After resizing, what is the best method to remove the case lube? What about the lube in the neck?

I have been using isopropyl alcohol and a rag. Is there a more effecient way to do this?

I wipe the case off with a paper towel and wipe the inside of the neck out with a cotton rag over an Allen wrench. Of course this does not get the lube 100% off.

In his reloading book John Wooters says to use some solvent or other and I don't want to so as to avoid getting those aromatics on my skin so often.

I load in batches of ten to maybe 40 rounds at a time. Others may have much larger quantities and therefore systems.

I just pitch 'em back in the tumbler for 10 or 15 minutes. Yeah, it probably gums up your media faster than usual, but that stuff is cheaper than me sitting there wiping down each piece of brass.

I do all of the above depending on the number being reloaded. If 20 hunting rounds I'll wipe em off. I found that the hvy duty paper shop towels dampened with H2O (water)work great--and for the inside of the neck I wrap them around a nylon brush of smaller caliber. For big quantities in the tumbler they go.

I have an extra bowl for my Midway vibrator / tumbler and put my old corn cob media in there after its been spent. I tumble for an hour or two and they are clean again.

Scout Master 54

I use Acetone in a #1 coffee can. Just put 15/20 cases in the can and pour in enough to cover them.
Put the lid on and swish around for about 15 sec.
Use chemical resistant gloves to retreive cases.
5/10 min. of drying time and there ready to load.

Calamity Jake

Start by using case lube sparingly, only llube every third or fourth case. only lube necks every 5 or 6 cases. You can tell when they get in need of lube,and then dont force your press!!!!

Double two or three sheets of paper towels. Wet to half saturation. lay five at a time on the flat doubled up wet paper towels and fold the other half over, roll the cases back and forth between the two papertowelsfor about 15 seconds. rubbing together, they scrub themselves clean in the water soluble case lube. air dry.
use nylon brush in case necks.
done

[ 09-18-2003, 17:58: Message edited by: Jameister ]

I usually load 30 rounds at a time.
To get rid of the lube I wipe them down with a wet cloth, then a dry one. In the first place use as little lube as possible, you only need just enough to cover the brass lightly.
I dip the necks in graphite powder instead of lube and don't worry about removing it after sizing.

For small batches, I use the dry paper towel method. This won't make them totally grease-free, but I prefer it to involving chemicals or liquids which may or may not completely evaporate. The inside of the neck is actually much more important, since lube there tends to contaminate the powder. Wipe the insides as Savage 99 suggested.

On larger lots, they go into the tumbler with corn-cob media. Some people tumble prior to resizing. This seems a waste. I do all tumbling after resizing, which cleans up the nasty lube -- the lube being a detriment to the finished round while a slight bit of discoloration on the brass is irrelavent.

I don't have a case cleaner or case tumbler.

I do use the Lee case trimming system on all my cases after I resize them. To do this, I put the lock stud into a 1/4 inch electric drill, and use it to spin the case while I insert the case length gauge, with the cutter attached, into the mouth of the case. In this way each case is trimmed to the length pre-determnined by the case length gauge. I then use a chamfer tool on both the inside and outside of the case mouth. While the case is still in the shell holder in the electric drill, I spin it inside a piece of cloth that I've sprayed Remington Brite Bore on. This chemical both removes the case lube and does a certain amount of case cleaning on the outside of the case. I end by putting a cotton swab (Q-tip) into the mouth of the case and swabbing out the neck, still with the case being spun by the electric drill. (I takes longer to describe this set of processes than it does to actually do them!)

I would not vary the amount of lube. Of course too much is not good. But one can draw the necks or case body off different amounts by going from full film to boundry lubrication. I worked in a deep draw house that made Cross Pen bodies from brass strip by blank, cup and then and dozen draws! Everything was done in a uniform manner. They would never vary the lube.

I wipe each case neck out twice. I don't know if this is the best way, it's just what I do.

I use lacquer thinner. It is a little more expensive, but I like the assurance of clean loads. I don't want a missfire at any price. missing a deer, or having a bullet lodged in the barrel is no fun.
I have never had a missfire in many thousands of rounds.

If your cases are not new (got a few firings on them) and there is a little carbon to go with the lube, try a little carburator cleaner on some four 0000 steel wool, a couple quick twists and the lube is gone and the cases look like new. Just my $0.02...

I can certainly appreciate all the experienc here!! I have now leaarned that the variation in case lube could explain why every so often (one in twenty or so) I have been getting hard to chamber rounds!! the neck pulling the shoulders back seems VERY LIKELY...

Feel like someone just told me that politicians are crooks... should have figured that out on my own...

Thanks Savage 99.

Jameister