Dillon lube....I'm now a believer!

[EBR Works]

I have been having terrible problems resizing .50 Beowulf brass with sticking and chattering in both my CH4D and Lee dies. My usual lube for tough to resize cases, Imperial Sizing Wax, absolutely does not work for this caliber. I had a bottle of Dillon lube from my last Midway order that I was meaning to try so I cleaned the dies completely with solvent and let them dry. I followed the Dillon lube instructions to the letter and sprayed the inside of the clean dies and the brass allowing them 5+ minutes of dry time. I inserted a case into the press and fully expected a stuck case.....but noooo. Absolutely no resistance to insertion into the die and smooth withdrawal. Wow, great stuff!

[ar15barrels]

Get two shoebox lids.
It's important that they are cardboard.
Start a batch of brass, maybe enough to cover 2/3 of the lid (one layer deep) and give it a couple squirts, then shake the cases back and forth so they roll around and spread the lube around.
Let that sit for 3-4 minutes to dry.
Then start the other shoebox lid the same way.
By the time you get through sizing one lid full of brass, the other lid will be ready.
Each time you finish one lid, re-fill it with brass, re-lube and set it aside.

[EBR Works]

Hey Randall, how are you removing the Dillon lube from your brass? The .50 Beo is very sensitive to brass that is not perfectly clean, from what I have read. Even perfectly clean brass is sooted at normal load levels from inadequate obturation.

[ar15barrels]

Hey Randall, how are you removing the Dillon lube from your brass? The .50 Beo is very sensitive to brass that is not perfectly clean, from what I have read. Even perfectly clean brass is sooted at normal load levels from inadequate obturation.

Tumble it for an hour or so.

This is the problem with all the bigbore AR-15 cartridges.
The backthrust limit of the AR-15 bolt is well below the normal pressure that brass cases work at to seal up properly.

https://www.ar15barrels.com/data/thrust.xls

For this same reason, you can't use primer appearance to judge pressure either.
Sometimes you can use handgun primers and read them though.

[EBR Works]

Thought of that, but this necessitates usage of a universal decap die in my progressive to clear the flash holes of any tumbler debris. Guess I'll have to get one.

Thanks for the cool spreadsheet!

The Beo uses LPM primers, so would those adequately convey correct pressure sign? So far, I'm sticking with AA factory load specs and haven't tried to "improve".

[ar15barrels]

The Beo uses LPM primers, so would those adequately convey correct pressure sign?

I doubt it.
That case is so big that you have to keep pressures down around 35,000 psi.
Some magnum primers may show signs at that level, but many won't.
Federal are softer and would probably show pressure signs the soonest.

[EBR Works]

Thanks for the great info....as usual.