I did try unique which I thought worked very well but was looking for something I could leave in as a cold weld barrier
Mandrel lube
- Thread starter 6pakzak
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I've just been reloading some PMC brass for my AR-15 and after swaging, annealing and going through my regular process the PMC brass has had the most runout out of any saved or range brass that I've loaded so far, some come out really good but some are way off the mark, around .004 runout where as I'm not seeing that with other brass like LC, in fact I loaded a few yesterday and they were .0005 to .001 which I'm happy with, also noticed some PMC brass doesn't have primer holes centered, not saying it's all bad but some of it is.
Mikecr
Well-Known Member
Then it's ok.
My concern is with any wet/hydraulic suspension of bullets, as this would defeat bullet gripping.
I did shoot some with unique left in and besides powder sticking to it they did not group that good either so what you're saying makes sense.
I've never heard of anyone who anneals after sizing?
I use the lanolin/ alcohol mixture also. I put mine in a loading block and tip the cases towards my self a bit and try to hit them from a few angles. I used to tumble before and after sizing. I've recently started annealing and sizing dirty brass and tumbling after just long enough to get the lube off.
Annealing should be your first step, or cleaning then annealing
rsbhunter
Well-Known Member
You are right , I do anneal first, then spray lube, resize, mandrel neck and then tumble, trim, etc. Honestly don't know why I mixed up my own process ??? Old age bites! rsbhunter
After doing the q tip lee lube inside the neck I gotta say this is pretty simple and you know you have an even amount on compared to spraying or mixing in a bag and it's not on the whole case and not wasting more than you're using. They been grouping good with it left in there also but I'm gonna do some with lube cleaned out and see what happens but with all the snow here I had to make a path to the 100yd Target with my snowmobile today so hopefully in next couple days I'll have some results.
rsbhunter
Well-Known Member
The amount of lube wasted isn't enough to be concerned with. And it also lubes for the resizing operation. I made a spray bottle about 1-1/2 years ago, 4oz of lanolin and 16 oz of 99% isopropyl alcohol.... Will have to mix up another batch in probably 3-4 months.....I shoot 3 matches a month, plus play with other cartridges, so it pretty economical... Maybe $10 for all....and between 221 fireball to 300 RUM haven't stuck A case yet(knock on wood). I honestly don't have the time now want to q tip every case neck, but I'm sure it works...rsbhunter
I have sized spraying like you do with a mix of lee lube and alcohol and it did work well but lately been experimenting with different bullets and powder and mandrels so been using unique for body and now lee for neck but I suppose once I get things nailed down I'll see if going back to spraying mix works out, I did notice lots of buildup on die but not a big deal, the lanolin mix is pretty cheap, the one **** seemed like a waste at 15.00 a can plus worked like crap compared to unique and lanolin mix, thought it worked good till I got shoulder bump gauge, all over the place.
rsbhunter
Well-Known Member
I'm using a carbide mandrel, so with lube it's like greased goose shoot!!!! I've tried hbn and graphite and even with those lubes and the carbide mandrel it still felt "gritty". I don't by any means want to imply that a certain lube or method is wrong, just that we are all right, in that it works for us. After reloading for 45 years, it just keeps getting better....rsbhunter
Since my last post I made some more bullets and they all seated at about the same mark on my micrometer so I'm really liking that greased goose shoot and runout is staying at .001 or less so I'm thinking it helps the bullet slide in nicer.
rsbhunter
Well-Known Member
I just recently became super attentive to keeping everything really consistent.... I had a homemade machine annealer, worked but couldn't guarantee the flame consistency every session. Bought/assembled the "DIY induction annnealer" on you tube, even adapted it to use 1/8" copper tubing with cooling water pumped through it. Consistency is now a given. Mandrel sizing, using the spray lube has brought bullet seating pressure consistency.... Best of all, at 2 of the last 3 matches I've shot, I won 2 and placed 2nd in the other. Not bragging, but I had always been 3-4 place, or "also ran" in the previous matches. So, wether the placebo effect or ? But I'm A believer....rsbhunter
