Your Tumbling Procedure

[BBDartCA]

Whats your procedure for tumbling?

 

[Fisherdave10]

If my brass isn't too filthy I usually resize/deprime, trim cases, clean primer pockets and then tumble/polish my cases last.

I don't want to spend the time cleaning cases just to resize and trim them which usually makes them dirty again not to mention the case lube that needs to be cleaned off.

I want my brass to be perfectly clean, sized, trimmed and ready to go when I pull it out of the bag it's stored in.

 

[Hondo 60]

My procedure is different for rifle or handgun.

For rifle I tumble twice before & after sizing/depriming/trimming

For handgun I only tumble once, before resizing/depriming.

 

[Valkman]

I tumble once before they touch the 550.

 

[beatledog7]

I tumble rifle brass before depriming, then again after sizing, trimming, chamfering and deburring to get the lube off. Once in a while a second tumble for handgun brass after sizing, but only if I'm going to try a new load. Not sure why that is, just a thing for me.

 

[FROGO207]

I mostly use SS media and wet tumble these days. If I use a vibratory machine I polish it 1/2 hour to get dirt off it. Then size/trim etc without depriming. Then polish to remove lube,keep going till shine is what I want. Deprime as a last step. Load em up after. This works best for me as I do not feel the need to clean primer pockets.

 

[BADUNAME37]

Mine is NOT LISTED!

I simply resize and decap the primer in one operation BEFORE tumbling, I then tumble followed by cleaning primer pockets with a drill-mounted primer pocket steel brush. I then prime and continue in the usual manner.

 

[GP100man]

Tumble clean ,size ,wash off lube (rifle), check/adjust length, clean primer pockets.

 

[Walkalong]

My procedure is different for rifle or handgun.

For rifle I tumble twice before & after sizing/depriming/trimming

For handgun I only tumble once, before resizing/depriming.

Same here.

 

[357Shooter]

Can't vote, I De-prime only, Wet Tumble w/ss, then resize, prime, expand etc.

 

[BBDartCA]

Same here.

Same here too.

 

[oldpapps]

Too many variable to state 'this is my one way'.
Always vibrate before starting.

Rifle and pistol needs are different.
'Play' rounds and different from 'work-precision' rounds.

OSOK

 

[45Frank]

If it's dirty just picked off the ground I may tumble twice.
Once before even touching the brass.
If it's mine and clean I just throw it in the tumbler before de-priming or resizing.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I'm confused. The biggest reason I tumble cases is so they are clean for resizing. Are you soaking them in citirc acid or something first? Carbide is tough stuff but it seems like a lot of wear on brass and your sizing dies to run unclean cases through them.

 

[jcwit]

For handgun cases I deprime then size then clean. All my sizing dies for handguns are carbide, I seriously doubt dirt will harm carbide which is just a step down from a diamond. But YMMV

If the cases are coated in sand and/or mud I do wash them off.

 

[rcmodel]

Unless very dirty grungy range pick-up?

I tumble after sizing and depriming to get the lube off.
Then inspect and clean any primer pockets that still need it.

Then prime and load.

Then tumble again for 30 minutes or less after loading to get all the finger-prints off the clean shiny loaded ammo.

rc

 

[Blue68f100]

I tumble to clean/polish the brass before starting the reloading process. When my brass gets really dirty with powder residue I deprime then use a Hot (175F near boil) Citric acid mix. This only takes a few minutes to clean when it's this hot. Once I have neutralized the solution with a baking soda rinse I do a final rinse under the tap water. I use a towel as a hammock to get rid of most the water before putting into the oven for 1hr @ 175F. Once these are dry their back into the tumbler to polish the brass. This is not really necessary when using citric acid. But I like my brass shiney.

 

[azrn]

re-size, de-prime, then clean/polish. if the brass is very dirty, then i clean/polish first before re-sizing/de-priming, with a possible 2nd cleaning. azrn

 

[Revolver218]

Deprime, place brass in quart solution of very warm water and 2 - 3 tablespoons of Citric Acid, stir once or twice, wait 2 to 3 minutes, remove and thoroughly rinse, dry. Cheap, clean and fast.

 

[Fishslayer]

1. I vibrate with lizard litter & Nu Finish.
2. Reload
3. Vibrate with cob & Nu Finish. This removes lube and leaves a nice shiny finish with protection.

 

[Coal Dragger]

I just bought an ultrasonic cleaner (Lyman) and once I mixed the brass cleaning solution to the recommended heavy duty ratio, I just heat up the solution with the built in heater. While it is warming up, I de-cap my brass with a universal de-capping die, and then place the cases in the ultrasonic cleaner and run it for 480 seconds. The brass comes out looking like it has never been fired. Primer pockets are clean, in side of the case and outside of the case are both clean. Rinse off with warm water (even better use boiling water on a stove so it evaporates more quickly), and shake out any water. Then I allow them to dry, and re-size (Hornady One-Shot case lube since it doesn't seem to require cleaning brass again), and re-prime as normal.

While it may seem slower to have to allow the cases time to dry, I almost never try to sit down and reload cartridges from dirty spent brass back to loaded rounds in the same session. So it works well for me, and the fact it cleans the primer pockets and the rest of the case so much better and so much faster than my old tumbler and primer pocket cleaner is a real bonus. In fact other than processing pistol brass (I don't really care about clean primer pockets in a .45ACP) I may never use my tumbler again.

 

[Uniquedot]

Then tumble again for 30 minutes or less after loading to get all the finger-prints off the clean shiny loaded ammo.

You actually tumble loaded ammo? i would be afraid that the powder might break down some and speed up the burning rate and alter the pressure. After all some powders burning rates are determined not by chemical retardants, but by the size of the cut. An example would be 700 and 800 x which is the exact same powder (chemical composition) except the 800x is cut larger to slow the burning rate.

 

[codefour]

Handgun: Deprime with universal decapper, clean primer pockets, dip in IOSSO, and tumble them for 12 to 24 hours in corncob with a Thumler's Model B.

Rifle: Deprime, clean primer pockets and dip in IOSSO. Usually the IOSSO makes the cases clean enough to size and trim them, if not, I will tumble before sizing. Then I retumble for 12-24 hours after sizing and trimming to remove lube.

I like my brass and loaded rounds to look very clean, shiny and professional. Most people do NOT believe I am shooting reloads. It is just a pride thing.

 

[jcwit]

You actually tumble loaded ammo? i would be afraid that the powder might break down some and speed up the burning rate and alter the pressure. After all some powders burning rates are determined not by chemical retardants, but by the size of the cut. An example would be 700 and 800 x which is the exact same powder (chemical composition) except the 800x is cut larger to slow the burning rate.

This has been discussed over and over again. The ammo companies even tumble loaded ammo. Members here have run experiments over and over. Sorry it just doesn't happen. Sounds feasible but is untrue.

Do a search!

 

[cfullgraf]

I tumble cases after returning from shooting to clean off any range grime. I sometimes de-prime rifle cases before tumbling. Handgun cases just get cleaned, de-priming occurring at resizing.

After resizing, I tumble again. Rifle cases are tumbled to remove lubricant and shine. Hand gun cases just get polished.

I process cases shortly after shooting so batches are relatively small and handled quickly. Once resized, trimmed, cleaned and otherwise processed, I store them away for later loading.

But, my process sometimes changes a little to suit the needs at the time or my mood. I do use two tumblers and do not mix the media between the two. One tumbler cleans the cases after shooting, the other cleans and polishes the cases after resizing.