Is wiping them off with a dry rag good enough? If not what are the problems associated with case lube left on. I'm using the rcbs lube & pad.

I stopped using messy lubes a long time ago as they seemed to me to be too hard to completely clean off. I use Imerial sizing wax in very sparing amounts, which is easily wiped clean. Hornady Unique lube also seems to work well for me.

AS, I just wipe it off with a rag. Never had a problem yet with doing that.
Peter.

I too just wipe the lube of with a rag and call it good.

You want to get the cases pretty clean, though.

First of all, with any lube on them they will collect grit and dirt like a magnet.

Secondly, if they have too much lube on them, the cases will not grip the chamber properly and may cause pressure problems.

Hi RS
I use RCBS lube and when I finish sizing I give them a wash in some warm water with a little detergent. then I wash in cold water. If the weather is warm (which it is most of the time in Australia) I put the cases on a baking tray and leave in the sun until dry inside, otherwise I put them in the oven on the lowest setting for about 10 minutes, then turn the power off and leave them sit for another 10 min.

Imperial is without a doubt very good lube and a dry rag will do the job
I have used 'One shot' which comes in a spray can and if used correctly it doesn't leave that much of a residue to worry about. Its also very fast to use.

I size a bunch and then tumble them for five minutes after to remove the lube.
Rusty

quote:

Originally posted by RustyFN:
I size a bunch and then tumble them for five minutes after to remove the lube.
Rusty

+1

Normally I use the spray lube to resize and afterwards use a small amount of gasoline to wash them off and then an airhose to blow them dry.....but I'm now catching on to imperial sizing wax.....things might change!

I mainly neck size only, but when full length sizing I wash the cases in a RCBS Sidewinder with automatic dishwasher detergent to remove lube.

I dip them in acetone. Cleans them and they almost instantly dry. Do it outside and wear gloves or use some sort of tong.

I tumble (vibratory cleaner) the brass for a brief while, then use RCBS lube and pad, then resize. Leaving the lube on, I tumble the brass again. Not only does it remove the lube. I firmly believe the lube helps, and speeds up in cleaning really dirty brass. I have best results by applying lube, resizeing and then tumbling the following day. Seems to cut my tumbling time in half (or less) and leaves the brass with a great high polish finish. Jimmy

I wipe off with paper towel that has fingernail polish remover on it. I do this while spinning it in a drill in a Lee case trimmer, and keep the case there for trimming and chamfering.

SOmetimes I'll tumble it off, instead.

I also use the vibrating tumbler, then the RCBS lube and pad for the case sides, and wipe clean with rags from old towels--they seem to do a good job.

I've never lubed inside the case necks, but I noticed that on the two occasions (and never again) when I skipped tumbling the cases, that it was brutally difficult pull the expander-ball out of the cases; it took a helluva lot of effort to force that press handle back up. As long as I always tumble the cases, the expander-ball extracts fairly smoothly.

quote:

Originally posted by oscarhans:
Hi RS
I use RCBS lube and when I finish sizing I give them a wash in some warm water with a little detergent. then I wash in cold water. If the weather is warm (which it is most of the time in Australia) I put the cases on a baking tray and leave in the sun until dry inside, otherwise I put them in the oven on the lowest setting for about 10 minutes, then turn the power off and leave them sit for another 10 min.

Exactly what I do. Given that I usually do batches of about a hundred or two at a time, the last thing I want to do is wipe each case.

I just wipe em of with a rag. I also have a can of carb cleaner on my reload bench.

I use a old worn out mop stuck in rag edge and spray it with carb cleaner and stick it into the neck to clean out inside the neck lube

Heck,

I use WD 40 in an old camping blue frying pan to lube cases...

I spray it on a bore brush to lube inside the necks....

after that, I tumble the brass in the old tumbler for about 5 minutes....

then I deprime them....

I like to do that in a separate operation and am real fond of the Universal Depriming Dies...

I tumble for a few minutes after sizing to remove the lube.

Does not simply wiping with a clean dry soft cloth remove excess and thus leaves a minute desirable film on the cartridge to inhibit tarnishing ?.

I've never felt a need to use solvents for removal myself .



"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
Albert Einstein

quote:

Is wiping them off with a dry rag good enough?

Yes - in my opinion, anyway.

I lube my loaded cartridges and put them away like that. If they feel too 'dry' I relube them. Never had a head separation with that method. Actually, lube on the case does not prevent the case from gripping the chamber walls but it does prevent the case from 'binding' on the chamber walls. That is undesireable as it is going to be inconsistant. Lubed cases will show signs of progressive elastic elongation in the chamber by way of slide markd on the case. The neck has none while the slide marks are longest at the rear. I have seen a lubed case fired in a rifle with extreme excess head-space that did not set back against the bolt face. (It was not a polished case. The next one fired had insipient head sepation). I have not found dirt adhering to the cases to be a problem but it can be difficult to pick the smaller cartridges out of the cartridge box because the bullet is so slippery.

Just dry them with a rag. If you tumble you'll ding up the case mouth; all the brass vibrating on each other. Check out Varmint Al's reloading page
http://www.varmintal.com/arelo.htm