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Posted: 5/14/2013 6:50:36 AM EDT
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Hey guys,
I recently picked up an Ammo Master Kit from RCBS. What case lube do you guys prefer to use when sizing/depriming the brass? I sized three pieces last night with Dillon case lube and it was really easy on the down stroke (when the brass enters the sizing die) but on the up stroke, it was almost impossible to get the brass passed the expander ball. Does anyone have any tips to make it easier or is it just going to be a struggle since its a 50bmg case? Also, what are you guys doing to clean your brass? I have about 800 rds that need to be cleaned but I don't think my little vibrating case cleaner with media is going to be sufficient for this. I have heard imperial sizing wax is the way to go for 50 bmg instead of the Dillon lube. Is this true? Thanks |
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I do not load 50BMG.
That said, you could benefit from polishing the expander ball with some Flitz or similar. Also, Imperial Sizing Wax, to me, is better than the case lube that came with my RCBS kit. From what I have read here, it is also better than many of the other case lubes on the market. |
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Imperial Sizing Wax is the way to go. I had to send my die back to Lee several times to get stuck brass out until I switched lubes. Also make sure your die is clean. As for cleaning mass quantities, I use the larger Dillon tumbler and do 50 or so at a time. If you want to do several hundred in one go you need to look at getting a concrete mixer and putting rubber padding on the mixing blades. The .50 cal sub-forum has a lot of good info on reloading too. |
| I use Dillions case lube too. I use a nylon brush sprayed with the Dillion lube to lube inside the necks. I have the RCBS press and dies also. Light polishing of the expander ball may help. Still it takes some effort to pull the expander ball thru the neck. Dillions large vibratory case tumbler CV2001 does a good job on 50bmg cases. My Lyman 1200 works with about 25 cases while the big 12 quart Dillion will do a hundred at a time. Dillions Rapid Polish case cleaner added to your media cuts cleaning time and shines them up. |
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I have the RCBS set up also. I use Imperial sizing wax, and with the 50 you are going to need to lube the inside of the neck as well. I just run my finger across the mouth of the case as I'm putting it on the outside as well. That will get some lube inside the case mouth. You'll have to try it a few times to figure out how much you need. You'll notice a night and day difference when you start doing this (I did). I have [2] Lyman 2500 tumblers. One for cleaning, one with untreated CC media for taking the lube off. I can run about (50) 50 bmg shells at a time in them. |
| I think I am going to try the imperial sizing wax. I was trying to use a bore brush that I had laying around to clean the inside of the neck but it would not get any of the residue out. I think I am going to try to tumble it longer and see how that works. I will report back. |
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I load a LOT of 50s.
I now lube the inside of the case mouths well with a cotton swab before sizing. It looks like a cotton ball on a stick. You can also use a nylon bore brush dipped in the lube. I have found that lubing with a little bit of Imperial on the case mouth does not prevent the ball from dragging and the shoulder still gets pulled out, especially with annealed cases. Mike Matters at M2 Precision recommends STP in the case mouth, and this seems to work better than anything else I've found. |
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I have about 800 rds that need to be cleaned but I don't think my little vibrating case cleaner with media is going to be sufficient for this. A small concrete mixer....? Yep, get the poly 1 cubic foot one from Northern tool. I can tumble 150 or so at a time in it. |
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Concrete Mixer
You can find 20% off coupons for harbor freight all over the place. |
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Thanks for the link infinitegrim.
Alright texashark, you win. That STP really did the trick on the case mouth. It made it noticeably easier! Now my next question is, is there any special trick to get the STP out of the case mouth so it doesn't gum up the media when the brass gets cleaned? I did ten cases just to test the STP and I washed them all by hand and got the STP out of the case mouths on this run but was wondering if it would be ok to run it straight in the media after it comes off the press. Thanks for everything guys! This is a great learning experience. |
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Quoted:
I load a LOT of 50s. I now lube the inside of the case mouths well with a cotton swab before sizing. It looks like a cotton ball on a stick. You can also use a nylon bore brush dipped in the lube. I have found that lubing with a little bit of Imperial on the case mout does not prevent the ball from dragging and the shoulder still gets pulled out, especially with annealed cases. Mike Matters at M2 Precision recommens STP in the case mouth, and this seems to work better than anything else I've found. I use STP for in the neck and outside the case too, cut about 50/50 with 20W50 oil. I've loaded thousands and thousands of 50BMG rounds using the same bottle... |
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I have about 800 rds that need to be cleaned but I don't think my little vibrating case cleaner with media is going to be sufficient for this. A small concrete mixer....? Yep, get the poly 1 cubic foot one from Northern tool. I can tumble 150 or so at a time in it. I have a 2.5 cu/Ft. electric cement mixer from Noorthern tools. Add 50Lbs of walnut shells and you're ready to tumble! |
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Quoted:
Thanks for the link infinitegrim. Alright texashark, you win. That STP really did the trick on the case mouth. It made it noticeably easier! Now my next question is, is there any special trick to get the STP out of the case mouth so it doesn't gum up the media when the brass gets cleaned? I did ten cases just to test the STP and I washed them all by hand and got the STP out of the case mouths on this run but was wondering if it would be ok to run it straight in the media after it comes off the press. Thanks for everything guys! This is a great learning experience. Just tumble it and it will "go away". 
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Quoted: Great! Thanks for all the input guys! How about trimming? I'm planning on getting a giraud for my .223 cases and was going to add on the 50 bmg adapter. Is that the route to go or does anyone have any preferences for the 50 with another trimmer? I have the Giraud, and it works excellent. You do not need to get the bigger one unless you are going commercial. BTW I would NOT use STP for lube, or any other petroleum product. It will just make a mess of your tumbling media. You can also save yourself some money and just start tumbling your brass in batches rather than buying a cement mixer if you have a lot to do. How much do you plan on shooting? |
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Quoted:
Thanks for the link infinitegrim. Alright texashark, you win. That STP really did the trick on the case mouth. It made it noticeably easier! Now my next question is, is there any special trick to get the STP out of the case mouth so it doesn't gum up the media when the brass gets cleaned? I did ten cases just to test the STP and I washed them all by hand and got the STP out of the case mouths on this run but was wondering if it would be ok to run it straight in the media after it comes off the press. Thanks for everything guys! This is a great learning experience. I clean before I resize so I don't get dirt in my sizing die. I decap with a decap ping rod with no button with the die backed off so it doesn't size at all. I then clean in tumbler before sizing. I then wipe the necks out with a patch on a slotted jag before powder and bullet. Putting it in the media would clean it off too, but I won't tumble after sizing because tumbling peens the necks. And I second the recommendation of the Giraud trimmer. I have the smaller one with .223 .50 & 308 adaptors, Works well on all of them. |
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I chuck a bore brush in my drill press and use that to clean the necks out with. That's a good way to do it if you use a nylon brush. Bronze or stainless are aggressive enough to change the wall thickness and you can get the wall too thin if you're not careful. Ask me how I know... 
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