Can I tumble live rounds?

bluegrizz77 said:
I just finished tumbling 1026 live 9mm rounds today and I lived. No issues..
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Odds are very low. But I still won't do it. I just rub each one with a cloth and it takes it right off. Sometimes I add some rubbing alcohol to the rag. Never vodka or rye unless I spill some of my drink. Lol.
 
I guess it is more dangerous to the powder.
 

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SKIBEEDOO said:
Odds are very low. But I still won't do it. I just rub each one with a cloth and it takes it right off. Sometimes I add some rubbing alcohol to the rag. Never vodka or rye unless I spill some of my drink. Lol.
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I do not understand how one can use the word "just" in discussing wiping each of over one thousand cartridges. "Just" implies a simple, straightforward task of trivial proportions. It does not fit well with what would be, at minimum, 2 hours of tedium.

I remember when I bought my tumbler there was a slip of paper in the bowl that said do not tumble live ammunition, powder granules can break down and blah blah blah. I believe my response was the same as yomomma's.
 
Everyone will say it is fine. The problem is, even original powder containers DO IN FACT have finer powder residue on the inside. And you know what that means right? Just because people do it and have found little or no problems, does not mean it is a good thing to do. There are so many variables to consider that a difference in pressure spikes may or may not have disastrous or negligible results. As reloaders, we can't afford to take risks and make assumptions to hope for the best. I would recommend against it. Your bullets should be stored and kept clean. Tumble the brass to your heart's content. Besides, bullets will sink to the bottom and just rattle against each other.
 
sentian said:
Everyone will say it is fine. The problem is, even original powder containers DO IN FACT have finer powder residue on the inside. And you know what that means right? Just because people do it and have found little or no problems, does not mean it is a good thing to do. There are so many variables to consider that a difference in pressure spikes may or may not have disastrous or negligible results. As reloaders, we can't afford to take risks and make assumptions to hope for the best. I would recommend against it. Your bullets should be stored and kept clean. Tumble the brass to your heart's content. Besides, bullets will sink to the bottom and just rattle against each other.
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You're making an assumption something happens. Many people, including myself have tested this over and over ad naseum and found zero difference in pressure and velocity after tumbling rounds for 10+ hours. Stop giving bad advice.
Clearly you don't understand what were talking about when we say tumble rounds, as when you say "bullets sink to the bottom".. that's a vibratory cleaner, not tumbler.
OEM and reloading companies clean their loads/reloads before boxing, it's a common practice.
 
As with anything LIVE? Best practice is to dismantle the rounds FIRST. Pointy things + primers = boom under the right circumstances. Take apart your rounds and then prep the cases. This way if you need to do a little "detailing" with a wire brush or whatever? You can do it easily. I've had to strip rounds down before, anyways and it sucks but it beats the alternative.

If it's so old that it's corroded to hell? Best to be a little on the safe side with it.
 
TylerM said:
As with anything LIVE? Best practice is to dismantle the rounds FIRST. Pointy things + primers = boom under the right circumstances. Take apart your rounds and then prep the cases. This way if you need to do a little "detailing" with a wire brush or whatever? You can do it easily. I've had to strip rounds down before, anyways and it sucks but it beats the alternative.

If it's so old that it's corroded to hell? Best to be a little on the safe side with it.
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If you have a round go off tumbling live ammo you need to go out and buy a lotto ticket for the biggest jackpot possible... primers don't work that way.
 
TylerM said:
As with anything LIVE? Best practice is to dismantle the rounds FIRST. Pointy things + primers = boom under the right circumstances. Take apart your rounds and then prep the cases. This way if you need to do a little "detailing" with a wire brush or whatever? You can do it easily. I've had to strip rounds down before, anyways and it sucks but it beats the alternative.

If it's so old that it's corroded to hell? Best to be a little on the safe side with it.
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Agree entirely! Why tumble a number of small pipe bombs together?
 
yomomma said:
You gotta be kidding. I've thrown live rounds in a fire. Very unspectacular
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NOT SMART. Especially since the rounds you might want to throw in said tumbler might be so corroded to hell and then some that they're not even safe to shoot, even after they've been cleaned. Not that it HAPPENS OFTEN? But I'd much rather NOT take a chance with a live "pipe bomb" (thank you pacobillie) and have to explain to the police what the fvck just happened and then possibly get my a$$ booted by the court!

Honestly if it's so bad that you have to tumble them in the first place? You're better off with a wire brush. Not only that but dismantling the ammo gives YOU, the person who intends to use said ammo to inspect it and make sure it's still reasonably safe to fire it anyways.

Why take a chance? Especially with ancient stuff?

Theoretically? If the tumbler were to fall, the shock MAY be sufficient in some instances to set something off, especially with old ammo.


http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2008/09/why-you-should-not-tumble-clean-loaded-ammo/
 
Potshot21 said:
Okay, so the story is an aquaintance of mine is giving up on his 338 Lapua and said he'd give me some of his left over rounds. But it turns out they had been "rattling around" in his truck for what looks like some time and are pretty filthy looking.

Tumbling live ammo seems to me like a very bad idea, but curious if it is a common practice that can be done safely to return these rounds to pristine condition and put to good use.

Thanks!
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When I asked this question a while ago I got 7 pages of arguments you might just get more this time. Lol

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1414033-Tumbling-live-ammo
 
TylerM said:
NOT SMART. Especially since the rounds you might want to throw in said tumbler might be so corroded to hell and then some that they're not even safe to shoot, even after they've been cleaned. Not that it HAPPENS OFTEN? But I'd much rather NOT take a chance with a live "pipe bomb" (thank you pacobillie) and have to explain to the police what the fvck just happened and then possibly get my a$$ booted by the court!

Honestly if it's so bad that you have to tumble them in the first place? You're better off with a wire brush. Not only that but dismantling the ammo gives YOU, the person who intends to use said ammo to inspect it and make sure it's still reasonably safe to fire it anyways.

Why take a chance? Especially with ancient stuff?

Theoretically? If the tumbler were to fall, the shock MAY be sufficient in some instances to set something off, especially with old ammo.


http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2008/09/why-you-should-not-tumble-clean-loaded-ammo/
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I wasnt going to post until I keep seeing "pipe bomb" used.

The reason a pipe bomb goes boom is the pipe used is heavy wall and threaded on both ends meaning the pressure builds to such a high level that the pipe comes apart and fragments.

A cartridge say builds 45,000 psi ONLY when in a chamber of a firearm. An unchambered round will maybe build a small fraction of that before the bullet is pushed out and the pressure then bleeds off as the powder enters the air..

Hardly a pipe bomb I would think.

That is why brass will sometimes come apart at the back when fired in any gun with loose headspace as the brass won't hold the pressure and therefore it let's go. BUT it will only do that in a chamber as it needs to be supported by the chamber long enough to build enough pressure to stretch the rear of the case enough to cause it to fail. At the point of failure the bullet is way down the barrel and the progressive nature of smokeless propellets means that as the powder burns and the bullet travels down the barrel pressure builds.

I've tumbled live rounds for years and have never had an issue. But thats just me, the manufactures tumble every loaded round before they box them. Been doing that for longer then any of us have been alive.

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TUMBLE LIVE ROUNDS DON'T.

IF YOU DO, PROCEED AS MILLIONS OF US HAVE DONE FOR YEARS.

ARGUMENT OVER.
 
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