The most significant advantage of spray-on lubes is, of course, the time they save. Rather than lining up eight or 10 cases at a time for a roll across the lube pad, just line them all up on a sheet of cardboard or some other surface that you don’t mind making greasy and give them a quick spritz. Allow the lube a minute or two to spread, then roll ’em and spray the other side. You can lube many cases in short order.
Most spray-on lubes have an alcohol-based carrier or some other fast-drying agent. Give the sprayed cases a couple of minutes to allow the carrier to vaporize and then commence to sizing the cases.
Another advantage of spray-on lubing is that you evenly coat the neck and shoulder—portions typically difficult to lube with a roll pad—along with the body of the case.
Although some reloaders promote lightly lubing the inside of case mouths, I’m in the opposite camp. I don’t like the thought of inconsistent amounts of lube holding bullets with varying tension or of migrating lubes potentially “killing” some of the propellant. However, if you want your inside necks lubed, spray-on lubes can facilitate that, too. Instead of spraying the laid-out cases from the base end, as I do, spray them from the forward end, which allows just a little of the lube mist to enter the case mouths.
Most of today’s spray-on lubes work well. The following is not a comprehensive list, but here’s a look at the characteristics and advantages of three spray-on lubes I have extensive personal experience with and have found particularly useful.
Hornady One Shot
One Shot differs from the others detailed here. It’s a dry lube. Carried in a fast-drying liquid agent, it is a non-petroleum lube that does not contaminate primers or propellant and does not need to be wiped off after sizing—a significant advantage in the minds of many shooters. Unlike with the other two lubes, I don’t worry about traces of One Shot entering the mouths of my cases, so I don’t take the time to line the cases all up in rows and angle the spray from the base ends—I just dump the cases in a shallow cardboard tray and hose ’em down.
In my experience, it does not offer quite the slickness and effortless sizing as the other two lubes, but for easy-to-size cases, it’s the simplest of the three to apply and doesn’t require cleanup. Moreover, if lubed cases seem a bit hard to size, that’s easily solved with another blast of One Shot. It also contains DynaGlide Plus, an agent touted to prevent case tarnish and improve ejection. I use this on almost all handgun cases and a large batch of .223 reloads. Available in stores, it’s sold in seven-ounce containers for $11.
Royal Case & Die Lube
Touted as “smooth as butter, sweet as honey,” this lube is produced and marketed by SharpShoot-R Precision Products. It goes on a bit thicker than the other spray-on lubes discussed here, but it wipes of easily after sizing and in my experience is the ultimate case lube for tough sizing jobs. I use it exclusively on all big magnum rife cases and for all case forming operations.
Don’t know just what’s in it, but it smells wonderful. However, it isn’t a breath freshener or perfume. The label warns, “Harmful or fatal if swallowed. May cause eye & skin irritation.” So be careful where you spray it and be sure to wash your hands after sizing your cases.
Like the other two, it protects against corrosion, and it’s non-gumming. Residue left on cases won’t make them rubbery over time.
Dillon Case Lube
One of the first great spray-on case sizing lubes, Dillon’s Case Lube answered the needs of hand-loaders cranking out mass quantities of ammo on progressive presses. It is made of lanolin—the miracle lube found in sheep’s wool—based in isopropyl alcohol. It’s the same good stuff in many hand salves and even most salves for nursing mothers. The two ingredients will separate if left to sit on the shelf, so shake well before spraying.
I think Dillon’s Case Lube offers characteristics perfect for use on large quantities of forgiving-to-reload calibers, from straight-walled handgun cases to medium-size bottlenecked rife cases. It applies easily, spreads evenly, and lubes cases well for easy sizing.
Some shooters claim that if applied sparingly there’s no need to wipe it of after loading, but I always clean of the residual lube with a clean rag. Of the three lubes discussed here, Dillon’s is the only one in a non-aerosol bottle, which will please environment-minded shooters. Available in stores, it’s sold in eight-ounce containers for $9.