Removing Lube from Reloads

[zebramochaman]

On my last trip to the range I experienced my first FTF with my Glock 32. I have sent an estimated 6000 rounds down the range with factory ammo with this gun and have never had this happen until I started reloading for this caliber.
I quickly came to the conclusion that although all of my reloads went bang and were accurate, I did not remove the lube I used when reloading.
What do you experienced re-loaders use to clean off the lube from your ammo? I know that you do not want to use a cleanser that contains ammonia so Windex is out. Will wiping them with a dry rag work?

 

[photoracer]

I don't know. I use Lee carbide dies so I don't have to lube the cases. I have reloaded at least 5k of 9x23mm and about 1k of .41 mag without having to do any case lubing. I will when I start doing .223 but for pistol cartridges its a waste if you use carbide dies.

 

[rico903]

Good to know. Glad I bought the carbide dies.

 

[Range Rat]

A 15-20 min tumble in cob works great for removing lube from your cases. . . Anything else might require a warm washcloth

 

[Mt Airy]

Just use Hornaday spray lube and no need to wipe it off . Just don.t get crazy. and yes I use carbide dies.

 

[Russ D]

Retumble or use the Hornady lube.

 

[byf43]

For pistol cases, use carbide dies. Polish/tumble the cases and reload. Fast, quick, simple.

For rifle cases, I tumble the re-sized/de-primed cases to remove the lube.
I use corncob media that's been coated/covered with jeweler's rouge. (Lyman calls it "Tuff-Nut" media.)

I use Dillon case lube, or some home-made lanolin/alchol based lube.

 

[Skins_Brew]

Retumble

+1

 

[rotag]

I usually just wipe them off with a terry cloth type polishing rag, never had a problem.
I also cast my own lead, and size and lube them, and afterwards clean the lube off with a rag and a very small amount of naptha.

 

[rickyp]

If you have cardide dies then you should not have to lube. However sometimes you may have to use a light coat of lube with carbide dies, or are you using steal dies?
You should always tumble after you use sizing lune. But now you have them loaded it is not the best idea to tumble live rounds. I know people that do it but are taking a chance. The bulkets can get set deaper and cause pressure issues, the bullets can get knocked out if the crimp is not right. So what you can do is get a few paper towels and use some rubbing alcohol and run the loaded rounds over it like you would a lube pad then run them over a cleane dry towel..

 

[Deep Creek Rock]

I suppose I do things a little different. Unless the brass has been ejected into sand or mud, or something that soils the cases - I dont even tumble before resizing them.

I usally will size & process the brass, then tumble it. Ive done it this way for many years, and never had a scratching, galling or any other die issue. You may get some carbon residue above the carbide sizing ring, but it does no harm, and does not effect sizing. You can easily clean out any residue in time, with a little brake clean, or solvent on a cotton swab.

Tungsten Carbide dies are very hard, and must be cut with a diamond cutter. No carbon residue is going to harm or damage a carbide sizing ring.

But I even dont tumble before sizing with a steel die for all my rifles as well.

Once the brass is tumbled, then I do the final priming charging and bullet seating, and the cases will be clean and oily free, in your cartridge boxes, and gun.

Now if the brass is range pickup that has been ejected into sand & other dirty conditions, Ill do a quick tumble before sizing, and a final polishing after sizing the cases.

 

[J Beard]

Just curious, but how did you come to the conclusion that not removing the sizing lube caused the FTF?

Does not add up to me.
I also use carbide dies, but will soon be using steel dies to load an obsolete cartridge.

 

[atblis]

Lubing even with carbide dies makes a progressive much much easier to run.

 

[John from MD]

If you are using an alcohol based lube, just spray the tumbling media with a mixture of citrus cleaner and water. I mix it 10 to 1 in a spray bottle. This will take the lube of and the case will shine.

If using an oil bases lube, just drop a capfull or two of mineral spirits into your media. This will clean all the lube off.

Both of these will evaporate out of the media if you leave the lid off.

John

 

[theBIGone2087]

Hornady One-Shot on my pistol cases before I run them through my carbide dies (seems to go a little smoother on my progressive that way) then just let them dry... I actually dot he same with my .223 with no issues. Anything larger than .223, I use RCBS spray lube, then after resizing I throw them into the tumbler for a few minuets.

 

[Pinecone]

For pistol, I use carbide dies and no lube. I vibratory tumble to remove any grit.

For rifle, I use lube, and then vibratory tumble after sizing. I throw in a few capfuls of alcohol into the tumbler (corn cob media). I use Dillon lube (lanolin in alcohol).

For most calibers I size as a separate step so no problem tumbling. But for .223 at times I load and tumble to remove the lube. Vibratory. If the bullets get seated deeper from this, something is wrong with the sizing die, expanding die or bullets.

For rounds that might be stored a while, I tumble for 10 -15 minutes after loading to remove any fingerprints that might become corrosion spots.

 

[DocAitch]

I agree with J Beard, it is also not clear to me how you have ID'd the cause of those FTFs as the residual case lube. Too much crimp with resulting abnormal head space would be on my list, as would be a too deep set primer.
Concerning the residual lube:
There are theoretical reasons not to tumble loaded rounds. The powder's physical structure (i.e shape, size, and coating of the granules) may be altered by tumbling ,thus changing the burn rate. This doesn't necessarily have to result in a Kaboom, it just may make your groups bigger and velocities erratic.
Additionally, the brass case's ability to grip the walls of the chamber at peak pressure may be affected by leaving the lube on them, thus placing more thrust/pressure on the bolt /action face.
The only pistol cases that I lube are the .40 S&W cases that I run though my full length resizer (Bulge Buster). I tumble these after resizing them to remove the lube, then load as normal.
DocAITCH

 

[John from MD]

If you tumble or vibrate your loaded rounds for 10 minutes, it will not cause any changes in powder.
Think about how these powders and ammo are shipped, by truck cross country. They get much more vibrating and tumbling in transit than you will ever do in your tumbling process.
Depending on loading density, the powder may not even move in the case. Additionally, if you pack enough rounds in the tumbler/vibrator, they do not move much either. This eliminates the perceived risk of setting off a primer in the tumbler.

The main thing about cleaning lube off after loading is that you have to have some kind of solvent in the mix to do it quickly. Mineral spirits has been found to be the best for this purpose as it doesn't evaporate as quickly as alcohol and it will clean both alcohol and wax based lubricants.

There are all sorts of reasons why it is much safer to tumble loaded rounds than to load rounds that have excessive lubricant on them.

Regards,

John

 

[atblis]

There are theoretical reasons not to tumble loaded rounds. The powder's physical structure (i.e shape, size, and coating of the granules) may be altered by tumbling ,thus changing the burn rate. This doesn't necessarily have to result in a Kaboom, it just may make your groups bigger and velocities erratic.
Additionally, the brass case's ability to grip the walls of the chamber at peak pressure may be affected by leaving the lube on them, thus placing more thrust/pressure on the bolt /action face.

The tumbling thing has been beat to death on the bigger message boards. It sounds like a plausible theory, but experiments have shown that it doesn't seem to matter...something along the lines of leaving loaded ammo in a tumbler/vibrator for a week and then chronographing (comparing to the same loads not cleaned). Absolutely no difference.

Regarding the case wall gripping thing, I would wager that if that matters at all it would be in something like a blowback 380 (I doubt that even). Bolt action rifles, not so much.

Best thing I've ever read about case to chamber wall friction.
http://varmintal.com/a243z.htm