Jump to content
308AR.com Community
  • Visit Aero Precision
  • Visit Brownells
  • Visit EuroOptic
  • Visit Site
  • Visit Beachin Tactical
  • Visit Rainier Arms
  • Visit Ballistic Advantage
  • Visit Palmetto State Armory
  • Visit Cabelas
  • Visit Sportsmans Guide

Neck lube...what u use??


hobbesgunner

Recommended Posts

I use one of those Midway, multi-caliber, brush-in-a-blue-box sets. When I got it, about 15 years ago, I tried the Mica powder that came with it, but I wasn't too thrilled with it. I have many kinds of dry lubricant powders I buy for making up my one lubricating concoctions and shot-plating bullets. I use a mix of 600 mesh PTFE and .25 micron HBN. It works great for tight expanders.Those powders are not cheap and I try not to waste any more than I have to. For me, the indicator of sufficient powder is whether the expander shows brass buildup where it contacts the necks. Allowed to go unchecked, that build-up opens the necks up further than the expander intended and brass on brass has a lot of friction, with or without lubricant. If I see a brass ring starting to form on my expander, I stop, clean off the buildup and use more lubricating powder to where it stops. After a get a tray of them done, I blow out the excess powder in each one with a blast of air from my compressor. I don't want that powder getting into my tumbling media when I tumble them the second time, which I do after wiping off the excess Imperial lube, cleaning the primer pockets, trimming to length and de-burring them. Consistent and adequate neck tension is the name of the game for consistent groups. You can get small quantities of PTFE powder or HBN off of *See Site News*, or directly from the manufacturers. I put a teaspoon of HBN in each of my crankcases each oil change. Yes, it really does help the engines and the .25 micron stuff stays in suspension. The oil still has a milky look to it when it comes time to change it. More like coffee with cream actually, but I digress. I've been working off of the 8 ounce jar of PTFE powder for over 10 years now and it's only half used up, so the cost for reloading using it is not too dear. Since I use the HBN for more than resizing, I go through it faster, but it's still about 10 cents worth per 100 resized cases and its a great bullet coating material to boot. That having been said, its overkill as the PTFE powder is all you need. I just like to experiment and came up with using a little bit of each in my resizing powder. If you want to make it go further, you can mix it with your mica. Say 50% mica, 25% PTFE and 25% HBN.

Hoot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

You will probably wear out your expander ball faster.

I use Hornady Unique, works great & doesn't cause dents in the case when you get it on the shoulder.

I also use Unique ,stuff is great have done over 8000 rifle rounds with it and there is still about an ounce left.

  Also, not lubing the inside of the case neck can encourage case neck "stretch", necessitating having to trim the cases more often.

    With a new die set, I put the expander ball in the lathe, and polish to a high polish.

  Respectfully

  Terry

If you are lubing the inside of the case you MUST CLEAN THE LUBE OFF BEFORE LOADING POWDER IN THE CASE !!!!!

If powder attaches itself to the lube it will be unburned and can be expleded into the barrel, if setting in the barrel the next round fired will cause a double explosion. This is known as SEE and is very very bad ! So please just run those cases through the tumbler after sizing with lube inside the neck area. This is a saftey issue. Just a heads up !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...