If you don't reload, the phrase 'stuck case' won't induce the same mix of terror and rage it does to us alchemists(as the Gun Guy calls us reloaders). So I'll explain a bit.
To reload cases, once you have some to reload(obtaining fired cases being an activity worthy all on its' own), the first step is resizing. You take the case, a resizing die set up in a press, and run the case into the die. The die usually does three things: first, it squeezes the case back down to standard unfired dimensions; second, a rod sticks way down into the case and through the flashhole and punches the fired primer out; third, when the case is sized it makes the neck area smaller than it should be, so there's a hardened steel button on the depriming rod, and as you pull the case out of the die the button expands the case neck to proper dimensions.
With a few exceptions- straight-walled pistol and rifle cartridges and a very few bottleneck rifle cartridges- the die is hardened steel with the inside very smoothly polished. The exceptions noted above have a ring made of carbide or a ring plated with titanium nitride that actually does the sizing. These two are extremely hard, and when polished have an extremely slick surface, so you can generally get by without lubing the cases. However, if you run a dry case into a standard steel die, the case will get stuck. WILL get stuck. Not 'pull a little harder on the lever' stuck or 'get something and tap on it' stuck. STUCK. We're talking teenage girls stuck on Orlando Bloom level here. You now have the options of getting a stuck case remover kit or taking the die apart and using a punch to hammer the case out, both of which ruin the case. And if you get careless, ruin the die. And they ain't cheap.
Enter Microlon. Yes, the same people who make the engine treatment I used on the bike. They make a stuff called Gun Juice for firearms. I've written about it before, mainly on cutting down fouling problems in barrels, and did a full review over at Mad Ogre's place in the weapons section. It slicked barrels up so well, and it mentioned using it on dies, so I stripped and cleaned my dies that aren't nitride or carbide and treated them. It did make a noticeable difference in the force needed to run cases in & out. And then...
A couple of weeks ago I had about a hundred .30-06 rifle cases to resize. Lubed them up and started. I generally put on some music for this stuff, so I'm cranking along when I notice that this case was kind of stubborn. And thought about it and realized the last half-dozen had been a bit stubborn. I grabbed that last few, and the next couple, and found that I'd somehow missed lubing about ten cases, six of which I'd run through the die.
This was flat amazing. No stuck cases when normally the first one would have jammed tight. So I'm definately a believer in this stuff. If you decide to try it, you can order it from Brownells, or straight from the company here.
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