Decap & resize before cleaning?

Sniffer

Sniffer

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
44   0   0
Location
Okanagan
I have a ton of fired fired cases to process but I'm curious what others are doing

Do you:

A) Clean them first as is with no resizing / spent primers still in place

B) Deprime only (no resizing) then clean

C) Deprime / resize and then clean

Cleaning is with wet tumbling / stainless steel pins.

I'm leaning towards option C (so lube the spent cases and deprime / resize > clean) as it means this will clean the primer pockets and mean that there is no lube on the cases when I load (which I prefer as I found that this causes some powder to stick to the inside of the neck when charging) but it is messy putting the uncleaned brass through the press first.

If anyone is using option C do run the brass through a sizing die again when loading? Is there any point apart from to double check? If so does the die work ok with no lube as the brass is already sized from before it was cleaned? This will also mean the neck gets resized again which is working the brass more
 
I personally clean first. I feel that the grit from the cases will eventually scratch the die. I don't wet tumble and have never had an issue with the primer pockets
 
My process:

anneal
lube
deprime/resize body
wet tumble with SS and solution
trim, chamfer, debur
resize neck with lee collet die for consistent run-out and tension

You'll find that there are hundreds of brass prepping processes. Find one that works for you and one that very consistent in the outcome of that prep. I clean after annealing, depriming and full length resizing because of the lube that remains on the brass and that can sometimes find its way inside the brass...something that bothers me as I do not want any lube remaining in or on the exterior of the brass. I'm obviously always open to different procedures only if it gives me better results.

Hope this helps.
 
dogzilla said:
I personally clean first. I feel that the grit from the cases will eventually scratch the die. I don't wet tumble and have never had an issue with the primer pockets
Click to expand...

I forgot to say - all dies are carbide - but I still worry a little about that
 
joe.grey said:
My process:

anneal
lube
deprime/resize body
wet tumble with SS and solution
trim, chamfer, debur
resize neck with lee collet die for consistent run-out and tension

You'll find that there are hundreds of brass prepping processes. Find one that works for you and one that very consistent in the outcome of that prep. I clean after annealing, depriming and full length resizing because of the lube that remains on the brass and that can sometimes find its way inside the brass...something that bothers me as I do not want any lube remaining in or on the exterior of the brass. I'm obviously always open to different procedures only if it gives me better results.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I think we are on the same page.

I don't anneal (yet.....) but my process is pretty much identical for my low volume precision ammo.

My questions from above were more for my high volume plinking ammo.
 
Sniffer said:
I think we are on the same page.

I don't anneal (yet.....) but my process is pretty much identical for my low volume precision ammo.

My questions from above were more for my high volume plinking ammo.
Click to expand...

Ahhhh sorry, I missed the part about high volume plinking ammo.

and about the annealing, you should start that with your precision ammo, it will triple, even quadruple brass life and also have a positive effect on consistency.
 
joe.grey said:
Ahhhh sorry, I missed the part about high volume plinking ammo.

and about the annealing, you should start that with your precision ammo, it will triple, even quadruple brass life and also have a positive effect on consistency.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have been looking into it and there are no downsides it seems (apart from the initial price of the annealing setup)

What do you use to anneal? Blowtorch setup / AMP etc?
 
My process for my 223 bulk plinking load is using a universal recapping die I pop all primers out. Then I let soak in a mix of very warm water, dish soap and lemon juice for an hour or two then shake the tub up for a couple minutes, drain and rinse. You can now leave to dry overnight or lay on a baking sheet and put in the oven at low heat to dry. I then tumble in corn cob to polish and finish cleaning. Case prep after that then into the turret press. 4 pulls of the handle and it resizes, primes, charges, presses bullet and crimps. Works great.

For my precision loads for my .308 I will soak and tumble first then deprime and repeat just to insure no dirt or crud does funky stuff when I deprime. It’s way overkill but works for me.
 
I prefer to (Rifle brass):
1) De-cap with universal de-caping die.
2) Clean with SS pins.
3) Lube outside with castor oil and resize. For some I use graphite powder inside neck if converting brass to other caliber.
4) Clean again or wipe off castor oil.
5) Prime.
 
Last edited:
For my low volume precision load:
Deprime
Ultrasonic clean
Lube
Size and trim
Ultrasonic clean again to get the lube and brass shaving off
Load

For my bulk 223 I do not bother to deprime before first clean.
 
Ganderite said:
I clean first. Makes sizing easier and reduces wear. A quick clean.

Then lube and size and then a longer clean to remove lube and polish the brass.
Click to expand...

This is usually what I do as well. I always clean after sizing, but usually before sizing/decapping too. I just use a vibratory case cleaner, nothing resl fancy.
 
Decap. Good clean. Lube and resize. Then a short clean. Cleaning after resizing should be kept to a minimum. You’ll actually peen the case mouths closed a little if you stainless tumble for too long. A quick pass through a neck die would cure it however.
 
Sniffer said:
I forgot to say - all dies are carbide - but I still worry a little about that
Click to expand...

How do you think they make carbide dies or any other dies for that matter. They grind them which is essentially grit glued together to form a wheel. In any case grit could scratch a die eventually even if the likelihood is very small. Sizing before cleaning also makes for a dirty press if you are doing a bunch. Everyone has their own system. I only shoot handgun these days and pistol cases tend to get pretty filthy
 
For my low volume bolt guns if the cases are cleanish I'll wipe down to get any debris lube and size, trim and then wet tumble and and dry in Frankford brass drier(dehydrator). High volume semi auto is more of a process I'll wet tumble with water to get rid of dirt,mud etc,dry, size with 2 different sizing dies and trim on a progressive then tumble again with pins and Lyman solution then dry again. If it's my brass that's been previously sorted and processed then it's ready to go if not I'll sometimes sort crimped to swage on my hornady lnl set-up or just blindly swage it all. For pistol I tumble and dry with the primers in place, 90minutes in the drier and it's ready to load. No moisture in the primer pockets at all.
 
9mm bulk - ss pin wet tumble with primers in then size/reload.

223 bulk - ss pin wet tumble with primers in, lube/decap/resize/trim then ss wet tumble again to clean primer pockets.

Everything else I decap then ss wet tumble before processing. The cases go in the dry tumbler for about 20 minutes to remove the lube before reloading.
 
Rifle: decap, quick clean, lube and size, deep clean/polish, load and store.

Handgun: decap, deep clean/polish, load and store.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom