Tumbling before decapping/resizing?

Potshot21

Potshot21

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Howdy folks,

I have been saving brass for years in anticipation of getting my reloading gear set-up and start rolling my own. Some of the brass is rather tarnished and dirty looking from sitting for years. It looks bad enough that I'm not sure whether or not to run it through my sizing dies. Everything I've seen points to decapping and sizing before tumbling, but I'm thinking it will be much easier on my equipment if I tumbled first, then decapped and sized, and then tumbled again to polish and clean the primer pockets.

Any insight for this beginner is much appreciated!
 
I am just getting geared up to start reloading .223. My plan was to tumble my once fired brass for 45 minutes to an hour to get the dirt and grime off them. Then let them mostly dry. Then I will lube them, deprime and resize them then run them through the tumbler again for a few hours to get the lube off and clean out the primer pocket.

May be an extra step, but not a huge issue to me. I figure if the brass is clean going into the dies, they should last longer and need less cleaning.
 
If they are that bad you should tumble first. You know, I've been handloading for way too many years and near as I can tell tumbling in a conventional cleaner does next to nothing for the primer pockets anyway. Takes lube off nice though.
 
If wet tumbling with stainless steel pins, decap first.

If using corn cob or walnut shells in a vibratory tumbler, don't bother with the primer. You'll not be able to get inside the primer pockets very effectively and have a excellent chance of having media stuck in the primer pockets. If there is a concern with the primer pockets you may think about giving it a scrape with a primer pocket tool.

The key is to work towards clean brass, don't fuss on making it mirror polished.
 
Good question, I am in the same boat, close to reloading, and I just bought the tumbler at CTC that other fellas had mentioned! brass isn't too bad but was wondering if it's ok to clean first! Then I would decap and it would be ready to go as soon as my reloading / gun room / manland, is finished!;)
 
If I have range pick up brass, or dirty brass, I tumble for an hour or 3 (walnut media) to clean it up. It sizes easier and does not scratch the die.

After sizing and decapping, if the cases were lubed I tumble again for an hour to remove the lube.
 
Tip: if tumbling decapped .223 / .556 make sure you use very fine media. Regular corn cob or walnut media from pet stores etc is not fine enough to pour out of the case easily / fall out of the primer pocket. You will have lots of cases with media stuck inside / in the primer pocket and if not all removed will potentially create an overpressure situation by reducing case volume.
 
I tumble all brass for an hour or so before I do any work to them, gets any dirt off or out of the case, just to help take care of my dies. After all prep work has been done to them, they go into the tumbler over night before final loading.
 
If it's rifle brass intended for serious accuracy shooting I decap using a universal decapping die first then clean the brass. The universal decapper only pushed out the primer without touching anything else.

If you get set up with some different options for dies you can also use an oversized die as a decapping only die provided it does not have a mouth sizing slug on the decapping pin shaft. Or you can look at replacing such a shaft with a handgun caliber decapping shaft and pin which are always just small rods. Just match the shaft you buy to your brand of dies.

For example I no longer load 500 S&W (or at least not at this time). But the sizing die works as a decapping die for some of my other ammo.
 
I use a universal depriming die and wet tumble with SS media before sizing, after sizing I wipe each case off by hand and inspect each case. Cleaning the case before sizing helps prevent embedded dirt and grit from scratching the cases and dies.

I see no sense wet tumbling a second time after trimming and deburing the case mouth. The cases hitting each would peen the case mouth if wet tumbled again.
 
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I tumble first with dry media, then de-prime. I find doing it that way keeps media out of the flash hole.
If the brass is still looking stained, I'll run it through an RCBS liquid sonic tumbler to get the rest of the stains off and clean the primer pockets etc.
 
HuntersStand said:
Why not buy a Lee universal decapping die and get the primer pockets clean the first time around?
Click to expand...


This is what I do. Deprime with the universal, then tumble and then size. If I full size then I tumble again to remove lube before priming and loading.

Potshot,

Normal corn cob does not do a great job of cleaning primer pockets but it does something. I still often give the primer pocket cleaner a spin on each piece of brass.

You should check the primer pockets of all caliber cases for stuck media in the flash hole after tumbling. Its no big deal and the media pokes out easy. Its just part of the process depending on when you prime.

My methods are not the least labour intensive. ;)
 
HuntersStand said:
Why not buy a Lee universal decapping die alnd get the primer pockets clean the first time around?
Click to expand...

There's the answer. I bought a bottom-of-the-line Lee press for that specific purpose; it is permanantly fitted with a universal decapping die. Everything goes through that and then into the tumbler.
 
ATOM said:
There's the answer. I bought a bottom-of-the-line Lee press for that specific purpose; it is permanantly fitted with a universal decapping die. Everything goes through that and then into the tumbler.
Click to expand...
Good idea, which one did you get and will it fit most cases, say up to 9.3x62? Thanks.
 
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