Tumbling loaded casings.
- Thread starter elkhunter1234
- Start date
I did a hike in mountain trip a few years ago, took me 3 days to hike in. I tripped with some ammo in my pocket. I immediately packed up and came home. Hunt done.
In all seriousness, some reloading books list compressed loads, those would do more to break down the powder then tumbling.
I have forgotten a few in my hunting clothes, they get shiny after the washer and dryer too. Shot fine lol.
In all seriousness, some reloading books list compressed loads, those would do more to break down the powder then tumbling.
I have forgotten a few in my hunting clothes, they get shiny after the washer and dryer too. Shot fine lol.
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From Snipers Hide in 2012:
Re: Tumbling Loaded Ammunition
a bunch of 223 rounds loaded by us sat around a few years
some were getting tarnished. Threw them all in a tumbler to clean em up, loaded with H335 25 gr. 55gg fmj.
over half of them were WAYYY over pressure!
Can't say for sure why but thats the same load and components
I use today only difference was tumbling.
I will never tumble loaded ammo again!
Re: Tumbling Loaded Ammunition
a bunch of 223 rounds loaded by us sat around a few years
some were getting tarnished. Threw them all in a tumbler to clean em up, loaded with H335 25 gr. 55gg fmj.
over half of them were WAYYY over pressure!
Can't say for sure why but thats the same load and components
I use today only difference was tumbling.
I will never tumble loaded ammo again!
It must be true if they are WAYYY over pressure.
I have tumbled loaded ammunition for 20 years and had no issues. It's not a regular thing that I do but it has come up from time to time.
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a explosive teck ???
As with most things there is also a reasonable amount and unreasonable.
It easy to find interviews and quotes from people who work at Hodgdon, hornady, starline brass all talking about this, you can look them up yourself. But most talk about if its safe or not to tumble it for a reasonable amount of time.... big difference tumbling 15 to 30 min vs the 200 hours as one guy did as an experiment.
if reasonable vibrations were bad, powder, and loaded ammunition would be shipped differently, trucks shake, planes shake, military equipment shakes, my rifle bounces around when I am out hunting.
Now I wouldn't put a container in a paint can shaker and leave it on for the weekend because that is unreasonable, but I don't see how 15 min in a vibrating media is harmful compared to the journey that powder took before I loaded it, including my electronic trickler.
Most of the examples I see of people who had issues, they never say how long they tumbled it for or what type of tumbler for that matter.
All that being said... I actually dont tumble mine because I have never seen a need to yet.
It easy to find interviews and quotes from people who work at Hodgdon, hornady, starline brass all talking about this, you can look them up yourself. But most talk about if its safe or not to tumble it for a reasonable amount of time.... big difference tumbling 15 to 30 min vs the 200 hours as one guy did as an experiment.
if reasonable vibrations were bad, powder, and loaded ammunition would be shipped differently, trucks shake, planes shake, military equipment shakes, my rifle bounces around when I am out hunting.
Now I wouldn't put a container in a paint can shaker and leave it on for the weekend because that is unreasonable, but I don't see how 15 min in a vibrating media is harmful compared to the journey that powder took before I loaded it, including my electronic trickler.
Most of the examples I see of people who had issues, they never say how long they tumbled it for or what type of tumbler for that matter.
All that being said... I actually dont tumble mine because I have never seen a need to yet.
- Location
- Delta B.C.
This question has been asked many times. Is it safe? Let's just think about shaking hard objects and primers with gunpowder for a second.... No manufacture will say it's okay... that's a libellous(Can) situation. However the powder responds to getting vibrated.... But if your asking if others would do it? Yes... Many have with no noticeable change to performance. Cheers
Ha! Exactly
When you consider the amount of abuse through vibration a can of ammo would've been subjected to between leaving the factory in Valcartier to arriving at a FOB in Afghanistan... then the actual deployment...
I've tumbled .44 Mag and 7.62x39 ammo. Usually around 30 minutes or so. Zero issues. Wouldn't hesitate to do it again if required.
Ditto. - dan
WOW I find that very hard to believe, but then again anything run by the government has about 75% waste
do you have a link ??
I took 9-ball's comment as sarcasm! LOLWOW I find that very hard to believe, but then again anything run by the government has about 75% waste
do you have a link ??
Cat
Could be maybe my sarcasm module needs rebooting
Maybe there is the opportunity for a magazine article here.
Load 40 rounds each as follows:
Non- compressed stick powder rounds.
Compressed stick powder rounds.
Non-compressed ball powder rounds.
Compressed ball powder rounds.
Non-compressed flake powder rounds.
Compressed flake powder rounds.
Put them in a tumbler and start it up.
After a week, pull 10 of each, disassemble and check for deterioration.
Repeat after two weeks.
Repeat after three weeks.
Last ones after a month.
Load 40 rounds each as follows:
Non- compressed stick powder rounds.
Compressed stick powder rounds.
Non-compressed ball powder rounds.
Compressed ball powder rounds.
Non-compressed flake powder rounds.
Compressed flake powder rounds.
Put them in a tumbler and start it up.
After a week, pull 10 of each, disassemble and check for deterioration.
Repeat after two weeks.
Repeat after three weeks.
Last ones after a month.
manicmechanic
CGN Regular
v
Only problem I have had was 15-20 badly corroded 32 rimfire I picked up for cheap. After about a two hour shake a couple of bullets had come out of the cases. Brass & bullet lead was clean though. Figured the chance of a rimfire detonation was pretty low for that few rounds.
Bottom line is you will likely have no problems tumbling live ammo.
I don’t know of any powder that is so fragile that the grains would break down to dust in a tumbler. But I don’t know the physical makeup of ever powder.
I have occasionally tumbled smaller cartridge ammo (222R) with no ill effects. However I would be a cautious tumbling 338 Lapua due to the energy potential of a 300 grain pointy bullet squarely striking the primer of another in the tumbler. More mass, potentially equals more energy contact.
My second concern is some powder manufacturers use coatings to slow down the burn rate of the powder. Vihtavuori uses the same base powder across its product lines and uses granular coatings to slightly vary the burn rates. There are a number of ways to apply the coating, including electrostatically. I know that walnut shell media produces a static change in the tumbler. Is it enough to affect the coating? It’s possible IMO. Might not tumbling then affect the coating adhesion and cause powder to speed up?
So, I think there might be rare situations where tumbling may have an effect on the ammo. There are possibly a number of factors that might play into it including…time in tumbler, cartridge size, type of powder, type of media, tumbler energy, cartridge size.
Why do it, if there is even the smallest chance of an issue? Shiny ammo is no better than tarnished…unless you are trying to sell it.
I don’t know of any powder that is so fragile that the grains would break down to dust in a tumbler. But I don’t know the physical makeup of ever powder.
I have occasionally tumbled smaller cartridge ammo (222R) with no ill effects. However I would be a cautious tumbling 338 Lapua due to the energy potential of a 300 grain pointy bullet squarely striking the primer of another in the tumbler. More mass, potentially equals more energy contact.
My second concern is some powder manufacturers use coatings to slow down the burn rate of the powder. Vihtavuori uses the same base powder across its product lines and uses granular coatings to slightly vary the burn rates. There are a number of ways to apply the coating, including electrostatically. I know that walnut shell media produces a static change in the tumbler. Is it enough to affect the coating? It’s possible IMO. Might not tumbling then affect the coating adhesion and cause powder to speed up?
So, I think there might be rare situations where tumbling may have an effect on the ammo. There are possibly a number of factors that might play into it including…time in tumbler, cartridge size, type of powder, type of media, tumbler energy, cartridge size.
Why do it, if there is even the smallest chance of an issue? Shiny ammo is no better than tarnished…unless you are trying to sell it.
BlackPowderBurner
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- the chesterfield
That would be one of the circumstances I would completely avoid vibratory tumbling. The very well desiccated priming compound is likely to be dislodged from the rim, giving you even more duds than you would have to start with.
