Powder/Case Lube/Inside Rim of 5.56

[John Gault]

My powders are sticking to the inside rim of the case. Doesn't cause any issues when pressing lead but on a few rounds that I had to tear down due to one issue or another I'm finding that the powder is clumping where it's touched the case lube.
Question(s) : Should I be adding another step to re-wash or oven dry the brass after resizing or just wait some period of time between resizing and reloading? I'm guessing that the clumped powder won't ignite/burn properly.

If the answer is too much lube tell me how you do it right.

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[deadeye]

Are you using a lube pad? Maybe you should resize then trim then clean/tumble and continue, using spray lube if needed for the last few steps.

 

[Twodogs]

I size and trim in one step and then clean cases,prime powder and bullet in step two.

 

[Rick4070]

If you are getting a lot of lube inside the case, enough to clump the powder, I think you are using too much case lube.
I use a case lube pad, rolling the cases over the pad, keeping from getting any lube on the shoulder, because too much lube there can cause dents when sizing.
Then, I use a case neck brush, with a little lube on it, and run it in and out of the neck.
You need very little lube on the inside of the neck.
Sometimes, I'll tap the lube pad with a finger tip, and then tap the mouth of the case, this gets a very small anount of lube on the mouth of the case.
After sizing, I'll either wipe the lube off of the cases with a clean cotton rag, or even give a squirt of acetone onto the rag and shake the cases around a while to remove most of the lube.
Again, you need just a very little lube inside the case mouth.
I don't do dry lube, but I hear it works well also.

 

[John Gault]

Thanks to everyone who's commenting. I'm listening. Last batch I used spray lube in a sandwich baggie and then a brush inside. I've learned my lesson already on too much on the case neck and I guess now I'm learning about the inside...
I've been doing the de-priming (dedicated deprimer tool) , then tumble and dry (to avoid wear on tooling) before resize and trim but maybe I'll try the reverse route.

 

[AMProducts]

What case lube are you using? I'm guessing either one shot or the dillon lanolin.

Typically I wash my cases with some dilute acid and laundry detergent, process (lube, size, decap, trim) then I wash it again, tumble it, and then load it up. Typically the wash and tumble steps remove all case lube, which attracts dust and promotes oxidation. If you're using case polish from dillon (rapid polish), berry's or flitz any of these do a good job of both passivating the surface of the brass and keep it from oxidizing. This is an important step in reloading as your brass will continue to look factory new until you shoot it again.

 

[SinisterSouthpaw]

Use white graphite (ground mica) to lube the insides of your cases..............no fuss no muss no bother no washing no rinsing no problems.... if you want to get cute, Forster makes a case graphiter that is cheap and works well.

 

[John Gault]

Use white graphite (ground mica) to lube the insides of your cases..............no fuss no muss no bother no washing no rinsing no problems.... if you want to get cute, Forster makes a case graphiter that is cheap and works well.

Could I just put the graphite and cases in a plastic baggy and shake them so they cover inside and out and resize rather than two steps with oil outside and graphite inside?

 

[SinisterSouthpaw]

I'm not sure that it would work well on the case exterior or be good for the die. If you want to do a better job without the slop on the case exterior, try Imperial sizing wax. Hornady used to make a similar product, too. I have both and like the Imperial better. I just smear on a tiny bit and size the case, wipe it off with a rag and away you go. You can do the wax, run the case down on the graphiter brush and size, wipe off the case and you are done.

Better yet, use bushing dies without an expander ball and no interior lube is needed, except maybe the first time you size new brass.

 

[deadshot2]

I found that using Hornady One Shot didn't cause this to happen like it does with the Dillon Lanolin or the RCBS case spray.

The One Shot drys into a non-sticky lube. The key is to let it dry.

It's not a bad idea to give the cases a quick "bath" after sizing. Even without tumblers, or ultrasonic cleaners one can just dump cases into a colander, fill a sink with soapy water (Dawn is great), slosh the cases by raising and lowering the colander a bunch of times, then rinse in the hottest water you can get from the tap.

Dump the cases out in a bath towel, fold it over the cases, grip each end, and slosh back and forth like you're polishing a bowling ball. The excess water is now removed and you can either leave out overnight or hit them with a hair dryer. Some like to put them in the oven on the lowest heat but I don't particularly care for "Orange Brass". If you're in a big hurry, compressed air and a hair dryer is as quick as it gets. Often faster than the time it takes to get an oven warm.

FWIW, I used to notice this on my .223 loads, where the dropped powder charge would stick to the neck. I just seated bullets and shot them. My AR's didn't seem to care.

 

[Kryteon]

For .556 I use a pad with lube and roll 5 cases at a time. Once I have 100 cases lubed I run a lubed neck brush through each case. After resizing I tumble the brass for about an hour to get the excess lube off. I inspect each case with a magnifying glass. I use a RCBS prep station to clean the primer pocket, uniform cut the primer pocket, trim the case, debur, dechamfer, and debur the flash hole. The last stage of case prep is running a neck brush thru each case to clean it. I get no powder clumping with this method. The end result is a match grade bullet for .37 cents. I know my procedure may be too time consuming for some people, but I enjoy it, and I know I have a quality reload when I'm done.

 

[twa2471]

Avoid the mess and just go with carbide dies, I did that years ago and have never looked back. Graphite is a good alternative,, but to messy.

 

[deadshot2]

Avoid the mess and just go with carbide dies, I did that years ago and have never looked back. Graphite is a good alternative,, but to messy.

Carbide dies for bottle necked rifle cases still need to be lubed. Only straight walled cases can be sized with a carbide die using no lube. They're popular for pistol cartridges but the only value of a carbide rifle die is if you are loading 10's of thousands of rounds PER MONTH due to the wear resistance of carbide.

You can try to size .223 in a carbide die but I hope you don't mind getting a case stuck in a $125+ die

BTW, this instruction is very clear in Dillons literature for their Carbide rifle dies.

 

[twa2471]

So true, on rifle cases , that's why the final step for me is to tumble after the cases are prepped on rifle stuff. I shoot 10 rounds to one rifle round , so I reload much more of that generally.

 

[Certaindeaf]

You could try some big ol stick powder.. lol.
I use all kindsa powder from stick to small spherical, yadda and have never had a problem like that.
It does sound like you're using a bit too much lube though. You really don't need much at all.. for me, just so there's no "chatter/squeal" and no more. I don't tumble anything ever and seem to get by.
I "hand lube" using one of many proprietary or household "lubes", no pad, and perhaps every other one or so (batch loading) I'll rub my thumb across the mouth.
Works for me.
Good luck.

 

[AMProducts]

Avoid the mess and just go with carbide dies, I did that years ago and have never looked back. Graphite is a good alternative,, but to messy.

You still have to use lube with carbide rifle dies, otherwise they stick... I found this out the hard way the first time I was using carbide .30 carbine dies, stuck it good first try.

Use white graphite (ground mica) to lube the insides of your cases..............no fuss no muss no bother no washing no rinsing no problems.... if you want to get cute, Forster makes a case graphiter that is cheap and works well.

You can use mica, but it's not quite as slick as it seems, it's plenty soft enough. I don't like graphite because it stains everything. I just got some mold release spray that I was going to try... it's a stearate spray and is used as a wire drawing lube and mold release agent.

 

[John Gault]

If you are getting a lot of lube inside the case, enough to clump the powder, I think you are using too much case lube.
You need very little lube on the inside of the neck.
Sometimes, I'll tap the lube pad with a finger tip, and then tap the mouth of the case, this gets a very small amount of lube on the mouth of the case.
After sizing, I'll either wipe the lube off of the cases with a clean cotton rag,

I did this.... above in bold.
Put up 50 rounds with NO problems...
I got lots of good feedback guys and I may incorporate other suggestions down the line including different lube types.

 

[RVTECH]

I went to spray lube many years ago and find with careful aim a quick spritz does it with no lube at all getting inside the case. However I usually do a quick secondary cleaning of my brass prior to finishing but the spay lube I use (RCBS) nearly dries completely and a quick wipe would probably be all I need. The secondary cleaning is mostly so I have dry cases that will not collect dust if they sit around a while before being reloaded.

 

[PotshotJim]

I tumble the cases, deprime/resize, swage and clean the primer pocket, trim, debur/chamfer, tumble again, prime, load, seat and crimp. I don't care how long it takes, the results are what matter to me.
It's like cookies, I make them with a little love in each cartridge