Tumbling

[PMD354]

Does anyone here tumble thier brass leaving the fired primers in and resize and deprime later? I was just wondering if there was anyway to get around picking media out of the primer pockets. I'm talking about 38 special, 357 mag, 9mm, 44 mag and 45 ACP.

 

[44man]

yep, that's exactly how I do it. never had a problem. I do try and keep my media clean so I don't have problems pushing real dirty brass into my dies.

 

[BUFF7MM]

I tumble then size everything. But after sizing my bottleneck cases I'll tumble them again for a bit to get rid of the lube. I also run all cases thru a media seperator and I've never had any media hung up in the flash hole or primer pockets.

 

[tony b]

Either way is fine, really just comes down to you and what works for you.

 

[PMD354]

Thanks, I just got 500 once fired 38's and I'm going to try the tumble first method.

 

[Weber]

I tumble when I get home from the range.

Lube, decap, trim and size, and expand when I'm ready, and then clean lube off in either ultra sonic or tumbler, package and store ready to be loaded.

 

[coopermania]

I tumble when I get home from the range.

Lube, decap, trim and size, and expand when I'm ready, and then clean lube off in either ultra sonic or tumbler, package and store ready to be loaded.

Weber you should size before you trim.
Lube,decap,size and trim

 

[Weber]

Weber you should size before you trim.
Lube,decap,size and trim

I size and trim at the same time with one pull of the lever...

 

[j8064]

Clean reloadable cases are a must. I reload MANY different calibers so some cases are processes differently. As a general rule:
- All range cases are sorted and tumbled with spent primers in place. That removes range crud that would mix with lube and foul my dies.
- Tumbled and batched cases are then lubed (when necessary) and resized/decapped and trimmed.
- Most cases receive a second tumble to remove lube and add shine.
- Before priming, primer pockets and flash holes are visually inspected for debris. Dirty primer pockets usually get cleaned with a tool.

Each of us is personally responsible for the safety of our reloads. Leave any and ALL mistakes on the reloading bench!

 

[coopermania]

I size and trim at the same time with one pull of the lever...

Even better... Dillons Trimmer ?

 

[Weber]

Even better... Dillons Trimmer ?

 

[coopermania]

Sorry I am on my phone, I can't open the picture.

 

[bmorewineguy]

I tumble, load the round and then tumble the finished round to get the lube off. after a few loadings I tumble, lube, deprime and size, trim and clean primer pockets, run through resizing die again and load.

 

[j8064]

I tumble, load the round and then tumble the finished round to get the lube off. after a few loadings I tumble, lube, deprime and size, trim and clean primer pockets, run through resizing die again and load.

"then tumble the finished round"

Really? Tumbling live rounds isn't a safety precaution recommended by anyone anywhere I've ever heard of...

No thanks...

Not worth the risk IMHO

 

[coopermania]

I tumble, load the round and then tumble the finished round to get the lube off. after a few loadings I tumble, lube, deprime and size, trim and clean primer pockets, run through resizing die again and load.

You should not tumble loaded ammo. That's not a good thing to do with loaded rounds,
Smokeless Powders have a coating on the outside that changes the burning rate of that particular powder. When tumbled the coating can wear and the burning rate may / can or will change. You may never have a problem but its one of those things you just don't do.

 

[j8064]

You should not tumble loaded ammo. That's not a good thing to do with loaded rounds,
Smokeless Powders have a coating on the outside that changes the burning rate of that particular powder. When tumbled the coating can wear and the burning rate may / can or will change. You may never have a problem but its one of those things you just don't do.

Questions:
-What % does the coating on the powder change the burn rate once the loaded round is tumbled?
-Does the coating evaporate when the live rounds are tumbled?

I get soooo confused...

 

[trickg]

I prefer to tumble before I size and decap - for me brass has to be functional. Shiny is secondary.

 

[Uncle Duke]

You should not tumble loaded ammo. That's not a good thing to do with loaded rounds,
Smokeless Powders have a coating on the outside that changes the burning rate of that particular powder. When tumbled the coating can wear and the burning rate may / can or will change. You may never have a problem but its one of those things you just don't do.

Hodgdon ballistics techs have specifically recommended against the common practice of tumbling loaded rounds.

I figure they're smarter than I am. I'll take their word for it.

 

[coopermania]

Questions:
-What % does the coating on the powder change the burn rate once the loaded round is tumbled?
-Does the coating evaporate when the live rounds are tumbled?

I get soooo confused...

If I recall it depends on if its a single or double base powder.
Single base is 1% and Double Base is 3% ......hell it could be the other way.

 

[bmorewineguy]

You should not tumble loaded ammo. That's not a good thing to do with loaded rounds,
Smokeless Powders have a coating on the outside that changes the burning rate of that particular powder. When tumbled the coating can wear and the burning rate may / can or will change. You may never have a problem but its one of those things you just don't do.

There is nothing that will happen when tumbling live rounds that doesn't happen at an ammo factory or on a truck shipping to stores. This has been proven before.

Most ammo companies tumble their ammo before packaging and all are shipped on trucks or other means of transport.

The powder doesn't degrade because of tumbling and primers aren't going to go off in a tumbler. Those are all rumors that are not true.