- Location
- Halifax - NS
Good luck with that, I found Vibratory tumbling my live ammo to remove lube didn't work - they just sat at the bottom of the tumbler and the media moved around the top.
Had to get a Rotary tumbler. That works well.
Tumbling live ammo
- Thread starter Rstjean
- Start date
Had to get a Rotary tumbler. That works well.
- Location
- West Quebec
I hand wipe my rifle cases as well with a bit of alcohol if needed, I only load 50 -60 cases at a time any way, for pistol I use lanolin sparingly (1 to 12) and never a problem.
I wonder if my ultrasonic cleaner would break down the powder?
There is in all likelihood a better chance that ultrasonic cleaning would do more harm than tumbling.
Having worked with ultrasonic welders, I would extrapolated that there is a chance, at some length of time, of building up heat to the point of ignition.
I think one of you guys out there should prove/disprove my hypothesis by running a batch of reloads for twenty four to forty-eight hours
Yep..... Either that or his gun will explode and he may lose a few fingers in the name of science...... Certainly worth risking because it is very important to shoot shiny ammo......
So do all you guys ride around with gyro-stabilized ammo carriers?
I store each round separately in a hermetically sealed envelope.... Then I mix them up and hold each one to my forehead trying to predict what caliber it is before I shoot it....... Like on the Johnny Carson show.....
Seriously, tumbling shouldn't affect much..... As long as you don't tumble for an insane amount of time..... I just don't understand the fascination with shiny ammo......
- Location
- West Quebec
Just like Crows that like shiney objects lol
In the Lyman reloading manual it says not to tumble live ammo!
It said something along those lines in the instructions that came with my RCBS vibratory tumbler too, didn't deter me from putting some scuzzy factory ammo in there that had crusty corrosion on it enough to smooth out the roughness. I wasn't putting it in a brand new rifle the way it was just to score up a brand new chamber. I may have also removed the "do not remove under penalty of law" tag from my mattress at one time in my life, so don't take this as a recommendation, or feel as though you should follow my lead.
I figured someone would post something along this line. The discussion was about a quick 15 minutes so I went past the extreme someone would do.
I tumbled for a little over 8 hours. 2 hours in a vibratory cleaner, to which as FreedomVentures mentions - it just sits at the bottom. But, after those two hours in the vibratory cleaner they came out extremely shiny. The last 6 hours was in my thumblers tumbler model B with the walnut / corn cob media filled about half way.
First mag through the chrono was standard ammo, not tumbled. Day was overcast but read fine through my Pro Chrono chronograph.
Mag 1: 905, 911, 923, 917, 917, 915, 919, 910, 907, 909 (fps)
The second mag was the tumbled, pretty looking cartridges:
Mag 2: 920, 915, 913, 895, 910, 912, 907, 921, 903, 910
At 147gr min power factor for IPSC is 851fps, so I'm well above what's needed.
So please stop saying tumbling affects velocity.
As for wet tumbling, i'm not going to do that. I'm not a big fan of wet, uncrimped primers.
Excellent test. Now, can you take 20 rounds, and tumble 10 of them for a week or two, and repeat the test, shooting the rounds all in the same session?
I think that the loaded rounds said t at the bottom of a vibratory tumbler because of the density of a loaded round vs the walnut media. It still works to polish them because they do rub the media and move around they just don't circulate to the top like they do as empty cases. In the video the ceramic media is more dense and likely closer in density to the loaded rounds so they pickup the loaded rounds and circulate the to the top.
As for Manufacturers advising against it, that's all about liability and ass covering.
As for Manufacturers advising against it, that's all about liability and ass covering.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
I haven't ever put live ammo in vib. cleaner. lots of you claim no problem but I disagree...my reasoning;
The action of cleaning brass in a dry vib. or wet tumbler requires an abrasive removal of what ever your trying to clean from the brass. Burn rates for the different powders we use is set by composition as well as kernel shape,size and an added retardant covering. Unless you have a fully packed case of powder how can the violent vib action inside the case not effect the sharp corners and retardant (rounding off the sharp corners, thinning the retardant etc.)of a powder kernel the same way as it does the brass surface on the outside.
Does this create a dangerous situation...maybe not, but in some cases maybe so... as others have stated factory ammo is subject to a final "cleaning"...but all factory ammo is loaded to within a very strict parameter that may have a "built in allowance" to a specific pressure variance that they have very specialized pressure testing equipment for monitoring this. We as handloaders don't have access to such stuff and handloaders are notorious for "boosting the limits" of SAMMi standards... This is where a slight burn rate change might cause a problem.
I wish I had access to a specialized set of laboratory sieves and a very sensitive scale for a day to prove or disprove my theory but intill then I will error on the side of caution.
The action of cleaning brass in a dry vib. or wet tumbler requires an abrasive removal of what ever your trying to clean from the brass. Burn rates for the different powders we use is set by composition as well as kernel shape,size and an added retardant covering. Unless you have a fully packed case of powder how can the violent vib action inside the case not effect the sharp corners and retardant (rounding off the sharp corners, thinning the retardant etc.)of a powder kernel the same way as it does the brass surface on the outside.
Does this create a dangerous situation...maybe not, but in some cases maybe so... as others have stated factory ammo is subject to a final "cleaning"...but all factory ammo is loaded to within a very strict parameter that may have a "built in allowance" to a specific pressure variance that they have very specialized pressure testing equipment for monitoring this. We as handloaders don't have access to such stuff and handloaders are notorious for "boosting the limits" of SAMMi standards... This is where a slight burn rate change might cause a problem.
I wish I had access to a specialized set of laboratory sieves and a very sensitive scale for a day to prove or disprove my theory but intill then I will error on the side of caution.
I understand your concern. However, when you work in a powder factory, you see how the retardant is applied. It is not a surface coating. it is infused into the kernel for a specific depth. It cannot be rubbed off. After the powder is dried, it is tumbled for a half day with graphite. The tumbling is to coat the graphite (which happens quickly) and to round off some of the sharp edges of the powder, so it will meter better.
Prolonged tumbling in ammo will not do anything that has not already been done in the manufacturing process.
You wouldn't be able to ship the stuff very effectively if it degraded that easily either.
