Tumbling Brass

Remmy

Default rank <1000 posts
Frontiersman
20   0
Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
931
Reaction score
350
Location
Loganville
I have one manual that say's to tumble before and after you load to remove any case lubricant off the brass before you shoot and the other say's not to tumble any primed or loaded cartridges.What's your opinion?
 
I always tumble first , have been for 25 years. I like to clean my brass before i run them thru the dies. After resizing the brass , i run them again for a few minutes , just to clean off the lubricant. Then load them. Scott
 
The myth of not to tumble loaded ammo is just a myth. How does ammo get shipped? In trucks, or railroad, do you think that doesn't shake? That's the same thing a tumbler is doing is just shaking the ammo. Some will say that by tumbling you will cause the powder to breakdown and change its properties. I don't believe it.

With that being said I don't do it. After sizing bottleneck brass I trim, chamfer and deburr, then throw it in the tumbler. Then I run a universal depriming die thru it to make sure any media is out of the flash hole, then load it.
 
What Scott Davidson said. Never tumble loaded rounds. It can dislodge coating on some powders that would efect pressures. Also after tumbling to remove lube be sure to check flash hole for obstructions. Have fun loading.
 
I run mine in a rock tumbler with ceramic media-water-soap-lemon juice mix. After rinse put them on a cookie sheet and into the oven at 150 for about 30 to 45 min. One shot case lube and your ready to go. Like loading new brass everytime.
 
Are you sure the manual isn't saying to tumble rifle brass the second time after resizing? I do. I have two tumblers. One is used for just this process.

After the second tumbling, (usually less than an hour is required using clean media and Midway citrus additive) I clean the primer pockets anyway, so removing any media is easily done then.

If you're one of those that doesn't believe in primer pocket cleaning, turn the brass up and use a paper clip to clean the flash hole.

Quality loads are worth the effort for me.


 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom