WD-40 as case lube

The WD-40 really worked pretty slick on the .223 case. I would not size a larger case with the stuff however. I placed the resized cased in my tumbler for about 12 hours. They came out lube free. Of course, I have no clue what effect it has on the media.

I have numerous other sizing lubes, I just thought that I would give WD-40 a try. And yes, I am aware of the fact that primers can and will fail if you mix the two.

I do not lube any firearms with WD-40. I use Ponsness-Warren STOL.
 
http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm#Sizing
This is what I use, it is lanolin in isopropanol(rubbing alcohol). It works great, and from what I hear is the same stuff as Dillon case lube(anybody with a bottle that can check ingredients?) I have never had a problem it coming into contact with powder or primers.
You can sometimes find lanolin at the local pharmacy or online, and one jar is enough to probably last a lifetime.

I just read over those instructions again, and it is not quite what I did. I mixed the anhydrous lanolin with 99% isoproponal in a spray bottle, until I had a little at the bottom that would not dissolve. This works great for me. This is the bottle of lanolin I used. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I1O...K55S6MDGV5EEKKH
 
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Originally Posted By: Don FischerOriginally Posted By: DABOriginally Posted By: pcammoDon, you always take the easy way out!
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In all seriousness, it is a 2 1/2 hour drive to the nearest reloading supplier. Sometimes things happen. It is also important in today's climate to not forget the old ways.
John

I like to be like a good boy sprout and be prepared. I have a spare bottle / container of case lube at all times. Better to have to much than not enough.
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Just yanking your chain. I do have an extra container of case lube, really I do. Probably will never use it
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LOL

Now as far as WD40 goes if it works use it, But I would toss the cases in a good degreaser before I would toss them in a tumbler and risk in any way of contaminating the media and then affecting the primer or powder. Just my $0.02 worth.

I degrease all my cases with a good solvent that does not leave any residue when dry before the priming begins.

DAB

Hey Dab I got about four different lubes laying around! Old guy's rule!!! But there was a time when I used STP. Stuff works great but will really kill a primer fast.

Don F.
Ya , you are right. Us old guys rule
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When I first started reloading way back when dirt was still rock I did not have a tumbler so that is where I started to wash / degrease in a fast drying solvent, I use alcohol now which does a great job of cleaning the RCBS case lube 2 off the cases, then I toss them in the tumbler for about an hour to dry and the alcohol evaporates out of the walnut media and all is well in Don's work shop.
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I had a container of Stoss (clear SNY lube)that worked quite well but was a pain in the tush to lube the brass. So went back to the tried and true lube pad with RCBS Case lube 2.


STP works for a lot of unusual things.
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A primer killer for sure.
Don B.
 
Man, if you are hurtin that bad, drop me a PM with your address and I'll mail you a can of Imperial Sizing Wax...FREE! Reading you had sprayed casings with WD40 REALLY hurt!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Don't freak out about just resizing using WD40, you would actually have to soak the primers in it for a couple days to have any affect on them.

Stu Farish did a test on killing them by soaking them in different substances. Its a pretty good read and experiment.

Here it is in his own words.

OK, experiment underway. I have 5 cases each:

Untreated
Liquid wrench
WD-40
Rem Oil (spray)
Dillon Case Lube
Water
Alcohol
Kroil

Each batch of 5 cases were treated, then placed mouth up inside a plastic ammo box. The box is now closed, which should help reduce any evaporation.

Now I only need to decide how long to leave them beofre trying to shoot them. I'm thinking 24 hours. Several days may do it for most of these things, and based on what we've always been told I'd expect one day to be enough. Whatcha think?

Day 1, after 24 hours:

Untreated - normal discharge. Could see smoke exit the rifle muzzle.

Liquid wrench - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

WD-40 - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Rem Oil (spray) - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Dillon Case Lube - Very Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Slight trace of smoke visible inside case.

Water - Very Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Slight trace of smoke visible inside case.

Alcohol - Very Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Slight trace of smoke visible inside case.

Kroil - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

In short, all primers ignited to some degree :eek:

Day 2, after 48 hours:

Untreated - normal discharge. Could see smoke exit the rifle muzzle.

Liquid wrench - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

WD-40 - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Rem Oil (spray) - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Dillon Case Lube - Very Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Slight trace of smoke visible inside case.

Water - Strong. Primer ignited, but not as strong as normal. Smoke visible inside case.

Alcohol - Very Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Slight trace of smoke visible inside case.

Kroil - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

All primers still ignited to some degree
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Day 3 72 hours
Untreated - normal discharge. Could see smoke exit the rifle muzzle.

Liquid wrench - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

WD-40 - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Rem Oil (spray) - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Dillon Case Lube - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Water - Extreemly Weak, almost dead. Primer ignited, but I could not hear it and not enough discharge at the muzzle to move a bit of dead grass. VERY slight trace of smoke visible inside case.

Alcohol - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Kroil - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

All primers still ignited to some degree, though this time the one treated with water just barely did.

Day 4, after 96 hours:

Untreated - normal discharge. Could see smoke exit the rifle muzzle.

Liquid wrench - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

WD-40 - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Rem Oil (spray) - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Dillon Case Lube - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Water - Dead. I could not hear it. No trace of smoke visible inside case.

Alcohol - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Kroil - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

All primers still ignited to some degree, except the one treated with water.

Water is so far proving to be the most effective agent in killing primers, but it still took 3 days, 4 to completely deactivate.

Day 5 (last day), after 120 hours:

Untreated - normal discharge. Could see smoke exit the rifle muzzle.

Liquid wrench - Strong. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

WD-40 - Strong. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Rem Oil (spray) - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Dillon Case Lube - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Water - Dead. I could not hear it. No trace of smoke visible inside case.

Alcohol - Very weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

Kroil - Weak. Primer ignited, but could not see smoke exit muzzle. Smoke visible inside case.

All primers still ignited to some degree, except the one treated with water.

Water wins, for WLR primers, but it still took 3 days, 4 to completely deactivate.

I'll pick a differnt brand primer for the next test.
 
Diddo for Imperial! I still have my original can. I'll probably still have it when I'm six feet under. It works so much better than any spray lube I have ever tried.
 
I wrote the original post. Still impressed with the WD-40 for sizing but am mindful of the primer issue. I took the above suggestions and went with One Shot. For the sizing duty it went just about like WD-40. They are in the tumbler now.

Just for the hey of it, I am going to try the test outlined by PBChucker, only with WD-40 and One Shot.

I have a difficult time believing that there is enough WD-40 residue after 12 hours of tumbling to adversely impact the primer.
 
An interesting experiment to try, would be to size groups of trimmed brass using WD-40 and various other lubes. Keep the sizing die setup the same for all groups. Then check the the overall length and length to the shoulder datum line for each group. The group size may need to rather large to see any difference. I have done this experiment before with other spray lubes and Imperial. In that case, there was a difference. My suspect is that WD-40 will do on par with the Imperial.

John
 
Originally Posted By: daddyfleaQuick question, how do you guys lubricate the inside of the neck with imperial?

About every 3rd or 4th case, I drag the finger that I have been putting the imperial on the case, across the mouth of the case. You should just barely see a little on the inside lip. That will lube the expanded ball for the next few cases.
 
if you can't find any case lube pick up some mink oil for leather conditioning. It works good as case lube and it thick enough not to have to worry about getting it inside the case and having a failure to fire because the lube killed your primer. I have a can of it here that I use as a back up when I run outta regular lube. You can get it at walmart in the shoe section for a few bucks. Works good.
 
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Go with Imperial sizeing lube & don't look back...don't worry about tumbling either in a bolt rifle...wipe them off with a paper towel.One of the above clips about dragging your finger across the top of the case neck to lessen the expander from dragging hard does work...I've done it also. It may mess with neck tension [beeep]? My groups still stay in a dime [beeep]...good enough for what I'm doing. If you can't find Imperial sizeing lube get some "smiling mink" leather conditioner, looks the same & smells the same...probably the same stuff...
 
Originally Posted By: roxbury6Crisco would save you some time, too. You could skip trimming because Crisco is SHORTENING!! Sorry, I know that was terrible, but I had to be the one to say it.


It shortens gluten strands. Thats how ya get a crispy flakey pie crust. Anywhooo......
 
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