Home brew case lube that works...

[Rook]

In case anyone is interested I found a recipe for some case lube using liquid lanolin and 99% isopropyl alcohol that works really well and it's cheap and there's no toxic liquids in it.

I mixed it up using one ounce of lanolin to 12 ounces of alcohol in a plastic spray bottle that I had laying around. I put the one ounce of lanolin in a shot glass and stuck it in the microwave oven for a few seconds to heat it up so it would mix easier. I put the bottle of alcohol in a bowl of hot water and let it set for a while to warm it up too.

I couldn't find any lanolin at the pharmacies near me so I ordered it on Amazon. A 4 ounce bottle cost me $9.03. The cheapest isopropyl alcohol I found was the Iso HEET in the red bottle that you can get at an auto parts store or at Walmart in the auto department for $1.97 for a 12 ounce bottle. It's 99% isopropyl alcohol, just not medical grade. Regular rubbing alcohol is around 96% which the rest is water.

I put my cases in a one gallon Zip-Lock bag and give them a few sprays of the mixture and rolled them around in it and dumped them on a towel on my work bench for a few minutes to let the alcohol dry and it left a nice film of lanolin on the cases that worked in my sizing die really well.

And as a bonus if you have rough dry hands the lanolin works good on them too.

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[mikld]

:mrgreen: Same recipe has worked for me too!

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Good stuff !

 

[sixshot]

I do hundreds of 223 cases with this recipe but I throw them in a plastic bowl & spray them, they give them several swirls to get everything mixed & then run then through my Dillon, works great.

Dick

 

[Twoboxer]

The lanolin mix does in fact work pretty well as a lube.

While I have no personal experience with stainless steel pins + water tumbling, I have heard there are some problems there since lanolin is not water soluble. I'm told you can get ". . . a tumbler and ss media gummed up with the stuff, and brass still sticky to the touch. Gross."

No problem if tumbling in dry media.

The waxes - Imperial, Unique - apparently do not cause issues whether wet or dry tumbling.

 

[gramps]

I don't do a lot of cartridges, but find if I have greasy hair before showering, rubbing the cases through my hair lubes them just fine. Good luck.
gramps

 

[Jimbo357mag]

This Hornady case lube is water soluble. I wash my revolver brass and add a few drops to the cases in a plastic tub after draining to lube them before drying and sizing. It might be similar to the Hornady 'One Shot' spray lube.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/728248/hornady-case-sizing-lube-2-oz-liquid

On rifle brass I use 'Unique' wax applied by my fingers.

Does anybody brush or lube the inside case necks before sizing?

eta - Oh yeah, I'm allergic to lanolin and wool blankets so I won't be rubbing my body with any of that. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[RoninPA]

I don't do a lot of cartridges, but find if I have greasy hair before showering, rubbing the cases through my hair lubes them just fine. Good luck.
gramps

Now that is funny, I'd like to see a YouTube of that (no I wouldn't ). I can image a wife seeing a husband do that would be calling the local mental health people "Well, he's finally lost it, he's naked and rubbing empty ammo cases through his hair, come and get him." :shock:

 

[RandyP]

for $15.25 the Amazon 'Frequently bought together" combo of pure lanolin and 99% Isopropyl is hard to beat:

https://www.amazon.com/Foods-Liquid-Lanolin-Pure-Ounce/dp/B00028MLKC/ref=sr_1_5_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1484657307&sr=8-5&keywords=lanolin

would make up a near lifetime of lube - lol - at a fraction of the 'store-bought' sprays.

 

[loaded round]

I started reloading close to 40 years ago when I got out of the army. I was working for a laboratory supply house and had access to employee purchases. I bought a 1 LB bottle of anhydrous Lanolin for a buck or so. It was the best case lube I've ever used but was a royal PIA to remove since it wasn't water soluble. Remember those days we didn't have carbide dies or case tumblers. I still remember fondly the Lanolin smell. BTW, I started out loading 38/357's on a Lyman Tru-line JR press. ''Those were the days my friends'!

 

[gramps]

I don't do a lot of cartridges, but find if I have greasy hair before showering, rubbing the cases through my hair lubes them just fine. Good luck.
gramps

Now that is funny, I'd like to see a YouTube of that (no I wouldn't ). I can image a wife seeing a husband do that would be calling the local mental health people "Well, he's finally lost it, he's naked and rubbing empty ammo cases through his hair, come and get him." :shock:

That is funny! FWIW I don't reload nekked. :mrgreen:
gramps

 

[gramps]

I don't do a lot of cartridges, but find if I have greasy hair before showering, rubbing the cases through my hair lubes them just fine. Good luck.
gramps

Now that is funny, I'd like to see a YouTube of that (no I wouldn't ). I can image a wife seeing a husband do that would be calling the local mental health people "Well, he's finally lost it, he's naked and rubbing empty ammo cases through his hair, come and get him." :shock:

That is funny! FWIW I don't reload nekked. :mrgreen:
gramps

 

[Rook]

I've been experimenting making spray case lube lately mainly because I hate putting case lube on cases one at a time. Since the lanolin in 99% Isopropyl alcohol worked in a spray bottle I thought I'd try using some Lee Sizing Lube that I had in Isopropyl alcohol also. It works.

I took a 2 ounce tube of Lee Lube and dissolved it in 8 ounces of Iso Heet. You can adjust it to the thickness of your liking by adding a little more alcohol.

I still think the lanolin is a little slicker in the die but the Lee spray works and is a little drier for people that don't like the greaser feel of the lanolin.

 

[Enigma]

I've been experimenting making spray case lube lately mainly because I hate putting case lube on cases one at a time. Since the lanolin in 99% Isopropyl alcohol worked in a spray bottle I thought I'd try using some Lee Sizing Lube that I had in Isopropyl alcohol also. It works.

I took a 2 ounce tube of Lee Lube and dissolved it in 8 ounces of Iso Heet. You can adjust it to the thickness of your liking by adding a little more alcohol.

I still think the lanolin is a little slicker in the die but the Lee spray works and is a little drier for people that don't like the greaser feel of the lanolin.

I don't know how pertinent this is, but the one stuck case that I have had since I began reloading in 1976 was WELL lubed with Lee case lube. I stopped using it when that happened. YMMV, but I won't use it.

 

[Rook]

I've always had good luck with Lee case lube but the lanolin case lube I mixed up myself that I've been using lately works better.

I just lubed up 200 .30-06 cases today and resized them with the lanolin lube and they took very little effort to run them though the sizing die.