I’ve not been reloading .223 for too long, but I’ve noticed that the cases are quite a bit more prone to sticking than my other rifle cases I reload (primarily .308 and .300 Win Mag)…
A couple of weeks ago, a friend bought a Lee press kit, and gave me the tube of Lee case lube that the kit came with, and for s&g’les I tried it, a white chalky paste, and didn’t like it. I’ve been using RCBS Case Lube 2 for years, mainly because my local gun shop only carries it and Hornady One Shot - which I’ve never used, nor will ever use because of the horrid reviews I’ve read.
What lubes do you guys use and recommend for .223 handloading? Thanx!
Redding imperial sizing wax.
Lee Lube dilluted 1:4 w/91% alcohol. Lay cases out and let alcohol evaporate. Every couple of cases a smear a smidge of Imperial at the shoulder and at the base.
Never stuck a case.
6.5 Swede
30/40 Krag
.223 Remington
I’ve had no problems with 223 or 6.5x55 or 308 or anything when using the Dillon spray lube. It is basically an alcohol / lanolin mix and works well. A little goes a long way.
I did get a case stuck with Hornady One Shot in my Dillon trim die!
Chad
Nice, thanx for the replies. I’ve been thinking about trying some of that Imperial Size Wax, heard good things about that from several people… I’ll be needing to get some more case lube within the next 250 or so rounds, hence this thread. 
Curious. Where you read the bad reviews on Hornady One Shot? I’ve been using that for about two years,about 1500-1600 fl sized .223s with RCBS die. Not one issue.It does seem a bit harder to remove from the case(but that’s what the tumbler is for)Am I just lucky with this lube? It is convenient to apply.
Used to use Hornady One Shot, it was okay and I’d use it again if there was nothing else. The best lube that I ever used was an aerosol from Hoppes, but they stopped making it for some reason :(. I use nothing but Dillon now.
I think one problem people have (from my limited experience with it, which is not much), is that people do not let the carrier evaporate. There is a carrier medium to make it fluid enough to spray out and if you do not let that carrier completely evaporate/dry then you run into stuck cases. This is true of the Dillon etc but it is more obvious with the Dillon that it has evaporated [you can tell with experience by looking] than with the One Shot.
Let the carrier completely evaporate/dry [I am not sure what they use as a carrier] and maybe it works fine. People spray, wait a minute, and go, and get stuck cases. Maybe they need some patience and spray, wait 10 minutes, and then go. Something like that
Chad
Yes,I agree Chad.I’ve found that it takes at least 10 minutes to dry,and most of my loading takes place in Jan or Feb with central heat running.Could even take longer in more humid conditions.On the bottle it states “Dries in 3-5 minutes”.I think Hornady does need to modify that statement.
Imperial Sizing Wax for high-quality precision reloads. Nothing beats it.
For quick and dirty volume reloads, Dillon spray-lube. Put three handfuls of 223 brass in a shallow Tuperware container, spray on squirt of lube, close the container’s lid and shake it up to distribute the lube. Fast and effective. Too much is bad, though, since accumulated excess lube in the sizing die will cause case shoulders to dimple and deform.
KYPD
DILLON CASE lube.
I think I might Hate ONE SHOT as much as I hate Olympic Arms! :mad: There’s NOTHING good I can say about it.
I bought a can of one-shot and hated it after loading about 10 .223 cases. I was constantly getting cases stuck. I switched to Lee Case lube and never had another problem. It smells like fish but other than that I like it a lot.
Thanx for the replies.
The bad wordage towards One Shot that I’ve heard has come from users on another reloading forum, a website review, and even an old Guns & Ammo review I found in an old issue (I was bored)… and my local gunshop stopped selling it due to it’s “poor performance”… and they said they’d rather sell plain old “3 in 1” lube in it’s place, stating that it’s cheaper and works better! lol
Right now, I have nothing bad to say about RCBS’ Case Lube 2 - other than it takes a bit more wiping to remove than does others (for those of us who don’t yet have tumblers).
Pretty much sums it up.
Point taken.I know that, just because something has worked well for me, certainly doesn’t mean that it’s the best. I do respect & appreciate the opinions of other experienced loaders,that’s why I’m here.
For those who use ONE SHOT and have problems. Just spray and wait twice as long as you normally wait for it to “dry” (carrier evaporate). See if you don’t get better results. Try 10 min or so.
I don’t use ONE SHOT but the one time I did I got a case stuck and figured out that I did not let the carrier evaporate
I use one shot haven’t had a problem but after spraying they usally do end up sitting for over 10 min…
Waiting longer hasn’t helped me at all. The brass at the end of my run is no easier to work with than the stuff at the beginning of the batch. Even if waiting helped at all, you still face the issue of getting the crap off of your brass… which if you’re loading bulk… is a huge pain in the ass.
There’s really NO NEED whatsoever to suffer with this crappy product. It’s not like the alternatives are more expensive.
Demigod,
Do ya think you might be doing something else wrong? LOTS of loaders don’t seem to have the problems with it that you’ve had.
royal purple synthetic.
no more stuck cases as opposed to one shot. After I got a case stuck and all I had nearby was the RP I started using that. It also keeps the inside of my lee dies from rusting like they used to.