Case lube question

[glockbox]

I have been using Dillon case lube and found it to be the best. The contents lists only lanoline and isopropyl alcohol. Has anyone tried to make thier own case lube with these ingredients? Would 70% alcohol work? I have found lanolin in a paste form and also an oil, which would be best? I'm going to try to make my own case lube but was looking to see if anyone has tried this already.

[Castaway]

I use it too.  A While back I ran out and thought I'd make my own and decided I can't do it as cheap as buying it.  WalMart and other stores sell lanolin as nipple cream for nursing mothers.  You can also have your pharmacist order it for you but either way it is pricey.

[bluebayou]

Wal-Mart has it in the pharmacy.  There are a couple of guys that I know that mix it for use.  Don't know the proportions though.  Ask them for "anhydrous lanolin".

[beemanbeme]

resizing lube ain't that expensive is it?  I bought two little bottles of RCBS case lube shortly after the earth's crust begain to cool and I have yet to open the second bottle.   

[bluebayou]

I REALLY like the Hornady spray.  Very easy to use and no dents in the neck from overlubing.  (I am lube pad challenged)

[Jack Ryan]

I'm still using the same lube and same lube pad I had from 25 years ago. I think I might have relubed the pad 10 or 15 years ago. The most common mistake I've seen is people using way more lube than they need.

[Don Fischer]

resizing lube ain't that expensive is it?  I bought two little bottles of RCBS case lube shortly after the earth's crust begain to cool and I have yet to open the second bottle.   

Handloading is about saving money! Right? After spending $800 on a rifle, make that A rifle, $300 on the scope (cheap scope), $50 on the bases and rings, $45 on a box of bullet's, $20 for 50 cases, $30 for a set of dies, thousands on various reloading component's you can't live without, you have to draw a line on spending. Six or eight dollar's for some lube that only last's a year or two is outrageious! I like STP. It's cheaper, requires more case cleaning, works well, last's a long time and make's better dent's when you use to much!

[Grumulkin]

I quit using all the usual lubes when I found Imperial Sizing Wax.  Much less mess and it works great.

[qajaq59]

And I like Break Free. But I'd bet if everyone lists which one they like best, this thread wouldn't fit into the entire World Wide Web.

[jd45]

I also use the Dillon aerosol. This method has to be the most user friendly, with whatever brand..........how would you apply your own concoction??? (hint-more work). I've even started to lube my straight-wall pistol cases..........less wear & tear on your elbow & resizing die. Just my 2 cents, jd45

[TNrifleman]

I quit using all the usual lubes when I found Imperial Sizing Wax.  Much less mess and it works great.

+1

It is the best stuff I have ever used and it is so inexpensive, I would not consider trying to make up a batch of homemade lube.

[Jim n Iowa]

I like the STP + alcohol. Requires a tumble to clean but i do that anyway.
Jim

[snuffer#1]

Speaking of lube, a few days ago, I was depriming some 270 cases.  I had sprayed the cases with the hornady spray case lube. Well, the first case was a little hard to deprime, but it did deprime. The second case is where I run into a big problem! The decapping die would no deprime the case, and I ended up finally getting the primer out but the case is locked tight in the die! I've tried everything to get it out. I went to the gunshop and ordered a new set of dies. I'll pick them up wed. I know that when I first started with the dies they were a little hard to use. Probably, a bad set of dies. But I think I'll order a RCBS kit to remove stuck cases when I go to pick up the new set of dies. Also I'll make sure th adjust the decapping pin to make sure it comes down far enough to push the primer out.
                                                                                     thomas

[gypsyman]

I use the Hornady One-Shot for neck sizing, and straight wall pistol, even though all my straight wall pistol dies are carbide.(makes working the handle on the dillion MUCH easier) And Imperial sizing die wax,(which is now manufactured by Redding), when I full lenght size bottle neck. Can't see much savings in making your own, when a $4-$5 bottle will do a thousand rounds or more. What I always wondered about, was I've talked with reloaders that used either sperm whale oil, or emu oil. I don't think you can get the sperm whale oil anymore, since the ban on whaling, and when you could get it, it was $200 a gallon or better(that was 20 years ago). But am courious if anybody ever tried using emu oil?? We keep trying peace, it usually doesn't work!!Remember(12/7/41)-(9/11/01) gypsyman

[jgalar]

Lubes may not be compatible with each other. Before changing lubes clean the old lube from your dies. I had problems with the Hornady spray until I cleaned out the old lube  from my dies with alcohol.

[iiranger]

From the beginnings of machinery, there have been two lubes, great lubes. Castor oil and lanolin. One is from squeezing castor beans. The other is washed out of the wool of sheep (with alcohol as I understand) and sometimes called "wool fat." (it is).

History books say that WW I air fields smelled like a cheap diner because the only  motor oil that would stand up in airplane engines was castor oil (then) and when it got hot and some burned... smelled like a fryer that nneded the oil changed last year. No pure food and drug laws yet...

The more modern might be a tiny bit easier to remove, but I got all suspicious (force of habit) when LEE started talking about how good their resizing lube is as a hand cream too... Just how did they get the stuff "white???"

Direct answer to your question: You are dealing with a natural fat --lanolin-- and another natural product --alcohol. The problem arises from the fact that alcohol attracts water and the water molecule "gets in the way" of bonding/dissolving the fat molecule.

What you need to do is find 95% pure alcohol... (absolute, 100% alcohol is EXPENSIVE). You might "get by" with the 70% stuff, but you want to remember the other 30% is water and we all know what happens to "iron based compounds" (like steel) around water. RUST!.  Oh yes. On carbon alcohol is methol or methanol. 2 carbon alcohol is "ethyl," yup the stuff you can drink (IN MODERATION, PLEASE). 3 carbon is propyl.  If the OH (oxygen and hydrogen) are on the end, propyl. If the OH is attached to the middle carbon, Iso propyl... Iso is cheaper, but the less water the better.

Shop around. Lanolin is used for many, many things. If  you get away from the drug store and USP (pharaceutical grade) it is cheaper. And you want "anhydrous" (without water) or you are begging harder for rust.

Still about the only thing bullet swagers can make work well. One formula, listed on these boards, has 4 oz of castor oil, mixed into 16 oz of lanolin. (I am not at all clear if the oz is weight in both. I suspect the castor oil is fluid oz and the "pound" of lanolin is weight? Ain't arithmetic fun...) luck

[OLDHandgunner]

I've been using Dillon spray lube for years. The thing I like about Dillon spray is that it don't get tacky if you leave it on the cases too long ( if you get sidetracked while sizing ).

[Lloyd Smale]

I too am a big fan of anhydros lanolin. I use it for case lube and to make cast bullet lube out of. About the only exception is my 500 linebaughs and 223s that i load on a progressive press and cant get carbide dies for. For them i use hornady one shot.