I was curious about this myself
. I want to wet tumble finished cartridges, but was looking for people who have experience already?Is it cool to wet tumble finished cartridges?
Tumbling live ammo
- Thread starter Rstjean
- Start date
I was curious about this myself
. I want to wet tumble finished cartridges, but was looking for people who have experience already?Is it cool to wet tumble finished cartridges?
A dry cartridge when fired sticks to the chamber walls and the pressure has to be great enough to cause the brass to stretch to touch the bolt face. A oiled or lubed cartridge immediately "slides" back into the bolt face applying twice the pressure for a longer period. (dwell time)
In simple terms a dry cartridge acts like a cars shock absorber and minimizes the force or bolt thrust applied to your locking lugs. The more force applied to your locking lugs the faster your rifle wears and the headspace increases. When this excessive bolt thrust happens in can cause bolt lug failure and a Kaboom.
Example, P.O. Ackley (Ackley improved cartridges) did a experiment with a Winchester 94 30-30 rifle. He removed the locking bolt from the 30-30 rifle, dried the chamber completely and remotely fired the rifle. And nothing happened, the case gripped the chamber walls and never moved to the rear with just the primer protruding from the case.
Also many of the early "Short Magnum" cartridges had lug setback problems because the short case did not have enough surface area to fully "grip" the chamber walls and applied excessive bolt thrust to the bolt lugs.
Bottom line there is no reason to beat your rifles to death and cause increased wear on them. So wipe the lube off your cases and dry your chambers and bores before firing your rifles. And remember older rifle designs were made of softer steels and one of the main reason why the Enfield rifle had replaceable bolt heads. The Enfield rifle was proof tested with two oiled proof cartridges and if the headspace increased .003 or more the rifle failed proof testing. So do "NOT" believe anyone who tells you its OK to lube your ammo. These people do not have the test equipment to back up their claims.
Thanks for the info. I think I'll tumble after resizing from now on.
I wipe my resized cases off with a rag and that's it, many people wet tumble the cases a second time to remove the case lube. In over 47 years of reloading I have never tumbled a case or loaded cartridge to remove any lube. I also have been retired for over eight years and have plenty of time to wipe cases off with a rag and see no reason to rush. Wiping the case off by hand and visually inspecting the case is just one of the "quality" steps in reloading and safety.
I also reload ammunition for my two sons and Dad isn't going to be blamed for any bad ammo. (I have brass OCD)
I also reload ammunition for my two sons and Dad isn't going to be blamed for any bad ammo. (I have brass OCD)
Because they want it to look shinny, of course.
I wonder why factory ammo is so inconsistent? Maybe because it's tumbled...I don't know.
Turn on tumbler now and tumble until last minute. 6 hours is nothing. 6 days would be better.
Tumble off the coating.
Hmmm. Last time I looked (IMR plant) they tumble the powder to get the graphite coating on to the powder.
The deterrent (DNT) goes on before the graphite, and it is not a surface coating . It infuses into the kernels. I cannot be rubbed off.
Hmmm. Last time I looked (IMR plant) they tumble the powder to get the graphite coating on to the powder.
The deterrent (DNT) goes on before the graphite, and it is not a surface coating . It infuses into the kernels. I cannot be rubbed off.
I had several hundred rounds of Czech 50's production brass case nickel jacket 7.62x25 that were pretty tarnished. Tumbled the #### out of them and now they are almost too pretty to shoot at anything other then werewolf's.
Oh they shot fine too, no difference then the steel cased stuff from the same era.
Oh they shot fine too, no difference then the steel cased stuff from the same era.
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- Location
- Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
The idea of sticking a like round in a vibratory tumbler just doesnt sit well with me... I personally wouldnt do it!
Just don't tumble hollow points. I have a batch with many where the stainless pins found their way in to the hollow point. Never would have thought it possible.
Done it, no issues. Multiple threads on the same topic on THEHIGHROAD.ORG No issues found there either.
Use an appliance timer in series with your tumbler if you want to limit the duration
(and wear on your tumbler).
Thought experiment - what do you think happens to cartridge powder in military packaging as it is being hauled many miles over bad roads in the back of a truck?
Use an appliance timer in series with your tumbler if you want to limit the duration
(and wear on your tumbler).
Thought experiment - what do you think happens to cartridge powder in military packaging as it is being hauled many miles over bad roads in the back of a truck?
inthehizzy
CGN frequent flyer
Had the same experience with .30-30 reloads using Barnes TSX with the gaping maw of a hollowpoint. Keep a dental pick handy to pop out the occasional stuck pin.
GunsNotPuns
CGN frequent flyer
+1
I'm not a high volume reloader so wiping them down doesn't really impact me and like you I like that last final check.
Don't tumble reloaded cartridges with lubed lead bullets either cause you'll be wiping the walnut media dust off of each and every bullet.
- Location
- Edmonton, Alberta.
Absolutely! Tumbling a loaded shell is a bad idea. I put my case in a drill chuck case holder and with a cloth spin the case and wipe the lube off. This is before I prime and load the case..
Below is my priming tool and the primers are each handled by hand. So each case after sizing is wiped carefully by hand with a clean rag and then I wash my hands when done.
"After" all lube is removed from the cases and my hands have been washed I prime the cases.
This is why Hornady One Shot case lube is so popular, its a dry film lubricant. The cases do not need to be wiped or tumbled and it will not contaminate primers or powder. That being said I do not use One Shot and just wipe the cases off like I have done for over 47 years of reloading.
I'm 65 and no longer have a young mans eyes and wear clip-on magnifiers over my glasses to see better close up when reloading. So my question is if you do not handle each case to inspect it as you wipe it off where is your quality control. As a example last week I was wiping the lube off a .223/5.56 case and the rag snagged on a very small split in the case neck mouth. And this wiping rag found a crack in the case mouth I could not see and would have missed if I had not been wiping each case by hand.
Speed Kills, slow down and enjoy the view. When you speed up the reloading process you increase the chance of missing something. And this reloaded case is inches away from your face when you pull the trigger.
"After" all lube is removed from the cases and my hands have been washed I prime the cases.
This is why Hornady One Shot case lube is so popular, its a dry film lubricant. The cases do not need to be wiped or tumbled and it will not contaminate primers or powder. That being said I do not use One Shot and just wipe the cases off like I have done for over 47 years of reloading.
I'm 65 and no longer have a young mans eyes and wear clip-on magnifiers over my glasses to see better close up when reloading. So my question is if you do not handle each case to inspect it as you wipe it off where is your quality control. As a example last week I was wiping the lube off a .223/5.56 case and the rag snagged on a very small split in the case neck mouth. And this wiping rag found a crack in the case mouth I could not see and would have missed if I had not been wiping each case by hand.
Speed Kills, slow down and enjoy the view. When you speed up the reloading process you increase the chance of missing something. And this reloaded case is inches away from your face when you pull the trigger.
IF all the people on here who think tumbling live ammo is going to break down the powder, read this thread http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/989047_Tumble_live_ammo_Tumbler_Oandapos__thruth_EXTREME_edition__200hour_torture_test__UPDATE__fired_rounds_in_OP.html. If you still think it's going to break down, don't post in these threads spreading misinformation...
