Stupid Newb Question

Blackthorne

Blackthorne

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OK..I am sure it's a matter or preference, but what order do you process your brass in?


I am finding that I am getting allot of dust from the tumbling media (also quite a bit on some brass given to me by a friend.

I ran a few rounds through the rig to decap last night and am finding that the dust is getting into the works. It still functions fine but I just don't like running dirty.

So I figure I need to:

Tumble
Wash - not sure how to do this other than, well, dump it in the sink with plain water and then let it dry for a few days spread out next to my de-humidifier
Decap

etc etc

My buddy says to use a Q-tip but I am not reloading 308 like he is. I am reloading bulk 9mm.
 
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You shouldn't need to wash your brass. However, if you put the brass on a cookie sheet then into your oven set on 'warm' or whatever the lowest setting is, they'll be dry in 15 minutes. Metal getting hot in the oven, let the brass cool before you touch it.
 
I put some polishing compound stuff for aluminum and brass, pick it up at canadian tire or wherever. Decap and then give a blast of compressed air through the flash hole and they're ALWAYS clean and polished too!

Ben
 
ben said:
I put some polishing compound stuff for aluminum and brass, pick it up at canadian tire or wherever. Decap and then give a blast of compressed air through the flash hole and they're ALWAYS clean and polished too!

Ben
Click to expand...
:eek:
Personally I really don't like the idea of introducing compressed air to spent cartridges. Lead contamination from fired primers is one of the big things to avoid in our sport. Why introduce any of it into the room if you dont' have to.
Ditto for opening the tumbler up while its operating. That dust is very high on the list of things to avoid.
Something to consider.
 
As far as 'washing' brass most don't bother, but...
One easy way to dry your brass is a couple close fitting 5 gallon pails... or one pail with a baffle... lots of little holes in the baffle and in the bottom toss a 'car heater'... not sure who sells these or what the are really called, (different from a block heater btw ha ha) but I picked one up at the junk yard one day... I use it if I've got the need for gentle heat for drying paint but dont wanna fire up the whole shop furnace in winter. I've seen a similar setup with a very small vacuum cleaner as a blower and I believe he was using a lightbulb as a heat source. Just make sure things aren't left unattended. Sorry I don't have pics, but in my opinion its a waste of time and energy. I read recently of someone using a modified clothes dryer... I believe it was on CGN.
edit: Just checked and that was a dryer used as a tumbler... oh well.
 
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canuckgunny said:
Sorry I don't have pics, but in my opinion its a waste of time and energy. I read recently of someone using a modified clothes dryer... I believe it was on CGN.
Click to expand...

That's what I am really wondering.

My bud says that the duts can affect the burn rate, and when I am lubing the cases the dust gets a gunked up in the case lube.

I mean if it's not gonna casue any trouble, i'll skip it, but the stuff is everywhere. You can see it on the press in the pics below...

100_0228.JPG
 
Blackthorne said:
That's what I am really wondering.

My bud says that the duts can affect the burn rate, and when I am lubing the cases the dust gets a gunked up in the case lube.

I mean if it's not gonna casue any trouble, i'll skip it, but the stuff is everywhere. You can see it on the press in the pics below...

100_0228.JPG
Click to expand...

A real reloader who setsup and uses the reloading bench BEFORE finishing the basement :)
Dust can effect the burn rate? Unless you are talking a whole lot of dust (I doubt you could collect enough dust and put it in a case to measure 0.1 grains.)

I do this myself.
  1. Deprime (If bored in front of TV with hand press)
  2. Tumble & wipe outside clean.
  3. Resize/Deprime (unless already done)
  4. Pocket clean/ream if required
  5. Retumble & wipe outside clean again (If you used lube in step 2, usually only rifle brass)
  6. Trim & Chamfer (usually only Rifle brass)
  7. Prime
  8. Throat
  9. Powder
  10. Seat
  11. Crimp
  12. Repeat until sore, out of components, or if wife tells you to stop.
 
Blackthorne said:
That's what I am really wondering.

My bud says that the duts can affect the burn rate, and when I am lubing the cases the dust gets a gunked up in the case lube.
Click to expand...

I use a lyman cob mix with some sort of goop built into it... you can also buy the treatments separate, I find very very little if any dust left over actually. A little extra 'dust' is not going to make a noticable difference unless you are looking to set a new world record in the rifle world. And as far as case lube, unless you are putting too much on, not a problem either. Try a different media as a first step.
 
For the record I load in a well ventilated garage with all doors open. Its too cold out there in the winter to load. Im more worried about opening a pack of standard velocity cci's then inhaling dust from primers that have been spent, tumbled then removed from the cases before blowing off, also the primer pockets are cleaned and deburred first so the "blowjob" removes all chips.

Ben
 
I reload ALOT of 9mm through my lee. I use the carbide die set, so there is no need for me to wash and lube.
FWIW:
1. Tumble in corn with a healthy squirt of automotive paste (autosol from cdn tire)
2. Use a platic planter pot (holes on bottom) to seperate the media
2.5. Chopin's nocturnes CD into CD player
3. Deprime them all in one sitting
4. Prime, Fill, Seat
5. QC
The reason I deprime all in one sitting, is because my spent primers never fall into the bag, so I just say screw it, let them fall, then vaccuum.
This way I don't have to sit around with spent primers around me when I'm reloading. just a neat freak I guess.

For the .308 it's basically the same thing, but between step 2.5 and 3. there is step 2.25 which is to lube.
 
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Old dryer sheets work good to remove dust & dirt - but like others said, you'd need a LOT of dust to really affect your loads.
 
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