Tumbling Brass

M

M70

New member
I usually de-prime my brass and then throw it in the tumbler for a few hours. I would like to de-prime it, lube it, then throw it in the tumbler to remove all the lube. Does this work? Do I need to be concerned about the brass getting banged up or out of shape? I know some of you actually tumble completed cartridges. Has anyone tried tumbling with the CT lubbox coated bullets? Just wonder if the tumbling would damage the plastic tips or the coating.

M70
 
I tumble before sizing and de-priming. Using full loads in a big tumbler, I throw them in at bedtime and pull them when I get up. Where I am necking a cartridge down to a smaller size, I may tumble again after sizing.

I never tumble completed loads. Bad things can happen if you tumble the powder for very long.
 
Quote:
I tumble before sizing and de-priming.

I never tumble completed loads. Bad things can happen if you tumble the powder for very long.



I tumble the same way, I never tumble loaded ammo either. Just wipe them off, or lay them on a towel, use a spray bottle with rubbing alcohol misting them, fold the towel over and roll them, doesnt get them perfect but close enough.
 
I have gotten this thing down to a science, cuz I L-O-V-E beautifully polished cases. They look like they came off of a buffing wheel and are gold plated when they are ready to load.

If FL sizing is needed, I use RCBS #2 lube - it is water soluble.

I FL size them with a die that has the decapping pin removed.

At this point, if they are badly tarnished range pickups that were bought by the barrel full, I dunk them in Iosso Case cleaner. Then I wash them in hot water, and dry them completely with a hair drier.

If they are my own clean brass, I just neck size them (no lube).

Then I polish them (corn cob and Midway case polish) in a big Dillon machine, and then decap them with a Redding decapping (only) die.

Works out very well.


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Corncob media is perfect for removing case lube, and it doesn't take more than 20 to 30 minutes to clean it all off. That's my last step before cleaning out and uniforming primer pockets.
 
i throw mine in the tumbler right after i do all my shooting and let them go for about 2 hours.I then deprime and resize and tumble them again for about 4 hours and reload.I have neve had a problem of them being beat around or not being the same size after being taken out of the tumbler.i use tuff nut.
 
I resize then throw them in the corn cob media. New media will take off all the lube in 30 minutes older media may take 1-1.5 hours but then all the lube is gone. Then I primer the round with my hand primer tool(very convinient and quick) line them up in the case tray and start throwing powder. Corn cob media really makes the case shine well in a very short time.
 
Quote:
M70:Has anyone tried tumbling with the CT lubbox coated bullets? Just wonder if the tumbling would damage the plastic tips or the coating.M70



What is CT lubbox coated bullets? Never heard of them.
Tumbling will not damage the Plastic tips, but will probably remove the coating. But then again I don't know this lubbox coating.
 
Combined Technology. They are the bullet used in Winchester Supremes. I belive they are made by Nosler. They have a black coating on them, I think it's call Lubbox, or something like that.

M70
 
M70,
you are right it is called lubalox coating. I believe that you will take some of that lubalox off if you tubble it. With extended tumbling it may take all of it off. But tumble your brass in the manor I explained and there will never be a need to tumble the lead itself.
 
Quote:
what can tumbling loaded cartridges do that riding in a pickup truck over a thousand miles of bad road can't???


I agree, I've had this discussion on another board and for some reason everyone is convinced there is no breakdown of the powder during the vibration of transportation over great distances but there will be during a short period of tumbling.
I guess UPS stops their trucks every 55 minutes for a short while to keep the powder from deteriorating like it would if you tumbled the loads. Oh, and don't forget to land that troop transport every so often so the vibration of flight doesn't damage the powder in their ammo while being flown over to Iraq.
Go figure....
 
Quote:
what can tumbling loaded cartridges do that riding in a pickup truck over a thousand miles of bad road can't???



I'm old enough to remember the beginning of this myth, back some 40+ years ago.

Some guy blew up his rifle with a bad handloads

Then he tried to sue Winchester, saying that the ammo was Winchester factory, and it had been in the glove box of his pickup truck for a year or two, and the vibration of the powder broke it up into dust... which caused his gun to blow up.

The matter was turned over the "H.P. White Laboratories" for testing, and they took a bunch of factory ammo, and put it into a vibrating machine, and shook the hell out of it for two years.

When they finely fired it, it shot fine.

The case against Winchester was dropped.

You can clean loaded ammo in your tumbler.


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I too have tumbled 300 rounds of loaded ammo the day I got the tumbler and it shot fine. I worried a little about it at first but after the first 100 rounds with no issues I did the rest of them and still had no issues.
 
I always throw my resized cases in the tumbler for an hour to clean any traces of lube off them before priming and loading. It might be silly, but it's part of my routine and a loading routine is important. I use Hornedy one shot lube and it won't degrade the powder or primers, but I do it anyway.
 
Quote:
I never tumble completed loads. Bad things can happen if you tumble the powder for very long.



If that were true then every war plane that ever took off with wing guns was at terrible risk. Can you imagine the vibration that would go on inside a jet wing, then invision the amount of loaded rounds in the same wing and the myth of tumbling the loaded round quickly diminishes to nothing.

I tumble all my big game loads....completed rounds. But hey I live on the edge.
 
Quote:
Combined Technology. They are the bullet used in Winchester Supremes. I belive they are made by Nosler. They have a black coating on them, I think it's call Lubbox, or something like that.

M70



Ok I got ya now, when you said "CT Lubbox" that through me.

I do have some of them myself, although I have not loaded any yet, I would not put them into the tumbler.
 
I was curious about this myself. I dont see how it would matter if the powder broke down it would still be the same gr weight loaded to begin with just in a different form.
 
There's several physical characteristics of smokeless powder that determine pressures inside a cartridge case other than just charge weight. Length of the individual powder granule, an exterior coating, shape of the powder granule, and a cavity through the granule are all manipulated by a powder maker to modify burning rates.
 
I use a clean towel and carefully wipe down every single load before it is boxed. It is my last visual inspection that I didn't miss anything earlier, correctly seated bullet and primer, no dents in case, etc. It just makes me feel better.

If the roads and speeds you guys drive subject your ammo to the same action as happens inside my tumbler, I think I'll drive myself. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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