I started out with RCBS lube and pad....40 years ago. Before they changed to water-based. Never a stuck case. Some say it was nothing more than STP....could be, I guess, but never saw proof.
Then the same pad with new RCBS water-based......lucky I guess, no stuck cases. Then Hornady came out with their aerosol.....heard lots of horror stories about stuck cases, so never tried that.
Then I discovered the internet and forums like The Firing Line, and everybody was swearing by Imperial Wax, so I bought some to try.
It worked ok too, but I was loading commercial brass, mostly .223, .308, .243.
Then I bought some machinegunned military 7.62 LC brass from Wideners, and blinged it real good with stainless pins in a wet tumbler. Not a good experience using Imperial.
Go ahead and try that with Imperial Wax.....and unless you stop trying to size it before you get it all the way into the sizer, and you will need all your weight and two hands, you
WILL stick a case.
I didn't, but only because I quit, before the point of no return. My Savior that night was the old lube pad with RCBS lube. And even better was plain ole STP! When the going gets rough Imperial hits a wall and Lanolin wasn't much better.
That then is the real test....MG brass! Does your lube measure up? If you are going to use lesser lubes, like lanolin, aerosols, or wax, don't buy and size LC brass that was machine gunned. (MG brass)
BTW, a fellow on another forum, recently sizing MG brass, tried a less messy and faster way to use STP than using a lube pad. Taking a lesson from the wax and lanolin users. He wiped a little STP to the inside of a zip-lock bag.....filled it with brass, kneaded for a few minutes....no fuss no mess and worked like a charm.....no shoulder dents, no stuck cases.
