My first ever attempt at reloading was a success.
I neck sized the new brass but now it's been fired I need to full length resize as it is being used in a pump action.

I got a tube of Lee case lube with the kit I purchased and it states the stuff is water soluble, but after sizing, trimming and then washing the cases in water, (have tried both cold and hot) the lube is still clearly visable on the cases once they have dried.

I want my brass completly clean and free from any possible contaminates before I move on to the next step and was wondering if there were any lubes that are truly water soluble.

A friend of mine said he has had success using viscous dishwashing liquid as the lube and this obviously washes away easily in water and cleans the cases at the same time.

Your help on this one would be appreciated as I'm not keen to individualy scrub 200 cases again!

Cheers...

It should wipe right off with a paper towel or an old rag of some sort. You could prime the cases and then toss them back into the tumbler for a few minutes or even, as I do, complete the reloading process then tumble a little bit. Priming before tumbling will keep you from having to pick the media out of the flash holes again. I dont know of any sizing lube that will wash off easily with water, though. Hope this helps.

Just from a safety stand-point, I would NOT suggest putting loaded ammo or even primed cases in a tumbler, even for just a couple of minutes. If you do, you are just asking for trouble. Someone could get hurt or even killed doing such a thing.

IT IS NOT "SAFE"!

I'll bet that no one can find that suggestion in any of the reloading guides!
Regards; Chuck

Priming prior to tumbling will not prevent media particles from lodging in the flash hole, it will just prevent you from seeing that they are lodged in the flash hole. They can migrate from inside the case and lodge in the same hole that is present whether one side is capped with a primer or not. I can't even begin to imagine the perceived utility of tumbling loaded ammunition.

As to your lube removal problem, Boofhead, first of all, I don't like water introduced into my ammunition at any stage. The cases have to be dried for a long (and inconvenient) period to assure that no moisture remains, and besides, water stains brass. Why mess with it?

A tumbler is convenient (with regular corn cob media) for removing lube after resizing, but if you don't have one, simply wipe the external case vigorously with a paper towel. Also, and more importantly, don't forget to clean any lube from INSIDE the neck, also with a twisted paper towel probe or something similar. This is time consuming, but if you are a beginning reloader and not doing a large volume of shells, it is no problem and is beaux coups more economical than purchasing a tumbler.

(Tumbling primed cases; Please most gracious host above, save us from the Infidels and those of weak mind.)

You don't need to remove Lee lube completely. A simple wipe-off with a damp cloth is sufficent. If you want to tumble them, do it before you prime them. Don't worry about media in the flash holes - it blows right out when the primer explodes.

Try using Hornaday One Shot. It drys off very well with no residue left over. Or it evaporates or something. I used to use RCBS and would tumble in walnut media for hours to get it off. With One Shot I tumble for 15 minutes and load. I really wouldn't even have to do that. NEVER TUMBLE primed brass or load rounds. That is asking for trouble.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight........RiverRat