Lubricating Pistol Brass?

Does anyone lubricate their pistol brass even though you are using carbide dies? I've been told that some people lightly spray their brass with lube prior to sizing. If so, what are the advantages and is it worth it?

Straight wall handgun brass and carbide dies = NO lube.

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SubGunFan wrote:Straight wall handgun brass and carbide dies = NO lube.

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Agree -- I do not see any Up side to it --- only the DOWN side of having sticky/wet cases to deal with ...

When I have all my brass that I'm ready to load in a box I will spray some one shot in there and mix em around. I don't see how it would hurt, I've noticed it help a little with the press cycling.

i started using the spray one shot lube this year. makes operating the press much easier. i put a handful in a plastic bin spray them & let them dry. i use a two bin system to speed up the wait time. spray two sets down first, then rotate out the dry one when the first ones empty, spray some more down and continue.

I have some very old reload.357 brass that was a real bugger to size first time through, dont know if the original reload sizer was too big/worn or what. Second time around it was better, but still certainly slowed me down.

So is it ok if some spray lube gets inside the case?

Also I am considering taking the sizer and station that sets the bullets depth and cleaning them. They have about 2000 rounds through them and I get some bullet lube deposits frequently. Comments? Hey can I toss them in the polisher?

I load a few thousand .40's a year to shoot in competitions on a Dillon 650 with a case feeder, carbide dies, strong mount, roller handle, etc. It's a great press for pistol rounds, and you don't technically need to lube, but I do for a three reasons.

The biggest one is that lubed cases load easier. Less friction means the cases glide through the dies easier. I exert less force and I'm able to better feel everything else that's going on. For example I can feel immediately if there's something not right about a primer being seated on station two and stop before I crush it and I can feel if a bullet isn't aligned properly and is maybe getting shaved when seating it.

Next, the smoother the press the more consistent your loads will be. Everyone knows you need to mount your press to a solid bench because flex and movement can impact the powder throw, bullet seating depth, etc. Case friction, especially on a progressive press, will cause you to use more force and impact the press more than you need to. A little spray of Hornady One Shot really helps with this.

Lastly, if you decide to load a thousand rounds or so in a single session, it really helps reduce operator fatigue. If you shop around you can find it for less than $5 a can and it lasts a long time so it's probably something like ten cents per loading session.

METHOD: I've got a hand towel (roughly 18"x24") I spread out on my bench. I'll dump out a couple hundred cases on top of it and spread them out a little to get them to a single layer. I use the aerosol version (not the pump) Hornady One Shot and spray across them for a 2-3 second spritz. I don't worry if the spray goes inside or outside the cases. I'm trying to spray the outsides but it doesn't hurt at all if spray gets inside the cases (not sure if that holds true if you have already reprimed the cases. I THINK so but I deprime after lubing so I can't speak from experience on that). Make SURE you shake the can thoroughly first. Then I bring the corners of the towel together to make a bag shape and bounce it a few times just to spread the spray around some. I then leave them the cases to sit and dry for a bit while I load some primer tubes or something. Just give them 10-15 minutes. At that point they're ready to load.

An added benefit of this process is that it causes you to move the brass around a lot allowing you to detect split/damaged cases. With straight wall pistol brass (it may work with others but I don't know) you can often detect bad cases by sound alone. As you jostle a handful of brass they will all ring a certain note depending on caliber but a split case lacks the resonance of an intact one and will make a sound that will jump out at you once you know what to listen for. With a little practice you'll be able to extract split cases with your eyes closed if you want to.

A little lube wont harm a thing. If you ever want a fun experiment try spraying some dillon lube on 9mm cases and then cranking them through the 550...wow.

Do pistol cases require lube with carbide dies? No

Will tumbling loaded ammo to remove the lube hurt anything..no

Do I lube everything-No but if the arthritis in my elbows is bothering me and I have a lot to load on the dillon..I am not above spraying a few cases to make the job a little easier.

Old arms learn new tricks...