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Brass Case Resizing Lube

Posted by 65guys  |  on December 1, 2014  |  12 Comments

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Is the time you spend resizing brass significantly slowing down your reloading process and turning it into a tedious chore?  The 6.5 Guys tested a technique that significantly speeds up resizing, improves the overall consistency of resized brass, and saves money.  While this approach utilizing a DIY lanolin based spray lubricant is hardly new, it just seemed too good to be true so we never tried it until now.  We are certainly glad we gave it a try and can share our results with you.

The ingredients for our lubricant are as follows:

  • Liquid lanolin (other varieties such as pastes or lotions may not work).  We used the Home Health brand UPC: 318858509126 which is widely available.
  • 99% Isopropyl alcohol.  Very difficult to source locally, so you’ll have to order.  You can find the 70 and 90 percent varieties locally, but we can’t say how well they will work.  Others have reported success using ISO Heat which is widely available at auto parts stores.  However, we cannot recommend as ISO Heat advertises unknown “special” ingredients in addition to their main ingredient isopropyl alcohol.
  • 16oz spray bottle.  We recommend you get a higher quality spray bottle capable of creating a fine mist.  We went with the Chemical Guys brand available through Amazon.

We utilized a 10:1 ratio of alcohol to lanolin.  Others report success with higher ratios.  The ratio is not critical as the alcohol is just a carrier for the lanolin and ends up evaporating.  If you don’t care for the DIY approach, consider purchasing the commercial equivalent: Dillon Spray Lube.

As demonstrated in our video, we put the brass in a plastic bin and applied the lube in three cycles of two sprays each.  We shook and mixed the cases between cycles.  This technique ensures that enough lubricant gets inside the case necks.  We even did a batch with only 4 sprays but noticed some inconsistency when the expander was pulled through the case neck.  Once the alcohol evaporates in about 5 minutes (depending on temperature) you are ready to go.  We noticed that the applied lanolin does not get dry or tacky over several days indicating that there is no need to resize right away.  If desired, you could lubricate cases in large batches and resize them at a later time.  While we use a plastic bin, others have reported success using a large Ziploc bag.

Update 2/10/16: We sized some cases where the lube was applied six months prior. They sized like a champ. Just be sure the leave the lubed cases in a closed container so dust/dirt doesn’t stick to them.

The lubricant goes on very thin – so thin you might be hesitant to stick a case in your die.  But don’t worry – it works.  Most importantly, the lube covers the case with a very consistent film which contributes to consistency of the sized brass.  After resizing, we remove the lube using walnut media – other methods will work too.

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Latest Comments
  1. Roger Odle

    I was looking for an alternative to the Imperial sizing lube & the graphite neck lube I’ve been using. Your video was great. I ordered all the supplies today. Looking forward to the change. Thanks again!

    Reply
    • 65guys

      Thanks Roger – please let us know how it goes! Remember – a little goes a long way. We’ve also found out that the longer you can give it to dry the better it works. I spray my cases in batches and go do something else before I come back.

      Ed

      Reply
  2. ron zacharias

    I use a high grade synthic transmission flud with alcohol

    Reply
  3. Chris Wardell

    Been doing it this way for years. Never did give Dillon a dime for their lube product, I think I’ve given them enough for their machine and accessories. Personally, I use an old plastic cover off of one of those 100 packs of DVD’s or CD’s – works great for the amount I do at a time. Put a hundred or so in, squirt a couple of times in a fine mist, and shake around for a bit to make sure you get good coverage. Never had one problem. Had a buddy that was using one of the aerosol brand cans and kept putting too much lube on and having dimpled shoulders….don’t over do it! Also remember to clean out your sizing die every once in a while – I use straight alcohol for cleaning it, then if I’m not going to use it again for a while I lube it up to keep it from having issues later on with rusting or whatever. I have also only used the 90% alcohol with the 10-1 ratio and it works without any problems. I’ve mainly done .223 and .300 with it.

    Reply
    • 65guys

      Good to know that 90% alcohol works. Thanks for sharing.

      Ed

      Reply
  4. Ruben

    Gentlemen, love the method but trying to avoid cleaning my brass twice.

    I currently deprime, anneal, STM tumble clean, dry, lube using wax on the case body and graphite on the necks, resize, roll the case body outside clean on a towel, trim/chamber with the Giraud tool, and load.

    If I use your lanolin method, is it absolutely necessary to tumble them or can they be loaded without re cleaning the cases a second time? I feel like all the time I saved using this method is lost again twice over if I have to also clean them a second time.

    Thanks for the feedback and keep up the great work.

    Reply
    • 65guys

      Hi,

      Thanks for the kind words.

      We always clean off the lube irrespective of the type used. Granted there are some folks who don’t clean off the lube for smaller cartridges like the .223 when shooting from a bolt action. Some folks will tumble the loaded ammo – opinions vary whether this would cause issues.

      Reply
  5. John Berdner

    Guys:
    While waiting (now there is an interesting concept) for the Lanolin to arrive I bought a small can of Hornady spray lube.
    When I sprayed it it smelled exactly like the silicon lube I use on my motorcycle.
    I checked the MSDS sheets and they are very similar in composition.
    MSDS sheets are an easy way to check ingredients – Just do a search for the product name followed by “MSDS”.
    The cheapest source I have found is CRC Heavy Duty multi-use Silicon spray – $3.11 for an 11oz can.
    Available all over the place for automotive use – which is always cheaper than the same stuff with the word motorcycles or gun on the label.
    About the same cost as the 99% alchohol for the lanolin spray.
    It will be interesting to compare the lanolin mix to the Hornady and some CRC.

    Reply
  6. Daryl

    How does Rem Oil work for lubing cases? Also I see Kroil ( Kano Laboratory product) states it is great for cleaning guns, would it make a good lube? Are these not recommended for some reason? I am new to reloading and I am learning the signs to look for but not at a comfortable level for me yet.

    Reply
    • 65guys

      Remington Oil is typically used as a general gun parts lubricant or to inhibit rust/oxidation. Kroil has several uses, but not designed for lubing cases for resizing. For reloading/resizing brass cases we recommend sticking to lubricants specifically formulated for this purpose. We also recommend trying our DIY case lubricant – do a search for our Brass Case Resizing Lube on YouTube (Season 1, Episode 22). People who have tried it, have given us rave reviews.

      Reply
  7. Steven

    What is the shelf life on this stuff?

    Reply
    • 65guys

      We don’t have hard data to scientifically answer this question. We generally use up a bottle of lube within a year’s time and haven’t had a bottle go bad. However, we would guess that the lube should be good for several years as long as it is tightly sealed so the alcohol doesn’t evaporate out.

      Reply

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