Progressive reloading the .223 question

[Coon]

I've been reloading for many years, but just recently got my first progressive. It's a wonderful thing for pistol cartridges for sure. But my main question is concerning all rifle cartridges actually. Since you have to lube the cases, I'd like to know what lube is best to use when doing high volume reloading. I've always done the old brush the inside of each one with lube on a brush and then roll them on the pad and set them up in a block. But I was resizing them all one at a time first, you get the picture. Now, I'm trying to reload .223s a couple hundred an hour and I that method of lubricating the cases seems to be problem. Is the hornady spray lube a good as hornady claims? Are there other spray lubes? Better methods? I'd sure appreciate to know how y'all do it and your opinions on the case lubes out there.
Thanks
Dave

 

[TexasHorn7]

I just got my Dillon working for 223. I tried Hornady 1 shot with poor results (But I had some bad range brass). I am going to try it again with better brass.

Dillon has lube, but I don't know how good it works. If you want, there are recipes for it online. It is basically alcohol and lanolin.

 

[robertc1024]

I've had pretty good luck with the Hornady 1 shot. You have to let it dry before you size the brass though, but it flashes off pretty fast. To be honest, I've never tried to load .223 on my progressive, even though I've got the tools for it. I load all my rifle rounds on a single stage.

 

[Txmark]

I use the RCBS case lube that is in a pump spray bottle. Been using it for years and haven’t had any issues with it. The only stuck cases I ever had were using One Shot. For a progressive, I have a Dillon 650 and use a rock chucker for precision loading.


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[andre3k]

I use my own lanolin/alcohol lube in a spray bottle. Two or three sprays in a gallon zip loc bag and I dump in about a hundred cases. Roll around for 10 seconds and let it dry for a few minutes. Easiest way to lube bulk brass IMO.

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[gll]

I use my own lanolin/alcohol lube in a spray bottle. Two or three sprays in a gallon zip loc bag and I dump in about a hundred cases. Roll around for 10 seconds and let it dry for a few minutes. Easiest way to lube bulk brass IMO.

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This^^

 

[Dawico]

For my bulk rifle loading I size/ deprime the cases first, run them through the tumbler to remove the lube, then send them through my progressive loader.

Obviously not a one step process but I want clean ammo when done without having to tumble live rounds.

PS I used to use a Ziploc bag for bulk case lubing but switched to a Tupperware type container. Easier to work with.

I also have had great luck with Hornady One Shot.

 

[Coon]

It's crazy how you can't go to the store and buy this stuff these days! Nobody carries the hornady 1 shot spray in a store, and there are mixed reviews on it anyway, and lanolin oil can only be gotten online. At least from everywhere I've looked. I'm still going to try CVS tomorrow. That video intrigued me, so I'm going to experiment. Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[Havok1]

I use a lube pad, which isn’t the fastest but has worked well for me. I don’t lube the inside though. One of my friends uses spray lube and like doing it that way.

 

[Coon]

You don't get cases stuck on the dies when you don't lube the inside of the case neck?

 

[Wiliamr]

While carbide dies are expensive they make relaoding bottle neck cases on a progressive a snap. One Shot is tricky, spray once, let it dry and spray again. RCBS spray lube is good too. Call Dillon and talk to them about their lube. I used to use it but just have not bought more.

 

[Coon]

Well, color me stupid! I've been reloading for 20 years and never knew they made carbide dies for bottleneck cartridges! I've never looked for them. I wondered why they didn't make them since pistol dies were all carbide and didn't require lube. Sometimes the answers are right in front of your face. Thanks, William!

 

[Havok1]

You don't get cases stuck on the dies when you don't lube the inside of the case neck?

I never have.

 

[andre3k]

I never have.

Me neither. In my case, I think some of the spray lube does make it to the case necks and helps to lube the expander.

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[Vaquero]

Me neither. In my case, I think some of the spray lube does make it to the case necks and helps to lube the expander.

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I spray up into the die prior to beginning resizing and every 50 or so cases.

 

[TexasHorn7]

Me neither. In my case, I think some of the spray lube does make it to the case necks and helps to lube the expander.

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When I use 1 Shot to load on my single stage, I place the cartridges in a loading block and spray from about 4-8 inches above the case mouth. That makes sure some of the lube gets in the case mouth as I spray from all directions.

With my Dillon, I tried the baggie method to lube a bunch at the same time with very poor results. I decide to make my own lanolin lube for my next batch.

One thing that did help was setting up a separate tool head with a small base die in station 1. It was setup to decap. Station 4 It was set up to only size the body. In Station 5, I set up my "normal" 223 die so that it only sized the neck. After that, they went into the rotary tumble to get all the lube out and make them shiny.

With the case feeder, it goes much quicker than one would think. Not having to worry about getting the primer seared and the powder drop correct prevents errors.

 

[Wiliamr]

Lubing the dies is a step often missed.

 

[TxStetson]

I use the Dillon Case Tray on my 550, spray the brass with 1 shot, shake the tray 2 or 3 times, and spray it again, and shake another 2 or 3 times. If I feel any excess resistance during the reloading process, I’ll spray it again and shake again.

 

[rsrocket1]

Unfortunately, I have to process my rifle brass in batches. Deprime, resize, trim, debur/chamfer. At this point I can use my progressive to do the prime, powder drop, seat. For a while I was neck sizing my .308 and could use the progressive all the way but after a few firings, you had to bump the shoulder back so that required a full length resize which meant checking case length for trimming. For 5.56, unless you shoot through only 1 bolt gun, you should always full length resize and check length.

So what I do now is bulk process my 5.56/.223 brass up to the point of primed brass and store it that way until I decide to batch load to a particular powder charge/bullet, then use the progressive for the last three stages.

One Shot works well for batch resizing but you must be sure you give it time for the carrier liquid to evaporate before resizing, otherwise you risk tearing the rim off and getting a stuck case. Dillon lube (lanolin/IPA) leaves a sticky residue which must be cleaned off or you end up with stuff sticking to your loaded cartridges.