Lee Loader

I'm on my way back to Phoenix tomorrow and thinking about what I need to get done when I get there. Doing some maintenance of my presses is first on the list. ( After I call LarryW. )

I've always used plain old 30wt motor oil because it's cheap and has worked just fine. Because my reloading is mostly done in Phoenix rust isn't much of a problem. Dust and the residue byproducts of reloading are continuously adding layers to the lubed/oiled areas on my presses. Oil is like a magnet even though it's applied thinly and excess wiped off.

I remember some of you were using Vaseline as lube for the ram. How has that worked out for you?

Regarding the dust collection properties, vaseline and oil don't make a great difference.

Living in dirt rabbit hell (like dust bunnies but bigger and breeding like pigs , rabbits and ...) I wash with WD-40 about twice a yr . Wet it up wipe it off ram down , wipe it off ram up , soak cycle 4-5 times , wipe ram up . Repeat until I'm happy with the wash crud level . I don't think you can get it all out short of full disassembly and a solvent bath . Then I use whatever dry lube is handy as a base builder and wear filler let it dry after a few cycles . When I come back to run something I add light machine oil until the ram gets black and streaky or gooey or Christmas or my B day .

I started using a Teflon dry lube that is sold for lubing RV slide racks. When it gets to the point all the crud is building up I use G96 gun cleaner. Put some paper to catch the runoff and spray it down while working the ram.

I've been using vaseline on all six of my presses and won't go back to anything else. I use it to lube small batches of cases as well.

Mobile 1 Synthetic worked very well for me for a long time.

I got made fun of for complaining about the horrid smell of Vaseline when y'all were talking petroleum jelly the last time (which is what's in Vaseline plus the stink they add). I realized y'all were using non-branded, non-stinky real PJ. Now it's all come full circle and I see admissions of using the stinky stuff.

GasGuzzler wrote:I got made fun of for complaining about the horrid smell of Vaseline when y'all were talking petroleum jelly the last time (which is what's in Vaseline plus the stink they add). I realized y'all were using non-branded, non-stinky real PJ. Now it's all come full circle and I see admissions of using the stinky stuff.

Actually, I use the Wal-Mart tubs and it is labeled PJ.

I went from WD40 to Vaseline a while back on all my presses and it's better than peanut butter on toast. Doubt I'll change...but you never know.

when I was a kid (just a year or some ago) we used nothing but WD40, Vaseline and 3-in 1 Oil for all of our gun cleaning and lubing. Those three things were used on a whole lot of other things as well. I still have 2 or three of those guns from over 50 years ago that saw nothing but that old style treatment.


jd