Hornady LNL grease zerks

[Spartacus451]

I am new to the whole grease zerk thing. The manual has no recommendation/instructions for using them in the maintenance section yet they there they are... taunting me. I assume it isn't necessary but curiousity compels me to find out if I can take advantage of them. Can I wipe down the ram without removing all the grease? What grease should I use if any and how should I apply it?

 

[CheyennePilot]

Try some Lithium Bearing grease. It works great on auto front ends, so should work well on your reloader.

CheyennePilot

 

[Luggernut]

Ariel- I use just regular wheel bearing grease. Lube it when the zerks align with the grease ring on the ram. Honestly... I don't lube it too much... instead I add regular oil to the ram manually... about every 1000 rounds or so.

 

[zxcvbob]

Notice that the zerks are pressed in. That probably means they can be pressed back out with hydraulic pressure if you get too happy with the grease gun.

 

[Spartacus451]

Tried it,

and the ram now takes more force to move. I guess the general purpose lithium grease I have is too heavy. I wiped it down and put oil on and it is easy again. I don't get the point of the zerk for the ram when you can lube the ram directly. Isn't a zerk only useful when you can't access the surface that needs to be lubed? I also don't understand how the grease ring is supposed to function better then just wiping the grease on.

Time to leave it alone.

 

[Darth Muffin]

I used mobil-1 chassis grease because it's what was in my grease gun, it works fine. As adweisbe mentioned, it does make the ram a little stiff for the first hundred rounds or so, then it loosens up and works great. I've still got a nice coating of grease on there and it's been almost a year. I doubt I'll need to grease it but once every other year.