How often to tumble brass

GladdBag

GladdBag

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Just wondering how often most of you tumble your brass? Every firing? Every second firing? I'm reloading my own Winclean once-fired factory ammo from my own handgun and am wondering if I should just clean it off for the first re-load or actually run it through a tumbler? Upon inspection, they are still pretty clean, especially inside.
Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA
-GB
 
clean your brass every time any debris even too small to see may scratch and otherwise harm your dies. I also have used the win clean brass and wondered the same thing. but clean tumbled brass makes the press work much easier.
 
I clean brass every time I load. It does no harm at all & may save some scratches on the dies.
 
Yep, do it every time! Put them in the night before with some Dillon Rapid Polish. Comes out purdy! But before I had my case cleaner I would just make sure there was no sand or dirt on them. Was OK for the first few loadings but now I tumble every time. Yes, those Win Clean cases are really clean inside. What powder is that anyway?

GladdBag, do you have a tumbler yet?


Fudd
 
like savagefan says when they are dirty sometimes 15 firings I have some dies especially my 22br dies I have 3 rifles chambered in this caliber same set of dies at least 7or 8 thousand resizings my dies are still in excellent condition but I'm sure it would not hurt to do it every time.
 
I've seen and read that you can clean brass by boiling it, either in water or a solution of water and X? Does anyone do that? Results? Do you deprime before tumbling?
 
I've heard of people soaking seriously tarnished brass in solutions of god-knows-what, but I haven't gone that route. If my brass is really dirty, I just leave it in the tumbler for longer.
I tumble after every firing, and deprime after the tumbler. Ensures that the flash hole is clear :D

(E) :cool:
 
Water with a little vinegar was the old time recipe. The vinegar, being mildly acidic would clean off the brass. Depriming before tumbling is a 50/50 thing. If you do it, you end up with kernals of the cleaning media stuck in the primer holes, and have to clean them out. If you don't do it, the pockets are a little tougher to clean when you pop the primer out. I usually just leave them in. FWIW - dan
 
I only tumble every 4-5 firings, Never had a scratched die from not tumbling, but I wipe my cases carefully before lubing & sizing. I also clean the carbon off the necks of fired cases with fine steel wool immediately after firing them. When I do tumble, I do so with fired primers intact so the flash hole does not plug up with media. Any cases that I pick up or source from someone else get a good tumbling before use. One has to be careful to check brass before tumbling, since the shiny case can conceal an incipient head separation. Regards, Eagleye.
 
rkaine said:
I've seen and read that you can clean brass by boiling it, either in water or a solution of water and X? Does anyone do that? Results? Do you deprime before tumbling?
Click to expand...

I used to clean my brass in hot water with dish soap, lemon juice and 'cream of tartar' - Serously!! :D

It worked well to get powder and residue off the brass, but it wasnt even close to tumbled brass. I'd expect the same results with the liquid case cleaners on the market.
 
When I pick up range brass that has been out in the weather, or when I reload for some of my pals and they bring me green brass, it can tumble for a week before I'm happy with it. I guess that's one reason why my own brass is tumbled after each firing.
 
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