Tumbling Technique

[mcgiiver]

My desire in tumbling is simply to get a clean case, not necessarily shiny. I stopped messing around with different kinds of media, all getting stuck in flash holes and case necks. I now just dump brass in empty rotary  tumbler, no media, dry, add about 3 tablespoons of Bon Ami, let them go for 2 hours, get a nice satin finish. Then rinse the brass in a wire mesh basket with garden hose. Pistol cases get a soapy water rinse to leave that nice lubricating film on them. All get dried in a cookie tin on the rear deck  of the car left in the sun. Does anyone think this method is a bad idea, maybe there is something I am missing?

[SHOOTALL]

Couldn't tell ya . But I clean the cases before taking old primer out and it seems like less trouble than washing and drying.

[hornady]

I don’t pop the primer till after tumbling, I load 223, 22-250 and 270, along with some 30s, the only time I have had trouble with media sticking in the cases, is if I have regenerated the media and it was not completely dry, something else that will make your media sticky if you over do it with the dryer sheets. I only throw one in about every 10 turns, I use the walnut shells.
But like everything in reloading if its safe and works for you keep doing it.

[stimpylu32]

My desire in tumbling is simply to get a clean case, not necessarily shiny. I stopped messing around with different kinds of media, all getting stuck in flash holes and case necks. I now just dump brass in empty rotary  tumbler, no media, dry, add about 3 tablespoons of Bon Ami, let them go for 2 hours, get a nice satin finish. Then rinse the brass in a wire mesh basket with garden hose. Pistol cases get a soapy water rinse to leave that nice lubricating film on them. All get dried in a cookie tin on the rear deck  of the car left in the sun. Does anyone think this method is a bad idea, maybe there is something I am missing?

The only thing I see that there may be a problem is leaving the soap on the inside of the pistol case's , it may cause the powder to break down over time . As for cleaning the flash holes after tumbling , that gives me a 2nd chance to look over the case's before I load them .
 
stimpy

[Ladobe]

If your method works for you and you are satisfied with the results, you don't need to fix what isn't broke.   Only thing you may be missing IMO is you are spending a lot of time and effort that really isn't necessary.
 
I started reloading in the late 50's and have tried and used just about everything.   My mainstay for a long time has been chicken scratch (cracked corn) at less than $10 for 80#'s from the feed store even now days, with any of several "cleaning" agents on hand; or with a 4-5 to 1 mix of white and wild rice with no cleaning agent at all (also cheap in large quantity).    The wild rice is oily and the ratio can be changed to get what you want left on the brass.   
 
On exceptionally dirty, tarnished brass I played the wash in lemon water and/or dish soap game for a while, but that and the drying was just too much trouble and time consuming, especially those years I loaded in very high volume.   Just leaving them in the tumblers a little longer gets it done without all the bother.   
 
Flash holes I guess depends on the media and the flash holes.   I always deburr flash holes on new brass or bought used brass as part of the prep, and I do prefer to remove the spent primer before tumbling.    The media's I use just doesn't get stuck in them too often unless I wait too long to change the media out when it gets dirty, starts to break down, or if I put too much cleaning agent in it.   The rice has a better chance of getting stuck than the cracked corn naturally, but my media separator shakes most of those out.
 
Loaded ammo has never stayed loaded around here long enough to worry about powder breaking down, but I whole heartedly agree with stimpy that all brass should get a final inspection before reloading it whether new or fired X times, tumbled or not.
 
HTH
 
Larry

[mcgiiver]

My desire in tumbling is simply to get a clean case, not necessarily shiny. I stopped messing around with different kinds of media, all getting stuck in flash holes and case necks. I now just dump brass in empty rotary  tumbler, no media, dry, add about 3 tablespoons of Bon Ami, let them go for 2 hours, get a nice satin finish. Then rinse the brass in a wire mesh basket with garden hose. Pistol cases get a soapy water rinse to leave that nice lubricating film on them. All get dried in a cookie tin on the rear deck  of the car left in the sun. Does anyone think this method is a bad idea, maybe there is something I am missing?

The only thing I see that there may be a problem is leaving the soap on the inside of the pistol case's , it may cause the powder to break down over time . As for cleaning the flash holes after tumbling , that gives me a 2nd chance to look over the case's before I load them .
 
stimpy

I should have mentioned that I use glycerin hand soap. I have a strong suspicion that RCBS case lube is glycerin based. In any case the amount of soap left on or in the case is minimal, makes sizing an easy effort. The soap inside the cases has not fouled any powder so far and some of my loads have sit for more than a year and a half. In any case, these are cowboy pistol loads so accuracy is not critical.

[cwlongshot]

 I wash range brass (pick ups) in birchwood casey case cleaner solution and the fresh water rince and allow to dry on a cookie sheet before tumbling in first old media, then new (er) media. Been doing it for too many years to remember. Works for me...
 
CW

[gypsyman]

If the brass is really messy, I'll wash first in really hot water, with dish soap. Then, rinse in really,really hot water. Kinda like cleaning out a muzzle loader, get the brass so hot, the water evaporates. Or, you could put them on a cookie sheet for 10-15 minute's in an oven at 200 degree's. My tumbling mixture is a combination of corn and walnut media. Once in a great while, I'll add additive, if the brass isn't clean after 3-4 hours of tumbling. gypsyman
 
 

[SHOOTALL]

I pick up range brass and some has green groth on it . Alot of military brass from different militarys . Corn cob and brasso (a cap full) and 8 hrs in the machine 95% comes out so shinny ya bneed sun glasses to look at it 

[mdi]

I see no problems with your method. Bon Ami isn't abrasive and you rinse it off anyway so semi-shine 'em up and shoot. BTW, Bright, shiny cases was not the norm from reloaders just a few years ago, and I had been reloading 10 years or more before I got a "wobbbler". If you wanted "BBQ" ammo then most would use nickel plated brass, but few tumbled their brass. You could always tell a reloader atthe range; his brass/ammo was a good old dull brass, not the glossy, shiny virgin brass! Today it seems to be a necessity to have a wobbler, even new reloaders "need" one when they initally set up...

[SHOOTALL]

We surely run in different circles as most reloaders I know liked it shinny clean. Image on the line and all . The real pretty ones were when nickle cases had the mouth expanded to a larger bullet and the nickle was gone leaving a nickle case with a shinny brass neck . Add a BT bullet and ys stole the show .

[cwlongshot]

Agreed, I have been tumbling brass for almost thirty years.
 I wore out one Lyman, and getting close on a midway. But  the thumblers thmbler I bought twenty or so years back is still perfect.

I have run the gamut with nickle cases too.  Still like the look dont like the extra wear and work. Plus they really look trashy as they wear.

CW

[ratdog]

never had a tumbler till last year never really did not care  that much if the cases looked dull tried the acid thing to good idea on range brass .basically they look nice and  more easy to see bad ones .