Size before or after SS Media cleaning???

I

IH8120

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Just curious what you guys have been doing?

Should I decap, then toss the brass into the SS media and clean then lube and size?

I guess I'm concerned that if I sized my brass first then cleaned it in the SS tumbler I would bump the brass around too much and have to re-size again?

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Having the SS Media tumbler clean the brass lube off would be a big plus :)
 
Unless it's really dirty (eg. range pick-ups that have been sitting out for a long time), I quickly wash my bottleneck rifle cases in hot, soapy water and dry it prior to resizing. The brass is then tumbled in SS media after sizing to remove lube and polish.

The reason I do it this way is that it isn't necessary for brass to be shiny to be clean enough for sizing, just free of any dirt it may have picked up from the ground. The initial wash is quicker than tumbling.
 
I don't have a SS tumbler but what I've been doing of late is putting my brass through sonic tumbler for about 10-15 minutes which is plenty clean enough, drying them in a warm oven, then depriming and sizing, throwing them in a dry media tumbler for a few hours to make them look pretty and to remove the lube, trim to size, champher and debur, and then put new primers in. As you can see my reloading takes a few phases but it works well for me. I may not load them right away but they're all ready to go when I do.

I imagine you could take the same approach with a SS tumbler. I just don't like to resize until I know the brass is clean. Would it be too much of PITA to put them through your tumbler twice because I don't think it's a terribly good idea to size brass if the cases are still fouled up? Can't be good for the dies I wouldn't think.
 
I don't let my brass roll off my shooting mat so when I get home they get decapped, sized then cleaned. Once cleaned and dried they are primed, powder charged and wait for seating before shooting.
 
Shooter ----/ said:
I don't let my brass roll off my shooting mat so when I get home they get decapped, sized then cleaned. Once cleaned and dried they are primed, powder charged and wait for seating before shooting.
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Doing it this way saves a step - removing the lube. You guys must have filthy brass if you need to tumble before sizing.
 
Andy said:
Doing it this way saves a step - removing the lube. You guys must have filthy brass if you need to tumble before sizing.
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My brass never hits the dirt but it is fouled because of burnt gun powder. Are you saying that doesn't happen to your reloads? I only reload for rifles and if I was to put a q-tip into the brass right after a round has been fired there'd be carbon showing on it which would get up into the die when resizing if i didn't clean the brass first. I've been reloading for less than a year but isn't that an issue in terms of the life of the die? Or is it something I don't need to concern myself about?
 
sure as shootin said:
My brass never hits the dirt but it is fouled because of burnt gun powder. Are you saying that doesn't happen to your reloads? I only reload for rifles and if I was to put a q-tip into the brass right after a round has been fired there'd be carbon showing on it which would get up into the die when resizing if i didn't clean the brass first. I've been reloading for less than a year but isn't that an issue in terms of the life of the die? Or is it something I don't need to concern myself about?
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As it's much softer than steel or even brass, the fouling will actually act as a lubricant, not an abrasive.
 
My first set of RCBS Sizing/seating dies are dated 1964. I still use them, and they work fine.
How many rounds have I resized/reloaded using them? It would amount to a very large number.

They still work just great, and do not mar or scratch my brass.
I also have a set of Forster 6mm Remington dies that I know have loaded 12,000+ rounds.

I do not normally tumble before sizing unless the 1-F brass is from some other source than my own stash.
I just make sure cases are free of grit and dust. I usually run fine steel wool over the necks immediately after firing
to remove the carbon deposits on the outside of the neck.

I lube necks, in and out, with powdered graphite, the case body with Sizing Wax.

Regards, Dave.
 
tjhaile said:
Unless it's really dirty (eg. range pick-ups that have been sitting out for a long time), I quickly wash my bottleneck rifle cases in hot, soapy water and dry it prior to resizing. The brass is then tumbled in SS media after sizing to remove lube and polish.

The reason I do it this way is that it isn't necessary for brass to be shiny to be clean enough for sizing, just free of any dirt it may have picked up from the ground. The initial wash is quicker than tumbling.
Click to expand...

I second that completely !
 
Andy said:
As it's much softer than steel or even brass, the fouling will actually act as a lubricant, not an abrasive.
Click to expand...

Isn't carbon harder than steel? Ill clean rifle brass, so the expander isn't getting pulled over all the grit. I lightly lubricate the inside of a rifle case neck after cleaned. Pistol brass gets belled, then crimped from the outside so I usually don't clean pistol brass, unless is really dirty from laying around on the range.
 
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