Newbie here has questions

[Partyguy816]

I am new to reloading and I have a couple of questions. I went out today to the local store and bought some brass for my .300 cheap. I bought 60 pieces and there are 10 or 11 of them that are WW Super brass and the mouths are not round like a normal piece of brass should be. Some are not major, but others are. Will the die's straighten this out or should I just throw them away?

Also most have primers in them already and I do not know what kind they are. Should I just put them in the press and deprime them or just load them as blanks and shoot them?

Thanks.

 

[Black Snowman]

Resizing should fix the necks. Just check for splits and length. The case life might be a little less so just watch for cracks and spilts.

There's no way to identify the primers so I'd ditch them so you are using the same and known primers in all the cases.

 

[Partyguy816]

I should probably start a new post on this, but I guess I'll just continue on my thread. Could I substitue the tumbling media for bird litter? I see that Petco has 100% crushed walnut shells for 5.49 for a 5lb bag. Seems pretty cheap if this will do the job as good as the stuff from RCBS and other companies.

After posting this I see that they have 100% corn cob also. About the same price as the walnut. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Cazach]

A lot of people usebird litter, reptile bedding, etc. for tumbling media. All you are doing is abrasive cleaning so as long as their are no foreign chemicals in the pet stuff, go for it.

Worst case is that it could take a little longer to clean. Best case is it's cheap.

Corn and Walnut clean differently. Some people prefer one or the other or both. Walnut is typically the heavier cleaner and the Corn does lighter cleaning/polishing duty. It's just a matter of taste.

One quick note on the walnut stuff is that some people can find the dust irritating, so you may want to consider this when handling.

 

[Smokey Joe]

WARNING!!!

When you go to punch the primers out of the cases (I agree that you should use all the same, known, primers) USE EYE AND EAR PROTECTIONS. Also gloves would not be a bad idea. And treat the ejected primers carefully--they are explosive.

If you go slow in pushing the cases into your resize/decap die, and the decapper pin just gently shoves out the primer, you should have no problem. Have done it myself--carefully--w/no ill effects. However, primers are made to go off with only slight encouragement. You can't blame them if they do their job.

Don't let a bunch accumulate in the primer catcher, either. Take every 1 or 2 out. Ever hear of sympathetic detonation?

Primers are hard to deactivate once removed. There are all sorts of ways that are supposed to work, like soaking them in water, etc, that you hear don't work, or only work until they dry out again, etc.

I usually put each one separately on an anvil and hit it with a hammer. Outdoors. (Primers contain lead; you don't want to breathe a whole lot of that.) While wearing eye/ear/hand protection. Noisy but quite effective.

 

[Eldon]

To help reduce the media dust problem, toss one of those cloths dryer fabric softener sheets into the tumbler. Someone suggested that to me once, and it really helps. I use the old sheets that my wife was just throwing out.

 

[Kamicosmos]

Good tip on the petstore! I am needing fresh media, so I was looking for a cheaper substitute. I'll hit petco and petsmart on my days off this week, and try to remember to post back here what I find out...

 

[Okiecruffler]

Another cheap media is white rice. I've been using it for years with good results. Of course I use an icecream machine for a tumbler so I'm a cheapskate.
And I don't think I've ever bought brass that wasn't alittle beat up, even new from the factory.

 

[Partyguy816]

Thanks to everyone that replied. I just sat the cases that were bent in the press and everything was smoothed out. I am just guessing that these WW Super cases that I picked out of that pile were new or really really cleaned good. I could not find a powder burn anywheres in the case. They did not have any primers and the only problem that I found were on some of the necks.

Thanks again