I decided to do some research.http://www.hoppes.com/msds/904_MSDS.pdf
After reading that, I would have to say that apparently good ventilation and some non-latex rubber gloves are important when using any solvent. I have the gloves; I just need to get off of my backside and start using them all the time.
 
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