Tumbling question

[Oldgringo]

Well i am still waiting for some things that are on backorder before i can start rolling my own rounds so i figured that i would go ahead and tumble my brass.

1.Is there any advantage to depriming before tumbling?

2. I also saw a reference to some Winchester NT brass during a search on tumbling. Can someone enlighten me on this?

Mike

IMO:

1. No. the media can get stuck in the flash hole. Actually, I tumble after I've resized and primed to remove case lube and die marks.
2. What's the question?

Have fun and good luck.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Well i am still waiting for some things that are on backorder before i can start rolling my own rounds so i figured that i would go ahead and tumble my brass.

1.Is there any advantage to depriming before tumbling?

2. I also saw a reference to some Winchester NT brass during a search on tumbling. Can someone enlighten me on this?

Mike

One of the primary reasons for tumbling brass is to keep your dies clean. Your resizing and decapping die is going to get dirty if you use this procedure.

Chas.

[stroo]

Oldgringo:

You wrote: Actually, I tumble after I've resized and primed to remove case lube and die marks.


I always thought, although I don't know why, that if you tumbled after priming, the primers may not go off. I take it you have not found that to be a problem?

[tfrazier]

I've seen a thread at HR discussing Winchester NT brass, and the rumor is that large pistol primers do not fit...I have no idea if that's true or not.

And while we're talking about tumbling: Sooner or later someone is going to ask the recurring question: Is it safe to tumble loaded cartridges? I recently saw a YouTube video where an idiot actually recommended tumbling finished ammo to remove Alox lube from the exposed portion of the bullets.

The answer is no! You should NEVER tumble loaded ammo. The reason is not necessarily because a round might go off, but because tumbling will cause the powder to break up into even smaller bits, thus causing it to have a significantly faster burn rate. That makes it dangerous, obviously.

Best thing to do is follow the equipment manufacturer's instructions and don't go experimenting until you have amassed a lot of knowledge and experience...and even then make sure your life and medical insurance is up to date.

[tfrazier]

If vibrating breaks down the powder, then I suppose carrying it around in my car on a bumpy road would be just as bad.

A trip in your pocket or the back of the car even on the bumpiest of roads is nowhere near as consistently violent as a vibratory tumbler, so no, not anywhere close to as bad. But back in my early days of reloading when I couldn't afford a tumbler I used to throw all my brass in a five gallon bucket full of pecan shells, put the lid on it and let it roll around in the pickup bed for a couple of weeks. Did a pretty good job.

There are lots of folks out there that have done it for years and never noticed a problem. I'm just not going to take a chance.

And on every reloading forum I can find, there's a similar thread with half the folks saying it's perfectly safe and half (like me) saying it's dangerous. I do have a piece of paper at home that came with my tumbler that says NEVER tumble loaded ammo.

Then again, I've been filling my gas tank for thirty years with the engine running...and all the pumps say NEVER do that.

[Oldgringo]

Oldgringo:

You wrote: Actually, I tumble after I've resized and primed to remove case lube and die marks.


I always thought, although I don't know why, that if you tumbled after priming, the primers may not go off. I take it you have not found that to be a problem?

CLARIFICATION:

1. I usually tumble the primed shells and never had a problem with detonation yet. It may be days or weeks before I charge the cleaned, belled and primed shells. Are you not supposed to do this?

2. I DO NOT tumble loaded cartridges because I've already tumbled the cases plus the weight of the loaded cartridges would tear up my tumbler - sooner or later. I know that you're not supposed to run around with nitro glycerin in your britches but I've never heard of powder deterioration due to jostling. I reckon I can add that to the growing list of things I don't know.

You guys probably reload and shoot more in a day than I do in a month. Tell me if I'm doing it wrong, please.

[tfrazier]

1. I usually tumble the primed shells and never had a problem with detonation yet. It may be days or weeks before I charge the cleaned, belled and primed shells. Are you not supposed to do this?...
...Tell me if I'm doing it wrong, please.

Wrong is a subjective term. I don't do it because:
A. I don't want dirty/gritty brass going through my dies.
B. I don't see the point in priming and then tumbling...would encompass extra steps, but then I have a progressive reloader.
C. There's no telling what effect the crazy concoction of Turtle Wax Liquid Clay Polish and Formula 1 spray cleaning wax I mix with my tumbling media would have on the primers.

If you're having no problems with your method and have been doing it for a long time, who am I to tell you it's wrong?

Sombody else should tell you that...

[Oldgringo]

1. I usually tumble the primed shells and never had a problem with detonation yet. It may be days or weeks before I charge the cleaned, belled and primed shells. Are you not supposed to do this?...
...Tell me if I'm doing it wrong, please.

Wrong is a subjective term. I don't do it because:
A. I don't want dirty/gritty brass going through my dies.
B. I don't see the point in priming and then tumbling...would encompass extra steps, but then I have a progressive reloader.
C. There's no telling what effect the crazy concoction of Turtle Wax Liquid Clay Polish and Formula 1 spray cleaning wax I mix with my tumbling media would have on the primers.

If you're having no problems with your method and have been doing it for a long time, who am I to tell you it's wrong?

Sombody else should tell you that...

Thanks, a long time as relative to...?

Mine is an older, but adequate, single stage RCBS loader and this sequence works for me. I tumble after sizing and priming to get rid of the case lube on my shells. Your comments about dirty/gritty brass in my CARBON STEEL dies are noted, I'll study on that situation.

[CDH]

Pistol and rifle get different answers...

Pistol: Tumble and then size/deprime, as it knocks out the bit of polishing media form the flash hole and you should be using carbide dies without any lube. Lubing pistol brass adds way more time than the cost of carbide (or nitride from Hornady) is worth IMHO.

Rifle: tumble twice, once short to remove any grit and thereby prevent scratched/ruined dies, then lube and size normally. I then wipe down to get the bulk of lube off and tumble until shiny. I'll then go back with a jewelers flat screwdriver and clean the primer pocket and punch out any stuck media from the flash hole.

Alt rifle: If you trust your wipe down to get the lube off your brass, you can do a full tumble once before depriming/sizing, but I don't. YMMV.

[CDH]

Ref: tumbling loaded ammo

I read a very good writeup a few years back about tumbling loaded ammo. A guy assembled a batch of match prepped ammo and them proceeded to chrono them 10 rounds at a time after tumbling something like 0, 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8 16... hours. He found only a couple of % change in velocity after an obnoxiously long tumbling time and nothing after over 8 hours that was outside experimental error. Some day I'll repeat that experiment with pistol ammo to see if it follows the trend...right after about 10+ other similar experiments I want to run.

A short tumble to remove lube shouldn't hurt anything...but I still wouldn't leave them in overnight.

[dweyant]

I talked to Dillon about his a few months ago when I was having some trouble with my .223 cases sticking.

The gentelman I spoke with suggested that I tumble my finished .223 round to remove the lube. He said give it 10-15 minutes and it would be fine.

So far it has been...

-Dan