Depriming before cleaning??

[PeteL]

I'm just getting into reloading and I was wondering. I'm using a lee 1000 progressive press, should I bother depriming the cases before I clean them or can I just clean em with the old primers in and then toss em into the press? Talking about 9mm luger btw.

Thanks!

 

[AKD]

im new as well and don't use a tumbler but im pretty sure u should de-prime them so the pockets can be a bit more cleaned by the pellet things. I could be completely wrong as well. just a thought

 

[Edward Teach]

I always deprime after...that way you're not picking little bits out of the primer pockets. If you want to clean the pockets use a primer pocket tool.

 

[proonur]

I deprime then clean, but I don't use a tumbler.

 

[youngyoda]

I found out the hard way yesterday. First time tumbling. De-prime after! Otherwise you get the media stuck in the primer pocket and you pretty much have to use the de-prime to get the crap out.

 

[B]

I deprime before cleaning, then again I use soap and water.

 

[jobbass]

I'm just getting into reloading and I was wondering. I'm using a lee 1000 progressive press, should I bother depriming the cases before I clean them or can I just clean em with the old primers in and then toss em into the press? Talking about 9mm luger btw.

Thanks!

clean first, deprime, clean one more time.

 

[mdragon9]

There's no "right way"" or "wrong way" about it but it does depend alot on the type of press and type of shell you are reloading.

Single stage press, you tend to do each stage of the reloading process in batches, i.e. you deprime a batch, then resize a batch, etc. You can easily clean after depriming. On a progressive press everything happens in sequence, so unless you are depriming totally seperately, you do not have an opportunity to easily clean between steps.

For pistol cartridges, cleaning and swaging the primer pocket is kinda pointless, and as a few have mentioned you have to check to make sure the thing isn't getting plugged up.

Folks doing long range accuracy rifle shooting tend to want to take out any possible variable so they get serious about the case prep, much more so than for pistol. Regular rifle shooting doesn't require this level of attention.

 

[NaStY5000]

I always deprimed and resized all my rifle brass then put it through the tumbler. Never had any problems with media sticking in the flash hole while using compressed air to dust them off......

Now that i am doing pistol brass. I will be cleaning then deprime and resize. Only because i really want to use a progressive all in one......

 

[t-star]

i've had the media stuck in the flashole only about a thousand times- depends on the media- i use the crushed walnut and there always seems to be some stickers - i clean BEFORE i deprime- ivi 9mm seems to be about the worst for this , along with their undersized flasholes

 

[Onagoth]

I deprime after tumbling, avoids getting media in the flash holes, as well, even if you deprimed and then tumbled, I don't think the media cleans the primer pockets that well.

If your really concerned, just get a primer pocket tool, couple swipes and its clean.

 

[PeteL]

Thanks everyone.

 

[.Ben]

i always tumble before depriming otherwise media clogs the primer pockets and its a PITA!!!!....

 

[slushee]

I found out the hard way yesterday. First time tumbling. De-prime after! Otherwise you get the media stuck in the primer pocket and you pretty much have to use the de-prime to get the crap out.

I use my jack knife tip to gently pop out the media stuck in the primer holes w/o damaging the brass while sifting them out of the media.

Its not the plague, its really not all that much of an issue. Your milage may vary.

 

[maynard]

I tumble to get the lube off the cases, so I resize then tumble. If you use extra fine corn cob media, not much will get stuck in the flash holes. Any little picky pointy thing easily push it out. All my cases are put onto my loading block primer pocket up, so a quick look is all you need to make sure the primer pockets are clean.

 

[Boomer]

If you are tumbling with normal corn cob or walnut media there is no advantage to depriming first. Should you choose to, it does require additional time to poke the bits out of the flash holes, and it does not clean the primer pockets. According to what has been posted previously, you should deprime first if you tumble with wet ceramic media, because this has the advantage of cleaning the primer pockets during the tumbling process, and does not plug the flash holes. If you clean with an ultrasonic cleaner, it is best to deprime first so that the primer pockets are cleaned.

 

[warrenb]

I used a tumbler for the first time at the weekend. I tumbled 150 rifle cases for a few hours. I then deprimed and resized. Then tumbled for 30 minutes to get the lube off. Then cleaned each primer pocket and poked a small punch in each primer whole to remove the stuck media.

It was a wonderful experience. Better than meditation.

 

[Foxamaphone]

For regular rifle cartridges, I tumble, resize/deprime, move on, for match though, I'll tumble, resize/deprime, tumble again, then take the extra 10 mins. and poke out any media stuck in the flashholes. But still making sure for both methods to clean the primer pockets after resizing/depriming.

Its been said before but there's no right or wrong way of going about it