SmallCaliberCentral

What are you guys using to lube the ram on your press?
I am using a silicone spray, but I have worn out my press in about 5 years.

I have always rubbed a very light coating of oil, something like 3-1 or even Ballistol on my press rams. The old C&H is still going since bought in 1955, the Herter's, double ram, around 1960 and my old standby, Rock Chucker, from the 60's ( I believe) sure not worrying about wearing them out and they have done thousands of rifle and pistol cases. Bill K

Keeping a press clean and all the crap from depriming wiped or flushed off is a major thing.
I know several people that deprme and then clean their brass before resizing.
I have four progressive presses, two RC and a Forster coax. Bought one of the five gallon bucket shop vacs and clean up majority of stuff with that then a good flush or wipe down if not both.
Pivot point I grease if I can. Rams get oil, seems oil doesn’t attract crud as bad.

I've tried 3n1 oil, silicone and other types of lube sprays, all work well but you still need to clean/lube on a regular basis IMO. I have a mid 80's vintage LEE single stage that I deprime on and it gets pretty dirty from that function, so it gets cleaned/lubed more often than the other LEE single stage I use for all other reloading functions. Both are still going strong IMO but I don't load the magnum calibers.

I was told by a person at Dillon to use mobile one synthetic… Works good on their press and I use it on my others too. Again, have to keep it clean and lubed.

triggerfingers wrote: ↑Thu Nov 12, 2020 8:04 amI was told by a person at Dillon to use mobile one synthetic… Works good on their press and I use it on my others too. Again, have to keep it clean and lubed.

Lots of good suggestions there. I wore out my old Rockchucker after 35 years of use, and it was always kept properly lubed. It's a machine, so machines wear out, period. It was replaced with a Redding Pro-Mag press. Nothing wrong with the Rockchucker, I just wanted something a bit more robust.

I'm of the belief that virtually any quality lube is sufficient for a reloading press, (it's not high pressure, high heat/intensity) but as has been mentioned, it also must be kept clean.

At this point in time, I'm more concerned with the availability of components, especially with a new anti-gun libtard administration ready to take over.

It is and has been time to really stock up and go into covert operations, with a lot of our toys and supplies. It is going to get really bad with Biden/Harris and their followers in place and putting into their agenda and moving the USA onto the path that Venesuela and other's fell for. Bill K