Reloading press

[Robin]

Today I ended up getting the Lock and Load dulux kit, it looks like it has most of what I need to get started, on the 308 Dies I currently have, it says to clean them first before using, what is the best way to clean them, should I just use metho, or is WD40 ok for this, also once I have done this, do I need to lubricate them.

[Oldbloke]

Well, well, very good.

I would just use kerosene or diesel. Then a light oil which could simply be diesel.

[Wapiti]

Because most people dont have diesel or kero in t8ns anymore, you coukd use WD40. Most homes have a can.
WD40 is a perfect cleaner, it will remove the sticky preservative film inside them. You can just spray it inside and clean out with cotton tips.

Unscrew and remove the decapping rod, bullet seater whatever, prior of course.

Of course, don't use this stuff for sizing lube, it's not an extreme pressure lubricant. Also, make sure there's no WD or kero etc inside your seating die for obvious reasons.

When finished reloading, a quick spray on the outside will stop the unblued dies from corroding. The case lube inside your sizing die will keep that in good nick too.

[bladeracer]

Because most people dont have diesel or kero in t8ns anymore, you coukd use WD40. Most homes have a can.
WD40 is a perfect cleaner, it will remove the sticky preservative film inside them. You can just spray it inside and clean out with cotton tips.

Unscrew and remove the decapping rod, bullet seater whatever, prior of course.

Of course, don't use this stuff for sizing lube, it's not an extreme pressure lubricant. Also, make sure there's no WD or kero etc inside your seating die for obvious reasons.

When finished reloading, a quick spray on the outside will stop the unblued dies from corroding. The case lube inside your sizing die will keep that in good nick too.

WD40 isn't _any_ kind of lubricant, it's a Water Dispersant, and is not a rust preventative either.

[Oldbloke]

Because most people dont have diesel or kero in t8ns anymore, you coukd use WD40. Most homes have a can.
WD40 is a perfect cleaner, it will remove the sticky preservative film inside them. You can just spray it inside and clean out with cotton tips.

Unscrew and remove the decapping rod, bullet seater whatever, prior of course.

Of course, don't use this stuff for sizing lube, it's not an extreme pressure lubricant. Also, make sure there's no WD or kero etc inside your seating die for obvious reasons.

When finished reloading, a quick spray on the outside will stop the unblued dies from corroding. The case lube inside your sizing die will keep that in good nick too.

WD40 isn't _any_ kind of lubricant, it's a Water Dispersant, and is not a rust preventative either.

That's why I suggested diesel. Its a light oil. Plenty of options out there.

[GQshayne]

I think the Hornady Lock N Load Press is a good option. The new Lee version also looks good, but no Aussie stores seem to have it yet, as they are advertising the previous version. I would like a Hornady for myself one day.

If you have metho, I would use that. Nothing will hurt them in that respect.

And speaking of lube, my favourite case lube method is to use something like the Hornady One Shot Sizing Wax.

[Wapiti]

Because most people dont have diesel or kero in t8ns anymore, you coukd use WD40. Most homes have a can.
WD40 is a perfect cleaner, it will remove the sticky preservative film inside them. You can just spray it inside and clean out with cotton tips.

Unscrew and remove the decapping rod, bullet seater whatever, prior of course.

Of course, don't use this stuff for sizing lube, it's not an extreme pressure lubricant. Also, make sure there's no WD or kero etc inside your seating die for obvious reasons.

When finished reloading, a quick spray on the outside will stop the unblued dies from corroding. The case lube inside your sizing die will keep that in good nick too.

WD40 isn't _any_ kind of lubricant, it's a Water Dispersant, and is not a rust preventative either.

Mate do you just understand your own words just now?
The real shame here is peddling misinformation.
You say its a water dispersant, which has the exact function of a rust preventative.
And as I just finished writing in my post previous not to use it as a lubricant on dies, although it is. Just not an extreme pressure lubricant. By extreme pressure I'm referring to keeping metal surfaces apart under pressure.

It certainly is a rust preventative, we've used it on bright machined steel for 40 years and it's never failed. On firearms, ways of lathes, anything where it's convenient. When the solvent flashes off, the coating thickens and has an extremely good film strength. This old wives tail has been peddled for years.

I've sprayed it on my dies for 40 years and NEVER had any rusting.

Stopping rust is just a function of coating the steel with a film that keeps oxygen off the metal, lifts any moisture present (like your salty sweat for example) so none is trapped underneath the film to cause rust. You just described the process. Do you just argue to belittle others and elevate yourself?

We just bought another lathe for the workshop. It was coated with this spray-on thick waxy film for shipping. We just sprayed it with WD40 and left it for 10 minutes. The solvents in the WD40 dissolved this thick film and we just simply wiped it all off with clean rags, without needing to brush on and clean up stinking diesel splashes and mess.

You lot reading this make up your own minds. What annoys me is misinformation.

[Wapiti]

Because most people dont have diesel or kero in t8ns anymore, you coukd use WD40. Most homes have a can.
WD40 is a perfect cleaner, it will remove the sticky preservative film inside them. You can just spray it inside and clean out with cotton tips.

Unscrew and remove the decapping rod, bullet seater whatever, prior of course.

Of course, don't use this stuff for sizing lube, it's not an extreme pressure lubricant. Also, make sure there's no WD or kero etc inside your seating die for obvious reasons.

When finished reloading, a quick spray on the outside will stop the unblued dies from corroding. The case lube inside your sizing die will keep that in good nick too.

WD40 isn't _any_ kind of lubricant, it's a Water Dispersant, and is not a rust preventative either.

Mate do you just understand your own words just now?
Respectfully, you've just contradicted yourself.
You say its a water dispersant, which has the exact function of a rust preventative, as it also coats the surface, excluding moisture laden air.
A "water dispersant " CANNOT work without having a film strength and penetrant coating quality that is stronger than water. So it lifts the water from the steel, by coating it excluding the moisture completely.
And as I just finished writing in my post previous not to use it as a lubricant on dies, although it has very average lubricating qualities. Just not an extreme pressure lubricant. By extreme pressure I'm referring to keeping metal surfaces apart under high pressure, like sizing operations.

It certainly is a rust preventative, we've used it on bright machined steel for 40 years and it's never failed. On firearms, ways of lathes, anything where it's convenient. When the solvent flashes off, the coating thickens and has an extremely good film strength. This old wives tale you've just repeated has been peddled for years.

I've sprayed it on my dies for 40 years and NEVER had any rusting. Because it is a rust preventative by the very function of being a water dispersant.

Stopping rust is just a function of coating the steel with a film that keeps oxygen off the metal, lifts any moisture present (like your salty sweat for example) so none is trapped underneath the film to cause rust. You just described the process, by calling it a water dispersant.

We just bought another lathe for the workshop. It was coated with this spray-on thick waxy film for shipping. We just sprayed it with WD40 and left it for 10 minutes. The solvents in the WD40 dissolved this thick film and we just simply wiped it all off with clean rags, without needing to brush on and clean up stinking diesel splashes and mess. And diesel and kero is a hopeless dissolver of rust coatings. If you have time to waste, go ahead.

You lot reading this make up your own minds. What annoys me is misinformation. Again, I'll only ever post a reply from experience of my own, not others.

[Fester]

I lost a tray of mesuring tools and some of them were my 1st year aprentice prac projects because I used WD40 and wrapped a WD40 soaked rag around them, had I used oil, they may have been saved or resurrected. I did try but they were to far gone to just clean the rust off.

More my fault but I had no garage, just a shed with concrete tile flooring.
I must have left the toolbox down low or ground level and the moisture just attacked the box and the top tray of smaller steel stuff like dividers, calibers, and the other gauges and crap.
Also must have left them too long but don't remember if it took a few years or not.

WD40 is cheap or free at work and did well on the lathes and other machine beds but we did it religiously every Friday arvo. I also did those same tools in the toolbox tray.
The tacky coating was there when reapplying so much, but I noticed if you clean a steel item and then apply like an oily rag, the WD40 can completely evaporate away where oil stays much longer.

Lots of gun owners use proven gun oils like Hoppes or better because of this.
I use my guns regularly enough to get by with the thin Inox lanalon-based stuff that has better corrosion protection properties than WD but would use the thicker Lanox for longer-lasting properties.

For safe queens or if in a bad area, I was recommended the good s**t, CorrossionX, from the bearing shop, more just for inside a barrel that is store longer. It cost about $60 but will last a life-time.

I love the good gun products and have them all, but using more Inox to keep those exy cans lasting many years, G96 for inside bolts and stuff.

The Lanox would also get more use but it smells a bit off and don't want to smell the safe every time I open it, I got a 4lt container of it and a spare one of Inox when they were still pre-Covid prices of about $65.

[zbenga]

my advice:

treat every cartridge you make as if it's a match winning cartridge
keep records in a book on load data then save it online somewhere
before you put a target up to test your loads write on the target day, time, barometric and temp numbers and on each target what you're going to shoot, not after you shoot! while you shooting take notes if you pull a shot or wind changed etc. you need this data later

on the equipment side my advice is not to get carried away with arbor presses and auto throwers and brass cleaning but do spend money were it needs to be spent, on the press, dies and measuring equipment. If you can't measure it then what's the point?

No reloading kit is ever complete and if you buy one and you enjoy the sport I promise you only half the kit will be used in 12 months time and if you keep at it in 2 years time you'd be lucky to use 90% of it.

Get the best press and resizing die you can afford and go from there, you will spend more money on consumables than both your rifle and your reloading equipment:)

[zbenga]

forgot to add, buy a few cans of G96 Gun treatment, it's really good stuff! I use an old WD40 head on it, I has the flip up squirter tube etc. fits and works well

I use it clean my rifles and bolts and lube them and lube my press, from my side and others have their own rituals etc. but use G96 to clean after every outing then after say 5-6 outings I use (shock horror) CLR with a soft plastic bristle brush in a drill to clean the chamber, I soak it with CLR for about 2-5 min then whiz with the drill for about 1 min and run a few patches through then start with the G96 until patches come out clean then run one last patch with a little G96 on it and put the rifle away

never had any issues and it's aways clean, no carbon rings no corrosion just works, smells nice too like old school machine oil

If you come home from hunt or range and don't have time to clean just run a patch soaked in G96 through and come back later in the week and clean, it will be fine
not sure why the silly discussion around WD40 come into rifles ... the only good thing is their twin spray nozzles, would never put WD40 on a rifle

find a product which works for you then find another which absolutely cleans the barrel completely then stick to those two and don't pay attention or get distracted by other products, you already found what works and can verify it why change? unless it can cut 40% of the time it takes to clean don't bother, it's a trap

[bladeracer]

Yes, I understand that the words "Water Dispersant" and "rust preventative" are not the same at all. One removes water from a surface, the other applies a protective layer to prevent moisture from reaching the surface.

When I was in a workshop building engines I used WD40 for cleaning parts, it is exceptional at removing all lubricants from steel surfaces. If you want to believe it protects steel alloys from rusting I have no problem with that at all. I did a long-term test more than twenty years ago where I used _only_ WD40 as a chain lube on a new chain on a race bike. I don't recommend it. It will certainly remove all the grime and debris from the chain, and any external lubricant so the chain runs as clean as possible, protecting the o-rings from debris damage. But once the o-rings do start to wear the WD40 will then clean out the grease behind those o-rings and your chain is toast.

If you are saying that WD40 is the _only_ thing you use to lubricate precision machinery than I believe you are making a mistake, use oils to lubricate fast-moving surfaces and greases to lubricate slow-moving surfaces, and use WD40 to keep the rest of it clean, then oil to protect from corrosion. On a lathe being used every day I'm sure WD40 would indeed protect the surfaces from oxidization for the short periods of inactivity. Leave the lathe with nothing but WD40 protecting it while the shop closes for a four-week break and I'd be concerned about it's condition upon reopening. It depends on the environment of course, I've lived in places where steel alloys will rust within one day, and places where steel can be left outdoors for months, perhaps even years before rust is seen.

Mate do you just understand your own words just now?
The real shame here is peddling misinformation.
You say its a water dispersant, which has the exact function of a rust preventative.
And as I just finished writing in my post previous not to use it as a lubricant on dies, although it is. Just not an extreme pressure lubricant. By extreme pressure I'm referring to keeping metal surfaces apart under pressure.

It certainly is a rust preventative, we've used it on bright machined steel for 40 years and it's never failed. On firearms, ways of lathes, anything where it's convenient. When the solvent flashes off, the coating thickens and has an extremely good film strength. This old wives tail has been peddled for years.

I've sprayed it on my dies for 40 years and NEVER had any rusting.

Stopping rust is just a function of coating the steel with a film that keeps oxygen off the metal, lifts any moisture present (like your salty sweat for example) so none is trapped underneath the film to cause rust. You just described the process. Do you just argue to belittle others and elevate yourself?

We just bought another lathe for the workshop. It was coated with this spray-on thick waxy film for shipping. We just sprayed it with WD40 and left it for 10 minutes. The solvents in the WD40 dissolved this thick film and we just simply wiped it all off with clean rags, without needing to brush on and clean up stinking diesel splashes and mess.

You lot reading this make up your own minds. What annoys me is misinformation.

[Fester]

WD40 is a great harmless cleaner for metal components when using bare hands and costing nothing or a couple of bucks a can.

As a lube for chains or anything, it will last about 10 minutes.
As a protectant, I rate it about the same.
As a penetrant, it rates much lower than better CRC products or the good s**t "Penatrene".

Good to have around as it saves my Inox and the Inox keeps my G96 tin going for years.
All of the cleaning oils give me a blue patch when I patch out before shooting but not so much now as I found the Patch out wipe out and it must clean out more copper than the other cleaners.

[Fester]

Back to presses, how many of us keep our press lubed and looking great, then check out the lower part of the ram that stays hidden underneath and find it covered in surface rust and looking pretty ordinary?

[bladeracer]

Back to presses, how many of us keep our press lubed and looking great, then check out the lower part of the ram that stays hidden underneath and find it covered in surface rust and looking pretty ordinary?

I keep mine lubed, with gun oil, I like it to run smoothly.

[Oldbloke]

I think keep in mind Robin hasn't even mentioned the intended use of his ammo. Hunting, plinking practice, competition. For the first 3 all he needs to concentrate on is the basics. Initially that's what he needs to do anyway.

No mention of how many rounds a year.

He did say he didn't want to go overboard spending money.

I looked at that kit and he has all he needs to start except case lube, which I suspect he would have purchased when he got the kit.

He has dies. 308
Kit comes with a vernier.

In future he will need;
A better scale.
A method of trimming cases.
A method of annealing.

Yes, a note book is a must.
I also record my current loads on an excel spread sheet.
Yes, take basic notes on the targets. I just do it during cease fires.
Keep the targets. I just file them all in a leversrch folder these days. They are a A4 sized.

For the average hunter/loader Lee RGB dies are all you need. My s**ty 223 Marlin shoots 15-20mm using them. If keen pay the extra i guess.

The other thing is there is heaps of used gear out there, often cheap. Why?
Because loading isn't everyone's cup of tea and plenty spend a heap, then sell it all 12 months later.
And it's false economy to spend heaps on fancy equipment to only load 80 rounds a year.

[GQshayne]

I am just a hunter Oldbloke. Started reloading in the mid 1980's. So far to this day I have never annealed a case. Unlikely I ever will.

As for case trimmers I have a Hornady Camlock one. Seems like a good thing. But before that I had a Lee calibre specific one that I used for the .243 for years. Cheap and simple. I would just use them if I had my time again. Too easy to use.

I would add to your list primer pocket tools.

[Oldbloke]

I am just a hunter Oldbloke. Started reloading in the mid 1980's. So far to this day I have never annealed a case. Unlikely I ever will.

As for case trimmers I have a Hornady Camlock one. Seems like a good thing. But before that I had a Lee calibre specific one that I used for the .243 for years. Cheap and simple. I would just use them if I had my time again. Too easy to use.

I would add to your list primer pocket tools.

Hunter here too. I didn't anneal. I do now every few loads. But not easy to keep track.

Yes, primer pocket cleaner. Easy made.

I have a Simplex trimmer. OK for up to say,, 50-60 cases. After that it's a bit of a trial.

[bladeracer]

But before that I had a Lee calibre specific one that I used for the .243 for years. Cheap and simple. I would just use them if I had my time again. Too easy to use.

I love the Lee Quick Trim dies, so quick and simple. I do use the drill rod ones for those they don't do the die for and they are good also. I used an RCBS lathe-style trimmer with calibre collets when I was a kid and found it very time consuming, boring and not especially consistent. After the Trim Dies I can't see me ever using that system again - I still have it in the original box.

[Oldbloke]

I've been thinking of buying two of these, 30.06 & 223.

Recommended trim length for 30.06 is 2.484.
That unit trims to the max length,,,2.494.
Not sure why Lee do that??

https://youtu.be/teUjyhY5pHA?si=t9t1kjz7KG9wcmgt

[Oldbloke]

I've been thinking of buying two of these, 30.06 & 223.

Recommended trim length for 30.06 is 2.484.
That unit trims to the max length,,,2.494.
Not sure why Lee do that??

https://youtu.be/teUjyhY5pHA?si=t9t1kjz7KG9wcmgt

[Robin]

I think keep in mind Robin hasn't even mentioned the intended use of his ammo. Hunting, plinking practice, competition. For the first 3 all he needs to concentrate on is the basics. Initially that's what he needs to do anyway.

No mention of how many rounds a year.

He did say he didn't want to go overboard spending money.

I looked at that kit and he has all he needs to start except case lube, which I suspect he would have purchased when he got the kit.

He has dies. 308
Kit comes with a vernier.

In future he will need;
A better scale.
A method of trimming cases.
A method of annealing.

Yes, a note book is a must.
I also record my current loads on an excel spread sheet.
Yes, take basic notes on the targets. I just do it during cease fires.
Keep the targets. I just file them all in a leversrch folder these days. They are a A4 sized.

For the average hunter/loader Lee RGB dies are all you need. My s**ty 223 Marlin shoots 15-20mm using them. If keen pay the extra i guess.

The other thing is there is heaps of used gear out there, often cheap. Why?
Because loading isn't everyone's cup of tea and plenty spend a heap, then sell it all 12 months later.
And it's false economy to spend heaps on fancy equipment to only load 80 rounds a year.

My intention at the moment is really to learn , make mistakes now rather then later , as far as shooting, it will mostly be target shooting, however once I develop what works , I will use it for hunting, the only competition shooting for me is against myself.

With the Lube, yes I brought the Hornady one shot spray lube and it works well I think, however the kit actually comes with a waxy lube in a tub, so its a little misleading, however I'm sure I'll use it eventually so its ok.

A trimmer is next on my list and then I'll upgrade the scale, other then that, the rest of the kit looks pretty decent.

For a notebook, I will be using a tablet, that way its recorded straight away and saves recording it and recording it, but this is really the IT nerd side of me.

I make my own home brew been and even tho it will take me forever to get my money back, its about perfecting the perfect beer

[bladeracer]

I've been thinking of buying two of these, 30.06 & 223.

Recommended trim length for 30.06 is 2.484.
That unit trims to the max length,,,2.494.
Not sure why Lee do that??

https://youtu.be/teUjyhY5pHA?si=t9t1kjz7KG9wcmgt

I couldn't find a spec sheet saying what length they trim to, but 2.494" is the SAAMI spec for it. The cutter is adjustable though.
https://leeprecision.com/files/instruct/QT3989.pdf

[bladeracer]

My intention at the moment is really to learn , make mistakes now rather then later , as far as shooting, it will mostly be target shooting, however once I develop what works , I will use it for hunting, the only competition shooting for me is against myself.

With the Lube, yes I brought the Hornady one shot spray lube and it works well I think, however the kit actually comes with a waxy lube in a tub, so its a little misleading, however I'm sure I'll use it eventually so its ok.

A trimmer is next on my list and then I'll upgrade the scale, other then that, the rest of the kit looks pretty decent.

For a notebook, I will be using a tablet, that way its recorded straight away and saves recording it and recording it, but this is really the IT nerd side of me.

I make my own home brew been and even tho it will take me forever to get my money back, its about perfecting the perfect beer

I prefer Lee's lube paste stuff. Doing hundreds of full-length sizings is bloody boring of course, but it's clean with no clean-up. I touch the paste with my finger so I have a tiny smear. Hold the case by the head and run three or four touches down the body and neck, then touch the case mouth to wet the inside. Never had one stick or dimple, it's too easy.

[Oldbloke]

I've been thinking of buying two of these, 30.06 & 223.

Recommended trim length for 30.06 is 2.484.
That unit trims to the max length,,,2.494.
Not sure why Lee do that??

https://youtu.be/teUjyhY5pHA?si=t9t1kjz7KG9wcmgt

I couldn't find a spec sheet saying what length they trim to, but 2.494" is the SAAMI spec for it. The cutter is adjustable though.
https://leeprecision.com/files/instruct/QT3989.pdf

Wrong one. Not adjustable. But I guess you can grind a bit off the guage/shaft

[bladeracer]

I've been thinking of buying two of these, 30.06 & 223.

Recommended trim length for 30.06 is 2.484.
That unit trims to the max length,,,2.494.
Not sure why Lee do that??

https://youtu.be/teUjyhY5pHA?si=t9t1kjz7KG9wcmgt

I couldn't find a spec sheet saying what length they trim to, but 2.494" is the SAAMI spec for it. The cutter is adjustable though.
https://leeprecision.com/files/instruct/QT3989.pdf

Wrong one. Not adjustable. But I guess you can grind a bit off the gauge/shaft

Oh, the rod ones, yeah if you want to adjust that it'd be harder, but it's very likely you won't need to go shorter than SAAMI spec.

[Oldbloke]

Yeh, been thinking of buying them. I think it would be fine. But puzzles me why Lee would contradict every reloading manual around.

[Fester]

Even with a drill and the light rubber/cloth work gloves, those basic Lee depth gauge cutters were torture after about 40 cases so I set up the Lee deluxe die-type thing with the drill.
For some reason, I found it trimmed a bit inconsistently, and the de-burr was not so good as well; I often finished it by hand.

When Lyman brought out their new style, there was a great sale of the old school bench-top model for about $120, then $80 for the power shaft to use a drill.
If I have over about 10 cases or a big batch, I screw it to the bench and do the lot, so consistent, and the quick lever chuck is easy.

Those new design quick trimmers that are cal specific are now affordable from the keen young bloke Chang-Chang and he does the development so they are up there with the original brand that was just too expensive for me to consider for every cal.
He made the Ugly Annealer and used special grippy finishes on the alloy wheels and other mods to make the machine run faultlessly.
Can find posts about his equipment on the Aussie Reloading FarceBook group.
I can search out the website for all his reloading stuff if you want.

Aussie Chinese, but credit where credit is due and he makes the stuff for half the price.

[GQshayne]

Robin, that case lube in the tub is very good, and favoured by many people. My preference now.

[Obie73]

I have the Hornady Lock n Load deluxe kit and it's great. Been using for about 2 years. I'm fairly new to it and before that I just used a Lee loader. I only reload for .357 mag for a rifle. I have Hornady dies and don't use any lube when resizing and don't have any problems so far. But should I spray oil inside the dies to stop corrosion after reloading? Thanks.