Tumbling live ammo

[Rstjean]

I was just wondering if anyone tumbles live rifle ammo after reloading to remove sizing lube? Also if you do what media, time , ect do you use.

I am using a progressive press so I don't want to resize clean then put the cases back in the press to finish the process.




Thanks Ryan

 

[tjhaile]

Walnut or corncob will do the job in about ten or fifteen minutes. I would hesitate to wet tumble with stainless media due to the risk of moisture contamination.

That being said, I separate sizing from the other loading operations so that cases can be trimmed if need be.

 

[Ganderite]

I use fine walnut and tumble 223 ammo for about an hour. Thats how long it takes to get the lube off.

I suggest you tumble in 15 minute increments at first to see how long it takes with your lube, your tumbler and your media.

 

[bullsh??ter]

Tumbling loaded ammo could cause the powder to crumble into smaller pieces thereby increasing the rate of burn and increasing chamber pressure.
I personally would not take the chance.

 

[(((Echo)))]

I dry tumble 9mm and 40 for about 15 minutes. Same with my .223 rounds. Seems to take off the light lube I use.

Oh, and I just toss 'em into my regular tumbling media.

(E)

 

[Ganderite]

Tumbling loaded ammo could cause the powder to crumble into smaller pieces thereby increasing the rate of burn and increasing chamber pressure.
I personally would not take the chance.

Not so. Fresh powder is tumbled at the factory for hours to take the sharp edges off the kernels. Never seen one break yet. Ever try to cut one? Not easy.

Try an experiment to learn something. Throw five rounds in the tumbler and let them tumble for several days. Then pull the bullets and examine the powder.

 

[AB.boy]

Tumbling loaded ammo could cause the powder to crumble into smaller pieces thereby increasing the rate of burn and increasing chamber pressure.
I personally would not take the chance.

That has been tested and proven to be wrong by a few people. Seems to be more of an old wives tale.

 

[inthehizzy]

Not true whatsoever.

To the OP, I wet tumble reloaded ammo in the final stage and have had zero issues.

 

[Rstjean]

Thanks for all the advice I will be picking up some crushed walnut and I will try that out. All I have right now is stainless pins.

 

[Dfbshaw]

Pardon my ignorance but is removing case lube from rounds necessary/recommended? I haven't done it before. Does it prevent crud build up? Prevent rounds from sticking during extraction?
I use lanolin/alcohol lube right now, but I remember using Lee lube and had some sticky cases especially when it was -20 or lower.

 

[Grawfr]

There was a discussion on this subject a few weeks ago, and I came out of it with the definite impression that a lubed case would increase the pressure against the bolt face because you'll lose some of the friction between the case walls and chamber at firing.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1399411-Lubing-When-Reloading/page2

Mind you, the tests were done for necked cartridges (.303 British if I remember right), where there's a shoulder that would push the case backward during expansion. A straight walled case (.357Mag, .44Mag) would probably not get the push-back-against-the-bolt effect so much, I suspect. The oldest documents listed also gave me a strong impression that they weren't talking about just a "slick" cartridge, but about a cartridge that was "dipped in oil" or dripping wet from rain. That would make for a thick fluid film between the case and chamber walls. The more recent US Army flyers definitely say not to lube the ammo too, but again... I still wonder if there's a matter of degree to the question.

Seriously, I never bothered with cleaning my reloads, but I also make sure they're not covered in a thick coat of lubricant before I load them in the magazine.

 

[SoylentD]

I have seen some people reload with way too much lanolin/alcohol mix and after 6-800 rounds of 9mm the chamber was a gooey mess. In that specific case for pistol rounds, I would recommend dry tumble of 15 minutes to get the gunk off.
I switched to Hornady spray lube for this reason, it takes out this step. I hate the smell of it though, so I use a mask when I pre lube the pistol brass. The Hornday dry lube spray also dulls the case, which is of no concern for me. I suppose if you want pretty rounds you could dry tumble it too.

I would never wet tumble, the idea of water in the uncrimped primer area doesn't sit well with me. I'm not a fan of "click" and no "bang".

For rifle brass I still use the dillon mix, but it's just 223 plinking rounds where accuracy past 200M isn't important to me. For hunting rounds, most shots are inside 100M and I'm usually 1MOA any ways.
If you're a long distance shooter, then i'd be doing what Grawfr mentioned.

 

[hend238]

Tumbling live rounds WILL affect burn rate. Mainly because it breaks down the retardant coating on the kernels. Have you ever noticed the "Do not shake" on your powder labels? Hogdon/IMR's policy supports this. Look it up. They say it will increase burn rate. Just saying. Is it dangerous? Maybe, maybe not. I don't do it because I want my powder to burn as advertised and consistently.

 

[Auggie Doggie]

Tumbling live rounds WILL affect burn rate. Mainly because it breaks down the retardant coating on the kernels. Have you ever noticed the "Do not shake" on your powder labels? Hogdon/IMR's policy supports this. Look it up. They say it will increase burn rate. Just saying. Is it dangerous? Maybe, maybe not. I don't do it because I want my powder to burn as advertised and consistently.

Then why do all the big ammo manufacturers give their ammo a final tumble before packaging?

Auggie D.

 

[graydog]

Then why do all the big ammo manufacturers give their ammo a final tumble before packaging?

Auggie D.

I did not know this, is it printed somewhere? I would be interested in reading about it.

Thanks Graydog

 

[caperaway]

Ive tried tumbling loaded ammo but they just sit on the bottom of the tumbler.I tend to just give them a wipe with a rag sprayed with brakekleen.

 

[BigRobb]

Am I the only one who tumbles rifle brass after sizing? Nice clean primer pockets and no case lube! No reason to tumble again after that. Tumbling for extended periods can cause peening of the necks which can be an issue, but it really doesn't take long to get lube off.

 

[bigedp51]

Pardon my ignorance but is removing case lube from rounds necessary/recommended? I haven't done it before. Does it prevent crud build up? Prevent rounds from sticking during extraction?
I use lanolin/alcohol lube right now, but I remember using Lee lube and had some sticky cases especially when it was -20 or lower.

A dry cartridge when fired sticks to the chamber walls and the pressure has to be great enough to cause the brass to stretch to touch the bolt face. A oiled or lubed cartridge immediately "slides" back into the bolt face applying twice the pressure for a longer period. (dwell time)

In simple terms a dry cartridge acts like a cars shock absorber and minimizes the force or bolt thrust applied to your locking lugs. The more force applied to your locking lugs the faster your rifle wears and the headspace increases. When this excessive bolt thrust happens in can cause bolt lug failure and a Kaboom.

Example, P.O. Ackley (Ackley improved cartridges) did a experiment with a Winchester 94 30-30 rifle. He removed the locking bolt from the 30-30 rifle, dried the chamber completely and remotely fired the rifle. And nothing happened, the case gripped the chamber walls and never moved to the rear with just the primer protruding from the case.

Also many of the early "Short Magnum" cartridges had lug setback problems because the short case did not have enough surface area to fully "grip" the chamber walls and applied excessive bolt thrust to the bolt lugs.

Bottom line there is no reason to beat your rifles to death and cause increased wear on them. So wipe the lube off your cases and dry your chambers and bores before firing your rifles. And remember older rifle designs were made of softer steels and one of the main reason why the Enfield rifle had replaceable bolt heads. The Enfield rifle was proof tested with two oiled proof cartridges and if the headspace increased .003 or more the rifle failed proof testing. So do "NOT" believe anyone who tells you its OK to lube your ammo. These people do not have the test equipment to back up their claims.

 

[Ganderite]

Am I the only one who tumbles rifle brass after sizing? Nice clean primer pockets and no case lube! No reason to tumble again after that. Tumbling for extended periods can cause peening of the necks which can be an issue, but it really doesn't take long to get lube off.

I usually tumble brass after sizing. But If I have to size and re-load in one session, because I need the ammo tomorrow, I tumble after loading. Tumbler might run for an hour, or ll night, depending on what time i get finished loading.

 

[SoylentD]

I'm going to the range this Sunday.

I'm going to load 20 rounds of 9mm ammunition tonight. I'll tumble 10 of them for 6 hours on Saturday and report back the chrono findings.

I'm sick of reading conjecture and random stuff touted as fact on CGN. I personally don't know and never realized if there was a pressure difference.. but i'll know soon enough.