Hornady Unique

[hdwhit]

Does anyone use Hornady Unique case lube?

If so, how do you apply it?

I've been using my fingers just like it says on the tub, but no matter how little I use, it seems that every so often I will get an accumulation of it and dent a case neck. I've tried everything I can think of including just using the residue from lubing the body of cases to just barely lubricate around the case mouth with none that the neck and it still seems to accumulate.

I have cleaned the vent hole in the die. In fact, using Unique, I find myself cleaning the vent hole about every twenty-five rounds. Any suggestions?

 

[GBExpat]

I use it with .32-20 cases and have experienced no problems.

Just enough on my fingers/thumb (I touch the Unique tub again with my index finger about every 10-15 cases) to make the case a tiny bit "greasy" does the trick for me. So far, I have had no accumulation-in-resizing-die issue.

Sorry that I could be no help to you.

 

[adcoch1]

I have found that i wipe a finger lightly across the top of the tub for the first few cases then every third or fourth case. I roll the caseneck and top half of the case body between the greased finger and my thumb, then kind of wipe the excess with my thumb. After a dozen or so cases i have a greasy finger and thumb, but i always make sure the cases are just tacky with the lube, not slathered in it. No problem with this method, and i err on the side of not enough instead of too much. Seems to work great and never a stuck case...

Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

 

[Ifishsum]

I use my fingers - only takes a little bit, if the case is slippery at all it should be enough. I also only apply the lube to the bottom 2/3 of the case, keeping it well below the shoulders and just a trace (if any) on the neck. If a case is going to stick it's usually at the bottom 1/3 of the case.

 

[hdwhit]

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions.

After I posted this thread, my wife suggested that I try using a make-up applicator. It looks like a Q-tip, but the cotton on the end is much more tightly wound so it is almost like a fabric. It worked surprisingly well. I would rub the applicator across the surface of the tub of Unique and then just "paint" the walls and mouth of the case. The cotton absorbed and held enough that there was no excess on the case. No dented shoulder. No build-up in the die. No plugged vent hole.

The other end of the applicator is pointed and just the right diameter to lube in the inside of a .223 case mouth (which I do even though I use a carbide expander ball).

There is some waste doing this as the applicator "holds on" to some of the Unique and it will be discarded along with the applicator when head gets dirty enough that it stops picking up the lubricant (and instead just sort of spreads it around) but my first time trying this, one applicator lasted for about 150 cases, so this is definitely something I will try again.

 

[cfullgraf]

I have found that i wipe a finger lightly across the top of the tub for the first few cases then every third or fourth case.

I also run dry cases through the sizing die to pick up the excess lube. I not only do this with the paste lube like Hornady Unique (I use Imperial) but also with a case lube pad and RCBS's lubricant.

The number of dry cases varies for me as it depends on how much lubricant gets applied to the case. I have developed a feel when it is time to run a lubricated through the die.

Not so much with the paste lubricants, once an application process is settled on, the cases are lubricated pretty uniformly. But with the case lub pad, when it is freshly oiled, it applies more lubricant to the case than later when the lubricant on the pad has been consumed.

But, always err on the safe side and do not run too many dry cases through the sizing die. A stuck case will certainly upset your day.

I tend to apply lubricant only to the body and try to keep it off the necks. Lubricant on the body will migrate up to the neck and shoulder area during sizing.

Too much lubricant build up in the neck and shoulder area can cause dents in the shoulder. If the dents are not ultra severe, they are only a cosmetic thing and will blow out on the next shooting.

I also get a little lubricant inside the necks to aid with the neck passing over the sizing button.