Oil or grease your ram ?

[4t5]

I have a Hornady lnl single stage press , I usually wipe it down with a paper towel lightly oiled after I’m done , how ever now it is binding slightly , I’m wondering if a little red grease would be better ? What do you guys recommend ?

[GunnyMack]

My old RCBS single stage I tried all sorts of lubes, grease tends to gather too much gritty carbon from depriming. Oil seems to just run down the shaft. I finally settled on a dry lube, doesn't run or collect grit.

[4t5]

Thanks , that makes sense , I think I will take this apart and clean it , and try that !

[Walt]

I have read that Dillon recommends engine oil for their rams.

[marlinman93]

I've just used some gun oil on the ram of my Rock Chucker for decades now. I rarely wipe it down as wiping off oil just means adding more oil. I wipe the press down, but not the shaft on the press. I don't use my press to deprime or prime as I use a hand tool to deprime and prime cases. So I don't get all that dirt on my press.

[4t5]

May be time to put an old can of marvel mystery oil to good use.

[Drawdown]

Ive just recently got some Birchwood Casey Moly Lube, a Spray on Dry Lube, might do well on Presses? I got it to try on my Leverguns, and maybe a Auto 30-06. Recently cleaned all the actions, and sprayed em with Gun Scrubber. Then sprayed on the Moly. First opinion is it works, especially good big surfaces such as the Bolt & Hammer, Locking Lugs. I didn't disassemble the bolt-firing pin, but in these tight area's where old oil gathers dust, gunks up, the Moly is gonna be really good there! Will definitely use it for this whenever i disassemble and clean them! But also, the spray is easy to control, for frequent reapplications to the lever pins, bolt rails, etc.
From here on thru spring I'll pack a levergun in woods often, and occasionally reapply Moly only takes a minute! Wipe off just little excess, its dry in less than a minute, good to go! I believe it'll be a good Lube on a hunting gun, won't gather grit in every nook & groove! Probably put it on my press soon.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I use grease.

[GunnyMack]

May be time to put an old can of marvell mystery oil to good use.

That's great stuff! Put it in your crankcase about 1000 mi before an oil change, helps remove sludge/deposits.
Gives leather a nice red color.
Nice honing oil.
Add to your gas to clean injectors.
The list goes on and on!

Scott, that's the way to use grease, a zerk installed and lube from the inside out! Helps keep dirt on the outside.

[samsi]

I've used a bunch of stuff, but just yesterday mine started getting a little bound up and I grabbed can of RemOil and gave it 2 light shots, ran it up and down and wiped it off. It started working slick as could be immediately. I'm going to use it again the next time to see if it was a fluke.

[Griff]

I use grease.

+1!