I just got some and had a chance to resize some .223 this afternoon, and I have to say that I'm impressed. WAY better than Hornady One Shot spray, which is the only other product I've used since I started loading a few years ago.
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Imperial Sizing Die Wax
- Thread starter JoshPutman
- Start date
It’s good stuff, albeit slow. I still use this for small runs. I use one shot for large runs with a very liberal application and ample drying time.
Just don't over do it - It only takes a thin film to FL a case. I tend to lube one case and then lube the next 2-3 with the residual lube on my fingers.
Same here. I start by getting a light coat on my fingers and then rotate the case in my fingers before inserting in the press. Re-coat the fingers about every 5 cases. Great stuff!
I've had stuck cases with One Shot, and the cases always seemed to have quite a bit of drag when resizing, even when it seems like I used a heavier coating. With the wax the cases resize much smoother and with a lot less effort pulling the handle.
It is definitely a slower process, but I don't mind that.
It is definitely a slower process, but I don't mind that.
I use One Shot sometimes too. I think it's partially alcohol based because it will start to evaporate if you don't use it right away. If I'm sizing a bunch of 5.56mm cases, I just put them in a gallon bag, spray some One Shot, shake it a bit, then size them. Doing that with .338LM doesn't work very well from my experience, but YMMV.
I use the imperial for small runs as others have said. Works very well. bigger runs I use homemade lanolin/alcohol mix. Like One Shot, it has to completely dry before you start sizing or you'll stick cases.
By far my favorite, especially for big cases.
A tiny bit goes a long way.
I do still use one shot for pew pew 223 cases( liberally with plenty of drying time)and a tiny spritz on pistol brass makes it super smooth and slick.
A tiny bit goes a long way.
I do still use one shot for pew pew 223 cases( liberally with plenty of drying time)and a tiny spritz on pistol brass makes it super smooth and slick.
I used ISD for a long time. It’s slow but it doesn’t take much and I’ve never stuck a case. A little goes a long way…too much and the sizing gets weird…lots of variability in size.
Recently switched to @Strykervet lanolin/ alcohol concoction. It’s pretty damn good…and faster.
Recently switched to @Strykervet lanolin/ alcohol concoction. It’s pretty damn good…and faster.
Biggest thing when using one shot is getting enough on the cases and letting it fully dry. I use graphite on the necks no matter what other lube I use.
Even if I am doing 400-500 cases, I will still use Imperial. Maybe a little longer but seems to be smoother resizing process for me. Had to many close calls of sticking a piece of brass with other methods. Do agree with comment on graphite use.
....Imperial is absolutely great when setting up my dies, never encountered a stuck case. Also great to put some on the decappers expander ball. Because I use a progressive and tend to do large batch runs for my sizing, I use a concoction mix of 91% rubbing alcohol & pure lanolin in a ~10:1 ratio, never had a stuck case with it either, even when converting brass (556 >300BLK, 6.5G > 6ARC). Using the mix in a spray bottle & gallon sized freezer bags a few spritz and massaging the bag gets it all coated lickety-split! Leaving the bag unopened for a few minutes lets the alcohol evaporate, but I've also run them wet and it didn't make any difference as the lanolin is still there.... YMMV
You are supposed to let One Shot dry before using it. What ever they use in One Shot evaporates a lot faster than the 99% alcohol lanolin mix. The amount of time I have to let the brass sit is the deciding factor on whether I use One Shot or Lanolin.
Yea, if you rush one shot you’re in for some excitement.
Liberal application and patience and it works.
I use Imperial when neck sizing. For full length sizing I prefer the Lanolin/Alcohol mixture applied with a spray bottle. I feel that I get a more consistent covering thus more consistent sizing. I'm another that uses a gallon ZipLoc bag.
I'm not a OneShot/OneStuck fan. I have had stuck cases while using it, and Yes, I did read and follow the directions. I've also had new cans of it loose pressure while in storage.
I'm not a OneShot/OneStuck fan. I have had stuck cases while using it, and Yes, I did read and follow the directions. I've also had new cans of it loose pressure while in storage.
Question for those using either one shot or home made alcohol lanolin mix when loading in bulk, do you clean your loaded ammo afterwards somehow or do you just deal with sticky brass? I know, seems overly OCD probably but I have found when using the liquid lubes, shaking in a bag and then loading, the loaded ammo tends to be sticky and magnet for any dirt anywhere around due to the excess lube on the exterior of the cases.
I just switched to sizing wax for 223, but was using One Shot, and still use One Shot for other calibers. I like clean brass, so I clean the brass again after sizing.
I have spent a lot less time removing stuck cases, than I have spent applying lube to cases individually. I can't say I have stuck anymore with One Shot than others I have used. That would be not many stuck cases with any of them. I can think of three or four stuck cases in the last 20k or so. At least two of them were in the same 22-250 die, once with no lube, that die is in the retirement pile right now. One was in a Lyman 223 small base die, that will bump the shoulders .1 touching the shell plate. I sized a couple hundred cases with it using Lee case lube, then one stuck. Its retired too. I always can't help but wonder what is happening that people have so many stuck cases.
I tumble lube off after sizing.
I tumble after sizing to get the lube off and it cleans the pockets.
I vibratory tumble with fine ground cob. Medium grain rice works well too.
Or wipe it off with a rag.
Or spray it down with a solvent.
Just clean it.
I rinse mine off with a spray bottle of denatured alcohol and wipe any excess off with a microfiber towel. For 100 cases I might lose 2 Oz of alcohol.
I'm a big fan of the alcohol/lanolin mix, have sized tens of thousands of cases with it and never had a stuck case. It's fast to apply and use and has been super consistent in sizing. Can't imagine using any type of lube that required individual handling of the cases when working in volume. I also run 10:1 ratio, make it at home with 99% isopropyl. My tips for use...
Buy yourself a few of those large disposable tupperware containers with lids, they cost just a couple bucks at the local grocery store. You can dump 200-300 pieces of brass into them and it's easy to spray the lube on. Then once lubed they are ideal to work out of, either grabbing a piece at a time for sizing or dumping into a case feeder.
Don't be afraid to get your hands "dirty" when applying. I spray with the bottle in my right hand and use my left hand to stir and mix the brass thoroughly. Spray once, stir liberally, repeat. I usually use about 5 sprays total for 200-300 pieces of brass depending on caliber.
After application, use the tupperware lid to "fan" air onto the brass while mixing with the other hand. The airflow causes the alcohol to evaporate FAST, like 60 seconds or so. You can feel the brass get tacky as the alcohol flashes off.
I use orange abrasive soap aka Go-Jo to wash my hands when finished, takes the sticky off quickly.
To get the lube off the brass, I tumble in very fine grit corn cob. Look for stuff that is used as blast media, 20-40 grit in size. It polishes well and doesn't get stuck in the flash holes. You can tumble loaded rounds if you want, but I prefer to keep loading and processing separate so I will size all the brass, tumble it clean, then load up ammo using nice clean/shiny brass with no lube on it. My experience is that lube is a magnet for powder and can gum things up.
....because I do "bulk processing" on my progressive press, my process is:
1. Anneal fired brass
2. Spray alcohol/lanolin on brass in ziplock bag or tupperware container (depends on quantity).
3. Load up feed tubes of press (Lee LoadMaster).
4. #1 has universal decapper, #4 has sizing die, begin cycling press handle, reloading tubes as required.
5. Wet tumble sized brass (dawn dish soap/lemishine).
6. Dry brass. I use forced air, brass spread on a circular screen sheet used for doing veggies on a BBQ grill that has been trimmed so it fits inside a HD bucket and its lifted up with discarded foam blocks so air circulates under and around it. I lay another screen piece over the bucket opening and I have a small desk fan that I just put on top facing down into bucket. Turn it on and go do something else while it works.
I've also tested lubing the brass and letting it sit for a few days then trying to size it and it was fine, no issues. All of the alcohol had long evaporated and the lanolin coating was still intact. When I tumble I use hot tap water and the Dawn dish soap really cuts thru and breaks down the lanolin. Brass comes out squeaky clean.
YMMV
- Nov 3, 2010
- 10,097
- 21,720
I use it when messing with 5.7x28 brass, it saves me some headache compared to any spray style I’ve used.
I do all my bulk rifle case sizing on my single stage press using lanolin/alcohol mix. Then I tumble the brass in corn cob media with some mineral spirits "paint thinner" added to remove remaining lube. I do have to check the flash holes for corn cob but that's not too bad. Then the Dillon 550 is used for the rest of the operation.
For small runs of rifle cases, I use the Imperial and wipe the cases down to remove excess.
For straight wall handgun I just use carbide dies in the Dillon and go.
For me the rubber met the road when resizing 50 Beowulf cases. They were extremely difficult to get into the die with any lube, Imperial and others just didn't work. Nearly sitting on the handle of the Rockchucker and I was sure I would tear the rim off on withdrawal! A guy on a thread suggested 5W20 full synthetic oil. I tried it and the cases went in and out smooth as silk! It's all I use now on all calibers; it's much easier on all brass and especially the rims. Only thing is that you need a second round in the tumbler to clean the oil off, but it's been worth it for me. Couple drops on the tip of your finger, rub it around and you're good to go. This stuff IS the slipperiest stuff on the planet from what I'm seeing. Hope this helps.
From what I’ve heard and seen when a friend used oil, it dented the shoulders; simple hydraulics. I’ve done 40k or more rifle rounds with one shot and no stuck cases on Dillon 650. I recently switched to using Whidden gun works click adjustable FL busing sizing dies for 6.5CM and 6.5-284 Norma to bump shoulders .002” and size the necks to .291” and started using hornady unique lube and love it. Dies and lube are smooth as silk. Never had a sizing die so smooth using a Lyman brass smith 8 turret press. Unique lube goes a long way between application on finger/thumb and wipe top/inside of case to ease over sizing button
If you are looking to push the shoulder I highly recommend the Whidden click adjustable die. It does as advertised .001 per click
I use isopropyl alcohol on a micro fiber cloth to clean lube off brass after sizing with one shot or unique lube
If you are looking to push the shoulder I highly recommend the Whidden click adjustable die. It does as advertised .001 per click
I use isopropyl alcohol on a micro fiber cloth to clean lube off brass after sizing with one shot or unique lube
Imperial Sizing Die Wax is essential for precision rifle reloading. Benchresters swear by it. I have used it exclusively for over 40 years, and I'm on my third can. If you use a container of it in less than 10 years of shooting, you are applying way too much of it. Just a thin coat on the case neck, shoulders, and part way down the sides. Lube about 5 cases and then FL resize them. A quick twist of a shop rag cleans up the outside of the resized cases. Try to use various rim thickness shell holders so that proper headspace (+.0005" to +0.0010") is obtained after bottoming the die against the ram at the top of its stroke. This should produce very consistent headspaces. Too much lube will cause more variation.
I switched from Imperial to Royal a couple of years ago. The company that makes Wipe-Out makes Royal. I have the 4oz tub of it and i'm about half way through after thousands of rifle cases. .. It smells great too! hahaha
Royal Case & Die Lube
Royal Case & Die Lube
I have found that Dillion case lube and a lubricant pad allows me to do 18 cases at a time with very little spray, as stated earlier I also swipe the inside case mouth with a ear cotton swabs every 4 cases and have never experienced a stuck case 15,000-20,000 cases later.
My friend gave me his left over imperial and I’ve been using it ever since. I haven’t used any other type of case lube since.
I'm not nearly as experienced as many in this thread and have only reloaded 6.5 CM, but I do use One Shot, I do let it dry, and I have had zero issues with stuck cases or really any kind of undesirable friction.
Easy and works for my lazy butt.
Easy and works for my lazy butt.
So put you brass in a freezer bag spray in a good dose of One Shot and shake for about 10 seconds works perfect every time. If its good enough for F Class John its good enough for me.
Easy clean up tip; I went to just throwing the brass in a big open lid protein powder jug, putting in hot water, dawn, and lemishine. Shake by hand for 5 minutes or so, rinse thoroughly, and the brass turns out pretty darn clean. Doesn't polish them, but I've long since quit caring. It's fast, cheap, and effective.
I can't get ISDW locally... When I started reloading I tried the Lee shit in the toothpaste tube. Worked OK, but took f-o-r-e-v-e-r...
So I managed to get a little tub of Hornady Unique. Still takes a minute but light years faster than the Lee toothpaste. I apply just enough Unique that the brass feels "filmy" not greasy... If it feels greasy then you used too much. Never stuck a case yet.
I like the idea of using the dry graphite lube in the case mouth... I'm still running an expander ball though... Will dry lube work with a ball versus a mandrel?
Mike
So I managed to get a little tub of Hornady Unique. Still takes a minute but light years faster than the Lee toothpaste. I apply just enough Unique that the brass feels "filmy" not greasy... If it feels greasy then you used too much. Never stuck a case yet.
I like the idea of using the dry graphite lube in the case mouth... I'm still running an expander ball though... Will dry lube work with a ball versus a mandrel?
Mike
I used to use the liquid lanolin alcohol recipe that is everywhere on the 'net but have switched to just using liquid lanolin. I put a few drops on my palms and roll 4-5 pieces of brass between my palms, I add a few more drops about every third set of brass. The reason why I use this method is it gives me the smoothest, easiest, and most uniform sizing feel of any of the other case lubes I have used, One Shot, Imperial, Roll Your Own Lanolin and Alcohol, etc. Rolling the brass in my palms takes a little longer than spraying them in a bag, and faster than Imperial.
I figire uniformity is a good thing, have I done the testing to show the ammo is more accurate? No
I figire uniformity is a good thing, have I done the testing to show the ammo is more accurate? No
I've used ISDW, the Lee, and Hornady stuff. Back in the day I used to use Break-Free. Am I the only one using the RCBS lube pad though? I normally do about 8 cases at a time on the pad and just roll them. I normally just use a rag or a couple of paper towels if I'm not loading more than 100 cases at a time.
Same here. The wax works really well and is a cheap cost-per-use. I have used One-Shot spray also and left the lube on the case, never tumble the cases to get the lube off after sizing. I noticed that my loaded cases had a very slightly sticky/tacky feel to them. They were definitely not as smooth as a naked piece of brass.
I use Imp. Wax all the time. I only load single stage.
I don't load large numbers at a time, usually 20-50, but I load at least once a week and some of my brass is getting a lot of loads on them.
I clean them off with very fine steel wool from one tray to the other, that is first inspection and you can feel a lot that way-as to imperfections.
Then I massage the brass with the wax and size it and that is inspection #2 and then check them for anything I might have missed and see if they need trimmed before I prime, charge and seat the bullet.
I am old and retired so I have plenty of time to do all of the above but I do understand others that load several hundred at a time and,"Ain't nobody got time for that shit." and just want to knock them out as fast as they can and don't have time to monkey around. BTDT
I don't load large numbers at a time, usually 20-50, but I load at least once a week and some of my brass is getting a lot of loads on them.
I clean them off with very fine steel wool from one tray to the other, that is first inspection and you can feel a lot that way-as to imperfections.
Then I massage the brass with the wax and size it and that is inspection #2 and then check them for anything I might have missed and see if they need trimmed before I prime, charge and seat the bullet.
I am old and retired so I have plenty of time to do all of the above but I do understand others that load several hundred at a time and,"Ain't nobody got time for that shit." and just want to knock them out as fast as they can and don't have time to monkey around. BTDT
Report- that hi line wax is excellent!
It could possibly be better than imperial.
Sized 100 338 edge as a test and working wonderfully.
It could possibly be better than imperial.
Sized 100 338 edge as a test and working wonderfully.
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