Tumbling your brass

[stilly]

I'm by no means a master reloader, or any kind of authority with firearms or ammo, but I'd sincerely suggest you not fire a round you found on the ground. Maybe pull the bullet, check the charge and type of powder first. No need to take unnecessary risks.

I'm all for living free, so its your call.

That is certainly the cautious way to approach it but you know what I already did by habit? I already dropped it into the BAD BULLET BOX because when I get on my loading bench I have a policy that all centerfire rounds that I find MUST be dissassembled (or not shot) so that I can replace the powder in them with powder that I know is mine. Sorry, my right hand did not realize what my left hand was doing.

I decided to do things like that a long time ago because for the same reason why you said that, EVEN THOUGH rounds found on the ground are probably FINE to pick up and shoot, it is not like I paid for them so I will not fire them UNLESS they are .22LR. But all Centerfire rounds MUST get destroyed or taken apart for components.

So yes, thank you for reminding me. I need to be more careful on what I say, my words might lead someone to think I am SLOPPY or something...

[Richbutnotwealthy]

Pet store 'reptile bedding' is a fine grind and works well enough, and if you run your tumbler full of brass you'll do a better and faster job. Shouldn't take more than an hour or two to get them clean enough to reload.
Stuff doesn't have to gleam like new inside and out to work perfectly well.

Now if you are aspy or OCD you might want to go wet process with stainless steel pins and polishes

[uechikid]

Yeah, since it is a dry tumble I wanted to see if it would tumble with a live shell and it looks like it has with no real issues. I might actually go shoot that round, it had a light primer strike.

It should also be noted that every manual that I have cautions against tumbling loaded rounds. Something about how the tumbling process changes the characteristics of the powder.

[stilly]

It should also be noted that every manual that I have cautions against tumbling loaded rounds. Something about how the tumbling process changes the characteristics of the powder.

Well then I guess I need to pull it and see what the powder looks like.


Taking bets on pencil lead or powder!

.5 to one for Pencil Lead and 3 to one for powder...

Honestly though I think that since it was only a nice gentle tumble the characteristics should not really change much.

Has anyone smashed the crap out of pencil lead powder and lit a match to see which burns faster- pencil lead or powdered pencil lead?

We just might have us another video or two to make!

[JTROKS]

Well then I guess I need to pull it and see what the powder looks like.


Taking bets on pencil lead or powder!

.5 to one for Pencil Lead and 3 to one for powder...

Honestly though I think that since it was only a nice gentle tumble the characteristics should not really change much.

Has anyone smashed the crap out of pencil lead powder and lit a match to see which burns faster- pencil lead or powdered pencil lead?

We just might have us another video or two to make!

I like burning powder videos.

[BEE]

I tumble with a Frankford Arsenal tumbler using crushed walnut aka lizard bedding from Petco and Turtle Wax "All Metal Polish"(on the bottle it says works with brass so I got it). Tumble .223/5.56 LC brass for 3hrs and it looks pretty good for it's initial cleaning. Next i'm going to decap them and tumble them again maybe for at least 3hrs or until I get the results I want, however I'm not too worried about the cleanliness of the inside.

[bochu]

I've been reloading since the mid 80's and was taught never to dry tumble with the spent primer removed unless you plan on cleaning the pocket afterwards. I don't like the extra step so I've always left it in. I still tumble with walnut and corn cob but have moved onto wet tumbling with stainless steel pins. I really like the results when using dawn and lemi shine. I use a 2 gallon container with 10 lbs of SS pins. This process cleans far better than dry tumbling.

[Ojallday]

How many of you guys don't clean the primer pockets everytime. Should I skip cleaning it every other load

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[highpower790]

How many of you guys don't clean the primer pockets everytime. Should I skip cleaning it every other load

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Depends on your shooting needs,I don't ,never.

[Ojallday]

Depends on your shooting needs,I don't ,never.

At the moment it's all just for target practice. No time to do competition shooting especially when I need a lot practice to come

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[Noonanda]

Holy necropost Batman lol

[Ojallday]

Bump for more info. Thanks calguners

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[liber]

Unless your in a hurry leave it tumble over night.
If you want nice primer pockets get yourself a primer pocket uniformer. It will do more for your reloads thany any form of shiny brass will ever do.

^^^this

I have to agree with LynnJr, I recently got a uniformer for both size pockets and it helps tremendously.

I wet tumble but don't use pins, and the uniformer gets the pockets cleaned up. I would guesstimate that 10% don't get the bottom of the pocket shiny and they are too deep, but for the most part it cleaned the majority of my pockets up. The uniformer is well worth the cost and time, IMO.

[diveRN]

How many of you guys don't clean the primer pockets everytime. Should I skip cleaning it every other load

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I never clean primer pockets in pistol cases. Ever. I also don't care what the inside looks like. I want the outside clean and relatively shiny because I don't want any chambering or ejection issues.

Since I manually decap (vs decap/resize in one step) all of my rifle brass as part of the inspection process, they get the full wash and wax job, inside and out, primer pockets included.