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Lubing Unprimed Cases (9mm)
In an attempt to make my Lee Pro 4000 have better COAL consistency, I bought a universal depriming die, removed primers, wet tumbled with stainless media until the cases look almost new. My plan…
-Resize and Prime on Press (rest of stations empty)
-Remove Sizing Die
-Put Expanding/Powder Die in Station 1, Seating Die in Station 2, Crimp Doe Station 3, Station 4 just becomes empty.My question is about lubing cases for resizing and priming. I’m worried lube getting in the primer pocket will cause problems. Should I even lube for resizing with carbide dies?
All this is in an attempt to reduce some drag as no matter what I do I get variations in COAL of up .01 using the Lee Auto Breech Lock Pro.
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1 Reply
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You don’t need lube with carbide dies.
What bullets are you using that are having COAL consistency issues?
Can you make a wax cast of your seating stem?
Are you using the same headstamp brass?
The reason I’m asking all this is 9mm bullets are a bit like rifle bullets in their shape – long noses with generous (relative to caliber) ogive radii. This means that there will likely be some variation in *where* the seating stem hits the ogive relative to the tip of the bullet.
If your seating stem has a larger radius than the bullets, then it’ll touch on the nose so at least the COAL should be the same. If not it’ll seat relative to where it contacts, which may well be more consistent from a velocity/pressure perspective but not from a COAL basis.
Cast bullets, even poly coated, can be difficult to get to seat consistently. Especially in cases that don’t have carbon residue anymore (which acts as a lubricant when seating which can be a good thing).
I have found a lot of variation in COAL is just due to using different headstamps. Sort your loads by headstamp and see if it is more consistent within brand.
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Take all of this with a grain of salt, what works for me may not work for you. I have a dillon Square Deal B for pistol reloading and I use the dillon Carbide Dies. I don’t lube my brass and have not had any issues. I have been reloading for 20+ years on this machine. I know many people lube their pistol cartridges, nothing wrong with it, makes it easier. All of my cases are straight wall. If I loaded .357 Sig or something similar I would lube.
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Variations in COAL aren’t hugely consequential unless you get something like bullet setback, which is another matter. If you are seeing 2-3 thou within your load tray, that’s not something to worry about.
I have never lubed pistol brass and see no need to do so. Carbide dies were developed specifically to eliminate the need for lube.
Lube in primer pockets is a legit concern, although I do know that Hornady One Shot is a lube absolutely proven not to degrade primers.
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I can’t answer your question directly but I can tell you what I do. I reload .38 special. After they a cleaned/dry I lay 150 or so on a clean dry towel and make sure they are on their side. I spray with case lube and shake them up in the towel then spread them out on their side again and spray. They get dumped the shell hopper after that. I haven’t had but one in the past 10,000 fail to fire. YMMV
