Why Tumble or Power clean brass
- Thread starter AWS
- Start date
Cleaning in bulk is a good reason. Maintaining a very consistent case capacity and keeping pockets and flash holes clear to help keep extreme spread low is another.
If you're going to anneal your brass, you've pretty much got two choices- clean it before or cleaning after. Anyone who has annealed dirty brass can attest to that.
It's easier to identify potential problems on very clean brass also, like a split neck or a crack at the shoulder/body junction.
I have to say.... This is one of the more peculiar questions I've ever read and from an unsuspected source.
If you're going to anneal your brass, you've pretty much got two choices- clean it before or cleaning after. Anyone who has annealed dirty brass can attest to that.
It's easier to identify potential problems on very clean brass also, like a split neck or a crack at the shoulder/body junction.
I have to say.... This is one of the more peculiar questions I've ever read and from an unsuspected source.
Plant.One
Well-known member
Originally Posted By: CZ527If you're going to anneal your brass, you've pretty much got two choices- clean it before or cleaning after. Anyone who has annealed dirty brass can attest to that.
ya annealing with any case lube in play is a stinky mess. bleh.
thank god case lube comes off in 5-10 mins in walnut. you can de lube 5 lbs of brass faster than you can anneal it i can tell you that.
and if you have a wheel driven automated annealer, the case lube on the drive wheels can cause the brass not to rotate properly.
ya annealing with any case lube in play is a stinky mess. bleh.
thank god case lube comes off in 5-10 mins in walnut. you can de lube 5 lbs of brass faster than you can anneal it i can tell you that.
and if you have a wheel driven automated annealer, the case lube on the drive wheels can cause the brass not to rotate properly.
MotoHunter
New member
Clean brass keeps your sizing dies free from scratches and pre-mature wear. Same thing with "match" grade chambers on your expensive rifles. Clean brass = no scratches
Originally Posted By: CZ527
I have to say.... This is one of the more peculiar questions I've ever read and from an unsuspected source.
Doesn't strike me as peculiar. But, I'm with the OP on this one, I don't tumble either. And more to the point, can't see a reason why I'd want to.
And... I've never had any of the problems that have been listed in this thread as reasons why I should. No problems annealing, no scratched stuff, none of that.
But, maybe my brass just doesn't get as dirty as some others.
And other than initial case forming, I only use case lube once in a blue moon. And when I do, brake cleaner removes Imperial faster and easier than separating cases from tumbling media.
Like I said earlier though, to each his own. I can see some valid reasons why tumbling would be the way to go. They just don't apply to my applications.
- DAA
I have to say.... This is one of the more peculiar questions I've ever read and from an unsuspected source.
Doesn't strike me as peculiar. But, I'm with the OP on this one, I don't tumble either. And more to the point, can't see a reason why I'd want to.
And... I've never had any of the problems that have been listed in this thread as reasons why I should. No problems annealing, no scratched stuff, none of that.
But, maybe my brass just doesn't get as dirty as some others.
And other than initial case forming, I only use case lube once in a blue moon. And when I do, brake cleaner removes Imperial faster and easier than separating cases from tumbling media.
Like I said earlier though, to each his own. I can see some valid reasons why tumbling would be the way to go. They just don't apply to my applications.
- DAA
AWS
Custom Accessory Maker & Retired PM Staff
Some think this is a stupid question, so here's why it was asked. I've been reloading for 50+ years, for the first 30 I never saw a case tumbler or even mention of one it reloading manuals. The first mention of them were for pistol cases. It seems that case tumbling popularity is coinciding with the popularity of the AR platform and high volume shooting.
I load for 18 different cartridges, I have to make brass for 5 of them.
1. I never load in batches larger than 50
2. I don't think I have more than 300 rounds of brass for any one cartridge
3. My brass is always clean before reloading, just not shiny
4. I have no problems annealing brass that isn't shiny, in fact I do it at the kitchen counter without stinking up the house. Some brass that I'm forming has to be annealed a couple of times during the process
5. My brass is handled individually through the reloading process, primer pocket cleaning, lubing, sizing, wiping down any case lube, trimming, chamfering, priming and loading. I don't miss flaws. I find prepping brass cathartic.
6. MY ammo shoots exceedingly well
7. I have no problems with case separation, misfires, ruined dies and have yet to meet a barrel that if it wasn't damaged wouldn't shoot a usable hunting group.
So my question, thank you all for your answers and now I know it will only make shiny brass for me and is another thing I don't have to get. I have my first semi auto that I'm loading for and thought there was something I might be missing.
Thank you
AWS
I load for 18 different cartridges, I have to make brass for 5 of them.
1. I never load in batches larger than 50
2. I don't think I have more than 300 rounds of brass for any one cartridge
3. My brass is always clean before reloading, just not shiny
4. I have no problems annealing brass that isn't shiny, in fact I do it at the kitchen counter without stinking up the house. Some brass that I'm forming has to be annealed a couple of times during the process
5. My brass is handled individually through the reloading process, primer pocket cleaning, lubing, sizing, wiping down any case lube, trimming, chamfering, priming and loading. I don't miss flaws. I find prepping brass cathartic.
6. MY ammo shoots exceedingly well
7. I have no problems with case separation, misfires, ruined dies and have yet to meet a barrel that if it wasn't damaged wouldn't shoot a usable hunting group.
So my question, thank you all for your answers and now I know it will only make shiny brass for me and is another thing I don't have to get. I have my first semi auto that I'm loading for and thought there was something I might be missing.
Thank you
AWS
Plant.One
Well-known member
Originally Posted By: AWS It seems that case tumbling popularity is coinciding with the popularity of the AR platform and high volume shooting.
I have my first semi auto that I'm loading for and thought there was something I might be missing.
Thank you
AWS
you may well have hit on something. for those of us who's brass regularly ends up on the ground from our brass flinging boomsticks, i'm sure it tends to get quite a bit grittier than someone shooting non-semi-auto platforms whos brass often goes direct from chamber, into hand, back into ammo box. there are very few occasions that would lead me to want to feed that off the ground brass into my dies (or even my case feeder) for any reason without at least a 15-30 minute tumble in dry media. i value my equipment too much for that.
i didn't start reloading until i got my ar - my initial interest was to make higher volume shooting affordable.
compared to yourself - i'm a novice reloader with only about 6 years under my belt for experience. but taking that into account - these days tumbling is considered standard practice for almost all reloading. Wet or dry is irrelevant. some form of tumbling is just considered (by many, including most of the current manuals i've fondled or own) to be *THE* way to clean brass. I very well might be sitting here having a whole different conversation if i'd have started reloading 20+ years back when i was in school in the 80's and 90's.
one of the wonderful things about this hobby is that - As long as we all follow basic safety controls along the way - there are SO many "correct" ways to get to the end result. It allows each of us to work within our personality types (medical reasons aside, i dont have the patience or the time for larger scale manual brass prep for example) and get to the finish line of shooting our guns with ammo that's as good - or often times better than - the factory stuff we would otherwise pay a whole lot more for.
I have my first semi auto that I'm loading for and thought there was something I might be missing.
Thank you
AWS
you may well have hit on something. for those of us who's brass regularly ends up on the ground from our brass flinging boomsticks, i'm sure it tends to get quite a bit grittier than someone shooting non-semi-auto platforms whos brass often goes direct from chamber, into hand, back into ammo box. there are very few occasions that would lead me to want to feed that off the ground brass into my dies (or even my case feeder) for any reason without at least a 15-30 minute tumble in dry media. i value my equipment too much for that.
i didn't start reloading until i got my ar - my initial interest was to make higher volume shooting affordable.
compared to yourself - i'm a novice reloader with only about 6 years under my belt for experience. but taking that into account - these days tumbling is considered standard practice for almost all reloading. Wet or dry is irrelevant. some form of tumbling is just considered (by many, including most of the current manuals i've fondled or own) to be *THE* way to clean brass. I very well might be sitting here having a whole different conversation if i'd have started reloading 20+ years back when i was in school in the 80's and 90's.
one of the wonderful things about this hobby is that - As long as we all follow basic safety controls along the way - there are SO many "correct" ways to get to the end result. It allows each of us to work within our personality types (medical reasons aside, i dont have the patience or the time for larger scale manual brass prep for example) and get to the finish line of shooting our guns with ammo that's as good - or often times better than - the factory stuff we would otherwise pay a whole lot more for.
Not a stupid question by any means. When I started loading 8-9 years ago I cleaned brass by hand. I got a small container of soap and water, put some old socks on my hands and would wipe the cases down then clean primer pockets and necks by hand as well. However, all my toys are semi-auto thus my batches were larger than 50 (a small batch was three times that) Needless to say doing it by hand didn't last long.
To date my largest batch was just over 4000 pieces. It was enough of a chore to decap them so I could toss them into the stainless to tumble. Wiping them down by hand like when I started, no thanks. Start getting trigger happy with the new semi-auto of yours you may want one
Originally Posted By: AWS
5. My brass is handled individually through the reloading process, primer pocket cleaning, lubing, sizing, wiping down any case lube, trimming, chamfering, priming and loading. I don't miss flaws. I find prepping brass cathartic.
AWS
I find prepping brass painful on arthritic fingers.
The less I touch it, the better off I am.
5. My brass is handled individually through the reloading process, primer pocket cleaning, lubing, sizing, wiping down any case lube, trimming, chamfering, priming and loading. I don't miss flaws. I find prepping brass cathartic.
AWS
I find prepping brass painful on arthritic fingers.
The less I touch it, the better off I am.
could be on to something.
it's a tool. the purpose is to clean fired brass. if you have another way to clean your brass & are happy with it, then it's of little use to you.
it's a tool. the purpose is to clean fired brass. if you have another way to clean your brass & are happy with it, then it's of little use to you.