I neck sized some once fired 7x57 cases last nite, using a new set of case brushes and mica. Followed the directions, but had a problem with about half the cases, as final stroke took a great deal of effort to remove the expander ball. Die was a Hornady neck sizer with the tapered expander ball. I've used graphite in the past and got tired of the black residue. After pulling the expander/decapper loose in the die twice, I put a dab of Imperial Sizing Wax in the case neck, and it was much smoother.

Is mica any good? Am I using it wrong. I put the case up to the shoulder in the mica, then ran it over the brush. Any help appreciated. Bob

Thank God! I thought it was just me. I've never had any success with "dry" lubricants.

I use the Imperial also. I started by just wiping my finger across the mouth of the case. Almost stuck a couple, so went to a "Q tip" and lubing the entire case neck. Works great, but a pain to clean out.

Haven't found a dry lubricant that is worth a damn yet!

I use lee lube applied with a q-tip.

Q-tip and Imperial for me. Not much to ease clean-up

I've found that dry lube works great on .22 caliber and some .243. Anything bigger seems to produce a big drag. Here's something crazy I stumbled onto. I found a tossed out Armorall wipe in the garbage and used it wrapped around a neck brush. I found that on 30-06 with the hornady neck die it worked like butter, I didn't bother wiping it out like I usually do other lubes. (This with a hornady die)
Otherwise I am SO IN LOVE with the hornady expander. Usually I can roll by rcbs brush 1 time for 10 cases of easy sizing--much less than other brands of dies.

Two things:

(1) Make sure your necks are brushed first and are clean to start with. I mount a bronze brush in my Midway base and give the necks a couple of strokes and twists on the brush to give them a good cleaning.

(2) I then dip the neck in the Mica jar and just tap the excess off on the side of the jar's mouth. I don't run the mica'd neck back over the brush. I've found you end up brushing off too much mica if you run it back over the brush.

Note: Also, clean your expander ball every once in awhile. Crud can build up on it and casue drag.

Lee Lube and a Q-Tip in .223 necks, takes very little to do it.

Depends on the match of your dies and your brass. I routinely neck turn and the expander ball has very little work to do so I rarely lube the inside of necks at all.

On the stuff that I don't neck turn, I only lube the necks if I run into a hard withdrawal or two. Rarely happens.

Now that you guys have me thinking about it, I suspect the reason it rarely happens is that I bulk tumble cases with the Lee Lube and often thin it a trifle. I now suspect that just enough lube finds its way into the case necks to keep the expander ball lubed.

When I began hand loading (just last year) I used the little square pad and the 'gel' type lube designed to be used with it. I never could get the right amount of lube on my cases and was denting up all my brass at the shoulder from too much lube. I messed around with until I heard about Hornady One-Shot and what a blessing that stuff has been. Never dent a case and when I spray them I make sure to lightly spray some down into the neck. This seem to work great and my expander ball comes out very smoothly.

I hope this isn't a bad idea, spraying a touch of One-Shot into the neck that is. I don't make any special effort to clean this lube out other than occassionally push an oversize swab through if I feel I may have shot a little more than necessary into the neck. I've never had a problem with the finished round.

Is this a good idea or am I begging for problems?

Also, I have a fairly small supply of mica but have never used it because of the warning about it being very bad for you (carcinogen?) if you breathe the microscopic dust that will float in the air but can't be seen. Anybody else heard of this problem concerning the use of mica?

Anyway Hornaday's One-Shot has made reloading much more pleasant than it was when I was rolling cases on that 'ink pad'.

FWIW,
XWind