lubing question

[younggun]

I was talking to a guy in a local gunshop and he said if I use carbite dies then I don't need to lube. The shop is notorous for there BS. Is this true or just more BS?

And yes I'm looking to get into reloading and been asking around. I'll be posting more questions soon.

[hagar]

True for pistol or straight wall cases like M1 carbine. Not true for rifle or bottleneck pistol cases.

[younggun]

So is there an advantage of carbite over steel? Longevity?

[ammolab]

The biggest advantage is that you do not have to lube the cases and then clean the lube off of them. They do last longer as well.

[kycrawler]

CARBIDE dies do not require lube for straight walled cases such as most pistol ammo .

carbide dies for rifle/bottle neck cartridges still require lube but the dies will last longer , not that the average loader would wear out many dies in a lifetime

[broncobisley1]

Originally posted by hagar
True for pistol or straight wall cases like M1 carbine. Not true for rifle or bottleneck pistol cases.

True, except they still recomend lubing for the M1 carbine (RCBS directions), I guess due to the amount of taper in the catridge.

I have switched over all of my pistol dies, .38 special, 44 Mag, ect. over to carbide.

[legion489]

If you are useing straight cased revolver cases in carbide dies, then you don't need case lub. If you are using tapered auto cases, especially the .30 M1 Carbine which is long, skinny and requires at least every other case lubed, but also 9mm, then it would not hurt to lub every couple cases. .45 ACP is also a taped case, but not by much! An easy way to lub the cases is to put them in a large can and give them a QUICK shot of spray case lub, then shake the can to spread it around. The 45 cases will load so much easier too!

There are RIFLE carbide dies, such as .308 and .223, but they are expensive and made for commercial reloaders. They require case lub, but the die lasts much, much longer so commercial reloaders will save money by spending several hundred bucks for the resizing die, instead of buying regular steel dies. With care, regular steel dies should last many years.

[AndyC]

I've used carbide dies since they came out - absolute lifesavers :bow: