Loaded ammo in a tumbler with media?

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kirkcdl

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Okay,here's the story:I got an incredible deal on a case of 357sig frangible ammo that is tarnished and dirty beyond description...:barf:

My question is-what are the pros and cons of tumbling this,(with media),to at least make it look decent?Judging from the location it shipped from,I assume it was damaged in Katrina.It shoots well,but it is very dirty and absolutely butt-ugly,and I'm sure that part of the tarnishing/corrosion is residue from what ever it was submerged in.Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me...:D
 
You will gets lots of opinions on this. I tumble loaded .223 ammo for a short time, less than 30 minutes to get the lube off, and have never had a problem. Try a few rounds and see how it works.
 
I've been tumbling 22 Hornet and 44-40 ammo in dry media for some years now to remove the lube from using non-carbide dies. I only tumble for 20-30 minutes and I've not had any problems so far except clean ammo. YMMV!
 
i wouldn't tumble loaded rounds. just doesn't seem to be an appropriate way to treat something as precious as ammo!

i would consider it if the ammo was so nasty that it would interrupt gun function... but, that would only be an option if i was completely out of 'real' ammo...
 
Vibratory "tumbling" won't hurt. Wanna know a secret? Ammo factories and commercial reloaders clean loaded ammo in vibratory cleaners just like ours, only bigger.
 
I have no opinion on whether or not to tumble loaded rounds, but I would reconcider loading those in your firearms as if they came from the Katrina flooding it is very possible that they are saltwater damaged and I wouldn't want them in my guns tumbled or not...:uhoh: Salt and steel really don't like each other to the cost of steel.
 
I have tumbled loaded ammo on several occations for up to an hour.

But I agree with Bushmaster that if it is salvage from Katrina and the Saltwater thing wouldn't be good.
 
There is some anecdotal evidence floating around the web (It's on the Internet, so it must be true, right? :rolleyes: ) that subjecting loaded ammo to long bouts of vibration & tumbling may cause the powder to grind itself down to a finer consistency & greatly alter it's burning characteristics . . . assuming there's a lot of empty space in the case for it to shift around.

I imagine it would take a really, really long time in the tumbler for this to occur . . . if it happened at all.

FWIW, high pressure pistol ammo that is ". . . tarnished and dirty beyond description . . . " doesn't sound like something I'd want to run through any of my guns even if it were free . . . and with a relatively "new" round like .357 SIG which hasn't been on the market all that long, it must have gone through some pretty harsh conditions to get that bad. I'd pass on it.
 
I tumble loaded ammo just long enough to get rid of die marks, 1/2 hour usually works.:)
 
Oh...O K. Had me worried there for a minute. Never paid that much attention to that as I usually tumble for 15 minutes, resize/decap and tumble for an hour after that. I probably wouldn't notice as I am looking for other problems when inspecting them.:)
 
i wouldn't tumble loaded rounds. just doesn't seem to be an appropriate way to treat something as precious as ammo!
Click to expand...

Then you should not shoot anything that's been shipped more than 100 miles in a truck of any sort.:neener:

You guys ever considered what smokeless powder IS? It's plastic, PLASTIC!! With a huge excess of nitrogen modules attached, which stores a huge amount of energy.

The stuff dissolves in Acetone just fine, but is remarkably resistant to abrasion.

Never heard of any military "pressure excrusion" events from ammo that Bounced around in the back of a Humvee for days on end.
 
Yep, what Grump said. The bit about powder grains breaking down is an old wive's tale. I do believe around here somewhere is a reloader who tumbled some rounds for a long time and found no velocity change when the rounds were chrono'd.
 
Cool-

I wish I could make my own smokeless powder too. I have to buy mine from a dealer, after it has been shipped in those factory containers. Those @&*(?# containers that grind the powder down to a fine dust that blows up all my guns that I reload for. Next time you load the measure with powder, have a buddy shine a flashlight through the dust cloud that forms from the top of the measure. Some of that dust makes it into every case that is loaded. I would be more concerned with chemical variations from the factory, than with physical variations from a tumbler.
 
i don't. i handload everything i shoot. shipping is around 2-3 feet.
Click to expand...

Okay. But how about those jugs of Unique, Bullseye, and H110 setting over the bench? Are you sure they didn't spend a little time bouncing around in a semi trailer? :)
 
Supect Rounds

It would not bother me to tumble the brass to clean it up, but what I would be concerned about is the possiblity of contamination of what was in the flood water, if that is the source of the discoloration, I would at least after firing them I would clean them in a bleach soultion or something to decontaminate them before polishing with new media and reloading them, the firing process might kill some of the organisums but not all. I heard there was some really nasty stuff in that water around Ner Orleans.
 
I'd 'tumble' it long enough to clean it up some... but this description worries me...

tarnished and dirty beyond description...
Click to expand...

.357 SIG has a pretty high pressure... are you CERTAIN that the integrity of the brass has not been compromised?

May I ask how much this ammo cost? Hope it really was UberCheap...

StrikeEagle
 
With all the salt, chemicals and contamination that was around after Katrina I'm not sure I fire that ammo, cleaned or dirty. But it's your ammo and once it is clean I suppose you can see just how bad it is. You might want to pull a few of those bullets though and see if any water got inside. Civilian ammo isn't as water tight as military ammo is.
 
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