Hornady One Shot case lube

[Scott Tschirhart]

Has anyone have experience with using this lube on revolver cases? Do you have to tumble it off after you size?

[GunnyMack]

I have used it, rifle cases though. I had mixed results, small case it worked just fine, bigger than 308 I had cases stick. I didn't bother cleaning them afterwards.
I then tried Frankford Arsenal's alcohol based spray and I'd buy it again. Although I still sometimes use a lube pad.

[Old No7]

I use carbide dies for straight-walled handgun reloads, but when I use it on my .222, .250 Savage or 6.5x55 Swede rifle reloads I do wipe off the necks after sizing and before seating the bullets. You can feel it on the necks if you don't wipe it off, but for what I use it for, it's my go-to lube.

Old No7

[LeverGunner]

I have used it for 30-30 and I always remove it. It says you do not have to remove it, but I do as I don't want any extra bolt thrust on my 94.

[Griff]

I have carbide dies for my straight wall cases, but use it for rifle cases that are tapered or bottle-necked. I don't bother to clean it off. The only two bottle-necked cases I load on the Dillon 550 are .44-40 & 5.56. I'll stand about 20-25 cases up on a piece of paper towel on the bench and spray them from a rather low angle, really just a light dusting rather than a "wet" spray. The few minutes this takes, put the cap back on, settle back down on the stool and begin loading cases the lube has already begun evaporating. Given the room on my bench, I can't really spray more. If I'm doing larger rifle cases on the Rock Chucker, I have more room, and spray the cases in lots of 50.

[wvfarrier]

Its a waste of money IMHO. It does not lube well enough

[bmtshooter]

My experience has been that it works well if you read and follow the directions. No need to clean it off afterwards.
But my revolver shooting is 38 special and 357 where I use carbide dies. No case lube needed.

[Walt]

I agree with wvfarrier - it simply does not lubricate well enough. I used it for years, putting up with the lubed cases chattering in the resizing dies. About 10 years ago I tried Hornady Unique Case Lube which comes in a small tub and have been using it ever since. I dab my finger into the lube, lube the case body and neck, scrape the small remnant that's left on my finger onto the case mouth and it works great. But yes, I do have to wipe down the cases.I stay as far away from RCBS case lube as I can. I use carbide sizing dies on all my straight-walled cartridges.

[COSteve]

Its a waste of money IMHO. It does not lube well enough

Agreed!

When I first started with rifle brass a friend gave me some One Shot to try. It did not go well as the 3 case got stuck in my resizing die and it took days to get it out. That's when he told me that he gave it to me because he didn't like it. I bought some Dillon lube and have been using it since with never a stuck case.

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

Well, I've used Crisco, Pam and other various spray on cooking oils, Hornady One Shot, Dillon and some home made stuff I cook up with lanolin and alcohol. Lately I've been using Ballistol spray and I still use Hornady One Shot. I like Hornady One Shot, but I think I may be lubing mine differently than most folks. Hornady One shot definitely does not have the lubricity that other lubes have. I've never stuck a case and I do use it on cartridges like 30-06, 30-30 and 30-40 for example, but I really like it for loading 5.56/223 stuff.

I put the brass in a plastic coffee container and give it a good shot, say three to five seconds, put the lid on and shake it. Let it sit for a few minutes and repeat. I like to get plenty in the case mouth if I'm using a die with an expander ball. I don't set it out to dry, I size it from the coffee container and it's still sometimes wet.

I always tumble it in soap and water after.

Tumbling brass is a necessity with any of the other stuff like Ballistol that I use, so I also tumble with Hornady One Shot whether I need to or not. Just part of my process---I've learned most everyone has different approaches to parts of their reloading. But I get good results, so I stick with it unless someone convinces to try something different. Plus it's like cooking and a bottle of wine----it's pretty darn enjoyable.

[marlinman93]

I started using One Shot as soon as it came out, and on everything I reloaded for. It's great for rifle and pistol brass and no reason to clean or do anything after brass is sized and loaded. I suppose if you got it on too heavy it might case an issue, but never had any myself. I use an old large Tupperware container to lay out brass on the bottom, and then give it a light coat. I then shake it around to stir up the brass and give it another light coat. Let it dry a few minutes and start sizing it.
I like it so much I buy it by the case whenever I run low, or whenever I see a sale on it.

[OldWin]

I use it on all handgun cartridges, and rifle up to 30-30. On thicker bottle necked cases I think there are better options. I always just wipe the cases off with a paper towel after sizing.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Some background. I’ve used One Shot on brand new cases as they tend to grab the expander on the powder stage of the Dillon 550. Otherwise there’s a struggle to pull cases out of the powder die and it sometimes scatters powder when the case breaks loose.

Once the case is fired, it won’t stick.

But I wonder if I should try using lube on all of my cases to keep from working them so hard?

I use a carbide sizing die, but that isn’t where the brass is really worked. It’s more about when the case mouth is expanded and again when the crimp is applied.

[Walt]

Scott, I've always had the impresson that the brass that sticks to the powder/expander die the worst in the Dillon 550 is .38 and .357. An at least partial solution is to put new brass, which is the worst offender, into my vibratory tumbler for ten minutes or so. It seems that the powder resulting from the gradual breakup of the corn cob lubricates the brass to some extent. I have long meant to call and ask Dillon if they know of a solution. Would grooving the expander in order to decrease the bearing surface help? I'll have to ask.

[Walt]

Just got off the phone with Dillon's tech support and the guy with whom I spoke did not have a solution. He admitted that virgin brass and brass cleaned with pins and dish soap were the worst in terms of sticking to the expander die. He stated that the best method might be using a case lube. I asked him what he thought about cutting narrow radial grooves into the expander die to decrease the bearing surface and he thought that might create ripples in the brass. It seems to me that if the brass is chamfered prior to loading that it could not catch on the grooves of the die. I may have to sacrifice an expander die to find out.

Also, regarding the resistance encountered when crimping the brass, although I have Lee Factory Crimp dies for all my handgun calibers, I have all but written them off. There is a lot of friction as the loaded cartridge goes into the die. I have conventional seat and crimp dies that I now use instead. I ordered additional seating dies and removed the seating stems from the dies that I now use exclusively for crimping. Lee Factory Crimp dies work great for really hot loads that might otherwise pull the bullets in the cylinder but I rarely load anything that hot any more.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I like the standard Dillon crimp die and that’s pretty much what I use.

Thanks for sharing your experience guys.

[Jared]

I generally spritz my straight wall cases with one shot before loading them, and never bother to wipe them off. It drys and doesn’t cause any problem. It makes sizing easier in carbide dies and can help with expander drag on virgin brass.

Every bottle neck case I have stuck in a die has been using it so it is relegated to making sizing easier with carbide dies and I don’t use it with steel dies.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Just got off the phone with Dillon's tech support and the guy with whom I spoke did not have a solution. He admitted that virgin brass and brass cleaned with pins and dish soap were the worst in terms of sticking to the expander die. He stated that the best method might be using a case lube. I asked him what he thought about cutting narrow radial grooves into the expander die to decrease the bearing surface and he thought that might create ripples in the brass. It seems to me that if the brass is chamfered prior to loading that it could not catch on the grooves of the die. I may have to sacrifice an expander die to find out.

Also, regarding the resistance encountered when crimping the brass, although I have Lee Factory Crimp dies for all my handgun calibers, I have all but written them off. There is a lot of friction as the loaded cartridge goes into the die. I have conventional seat and crimp dies that I now use instead. I ordered additional seating dies and removed the seating stems from the dies that I now use exclusively for crimping. Lee Factory Crimp dies work great for really hot loads that might otherwise pull the bullets in the cylinder but I rarely load anything that hot any more.

Thanks for checking on this Walt. I’m starting to get some splits in .45 Colt cases and I’ve never kept track of how many times I’ve shot them. To me, they are a gasket and I don’t lose sleep over losing some. So I bought a couple of hundred Starline replacements and had the predictable grab on the expander for the first time in a very long time.


I’m going to play with the Hornady One shot to get these loaded at least. But I’m thinking about using it on my other brass just to see.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I generally spritz my straight wall cases with one shot before loading them, and never bother to wipe them off. It drys and doesn’t cause any problem. It makes sizing easier in carbide dies and can help with expander drag on virgin brass.

Thank you. I think that’s the plan for now.

[6pt-sika]

I used that stuff when I first started reloading metallic cartridges . Not to long after I went to “Imperial Sizing Die Wax” and soon there after I started using Redding’s graphite ceramic balls to line the inside the neck . Think I’ve been using those two Redding products for atleast 25 years now .

[Walt]

Scott, my shooting partner keeps track of how many times his brass has been loaded. His Starline brass seems to last the longest, not surprisingly. Standard pressure loads in .45 Colt have lasted well over 30 reloadings. He does not anneal his brass and replaces it as soon as cracks are visible.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I load hunting rounds in relatively new brass, but after those are fired they go into a bucket and get loaded to fairly standard specs.

I don’t anneal either