goodbye Imperial

My dad used a mixture of lanolin and alcohol. He taught me how to reload. I have used the same mixture for 40 years.
 
Not long ago, I did all my rifle brass on single stage presses, and only pistol on an RCBS Pro 7. Lube not needed for straight wall pistol, I used imperial or RCBS lube for rifle cases and carbide expander balls.

Then I bought 2 beautiful blue presses, one of them with case feeder and bullet feeder as I began shooting xtc matches and burning through a lot of ammo. I thought lubing all those cases with imperial or RCBS type lube would take too long to do properly and ensure I didn't have dented necks or stuck cases.
So I tried one bottle of Dillon's lube sprayed on in a big cardboard box and rolled around. If it worked well, I knew I could make my own with lanolin and alcohol.

Well, currently I have 16 oz of lanolin on my shelf and 8 bottles of 99% alcohol and I mix 8-1 alcohol to lanolin because to the ratios are easily divisible.

Anyway, I still use wax for some jobs like removing the belt bulge on my belted magnums with the Larry wills die, or small volume hunting loads.

But, when doing a 2k run of .223, or 1k run of .308, it's spay all the way. .... one shot would be fine too.
 
I've tried all the lubes mentioned when resizing M2 .50BMG brass to fit my single shot Windrunner, but Imperial makes for the least effort. That also includes lubing with Mobil 1. YMMV.
 
I'm with you Mississippi,
Spray one side, shake them around, into the machine and done with it!
Sure beats handling every case or rolling them around on a pad!

Spray and shake keeps the EXCESS lube off the necks so shoulder dents are few & far between, which makes much cleaner looking ammo, and I'd have to guess better cycling in semi-autos.
 
I spray One Shot on my pistol brass but still use Imperial when I am loading big bore rifle cases 20 at a time. Just seems right.
 
@Seamus Mc - What kind of pistol rounds need lube, something long like a 38 special? I just did some 9mm for first time with no lube and didnt have any issues with them binding up (carbide and titanium dies though).
 
Spray and shake keeps the EXCESS lube off the necks so shoulder dents are few & far between, which makes much cleaner looking ammo, and I'd have to guess better cycling in semi-autos.
Click to expand...

I cant say if it is better cycling, but certainly not worse. I usually do big batches of bulk ammo I am making. For instance, I am in the middle of prepping another 3,000 pieces of .223 brass. It is all once fired. After sizing it will need trimmed because after sizing once fired lake city, many of the cases are over 1.77" long!!! With this procedure, I go ahead and tumble it and get all the lube off with walnut media.

But, if I have trimmed it already, and it has only been fired one time since, I just decap it, clean it, then lube it and load it. And so far, the spay lube doesn't adversely affect anything.
 
Despite the numerous claims for acceptability of the mixture of lanolin and alcohol I find the following of interest.

I was checking out whether or not "Light Liquid Petrolatum" (Light Mineral Oil) would be an alternative to Lanolin. As it turned out, it is INSOLUBLE in water or alcohol, so scratch that thought.

But when looking at Lanolin in a reference called "Remington's Practice of Pharmacy," under "Pharmaceutical necessities" I found that Lanolin is also called "Hydrous Wool Fat" and is insoluble in water, but soluble in chloroform and ether. There is no statement about alcohol, probably because the usual products are 70% alcohol and 30% water which is not likely going to dissolve Lanolin.

That said, there is an "Anhydrous Wool Fat" - also called Anhydrous Lanolin. It differs from Lanolin in that there is practically no water (hence, "anhydrous"). It mixes without separation in twice its weight of water. It is sparingly soluble in cold alcohol,more soluble in hot alcohol, and freely soluble in chloroform and ether.

My guess is those who use it as described are probably buying Anhydrous Lanolin, so any combination with twice its weight in water (or 70% alcohol) should not produce problems with separation of the liquids.

Another interesting point is Lanolin is often considered a fat, but based on its chemical composition, it is more accurately classified as a WAX. I'd be interested in what is on the container of "lanolin" that you buy -is it labeled "anhydrous?"
 
I used oneshot ( still do sometimes ) , Imperial ( still do sometimes ) , Unique ( still do sometimes ) but switched to the Lanolin homemade mixture maybe 2 years ago . All others work just fine but the homemade stuff is by far faster then most and far cheaper then the rest . That's the only two reasons I use the homemade mixture .

As some of you may know I generally prep in large-ish batches ( 500+ pieces at a time ) . I use a plastic tube that's about 12" x 18" and is about 7" deep . I dump the cases in the tube and shake it a few times to get most of the case mouths facing up . I then spray the mixture all over the cases ( 3 or 4 sprays ) and this get it all over the bodies and on the inside of the case necks . I then let dry while shaking the tub a few times while drying to allow the lube to fully coat the outside of the cases . I should add this is when using a single stage press where I tumble the cases after sizing . I use a 1-10 ratio and it works just fine .

Time wise there is no comparison to sizing waxes . Cost wise there is no comparison to any commercial spray lubes . Two years ago and several thousand cases later I'm finally close to the end of my "first" 11oz mixture . I estimate I would have already been through 6 cans of Oneshot . That adds up to $43 worth of Oneshot to my $4 of homemade mixture .

The only down side for me is the cases are very tacky after sizing and need to be cleaned . The mixture does wipe off OK but when working in large batches It's easier for me to just tumble them real quick and this gets the lube out of the inside as well . If using a progressive press having all the case mouths facing down as UN does seems like the better way to go .
 
Last edited:
locknloader: I spray lube for all pistol calibers, even when I use carbide dies which are not supposed to need it. Just the way I learned. It's easy enough to spray. Not sure if I am really preventing problems but I know I haven't created any. Calibers include straight walls like 45 Colt, 44-40, 44 Special, 45 Autorim etc.
 
I just got done finally putting the chemical components together and resizing 200 .223 cases with the 99% iso and lanolin mixture.

I won't be going back to the pad ever again. It was phenomenal.
 
I use Imperial, but in perhaps a speedier way (not as speedy as spraying) than just dabbing individual cases with it. I don nitrile gloves, put a small amount of the product in my palms, rub them together to cause some heat, then lay perhaps a dozen cases in my palms and give a quick rub and drop the brass into a ziplock bag. I can do several hundred rather quickly.
 
I just got done finally putting the chemical components together and resizing 200 .223 cases with the 99% iso and lanolin mixture.

I won't be going back to the pad ever again. It was phenomenal.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean , here are a few things I've said in the past that reminds me of this topic .

I don't need spray lubes this wax works just fine

I don't need a cell phone , my house phone works just fine

I don't need an IPod my CD player works just fine

I don't need a smart phone , my flip phone works just fine

Do each and everyone of those things have some down sides ? Sure but there benefits far out weigh them is all I'm saying . :D
 
So are the red bottles of "iso-heet" really 99% rubbing alcohol? Label did not give a full list of what was in it, just said "contains isopropyl alcohol".
 
From Wikipedia:
Isopropyl alcohol is a major ingredient in "gas dryer" fuel additives. In significant quantities water is a problem in fuel tanks as it separates from the gasoline and can freeze in the supply lines at cold temperatures. Alcohol does not remove water from gasoline; rather, the alcohol solubilizes water in gasoline. Once soluble, water does not pose the same risk as insoluble water, as it will no longer accumulate in the supply lines and freeze, but will be consumed along with the fuel itself. Isopropyl alcohol is often sold in aerosol cans as a windshield or door lock de-icer. Isopropyl alcohol is also used to remove brake fluid traces from hydraulic braking systems, so that the brake fluid (usually DOT 3, DOT 4, or mineral oil) does not contaminate the brake pads, which would result in poor braking.
 
As mentioned earlier, I use 100% Lanolin in Red Iso-Heet for rifle cases.

I use Hornady One Shot for my pistols cases. I know people will argue that it is not necessary, and while that may be true, it helps A LOT to make sizing easier, especially on a progressive where you have a lot going on at once. My choice...

But... I *still* have a tin of Imperial on my bench. I find uses for it periodically. No bench should be without it.
 
Is everybody shooting that much at one shooting session ? I take my time preping my brass but I only shoot 30 rounds per trip. How mush time is taken up in sizing , checking case headspace , trimming & seating primers .
 
for me it is not so much about the speed, the spray is more convenient and just as effective if not more so. My Imperial tin has no expiration date and it sits quietly on the shelf and does not eat much and rarely talks so it will be there if ever needed
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top