To lube or not to lube, that is the question.....

66spitfire

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I am new to all of this. It was my understanding that if I was using carbide dies, I did not have to lube my cases. I have only loaded 25 rounds for my 44 mag so far. Before I go to the range to test these I want to try and load some semi wad cutters for my 357. While surfing the forums of various websites I read many guys talking about how much or how little lube....do I need to lube when loading lead or hard cast? I am unsure and am just seeking some more cgn wisdom before I load a bunch of test rounds.....any and all opinions welcomed , please chime in with your experience.
 
I don't lube with pistol rounds (straight wall cases) and carbide dies accept for 9mm (i might just need a new die, but it makes things much smoother) and for my 500mag as its such a large case. It goes from bending my bench while sizing to using 2 fingers on the press handle.

When you say do I need to lube with lead or hard cast, are you referring to lubing the bullets or the case? The cases don't need lube for sizing or accepting a lead bullet. A cast bullet needs some form of lube whether it's tumble lubed, lube/sized, or powder coat.
 
you are talking about 2 separate issues.

1) is lubricating cases. Straight walled pistol cases do not require lube when using carbide dies however using a little lube to size cases doesn't hurt however the cases should be tumbled to remove lube before loading.

2)Lubricating lead bullets is a must to prevent leading. There are many types of bullet lube such as liquid alox, hard lubes which must be warmed up in a lubrisizer or home made concoctions which can be poured into a pan and left to harden.
 
Ok, I guess what I am hearing, so far, is don't worry about the cases. And as for the bullets are concerned ok I need to lube them, but I will need more elaboration as far as the whole process is concerned. I haven't seen it ever before nor have I read about it. I will go back and look in my abc reloading book and my Lyman book, but if you can explain more about the products, and methods, maybe attach a link or 2 then even this old guy will be moving right along with the rest of you...thx
 
buy the lee book they explain things so you can understand them I bought the turret press kit the book came with it and so far for my 1st attempt seems to work well
 
are you buying lead bullets or casting your own? if your buying your own they will be pre lubed and ready to load'n'shoot.
 
Ok, I guess what I am hearing, so far, is don't worry about the cases. And as for the bullets are concerned ok I need to lube them, but I will need more elaboration as far as the whole process is concerned. I haven't seen it ever before nor have I read about it. I will go back and look in my abc reloading book and my Lyman book, but if you can explain more about the products, and methods, maybe attach a link or 2 then even this old guy will be moving right along with the rest of you...thx

lots of awesome content and videos on guns from the ammo channel. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB9EE049B4C284EB2
 
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