Lee Loader

Glad I read this post as I’m a new reloader & noticed both 44 spcl & 45 ACP hanging up a bit on the powder through charging die even though I bought the carbide set. I found that little lee case lube on every 9 or 10th case helped quite a bit but I wasn’t sure if something was wrong with my dies.

I don't lube cases for carbide dies. I've always thought using lube, when not necessary, would just make cleaning the dies more of a mess (lube attracting "gunk").

Kaiser wrote:I don't lube cases for carbide dies. I've always thought using lube, when not necessary, would just make cleaning the dies more of a mess (lube attracting "gunk").

...but as stated the carbide die manufacturer says to lube them...well, Lee does anyway.

I don't use it either, but it's more about laziness than best practice.

Yes I do, but not in the way you're thinking.

I clean all my brass off the press. I shoot 38, 357, 45ACP and 45LC. I Ultrasonic (6L Vevor, eBay) with LemiShine and Simple Green and then SS pin tumble with just a squirt of ArmorAll Ultrashine.

The Oxalic Acid in the LemiShine will condition your brass in a VERY good way. When they come out of the Ultrasonic, they could actually be reloaded at that point, but I do an extra step by pin tumbling in the car wax. I want my primer pockets to be perfectly clean, and I don't want to do anything to them mechanically that would remove brass.

My brass come out looking better than new. It has a very slight coating of wax on it, so it slips on the dies very well. My primer pockets have a little wax to, so they seat easily. An added side effect is the wax prevents the brass from darkening.

Best of all, my 45 ACP's cycle perfectly in all my pistols.

Although I have Lee carbine die sets for 9, 40 and 45 I still lube the cases. Just seems to work better.

I use hornady one shot on pistol brass. It makes things go much smother.
I use lanolin on rifle cases.

I have a friend that lubes 9 mm brass because his FL sizing die is steel not carbide but he loads so few 9 mm rds. that it not a big deal to him, I've asked him several times if he wanted a carbide sizing die for 9 mm but he just blows it off. Me personally, I've never lubed a single pistol cartridge case or found a need to.

I use a variety of brands of die sets and some are a mix and match of different brands within the same caliber and I've never noticed any of the functions of the die being impeded by sticky cases. There must be something to it or individuals wouldn't be lubing their pistol brass, but I just haven't found the need to do so yet.

Steel dies need to be lubed , carbide not so much . Lube does make even the carbide dies work easier . In my case it also provides rust prevention . I don't lube for carbide but maybe 1/10 or 15 .