New to reloading questions

I am new to reloading and have a few questions. I will be reloading 45 acp for bullseye. I have a Dillon 550. I have wet processed my brass and used lemishine to polish them up. I have JHP Bullets and a load worked up. Do I need to further process the brass or bullets? As in coat them with a lubricant? If I use LSWC bullets does that make a difference in lubing or not? Thanks!

Your press should have come with a carbide sizing die, so no, you do not need to lube the cases.  And no, the bullets do not need lube either, whether jacketed or lead.

I am not the most experienced reloader here, but I asked the same question and was told that if you have carbide dies, lube on the cases is optional.  The fellow telling me this has carbide dies but likes how the lube makes the machine easier on his arm.

I personally do put some lube on my cases, but not my JHP bullets.  If you have trouble getting a bullet in a case, it likely has more to do with the bullet alignment or the flaring of the case mouth.

For the record I wet tumble and always will. 

Dillon doesn’t recommend wet tumbling. Buy a large can of Hornady One Shot and it will last a very long time. Read the directions and the lube will make your press run a lot smoother.

Some just spray some one shot lube on a towel and roll several 100 hulls around in it.

I also recommend case lube even with carbide dies, makes loading on a progressive much more pleasant.

If you take 1/3 of your brass and give them a shot of spray lube then mix them in the rest, you should have enough lube to keep the reloading effort down. Hornady One shot doesnt need to be removed.

Thanks for all the responses! I plan to get som One Shot lube.

Why doesn’t Dillon recommend wet tumbling?

It has been my experience on the smaller lighter presses, new brass will stick a bit.  On a 1050 or 1100 that doesn’t happen.  
    There is no doubt that tumbling media does not remove all the lube from the brass which makes it easier to reload.  Wet tumbling can remove that lube but it can also be replaced by using a cap full of car wash detergent with some wax in the formula.  
Once fired brass doesn’t really stick to carbide dies anyway.

I dry tumble my brass. I'm old and weak, so I use spray lube on cases. It makes manipulating that handle much easier. Hornady, Lyman and Dillon all make good spray lubes (there are probably others). I spray the lube on an old t-shirt, pour in a bunch of empty cases, pull in the corners and massage the brass thoroughly. I'm a big believer that anything that makes the job easier, more efficient or quicker (without sacrificing quality) is a good thing.

I never had this on my Redding T7 but when I put my Redding carbide sizing dies on the Dillon 750 the sizing can take a lot more effort and even create a small shoulder toward the base of the case if there's no lube. I put 10 cases in the case feeder, run till it's out of cases, and then swab a qtip with One Shot on the carbide ring to keep it sizing smoothly.

kjanracing wrote:Why doesn’t Dillon recommend wet tumbling?

Hello kjanracing,

Probably because they don't sell a wet tumbler.

Jim

In my wet tumbler, I use Meguiars wash and wax as my soap. It lubes everything just enough inside and out. It's a lifesaver that eliminates that hard pull of perfectly clean brass.

https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/products/meguiars-ultimate-wash-wax-g17748-48-oz-liquid

Before resizing my 9mm's I spray a little Rem Oil on a cotton cloth and wipe it 1 rotation on each case.  This cuts my single stage arm force by an estimated 1/2.  I clean the carbide bore about every 500 rounds or when more force is needed.

Do you wipe inside or outside the case?

The lube belongs on the outside of the cases.

toddcfii wrote:Do you wipe inside or outside the case?

Outside.

The question of lubing cases when using carbide dies has come up before. The whole point of carbide dies, is so you don't have to lube the cases. In fact using a lube with the carbide die will impregnate the carbide ring with small particles, that will eventually build up and start to scratch cases. That's why they tell you not to run dirty cases through a carbide die, they need to be clean and free of dirty particles, including lube.

20+ years lubing cases for carbide dies; no scratches, problems or issues. 
And I don't get as tired with multi 1,000 round loading sessions.  
Guess I'm cleaner than most.

CR