Dry neck lube
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@orkan
What are your thoughts on dry neck lube? I notice you don’t use it, so I figured there is a reason. A friend gave me some this morning and I’ve been playing with it some today, and it seems to work as well as the imperial wax for the necks. It’s much easier to apply than the wax/qtip method I’ve been using.I even invented a new ultra ELR cartridge today while using a expander mandrel testing out the dry lube. It’s going to dominate the ELR community lol.
I sized a 223 case (one of the shity LC16 ones) up to a 6.5 and it went as smooth as silk. Just curious if there is a down side to it before I try it in real ammo.140 RDF seated in a 223 case.
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@bull81
When I started messing with my 458 SOCOM I bought some of the Imperial dry stuff. There was all kinds of horror stories going on about crushed brass and stuck brass in your die when we started hand loading this stuff. I even dip the projectiles base in it before seating (458) to help them go in straight. I got a better seat die now and don't really need to do this. That crappy General Dynamics .223 brass I bought needs neck lubing before sizing it. I've never run across brass with the inside of necks that rough. Must have been from their annealing process. I have to brush the inside thoroughly before running them in the die as well as dipping them. I tried powdered mica a long time ago and that didn't last long. I turned the little cup over after about ten cases. I always put the Imperial container in a pan before I use it in case my clumsy hands get too close. Those little balls are hard to pick up. I see this post is directed to Orkan so I will close. One more thing, I came across a custom Ruger Mini 14 one time chambered for a .223 necked up to 6mm, don't remember what they called the cartridge. Looked like way too much fun to reload but could have gotten the rifle dirt cheap.
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@bigfoot
Thanks for sharing your experience with the dry lube. There are several 223 6mm based wildcats out there, I’ve never fooled with any of them but heard pretty good things about them.I was just curious how well the dry lube was working and the 6.5 mandrel is what was in the die so I figured what the heck let’s see how it does. I was amazed at how smooth and effortless it was.
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The dry lube I've tried comes in little containers and has shot inside as well as the powder... which is suppose to be shaken and then you dunk the case mouths in it. I find the application process extremely annoying. Thus I've only tried it a few times and have not noticed any real benefit from using it. I have the neco kit and the shot seems to bind up in 6mm cases when I dunk the necks, which was super annoying.
I think some folks have the impression that I lube the inside of every single case neck, and that's not true. Some lots of brass, with certain dies, I won't lube the inside at all. The fired cases get annealed, and then run through a FL sizer with expander/decapper. The fired cases have a significant amount of residue from firing inside the neck. This acts as a lube of sorts during expansion/sizing. If I have really tough expansion on the reverse stroke of the press, I'll lube the inside of those necks lightly with imperial wax and a q-tip. The process is every bit as fast as dipping the case into dry neck lube... but much more controllable.
So, in short, the dry neck lube process was too arbitrary for my liking. I have tried it, but do not presently use it, and have no intention to start. My reloading process must be deliberate and without wasted steps in order to accommodate the round count I need. I am unwilling to compromise on accuracy or precision, and did not experience an increase in either with the use of dry neck lube. The fired cases being annealed and then FL sized with no other steps in between allows a significant enough amount of residue to act as neck lube inside the cases for most scenarios. When that is not adequate, then I will use imperial wax in a deliberate and very light application to ensure trouble free expansion.
Here is a 6 Dasher die that has seen roughly 900rnds since cleaned. You can see the residue piled on top of the expander, and you can see that there is no appreciable buildup of either residue or brass on the expander contact area itself. At such time the buildup on the expander becomes an issue, I will chuck the expander rod in a drill or lathe and polish it back down.
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I started using it recently to prevent cold welding (dip the neck before dropping powder) I do not know if it will be effective, but I do not use it for sizing.
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For added context, here are 12rnds I just laid down and shot with my 6 Dasher. No lube of any kind was used inside the neck during sizing or bullet seating. This rifle will stack them all in the black if I do my part, and I clearly wasn't settled in for the first five... so I took a few breaths and disappeared my conscious mind for the next 5 shots. Came back and dumped the last 2 into subsequent dots. As you can see, with results like this it's hard to justify more time, money on products, or effort spent.
I'm looking for more improvement always, but have not seen any from dry lube. Those of you that are using it, be sure to document your efforts here. Some questions may be answered over time.
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I have found if I don't lube the inside case necks the expander mandrel or ball depending on which caliber I’m loading for I get inconsist seating pressures. My process is much like yours. I deprime, anneal, size, use expanding mandrel on some cartridges, trim, clean with rice, prime and load. I do not like added steps either and have tried sizing without lubing the case necks individually, but haven’t had much luck with that. I’ve even tried honning down the expander ball for a better fit which helped but didn’t fix the problem. The only exception is for my 223, I do not have to lube the inside case necks for it. I don’t neck turn unless absolutely necessary which “may” be some of the issue.
I guess I’ll be the test dummy for this dry lube to see if it gives me the same consistency as the wax/qtip method does.
By the way nice shooting fella. That dasher is a hammer.
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@bull81 said in Dry neck lube:
I have found if I don't lube the inside case necks the expander mandrel or ball depending on which caliber I’m loading for I get inconsist seating pressures. My process is much like yours.
Not sure what to tell ya there. I just got done seating 270 bullets... and here are the grand total of rounds that seated soft or hard in any capacity.
