Tumbling before decapping/resizing?

[firstson]

I tumble first, Brush inside case neck then lube and resize. Back to the tumbler for lube removal. Rebrush necks and scrape primer pockets. Now they are ready for reloading.

 

[silverfoxdj]

I decap with de capping die then ss wet tumble before sizing. Keeps everything smooth/clean.

^^^^ Same here and works perfectly even with very dirty range brass

 

[BenchrestJohn]

Decapitated and wet tumble.

 

[ATOM]

Good idea, which one did you get and will it fit most cases, say up to 9.3x62? Thanks.

RCBS universal decapping die, .27 - .45. The inside is around 15mm across, which should be big enough to handle the 9.3 with its base diameter of 12mm.

This particular one only fits down to .27 calibre, but that's all I need. I have a PVC chute going directly from beside the press into the tumbler.

 

[Magellann]

I usually decap first, but if its very dirty brass, I'll either tumble it first for a shorter period of time to just get the bulk of the dirt off, or I have even tossed in in the laundry tub and swished it around for a couple minutes to get the mud off it.

 

[Trinimon]

I'll tumble first if the brass is really dirty ie caked on mud etc else they get deprimed using a decapping die. I ain't resizing any dirty range brass that could damage my good dies.

 

[35Wailin]

?..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!

That is what I do. A short tumble to get rid of the worst grit and grime, lube, size, trim, tumble to polish, clean primer pockets and clear flash hole, prime and load.

 

[Kryogen]

Dirty semi auto ammo gets tumbled in a media separator to remove grit and junk.

Then in the case feeder on the 650 to deprime.
Then a full run in the ss tumbler to clean a few hours.
Then its lubed, sized, trimmed, swaged
Then it gets another run in the ss tumbler to remove lube, then its loaded.

Process is faster with clean bolt action rounds.

 

[curseyou]

I use a universal decapper die with dirty brass, then tumble. Reason is I want the tumbling to clean the primer pockets and I dont want to run dirty brass through my resizing dies.

 

[silverfoxdj]

I use a universal decapper die with dirty brass, then tumble. Reason is I want the tumbling to clean the primer pockets and I dont want to run dirty brass through my resizing dies.

^^^^^ Agreed I do the same

 

[Magellann]

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.

I use the same setup, if the decapping die ever does wear out, it a cheap part to replace.