Do you lube the case neck when resizing?

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DMT

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I listened to an interview with John Whidden (National 1000 yd champ in US) and one of his thoughts are to lube the case neck in order to get consistent case neck tension. I understand that this allows for the expander ball to move through the case mouth with the same level of friction, and hence get the same size case mouth. It is just another step, and it would be worthwhile to understand how many do this step and your thoughts?
 
I usually lube them to make sizing easier and to stretch the cases a bit less. I don't know how it affects my accuracy.
 
I push the neck into No. 9 shot in a small container that I add powdered graphite to. I do this for both FL and neck sizing as it definitely makes sizing a breeze. As for more consistent neck sizes, I find that has more to do with the brass, especially brass that has been used a lot before.

I am going to try my hand at annealing and see if that will prolong case life in my magnums.
 
I have always lubed the neck, as you can feel the resistance as the die passes the neck and while I am not 100 % sure of the ramifications if it makes that big of a difference, I feel it's worth the step, can't hurt, right !
 
Yes, I lube the neck.
After every third firing I bump the shoulder back, I take the brass and touch the neck against my lube pad (one quick dab) , that's the only lubing I do. Otherwise I neck size with my Lee collet, no lube needed.
 
DMT said:
I listened to an interview with John Whidden (National 1000 yd champ in US) and one of his thoughts are to lube the case neck in order to get consistent case neck tension. I understand that this allows for the expander ball to move through the case mouth with the same level of friction, and hence get the same size case mouth. It is just another step, and it would be worthwhile to understand how many do this step and your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Key phrase is in bold.

If you are shooting ultra-high accuracy matches, then no doubt every single thing matters. For the rest of us, I doubt it makes much difference to accuracy, one way or the other.

That said, I go with Cleftwynd's method using fine shot and graphite, because it make the process easier.
 
I use carbide bushings for my Full Length Neck dies. The necks do not need lubing when using carbide but it is an old habit to lube them. The insides see no lube nor does the expander ball touch the insides. I remove the large expander in favor of a smaller one just to hold the depriming pin.
 
Redding carbide i(inside neck) expander buttons. Makes it very slick and minimizes case stretching. No lube needed. I have them for all my bottleneck rifle dies.

http: //www.redding-reloading.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28%3Acarbide-size-button-kits There are probably cheaper resellers...
 
I don't bother to lube it on my straight pistol cartridges but I definitelly lube my rifle cases outside on lube soaked pad and with q-tips just lightly on the inside. Then wipe it off with clean q's after resizing. It may seem like a waste of time but for my precision rounds the resizing goes a lot better and seems to be a bit more consistent.
 
I use a redding neck sizer die the expander ball kind, all i do for my .223 brass is stand them all up in a cardboard box and give them a little spray of lyman spray lube in the necks and let them dry for 2 min, i dont put much just a little so they dont drag on the expander button
 
Cleftwynd said:
I push the neck into No. 9 shot in a small container that I add powdered graphite to. I do this for both FL and neck sizing as it definitely makes sizing a breeze. As for more consistent neck sizes, I find that has more to do with the brass, especially brass that has been used a lot before.

I am going to try my hand at annealing and see if that will prolong case life in my magnums.
Click to expand...

DMT definatly lube your necks , makes a big difference. Only use a small amount. The layer could be so small that you cant see it, but you can feal it make the exspander ball pass through the case with ease. Im definatly interested in some of the dies some of other guys have mentioned.

Cleftwynde ... annealing is critical to extreme accuracy. Brass becomes work hardened from being push into dies and fired. After awhile the brass becomes so hard that when it is pushed into your resizing die then pulled out the brass dosnt hold the shape of the die and exspands back open ... it then wont hold the bullet as tight giving you inconsistant pressures. When you anneal, the brass is softend and is easily workable in your dies, giving you far more consitant pressures. lots of bechrest shooters anneal every time they fire there brass, although lots of guys only anneal every three shots or so. Yes it will make your brass last longer but its even more critical to accuracy.

Turning the outside of your necks goes right along with annealing, About .0130 to .0140 of an inch is what your looking for. Making sure that the thinkness of your neck is the same all the way around will also give you more consitant pressure. One side of the neck wont be holding the bullet tighter than the other side of neck, further increasing your accuracy. Couple of very easy inexspensive procedures to add to your reloading practices that i think will give you immediate positive results to your already dialed in load.

I like to get the brass just hot enough that you can just slightley see it begin to glow in normal room light .... only 5 or 6 seconds on a propane torch. some guys like to go 10 seocnds and let it get orange... thats not for me. If you let it go to long it will become so soft that when you go to resize it the shoulder will colapse. you will figure out what works for you.
 
I never let my brass get overused, probably why I have thousands that need annealing. My STW brass is used 3 at most, rest are 2. I have found winchester to last longer but it's softer than Lapua or Norma and doesn't need annealing as soon.

I always neck turn, along with primer pocket uniforming, stc... I am anal to the point I don't think it makes a difference as I am not good enough of a shot to tell! Once my range is extended to 1000 yards maybe then I will see the difference, but for now I am stuck with 400 yards.

Back on the original topic, I am going to switch to carbide expanders from redding, much more consistent.
 
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