Click Here to See the Profile for Dumpster BabyClick here to email Dumpster BabyEdit/Delete MessageSearch the Case Preparation forumIP LoggedReply w/Quote I've had it with the RCBS sizing lube that's like STP. I wanted something better and began reading up on Imperial Sizing Wax. A light bulb went off in my head.

Would Esquire Transparent Boot Polish or Kiwi Neutral Polish work? I had some 30 year old Esquire Transparent remnants. I heated the tin until the polish melted down into a flat layer in the bottom and tried it with probably my hardest resizing job.

I just finished full length sizing about a hundred .30-06 cases with that shoe polish, using the thumb and forefinger application technique, and it worked perfectly. My old Esquire polish might be more dried out than is desirable, and I'm going to try a new tin of Kiwi Neutral next trip to the store. I don't know what Imperial wax feels like, or how solid or greasy it is. My faint recollections of boot polishing days is that new tins of polish were pretty soft and greasy.

I sloshed the cases around in hot soapy water and got 99.x% of the shoe polish off. I also tried rubbing alcohol, which is used to get shoe polish out of carpets and clothing. The diluted alcohol worked pretty well also.

I think the best overall case cleaning technique will be to put the waxy brass in a strong cloth bag, like a money bag or shot bag, and toss it in the washing machine with a load of clothes. In years past I used to wash the remains of the RCBS lube off that way and it worked great.

A lot of people use their tumblers to remove (or try to remove) sizing lube. That doesn't make much sense to me, but everyone seems to be doing it. I prefer to keep the tumbler media free of any kind of waxes or lubricants, and use it for its intended purpose.

Anyway, my experiment was a success - very cheap and easy to use sizing wax. I have been informed that Kiwi Mink Oil Leather Treatment from Wal-Mart is better than the Neutral Polish as it's a little thinner and easier to spread around.

Any thoughts?

i used mink oil for about 5 years. a bit greasier than imperial, but works great.

Carnuba furniture wax polish works just as well as Imperial. I have used both. However, you can get a pound of furniture wax at a garage sale for 25 cents to $1.00.

Since a can of Imperial die wax lasts only
ten years or so this is important information.
Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by hawkins:
Since a can of Imperial die wax lasts only
ten years or so this is important information.
Good luck!

You must buy the smaller tin, right?

hello...
the best "poor man's" Imperial Sizing Wax is... well... Imperial Sizing Wax!
C'mon! It's only $6 for a 2 Oz. tin that will last most of your lifetime, even with fairly frequent reloading... it's hard to imagine how furniture wax, etc. could be a good substitute, even if it was cheaper (which in most cases I don't think it would be!). This sounds like an attempt to save a dollar or two at the expense of using what (I believe) is already the perfect product for the task at hand.

quote:

Originally posted by Gaillo:
hello...
the best "poor man's" Imperial Sizing Wax is... well... Imperial Sizing Wax!
C'mon! It's only $6 for a 2 Oz. tin that will last most of your lifetime, even with fairly frequent reloading... it's hard to imagine how furniture wax, etc. could be a good substitute, even if it was cheaper (which in most cases I don't think it would be!). This sounds like an attempt to save a dollar or two at the expense of using what (I believe) is already the perfect product for the task at hand.

NUFF SAID!

I use imperial and to get it off I use a thumlers tumbler, dish soap, water, and ceramic media, it polishes the brass also. Just set it to tumble for 3-4 hours.

I had the occasion to have to try lubes similar to Imperial in an industrial application. A mixture of 90% parrafine wax and 10% petrolatum melted and mixed together in a double boiler looks, feels and workes just like Imperial die wax. Didn't solve the industrial problem, but sizes cases great.

There must be a dozen different ways to save money in handloading. I can't see the angle for sizing lube. I can buy a "lifetime supply" for about $10.

Many people understandably feel that it is better to buy products made for the job at hand, be it sizing lube or gun oils/greases. Thing is, virtually none of it is actually made for our use, we are too low a volume market for that. What we get, at a high markup, is common stuff relabled for our use simply because it has been found to work very well for our tasks. There is nothing magic in any thing labeled for gun or reloading use.

I like to try substitute products just for kicks. I've found there is no better "gun" oil than synthetic Auto-Transmission Fluid, no better case lube than Kiwi "Mink Oil", Outboard Motor Grease is great for guns too. Each is much less expensive than the gun store stuff.

My experiment is not focussed on saving a few bucks. It's to avoid having to order and wait, and pay shipping, for a little dab of overpriced stuff that almost certainly has a more readily available substitute. I have now found out that I can get a lifetime supply of case lube at most any local store, don't have to wait, and don't get overcharged for the stuff.

I use 5W-30 synthetic motor oil on AR15 bolts and use white lithium grease from the hardware store on bolts and operating rods. The only gun chemicals that I pay full price on are bore cleaners. I can't readily substitute the copper dissolving action of those. I also have military surplus bore cleaner and lubes which I use if it's more appropriate, or for comparison purposes.

If I could have found a tin of Imperial at a local gun show in years past I would have bought it and this subject would have never come up. I decided to try to think my way out of the order-and-wait scenario, and I did. Others supplied the final touch, the Kiwi Mink Oil version of the shoe polish.

The remnants of the old Esquire that I have would last me the rest of my life, but I want something a little easier to spread. You guys have added the missing pieces, and I thank you.

I am a big fan of Redding Imperial Die Wax, but I keep rubbing my dirty fingers in it

I don't know what it is really made from, and I'll bet that Redding is not the one that put it in the tin.

Went to Wally World and bought a tin of Kiwi Mink Oil leather preservative, and used it to full length resize about 250 LC .30-06 cases. It is perfect, couldn't ask for a better case lube. Very much easier to use and cleaner than the old RCBS lube and pad.

It was $4.50 for a 2 5/8 oz tin, your basic lifetime supply for a lot of us.

I'm going to wash these cases and some lubed with Esquire polish in bags made of cut off blue jeans legs, in the washing machine with some laundry.

This will be my one and only sizing lube from now on.

My experience with petroleum based lubes is not good. Between the case taper and the tool leverage pressure between the case and the die gets very high. Petroleum lubes break down and
lose their lubrication properties.
Natural lubes like lanolin ect work much better. In the old days some people said to run the casew through their hair. Hey I don't make this up.
Good luck!

quote:

In the old days some people said to run the casew through their hair.

That might work, If I still had hair! Until it decides to grow back, I'll keep using Imperial.

Nashcat

I sometimes use the little tub of Hornady case lube I bought in the mid-1980s. I think it's pure beeswax. Still have plenty of it left. It has to be put on quite thinly or it will dimple the shoulders of bottleneck cases. Probably what makes it last so long. For first-time resizing, I use Imperial...

quote:

Originally posted by homebrewer:
I sometimes use the little tub of Hornady case lube I bought in the mid-1980s. I think it's pure beeswax. Still have plenty of it left. It has to be put on quite thinly or it will dimple the shoulders of bottleneck cases. Probably what makes it last so long. For first-time resizing, I use Imperial...

Hornady "Unique" (which is what I think your refering to) is mostly lanolin. If you stop putting it above the shoulder line, you won't get the lube dents.

Anyone tried a hair care pomade as a sizing lube, it would probably work great.

After many years seeing the Imperial Wax highly prized on this forum, I've finally found a source and I will get a can within 1-2 days!

I'm really curious to make a comparison with my current lube, 80/90 gear oil, that gave me good results until now.

quote:

Originally posted by Tailgunner:
Hornady "Unique" (which is what I think your refering to) is mostly lanolin. If you stop putting it above the shoulder line, you won't get the lube dents.

I believe Lees white lube in the tube is also lanolin. I may be mistaken but I also think "Udder Balm" is mostly lanolin. Maybe we can lube our brass, soften our hands and medicate the cows all with one product..

quote:

Originally posted by greenjoy:
Anyone tried a hair care pomade as a sizing lube, it would probably work great.

Dapper Dan's Hair Pomade

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by greenjoy:
Anyone tried a hair care pomade as a sizing lube, it would probably work great.

Dapper Dan's Hair Pomade





Gale and Evelle, the scent of hair pomade

Why not "Brylcreem -- A Little Dab'll Do Ya!".

Hey all you Elvis impersonators rub the cases thru you hair after using Wildroot cream oil Charlie. Hey yall can guess my age who has heard of Wildroot cream oil?

quote:

People can think, maybe once a year. The rest of the time they operate on conditioned responses, fear, and ignorance.

What was your latest epiphany that was not a re run?

Three related epiphanies occurred in a very productive twenty seconds of time late last summer:

1. Flaviviridae infections (such as West Nile, St. Louis Encephalitis and Dengue Fever) do not come and then go. The virions (viruses) take up residence in the central nervous system for the rest of an infected persons lifetime.

2. Interferon alpha-n3 and Interferon alpha-2b should completely clear the flavivirus if given for a week within ten days of the onset of symptoms (I found this to be true).

3. A solution of mismatched RNA stimulates a surface feature of central nervous cells called TLR-3 (Toll Like Receptor #3). That in turn causes Interferon Alpha-n3 to be produced in large quantities within the CNS cells. That in turn should clear the chronic flavivirus infection. (I hope to be able to prove that this summer).

Twenty seconds of epiphany per year of hard work; that sounds about right.

Anyway, back to the thread. There was a nice, succinct discussion of alternative lubricants over on 6mmBR.com about two weeks ago. Lanolin, beeswax and Ballistol (made from pine oil) all work for normal sizing. I won't spoil the suspense as to what works well for turning case necks under power (an odious chore if there ever was one).

LD

Lanolin's a terrific high pressure lubricant. Makes for really slick action when applied to the lugs and camming surfaces of a sticky bolt action, too.

I run out of Imperial last year. I had RCBS lube, but it let my dies rust if I didn't clean and oil them, and I'm lazy. I tried two black powder lubes, Bore Butter and Wonder Lube, neither lubed enough. I swiped my wife's nipple cream, pure lanolin. I melted in a little Bore butter to thin it, keep it in the old Imperial tin. The Bore Butter also has a pleasant odor.

just for shits and giggles last night i tried some bear grease.it works great.i got a 5 pound can last should last the rest of my life.