In another post on another forum someone stated "I had a old reloading friend that made his own case lube from lanolin and rubbing alcohol and putting the mixture in an empty spray bottle." Does anyone know of such? What is the formula? Or has anyone come up with another home brew spray case lube? I'd love to hear the recipies. Before you jump me for not just shelling out the money on the comercial stuff, I'm just a "finagler" at heart and enjoy looking at different ways to do things.

These are bullets lubes, but you may get amusement:

"The NRA Handloader's Guide" 1969 a compilation of "American Rifleman" articles from 1950 to 1968.

One article in that book is "Pistol Champion Target loads".
All 9 featured champions use "Hensley & Gibbs" bullets, but the lubrication varies:

1) Gertrude E. Backstrom, locomotive side-rod grease

2) F. Bob Chow, perfect lube

3) G. P DeFino, Lyman Ideal

4) William E. Guiette, 7 parts way grease, 1 part Keystone open gear
grease

5) Gil Hebard, Ipco Colloidal Graphite

6) John W. Hurst, 2 parts beeswax, 1 part paraffin, 1 part cosmolene

7) Ellas Lea, 3 pounds petroleum jelly, 1 1/2 pounds beeswax, 12 oz
paraffin, 6 oz carnuba wax, 4 oz fine graphite

8) Harry Reeves, equal parts beeswax and water pump grease

9) W.T.Toney jr., 2 parts beeswax, 1 part beef tallow, 2 tablespoons
powdered graphite to 3 pounds mixture

Red, just for grins I've experimented a lot with case lubes, including the lanolin/alcohol spray. It works but anhydros lanolin ain't "cheep" and can be hard to find, and I thought it was too hard to remove.

What I like best as a cheap lube that is easy to find and great to use is Kiwi "Mink Oil" boot treatment from the shoe department of Walmart. It is really a moderately soft wax, very much like Imperial Die Wax and works just as well. In fact, Kiwi Neutral Shoe Wax is also pretty good (colors work too but they make a mess on your fingers!). Try some on your fingers, just a thin coating on the cases does a good job for me.

ChapStick lip balm and Udder Butter (sold for nursing mothers) works. So does K-Y Jelly (and other such "insertion lubes") but don't let it dry too much!

The G-B brand of electrical wire pulling lubricant from a home supply store is good, it's just a soft soap but it lubes cases pretty well and cleans off easily.

STP oil treatment works great for case refoming. A little dab will do you but it's a mess to clean off, I use mineral spirits!

In H'Depot's tool department in the saw blade section you can get a tube of Oldham CUT-Ease Stick Lubricant and it works fine for sizing cases.

I bought a lifetime supply of Imperial for less than $8...hardly makes the homebrews much cheaper.

But I have used motor oil, machine grease, baby oil and probably some other stuff and it all worked ok.

You can dissolve the Lee case lube in 91% isopropyl alcohol in a cheap spray bottle and it goes a lot farther then using your fingers. Just be patient and let it dry completely (maybe 2 minutes, faster if you have moving air) and it works very well.

The only downside is getting it all into solution at room temperature. I t took a lot of shaking.

Maybe someone has tried prewarming the ingredients?

I was loading for nearly 15ears before I actually used up my first tube of lube... well actually that isn't true... the tube developed a leak and made a mess of the inside of the drawer I stored it in.

I am on my second bottle of RCBS case lube2, but that mostly because I used up half of it trying to make a spray soluble lube instead of just buying it.

There are places in reloading and handloading where you can save money but making case lube?

I'd rather rebuild and re-use primers by cutting the tips off of strike anywhere matches. (something everyone should do ONCE so they are SURE they know how)

AD

Why would anyone want to use anything other than Imperial?? I've been feeding off of a can that is so old the can looks like it came from the 1800's

Red C.........Had a frugal shooting buddy who used Crisco as a case lube. Worked well. He also used lipstick instead of inletting black, when making gunstocks. He used to buy the cheap, red colors on sale...... I always told him his stocks smelled like an old girlfriend of mine......... Grant.

quote:

Originally posted by Allan DeGroot:
I was loading for nearly 15ears before I actually used up my first tube of lube... well actually that isn't true... the tube developed a leak and made a mess of the inside of the drawer I stored it in.
.....AD

Yup, that's what happened to me too. That's when I grabbed the first thing on hand - a bottle of engine oil smoke stopper additive, and found it works way better! Much easier to apply, much easier to remove the excess, much cheaper, less sticky, and, the plastic bottles it comes in does not perish and spill its contents all over everything in your storage drawer! Plus, I never had another case stuck in my sizer die. AND, if you lube your rifle bolt with it, it becomes real smooth. A little goes a long way.

Throwing the hat into the ring; I've experimented some, trying to make something different and wonderful from mixtures of varying waxes and oils.

Have had some success but no improvement over my favorite additive for oil burning cars. roger

I have used engine oil sparingly before with great results

Anyone besides me considered using diluted dawn dish soap?

quote:

Originally posted by Greg_J:
Anyone besides me considered using diluted dawn dish soap?

Can't say that I have but I'll give it a try. roger

You wuold have to be awful cheap to try and save any money over a can of Imperial. My god! If things are that tight maybe you ought to cosider quiting shooting = 100% savings.

+1 imperial

+2 Imperial

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Surko:
You wuold have to be awful cheap to try and save any money over a can of Imperial. My god! If things are that tight maybe you ought to cosider quiting shooting = 100% savings.

Now that's a thought. roger

We shoot $1.00 + bullets, and worry about case lube....Shoot faster burning powders, get more loads per pound. Would most likely save you more money.

ANOTHER IMPERIAL HERE.

Dillon spray is second.

To each his own, but I don't get the positive references to Imperial Die Wax. After thinking that maybe it just didn't work well with a given case or die for some reason, I kept it around a while and tried it with several calibers/dies. I didn't find it very effective as a sizing lubricant at all.
------------------------------------------------
"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

I'm usein Mobile One and a dash of tungsten disulfide. The tungsten disulfide is the key, Mobile one works as well as the rest but add the “dry slide†and it really gets slippery! Works better than any commercial lube I’ve tried and cleans off relatively easily with mostly spent corncob media.

My vote is for Imperial die wax.
One tin will last "forever". So wanting to be prepared I bought two tins. I don't think I will open the second. Maybe I just saved my son some money?

muck

I've been reloading for over 25 years and still haven't used up my first $2 bottle of RCBS case lube. Maybe I'm just odd, but to me there are better things to spend my time on than trying to brew up a concoction in order to avoid buying a product that works perfectly, costs less than a pack of cigarettes, and lasts 10 years at a minimum.

quote:

..... reloading for over 25 years and still haven't used up my first $2 bottle of RCBS case lube ....

I do not know what brand of case lube I had but it cost more than $2. The bottle perished and failed and spilled its contenst all over 'everything' in less than 25 years and does not come close to 'oil additive for smoky engines'.

Well, I came up with a home brew formula on my own. I took one 2 oz. bottle of RCBS Case Lube-2 and mixed it with one quart of denatured alcohol and shook vigorously. Put it in a squirt bottle. I have used it on about 200 .243 and 30-06 cases and seems to work just fine. Spray it on and let it dry for 3 or 4 minutes and then resize. I have had no indication that a case is trying to stick. I figure I have enough to last for quites some time. I load up my loading block and spray 50 cases at a time. Sure beats rolling them out one at a time.

It sounds like we're all happy to me! roger

Imperial sizing die wax. Unless you just like to make stuff, you can't beat it.

Bull1

I use a lube intended for wire fed welders. It WORKS like you wouldn't believe. Makes Imperial Wax feel like valve grinding compound by comparison.

http://www.airgas.com/browse/product.aspx?Msg=RecID&recIds=5723&WT.svl=5723

Weld-Aid Lube-Matic® - thanks for the tip Krochus. I want to use some in our MIG welder! I might try some for case sizing too. (Not that I have a problem with 'smoke stopper'. I just like trying new things).

It stinks and it's a PITA to remove, but 90wt gear lube works in a pinch.

I use 80/90 gear oil too, with very good results; 1 liter costs almost nothing and lasts much more than the life of a reloader. I've never used Imperial wax, since it's difficult to find here and certainly quite costly.

Get a quart of STP. You will have several generations of case lube.
Jim

I have been using a mixture of 50% lanolin wth 50% castor oil for years. Put a dab on your finger and lube 5 or so cases. Very heavy duty stuff than allows reforming cases with easy. Wipe off with dry rag or rag wet with iso.

I just started using Ballistol which seems to work well. Has advatange that it really cleans case. Anyone else use Ballistol?

quote:

I want to use some in our MIG welder! Smiler I might try some for case sizing too

The stuff is even more amazing when used for it's intended purpose! We use it on Lincoln LN-9 squirt welders feeding 3/32" wire. A few squirts on a felt lube pad and it'll completely shut up the most worn out screaming and chattering liners within the first 3 or 4 feet of wire after treatment

Jim Calhoon's company necks down 30 carbine to the 19 Badger wildcat.

He says to use Use STP or motor honey as lube.

An article in Handloader magazine says to use Rooster for wildcats
http://www.roosterlabs.com/index.html


In that weak method of truth testing, deferring to experts, I would go with Calhoon as the better expert over Handloader magazine.

This reminds me of a long ago thread

Anyone remember the 'spit as bore cleaner' thread?

Is STP a 'smoke stopper' and/or engine oil anti-friction additive? (Of the thick and sticky kind)?