How long do you tumble??

[SandRoad]

Just be careful about POLISHING the brass. All you really want to do is clean it. Super shiny polished as smooth as chrome is not doing you any favors. It is too smooth. You need the brass the grip the chamber walls to keep it from literally flowing when you fire a shot. Excessively polished brass will shorten case life by over stretching it, and possibly causing a head seperation.

So just give it a good clean. I typically do mine a couple of hours until it is CLEAN...not polished. You want it to have a grip to the chamber wall.

Sorry, but you are WRONG. It makes NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL.

http://varmintal.com/afric.htm

And at the bottom of the above page is an excellent quote

One well conducted experiment is better than a thousand opinions.

 

[Paul Jacobsen]

Very detailed test, and he is entitled to his opinion too. But he is testing the drag of the head of the cartridge not the walls, so in my mind still comparing apples and oranges. Far more surface area on the walls of a cartridge inside a chamber than a head on some machined stainless steel. The forces he applied don't even come close to the forces in a fired cartridge. I know, I know he is basing it on a scale....but I still have a problem with his test.

Just my opinion....but I would rather spend time reloading and shooting than making my brass look like gold.

 

[Danny Boy]

If the corn cob is fresh I tumble 1-2 hr which is long enough to bring them out shiny. The old stuff I did it up to 4 hours.

 

[CeeZer]

Tumble for 2-3 hrs with walnut media, de-prime, vinigar for 20-30 mins, wash with soap, dry.

 

[recce]

what does the dryer sheet do?

I do this too. It helps to collect some of the dust from tumbling.

 

[Baal]

^
I never thought about that. I'll have to try it out.

 

[Jordan Smith]

The dryer sheet also helps reduce the static in the tumbler.

 

[INTIMIDATOR]

That dryer sheet is a heck of a good idea especially when using crushed walnut.

 

[SuperCub]

How long should I tumble for??

Until they are clean.



.

 

[Jarlath]

That dryer sheet is a heck of a good idea especially when using crushed walnut.

Make sure that you do NOT overload the tumbler with cases which were loaded with wax lubed bullets. If you leave the tumbler on too long the wax sticks to the bounce sheets and tries to weld them to the inner section of the tumbler. You also get a nice hard wax ring at the fill level on the outer side of the tumbler.

Pain in the ass to scrape it out
(So says 800 .40 S&W in a Lyman 1200 )

 

[SandRoad]

dupe

 

[SandRoad]

Very detailed test, and he is entitled to his opinion too. But he is testing the drag of the head of the cartridge not the walls, so in my mind still comparing apples and oranges. Far more surface area on the walls of a cartridge inside a chamber than a head on some machined stainless steel. The forces he applied don't even come close to the forces in a fired cartridge. I know, I know he is basing it on a scale....but I still have a problem with his test.

His is not an "opinion" it is an actual test....... See last line on webpage.

You also have to read that particular page in context with about half a dozen other pages on his website. If you do, you will see that the finish on the case and the chamber makes no difference in practical terms.

The "drag" as you call it from the walls of the case is irrelevant, as there is no practical strength there anyway.

In fact, the better the finish, the less chance of casehead separation.


As for "shiny" cases, if you tumble with a slightly abrasive polish, such as the Dillon or Lyman (or Flitz) then you get sparkling results in the same time as poor results without the polish.

 

[204saskman]

i tumble my 204 brass for around 4-6 hours. Some need the extra time cause of how tarnished they get.

 

[Dutchie]

Shiney brass is great for new manufactured factory ammo. Nice to look at right out of the box. Virgin brass.
It's not practical to shine your handloads to overly shiney state. Waste of time, and for minimal benifits. (unless you like looking at your ammo instead of shooting it)
The only thing you need to do is get the crud out, like spiders, sand, and water. I pick up all brass at the range. Even the "brown brass" as it is also still salvageable. Make sure there is no excessive corrosion or denting, which will cause weak spots in the brass, reload it and then fire away!

 

[horseman2]

It ran about 7 hours last night and I slept through it. The next batch is in, and to keep them all somewhat similar I will run them the same . . . except I am going to throw in some cut up dryer sheet. I tried the dryer sheets in the vacumn but it still collects a lot of static black stuff on the out side of the bucket. No I don't clean my brass in the vacumn . . .