I've written before on Microlon Gun Juice*, mostly about using it on firearms. I think I've mentioned it being useful for other things, too. Had a comment the other day: ...I understand that you used micro lon on your reloading dies. I would like to know how you did and what you found. I have never had a stuck case, but he said that you were not even oiling and were having no problems.... so I thought I'd expand on that particular use.
If you handload, you know that the only place you can normally resize cases without lubing them is with straightwall cases such as .45acp, .38 Special/.357 Mag and such when using either carbide or titanium nitride(TiN)-coated sizing dies; those dies are hard and slick enough to get by without it. And even then a touch of lube is suggested for some cases such as .30 Carbine(I have read that people doing LARGE numbers of cases suggest a light bit of lube, carbide or no). In just about any other case and die, running a case in without lube means the case gets stuck. BAD stuck. As I put it before, "teenage girls on Orlando Bloom-level stuck". This usually requires a stuck case removal kit, and sometimes a trip for the die back to the manufacturer to get it out without damaging the die.
Having had good results from Gun Juice, I decided to try it on my dies. I took my Lee .30-06 dies apart and cleaned the sizing die and the neck expander plug with solvent and made sure there were no traces of lube left behind. Then, it being a hot, sunny day, I put them in the sun for a while to get hot and then gave them a coat, putting them back in the sun for the volatiles to evaporate**. I did this five times, then reassembled.
I'm paranoid enough that I did not intend to use the dies dry, I was looking for both a way to need as little lube as possible, and a safety factor. I didn't use a scale when pulling the press handle down, but after the treatment I did notice that it took less pressure to run the cases in. So I treated all my sizing dies except the carbide and TiN with it, and also treated the neck-expander plugs of the dies that have them. Good results with all.
This went happily along until a few months later when I was resizing a BUNCH of .30-06 cases(I'd had a good day picking up once-fired stuff at the range). I usually lube a whole bunch of cases- using Lee Resizing Lube at the time- setting each handful aside while I do the next, then when done with all of them start sizing with the first batch***. I was merrily sizing away, when I noticed that the case I'd just run through had seemed a bit more difficult. So did the next. And now that I think about it, so did the previous few. I grabbed that last few and the rest of that handful and found that I'd missed them: not a trace of lube. So I'd done eight before I noticed a problem, and even the last two(total of ten) went in & out with no problem. Something that would normally have left me with a stuck case on the first one became a "Damn, that's neat!" moment.
Like I say, I'd mostly been looking for a bit less effort in sizing and a safety factor, and I got both. Now, when I buy a new set of dies the first thing I do is degrease them and hit them with at least five coats of Gun Juice. A little goes a long way, and the stuff is worth every penny.
*They also make the stuff for engines. Tried it in my bike and liked the results. Going to do my truck when I can.
**I now have a heat gun and use it to warm things up. However, a warm day and outside does keep the aroma down. They do warn you to use in a well-ventilated area.
***I tried something with the Lee Lube. It's a thick white cream that's water soluble. So I put a dab on my palm, added a few drops of water and rubbed my palms together, then laid a half-dozen cases in one hand and rubbed them together again. I found I could get about a dozen or more rifle cases at a time this way with a very thin coat, and by the time I finished the whole bunch the first handful were dry. Or I could leave them a while and size them later, just like the undiluted lube.
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