Will this tumbling process work??

T

Trapper Luke

New member
Still fairly new to the reloading process. This was how I was going to clean the brass if theres anything I should change please let me know so I can.

1. Let dirty brass tumble for 4-5 hours

2. Whip all media off with dry rag and make sure brass is free of all media.

3. Resize brass, take out primer then back in tumbler for 10 mins to take off lube.

4. Measure and seprate brass into ones that need trimmed and ones that dont.

5. Reload brass that is in the correct length catergory.

Well what do you guys think? Is it all right to tumble brass without a primer or will I be taking a chance of clogging the flash hole up with media?

Thanks,
Luke

 
You will more than likely have a slight problem with the media but nothing too bad. That is almost the exact way I do it. I however flash hole debur so that tool pushes the media out. I would say about 1 in 6 have media in the whole.
 
Originally Posted By: UtahShooterYou will more than likely have a slight problem with the media but nothing too bad. That is almost the exact way I do it. I however flash hole debur so that tool pushes the media out. I would say about 1 in 6 have media in the whole.

+1 Just keep a toothpick next to your tools, check everyone and push the media out if needed.
 
I take the shells after they have been seperated from the media, and while still in the seperator back on top of the tumbler for a few seconds mixing them with my hands. I dont get as many clogged flash holes as before.
 
Looks ok to me, however...try checking your brass at around 2 hours...mine rarely ever needs more than 2. I usually toss a couple of drops of nu-finish car polish in the media when I replace it. That gets it good and shiny and resists corrosion (finger prints etc.)afterwards too. If your brass is extremely dirty then tumble away.
I always decap all my brass before tumbling, I use collet dies so my brass is generally resized before I tumble too. Decapping the brass generally cleans the primer pockets fairly well too. I use a cheap stanley straight metal pick (cheap at wally world) to clean out my flash holes afterwards.

Oh and if you have not already bought a tumbler shoot me a pm, there is a good alternative to the high priced name brand ones (and no I am not trying to sell one [or more]).
 
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Unless your brass is really dirty and/or contaminated with grit that could damage your die, you could skip the first tumbling. Just size/deprime then throw in tumbler to polish and remove lube.
After the media seperator, I just inspect each hole, poking toothbrush bristles into those primer pockets that may have some media stuck in there, maybe one in 10.

But if you're shooting outdoors and your brass is falling on the ground, it could pick up dirt/grit that could in time, damage your resizing die. Perhaps a short tumble to lightly clean, then a longer polishing tumble after deprime/resize.

Then it's on to priming and loading!
 


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