A couple questions...

Infantry-Soldier

Infantry-Soldier

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Hey guys...

I just received a lovely box full of goodies...

One item was a 1000 small pistol primers. These primers are from the '80s sometime... Stored in a basement. How should I go about finding out if they're any good? I was thinking of just loaded a primer into a case, and trying to fire it... Would this be safe to do indoors? Or should it be done at the range?


Second Q:

How do you all wash your brass? I just took my first 500 .45 brass out of the tumbler... All I did was put them all into a laundry bag, and dunk them in a full sink for 5 minutes or so.... Now they're hangning up by my furnace to dry....


Any tips would be great! Thanks.
 
1) 99.9% your primers will be just fine. It is not too loud to shoot off a primer in the house, preferrably in the basement. It may scare the cat and starttle the wife, if you don't warn them.
However, in your case there is no reason to. Just load up your ammunition and fire away at the range.

2) Bad idea to wash the cases after they come out of the tumbler. Just wipe off any dust that is on them and load them.
 
H4831 said:
2) Bad idea to wash the cases after they come out of the tumbler. Just wipe off any dust that is on them and load them.
Click to expand...




I guess I won't do that again!

The media in the tumbler I think is from the '80s aswell... Really green.... No idea what it is, but everything, including my hands were covered in green dust. I'm going to be buying new media before I tumble anymore...
 
I bought 1000 questionable SPP at the gun show a month or so back... same deal 20ish years old, in a box nobody I knew could recognize.

I picked three at random (one from each 100 piece box) went outside on the back porch...

With expert equipment (Safety glasses, ear muffs and a golf putter) I checked to see if they weathered well...

All three went BOOM.

20 dollars well spent!
 
Infantry-Soldier said:
How do you all wash your brass? I just took my first 500 .45 brass out of the tumbler... All I did was put them all into a laundry bag, and dunk them in a full sink for 5 minutes or so.... Now they're hangning up by my furnace to dry....
Click to expand...
What are you trying to wash off that you feel the tumbler isn't getting?

Lots of guys wash brass with an assortment of different solutions, usually to get corrosion and staining off, but using the wrong stuff if you don't take the time to ensure what you're up to is okay can result in weakened brass. Additionally, it's usually about fixing appearance, not any functional problem.

For really ugly brass, the NRA recommends a 5% solution of citric acid to water. Other guys have said they make a 50/50 mix of lemon juice and water, swirl the brass around in it until it looks clean, and then rinse and dry. Other people have tried hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid, alone and in combination, but have had concerns because it will even pit a stainless steel barrel. The concern arising from that is that if it will pit stainless steel, it might easily weaken brass. I have not cleaned any brass in a long, long time as I have simply decided to not bother screwing with corroded brass. Nothing I shoot is so desperately short of brass that I need to use old stuff.

Needless to say, if you do decide to wash your brass, rinse thoroughly with plain water afterwards and ensure it is completely dried of any trapped water before letting it anywhere near your reloading bench.

When it comes time to replace your media, instead of the super pricey commercial case cleaning medium, go to an animal supply store and buy Anderson's Cage Liner or a similar product. It's the same thing: ground walnut hulls. And a 20 lb bag will cost you about as much as the really cool little jar of the stuff from Lyman...
 
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