My four RCBS Lube Dies arrived today from Midway (http://www.midwayusa.com). One or more of them was drastically reduced in price as opposed to what I found on other sites.
An introduction to this thread is in the last part of:
"What's Up With Sizing Wax? FOLLOW-UP"
http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=64219
The thread was starting to morph, so this new thread was more appropriate.
We are not discussing the lubrication of pistol cartridges, since most of us now use carbide dies to take care of that procedure. As a side note, I note that some owners of T-Rex killers - .460 SW Magnum and the like - still lube those large cylinders.
Back to rifles. Handloaders use all sorts of case lube liquids, sprays and waxes to keep their rifle cases from sticking in the press. I have learned, partly from this forum, of less commonly used but innovative and inexpensive choices that include carnauba car wax, bag balm, hand cream, STP... just about everything you can think of except Super Glue.
A common complaint centers on those diminutive .223 cases. When using most or all of the above, that little bugger still sticks in the die and stops the whole handloading process. And you can find numerous complaints with the firearm blogs that document this problem.
It happened to me more than once. I discovered that it was due to lack of lube on those tiny case necks, especially when using a lube pad. You roll the cases on the flat surface but the necks are missed. Some lube apparently works up into the neck of the die; but using too much lube wrinkles the cases; a dicey situation.
As noted in another post, this poster has used spray lube, rolled lube, and finally wax. So far, lube wax (Hornady One Shot, for me) is the quickest, easiest and most uniform solution for me, even for that annoying little .223 Remington case. I dab the wax every few cases, pick up each case and quickly twist it on in a corkscrew motion, then place it into the press.
The relatively new RCBS lube dies seem to be a better, quicker approach for either of these two scenarios:
1) A multi-station progressive press if it has enough stations free to accommodate the decapper/luber in the first station. As for me, I use either a single stage Rock Chucker or a preset turret press for rifle calibers.
or
2) For a person who (like me) has found the auto prime system on his press(es) to be less than 100% reliable, jam free, and so on.
Like others, I deprime the cases, then use a hand primer, perhaps as I watch TV.
These dies should work well for either of the two situations above, since the decapping and priming are not done in one continuous operation.
So -
Here is a PDF I created that shows the calibers represented by the four RCBS Lube Dies (#1 through #4). You can find another chart online, but I think that this one is more practical because it breaks down the caliber by die number instead of by caliber.
You might find that all of your rifles are handled by one die. As an example, several levergun calibers are deprimed and lubed with Die #3.
You might find all of your varmint rifles working with Die #1. If your caliber is not shown, then the die for your firearm is not available as of the time of this post.
As you can see, the most common rifle calibers (and some handgun rounds) are well represented. Click on:
https://app.box.com/s/spivjltr8glj2zk0inrg5i0fzadpiqa4
I have seen that one online handloader complained, several years ago, that the pins of his RCBS Lube Dies keep breaking. I don't know if he didn't bother to read the instructions, or if RCBS failed to include the instructions as found in my recent arrival.
Whichever the case, one can see that the dies as packaged in their green plastic box are not properly set up. The decapping pin is set way too long below the die, so that is the first thing that needs to be changed. Simple enough, as with all RCBS dies. The accompaning instructions tell you to set the pin 3/16 inch below the die.
Another complaint is that they leak. Again, the plain English instructions tell you to store it (or them) upright so that they do not leak.
Finally, a complaint found online is that the die doesn't work until you have worked it for a while, whereas the instructions (once again) clearly tell you to allow the die to sit in the press for 30 minutes before use, to allow the lube to fully saturate the felt pad inside. The Case Lube-2, supplied with each die, is applied to the small hole that is uncovered when you move the black rubber band on the top half of the die.
One media weirdo has stated that he gets a chill up his leg when a particular politician comes near. As for me, I confess that those folks who deal with explosive stuff like gunpowder, who don't bother to read instructions, send a cold chill down my spine. Oh, well...
More soon, when I have time to reload.
I'll have to look into these, as you're right, the .223 is a time consuming round to reload. Especially during the initial reloading of military brass! Once the primer crimp is deburred, this will definitely improve the process.