ANOTHER stuck case--to $@#& with Imperial Sizing Wax

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TexasSeaRay

New member
Can't believe it.

For years and years, I used the Lee lube with zero problems. 'Bout ten years ago, a so-called friend encourages me to try Imperial. Says it's the best. So I buy some.

Pretty slick. Easy to clean off the brass. I'm sold.

Within a couple of weeks, I get my first ever stuck case--a 30-30 in RCBS resizing die. Order the stuck-case remover kit from Hornady. Case is pure hell to get out.

Imperial goes in the trash.

Fast forward ten years to present. Couple of other friends ridicule me for using the Lee lube. I ridicule their loose groups. But, I go ahead and order another tin of Imperial. Nice and slick. Easy to clean off the brass. I'm sold again.

Get a stuck case--.223 in the RCBS resizing die. Case will NOT come out no matter what was done. Get a chance to use that wonderful customer service at RCBS. The Green people send me a new die with a handwritten note stating that even they could not get the stuck case out and simply gave me a new die.

New die gets here last week. Pull out new and barely used tin of Imperial. Smear up some .223 brass (Federal) and away we go.

Three cases later, stuck case. Do the Hornady thing.

Deja vu.

Case will NOT come out, so off to RCBS it goes for yet another new die.

Imperial Sizing Wax is in the trash and Midsouth's latest order from me includes another tube of Lee lube.

Maybe Redding and RCBS are trying to sabotage each other? Maybe I should just stick with Lee and Dillon products?

I know--I'll read a gazillion posts about how Imperial is the greatest thing since the invention of the water bed and birth control pill.

Save your breath. You'll never convince me of that.

Jeff
 
M

Master Blaster

New member
Maybe somone here would like to trade you a can of Hornady One Shot for Imperial sizing, I know if I hadnt thrown mine away I would be first in line to send you my hornady one shot. ;)
 
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firechicken

New member
That is strange about your experiences with Imperial. I've found that with 223 cases I can get by lubing every 2nd or even 3rd case. Even if a case goes into the die hard enough to give me that "OH CRAP" feeling, it comes right back out with little effort.
 
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wncchester

New member
Over my 40+ years of loading, I've stuck enough cases and pulled enough out for others to have learned a few things. Never had one stuck too hard to remove though, that must require a lot of lever pressure to accomplish!

One thing is that all of the common lubes and several uncommon ones work fine IF they're correctly applied, but nothing works good if it's not. The real failing is insufficent coverage of the head/web area, I never see a lack of lube on the shoulder or neck. In fact, they frequently get too much lube!

Second is that pushing any poorly lubed case into a die requires a LOT more pressure than normal. That extra pressure should be sufficent warning that something is not right for the loader to stop and check his lube coverage. Using a bigger hammer is rarely the best way to put things together.

Over all, Lee's lube is excellant but Imperial is the best case lube I've ever used for FL sizing or even heavy reforming of rifle cases. It's easy to apply with just finger tips, it's clean and very easy to wipe off the exesss afterwards. But, if I only half way lube the top of a case and then jam it hard into a sizer it's not the lubes failing that leaves me with a stuck case!

Your milage may vary.
 
T

TexasSeaRay

New member
That is strange about your experiences with Imperial. I've found that with 223 cases I can get by lubing every 2nd or even 3rd case. Even if a case goes into the die hard enough to give me that "OH CRAP" feeling, it comes right back out with little effort.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

There is no telling how many .223's I've loaded up over the past twenty-plus years. In both instances, the stuck case went up into the resizing die just as normal as could be. But when it came time for the down stroke, no joy.

And that is with the inside of the necks lubed as well, but that wasn't the problem either time--the entire decapping/expander assembly came out easy as could be.

It was and is the case wall exterior that has stuck.

THREE TIMES, and the only common denominators are the lube (Imperial) and the dies (RCBS). If it were the dies, then I would've had a lot more stuck cases using any of the various lubes I've used over the years.

I hate this--I LIKE the Imperial. Slick, compact, not messy, easy to clean off the brass.

But I hate stuck cases more than all of the above and now I've had THREE with Imperial. There will not be a fourth.

Jeff
 
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UniversalFrost

New member
have been using imperial for years and ZERO problems. I really think it is operator error when you are using the wax. Also, you might want to use mica for the inside case mouth (frankford arsenal makes a neat little kit with brushes and mica and holder for like 12 bucks).

Also I use the lee lube, but it is messy compared to the imperial. Also, I size some of my wildcat rounds with the imperial, it really is the best when sizing brass to a wildcat round.

Also, I use mainly redding, and rcbs dies so again I am pointing to operator error on your part.

here is the link to the frankford arsenal mica luber kit http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=197010
 
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T

TexasSeaRay

New member
UniversalFrost said:
have been using imperial for years and ZERO problems. I really think it is operator error when you are using the wax. Also, you might want to use mica for the inside case mouth (frankford arsenal makes a neat little kit with brushes and mica and holder for like 12 bucks).

Also I use the lee lube, but it is messy compared to the imperial. Also, I size some of my wildcat rounds with the imperial, it really is the best when sizing brass to a wildcat round.

Also, I use mainly redding, and rcbs dies so again I am pointing to operator error on your part.
Click to expand...

Uh-huh.

The only three stuck cases I have ever had have been with only one brand of lube and dies. So why hasn't the RCBS dies had stuck cases with the RCBS lubes, the Lee lube or with a homemade brew I also sometimes use?

Or why hasn't the Dillon and Lee die sets had stuck cases in the same circumstances with the same brass (Federal .223)?

Didn't say Imperial was bad. Said me and it don't seem to get along. Also said it was a damn shame.

Over 100,000 rounds loaded over the past several decades resulting in hundreds of shooting competitions and successful hunts under my belt, but I still obviously have my head up my ass and am clueless as to what I'm doing.

Makes perfect sense to me.

I once had an engine go out on me in an airplane I used to own in my younger days when I was fairly new to flying. A simple oil pressure sending unit went bad, and with no explanation. I had to make an emergency landing, which was a non-event.

Afterwards, I found that there are two types of pilots. There are those who have a wide breadth of experience and as such have experienced things like weather, systems-failures, mechanical failures, etc. They look to solve problems based upon their knowledge and experience.

And then there are those pilots who have lived a charmed life and never had so much as a hiccup go wrong. These pilots are typically the arrogant asses on military review boards, NTSB investigation teams and reporters/opion-generators who always shout "pilot error" since whatever misfortune occurred to the pilot had never happened to them. Yet when the true mechanical/systems failure is discovered and the pilot is exonerated, these "experts" are suddenly silent and nowhere to be seen.

Which is where they belong in the first place.

Jeff
 
G

Gbro

New member
he entire decapping/expander assembly came out easy as could be.
Click to expand...

That has me scratching my head, The 2 times(HOS) i stuck a case the expander had to be drawn through the neck with darn near pulling it in two(the case neck).
I put the die into the press upside down from bottom and pull the case up and out.(after taping the primer hole 1/4"20).
I am a Lee lube believer.
TSR the school of hard knocks is a good one sometimes:D, I have a masters in "I hope this isn't going to hurt"
 
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Tim R

New member
I've been reloading since about 1983. Until last year I'd never stuck a case then I had 3 in short order. I was processing some L/C 223 brass I had bought from a guy on another forum. I use RCBS case lube II on a lube pad. With the first stuck case, I thought just maybe I was a little light on the lube. I borrowed a RCBS stuck case remover and went on. Then I stuck another. I had been very careful about making sure the cases were lubed good enough. After the 3rd one I decided the case's had been fired in something with a generous chamber as there was no reason other than this.

This was 3 out of about 1300 cases. I still have to process the other box of 1300 cases. I've shot some of the brass out of my Kreiger AR and it seems to shoot ok.
 
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DR. Furlicker

New member
I had been using RCBS lube and pad and never had any trouble. Then a couple of months ago after squeezing every last drop from the bottle I ran out in the middle of small base sizing .223.

I decided to try lubing with Dawn Ultra dishwashing liquid it worked fine and washes off easy I have now sized over 500 cases with it and have not had any stuck cases; but I do lube every case. I don't feel any difference in the pressure it takes to work the press.

As long as it's working I'll keep using it 30oz Dawn about the same price as 3oz of RCBS lube.

_________________
"When an armed man guardeth his home, thieves are as Swiss-cheese in the night air."
- Book of Stoner, Chapter 15, Verse 223
 
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UniversalFrost

New member
ok, I think i posted this here way back when, but I have used PAM cooking spray in a pinch in the past, plus it leaves that nice buttery smell afterwards. :D

Only did it on about 20 or so cases if I remember right.

JOE
 
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Travis Two

New member
I use Imperial wax and have had no issues even when forming .309 JDJ cases from .444 marlin cases in RCBS dies. Imperial needs to be used sparingly not excessivly. I'm thinking the case stuck issue might be hydraulic lockup due to excessive lube.
The method I employ is to use one finger dipped into the wax enough to pick up a light smear and then apply the wax to the brass by placing my finger against the brass while rotating the brass case and applying the lube in a spiral down the length of the case never coating the case completly around the diameter of the body of the case. Never stuck a case yet.
 
T

TEDDY

Moderator
lube

no one has mentioned Lyman spray lube am I missing something. I use it and I do a lot of reforming.only trouble I had was trying to reform 40 cal cases to 8 mm nambu.and 40 expands in some pistols so they wont resize.:rolleyes:
 
S

Shane Tuttle

Staff
TSR,

One thing that hasn't been addressed is the brass....

Has this happened to the same or at least similar lot of brass? I'm wondering if the surface tension on the brass on a microscopic scale may be a factor. Who knows? Maybe the combination of this and RCBS's surface on their dies just don't agree with each other...
 
C

crowbeaner

New member
ROTFLMAO. I use RCBS case lube, and when I run out (NEVER) I buy more. I've been reloading for 35+ years now, and never had a stuck case. I came close a few times, but the RCBS press will yank it back out. I never saw a reason to change.
 
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odsixer

New member
Even if a case goes into the die hard enough to give me that "OH CRAP" feeling, it comes right back out with little effort.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience also with the imperial wax. So far I'm happy with it though, less mess than the rcbs lube.

Texas, what were you flying when you lost your engine? I have a couple of hundred hours in 172's, 182's, and piper arrow. Nothing major yet, just stuck flaps. Not looking forward to losing an engine:eek:
 
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