Is it OK to wash reloaded .223 ammo in soap and water to remove case lube?

[Traffer]

I would put them in piles on towels and just mush them around till most of the excess lube was gone. But I can get too scientific and technical at times.

 

[fguffey]

I know about not firing lubed rounds because of chamber grip and headspace so my question

The argument there was lube your cases and not worry about head space of the chamber and clearance.

I want nothing between the case body and chamber but air. I do not want a lot if air. Air works, it if fluid, it flows and it can be compressed. Unless air is contaminated with grit, dirt and or grime air is not abrasive. If my cases have lube on them dirt, grit and grime can imbed into the lube; for that reason I choose not to leave lube on the case.

I want my case to lock onto the chamber. I do not want my case moving; I off set the length of the chamber from the shoulder of the chamber to the bolt face with the length of the case from the shoulder to the case head.

There were a few bench resters that thought it was a good to lube cases when they fire formed. I disagreed. Then there is the Japanese machine gun that was a failure unless the cases were lubed. Because of all the sand, dirt, grit and grime kicked up during bottle I believe the Japanese would have preferred not to use lube on all those sandy beaches. The Japanese machine gun fired about 7 rounds a second’ our 30 cal Browning ran about 8 rounds a second without lube.

Discipline when reloading; I tumble then lubes then size then tumble the cases again. Then there is the mistake made when lube is left on the case during storage. Again, I want nothing between the case and chamber but air.

F. Guffey

 

[GBExpat]

I would put them in piles on towels and just mush them around till most of the excess lube was gone. But I can get too scientific and technical at times.

<chuckle> "mush them around" ... I will add that to my list of off-putting technical terminology.

 

[lightman]

Years ago a friend with a gun shop sold reloaded ammo. I've seen him put loaded ammo in a coffee can full of solvent and slosh them around. He never had any problems that I know of. Still, I would not do that. Personally I don't want lube on my loaded ammo. I would put some solvent on a towel and roll (mush) them around a little. I prefer to degrease them as a separate step before loading them.

 

[fguffey]

I've seen him put loaded ammo in a coffee can full of solvent and slosh them around. He never had any problems that I know of. Still, I would not do that.

Nor would I. There is always a chance the case could leak around the bullet or primer; who knows? I have no interest in checking; I do have the equipment.

I pulled down 450 loaded rounds. All were belted magnum; of the 450 cases 90% would have fired. The 10% that would hot have fired were corroded and or the powder had gone bad. I save the cases and bullets then dumped the powder. The cases had been in 1971 and 1972. The cases had been lubed when sized but had not been tumbled. To clean the outside of the cases I used alcohol on a towel then tumbled.

F. Guffey