I've never done it, but I'm sure lubing neck IDs with wax would greatly reduce seating forces. My concern there & what I would test for is changing CBTO with box/field handling & recoil. I would also be concerned with wax by-product residue combining with fouling in the bore. So I'd be looking for that.
It does reduce seating force, a lot. Which means that the affect of any variation in case neck tension on the bullet is also reduced a lot. And the wax seems to prevent the bullets from bonding to the case neck over time.
I don't recommend it for ammo used for dangerous game or predators, where your life depends on the bullet staying put in the case neck under recoil in the magazine. No reason to lube case necks on .375 and .458 caliber cartridges intended for dangerous game at closer ranges. And I would never lube case necks with cartridges in heavy recoiling revolvers. I always crimp revolver ammo.
I single shot load my repeating bolt actions for long range hunting so bullet shifting in the case neck isn't an issue. When I carry rounds in the magazine, they're bear/camp rounds for shorter range self defensive use, and those case necks aren't waxed.
I wax the case necks of .223 ammo for use in my AR-15 - but I also crimp those bullets with the Lee Factory Crimp Die, due to the semi-auto action slamming the bullets home into the chamber. I don't want to take chances with bullets moving in the cartridge case necks before the primer goes off.
I like Hornady Unique wax better than Imperial sizing wax. Both for resizing of cartridge cases in the resizing die, and for lubing the internal case neck prior to bullet seating. Wipes on and off easier. I use a Q-tip to apply inside the case neck. And a fresh Q-tip to remove any excess. One clean Q-tip is good to remove any excess wax from around 40 case necks. Then I'll switch to a new Q-tip.
I have no concerns about wax buildup in my bore, or wax contaminating my bore. Any wax from the case neck or the bearing surface of the bullet is exhausted in an oxidized or vapor form - in my opinion. Wax burns very easily and quickly even at low temperatures, let alone the pressures and temps inside the bore. I've been doing this for a couple years now. No problems so far.
The reason I starting waxing case necks internally was what I learned after I pulled about 2000 bullets from some .223 cases. I'd loaded that many rounds, and I decided to pull all the bullets so I could HBN coat the bullets. Some of the case necks had been lubed prior to seating the bullets when they were originally loaded without HBN coating. The bullets I pulled from case necks that had been pre-waxed pulled with MUCH more uniform force on the press handle - compared to the bullets pulled from unwaxed case necks. The bullets pulled from unwaxed case necks pulled with some huge differences in press handle force - in comparison. I pulled the bullets using the RCBS collet-style bullet pulling die.
Yeah, I have a touch of OCD, but it was a winter time project. I learned a lot about case neck to bullet friction and the factors that affect the force required to pull .223 bullets, by the time I was done pulling 2000 of them.
Now is it worth it? It is for me. And that's all I have to say about that
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