Thinking about the thread on Thumblers tumbler: how essential is it to tumble brass?

Up until now I've made do with rattling my cases around in some Shellite (white gas) to get the lubricant etc off.

Is it possible that if we shine up our ammo too much some critter will see it on belts or when loading?

I just cleaned them for years before I bought a tumbler. Easier for me to toss it in the tumbler come back later.

Get the steel pins tumbler, it cleans brass much quicker, and they do look great afterwards.

I have three vibro bowls and when I want to clean a batch of brass its easy.

I always laugh when guys shun the old corn cob vibro bowl for the new rotory with water, soap and pins.

Yes no maybe depending on the brass.

My daughter married a guy with a tumbler I tumple some brass now for 40 years before that I would wash them in hot water and dawn dish soap.

The Lord only knows how much brass I've cleaned with a soft cloth and elbow grease. When I got my vibrator and ground corn cobs, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I've never bought into the idea of using vinegar solutions nor soap and water and lemon dawn; no baking in the oven, etc. I just wanted my brass to be clean and dry. And that's what you get with a vibrator and a sack of ground up corn cobs. Dump your resized brass in it and come back later to clean, dry brass. Shiny brass does not win any extra points in a match nor does it kill stuff deader.

Right; is is necessary? What did the old guys to with their brass for the first 100 years of reloading? They just made sure they were clean and in the BP days, they sold scrapers for inside the case.
It just makes them look shiny and pretty; necessary; no. Even I, tumble brass. Sometimes; not always.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
The Lord only knows how much brass I've cleaned with a soft cloth and elbow grease. When I got my vibrator and ground corn cobs, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I've never bought into the idea of using vinegar solutions nor soap and water and lemon dawn; no baking in the oven, etc. I just wanted my brass to be clean and dry. And that's what you get with a vibrator and a sack of ground up corn cobs. Dump your resized brass in it and come back later to clean, dry brass. Shiny brass does not win any extra points in a match nor does it kill stuff deader.

Something we agree on

Brass should be cleaned before being reloaded to prevent dirt damage to your dies and/or gun.

Tumbling brass cleans it and makes it pretty.

The SS pins clean cases inside and out, including the primer pockets. They work well in a Thumler's Tumbler.

I started wet tumbling with SS media when I started buying firearms that threw perfectly good brass away and made you go look for it.

Meaning these cases hit the ground and picked up dirt and grit. And wet tumbling with stainless steel media would scrub the cases clean and not scratch my dies.

And with my bolt actions and revolvers I can just tumble the cases with walnut media.

Since I got a SS Tumbler I don't even use my Lyman Pro 1200 Turbo. Stainless Steel does a much faster and better job.

I just use an ultrasonic cleaner and a Lyman 1500 with untreated walnut to dry cases and give a little polish to them. I'm usually done in about 30 minutes and I don't have to put up with the noise of a tumbler (which I have, including SS and ceramic shot).

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
Thinking about the thread on Thumblers tumbler: how essential is it to tumble brass?

Up until now I've made do with rattling my cases around in some Shellite (white gas) to get the lubricant etc off.

Is it possible that if we shine up our ammo too much some critter will see it on belts or when loading?

I do a lot of hunting with a single shot rifle and a cartridge carrier on my belt. I polish my brass but I have never considered that an animal would scare at them. Most, if not all carriers cover 80-90% of the cartridge and if I'm reloading it's because I've already shot.

quote:

Originally posted by buffybr:
Brass should be cleaned before being reloaded to prevent dirt damage to your dies and/or gun.

Tumbling brass cleans it and makes it pretty.

The SS pins clean cases inside and out, including the primer pockets. They work well in a Thumler's Tumbler.

Corn cobs do the same thing. And, I have never resized a piece of brass that wasn't wiped down with a soft cloth before I did anything else.

Thanks everyone! The most compelling argument I've gleaned is that uncleaned brass might scratch the resizing die. Even if I don't get a tumbler, I must start watching that more closely.

Cheers

No you don't need to tumble brass.

BUT...

1. the carbon on dirty brass will scratch up and eventually wear your loading dies.

2. You will still have to remove any remaining case lube which takes a lot of time..

Even with that, it might take you 30 years to wear out a set of dies.. but your hands will get sore wiping lube off of cases..

I tumble primarily to remove any carbon and or case lube. I will usually deprime dirty pistol cases using a universal die before I tumble and before sizing, but rifle cases I'll size first.

For cases that never hit the ground it isn't too important. A good wipe with a clean rag will do it. I do a lot of shooting with .223, 9mm and .45acp so my cases get filthy. A couple hours in the tumbler and they are good to go. Carbide dies, where applicable, are good.
C.G.B.

nice shiny brass is much easier to find in the grass - especially from autos

Tarnish on the outside of the brass means nothing. I tumble to remove the sizing lubricant, which only takes an hour or so. But unless I'm in a hurry I leave them a few hours until they're shiny -- why not?

Not meaning to hijack the thread but has anyone ever actually worn out a die or damaged it with dirty brass? Ive dies that are 50+ years old that are still doing what they're supposed to do. My start at reloading was with a 30-06. I have rebarrelled that rifle twice but the die is still good.
Dies are made from some hard shit and I would think that the brass in the cartridge would be the thing to go.

quote:

worn out a die or damaged it with dirty brass

actually i do - this goes back 50 years or so - knew a guy that for some reason or another had his rounds super well lubed and when he shot them at the range, the area was sandy - he just picked them up and ran the sand encrusted cases through his die (then it was a herters) no fix for stupid

This stuff is great. I guess most die scratches would be inward but do burrs sometimes form that will scratch the brass?

I still viberate clean mine with walnut shells and some kind of red junk...I only do it on rare occasions..Bright and shiny looks great, but serves no purpose...If its in a open belt it could spook game I suppose, anything that reflects will do that, high gloss blue has scared more game than uncle puds dog..

I don't think dirty case with effect a hardened die, harden stell is damn hard to scratch, if you use a lub and everyone uses lub...

FWIW, before tumblers came along, I've cleaned brass by putting 2-3# of rice and my brass in a pillow slip and tossing it in the dryer. I suggest that you double up on the pillow slips in case one tears. (don't ask me how I know)

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
FWIW, before tumblers came along, I've cleaned brass by putting 2-3# of rice and my brass in a pillow slip and tossing it in the dryer. I suggest that you double up on the pillow slips in case one tears. (don't ask me how I know)

And if you'll turn the dryer on high heat you can also anneal your cases at the same time.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
FWIW, before tumblers came along, I've cleaned brass by putting 2-3# of rice and my brass in a pillow slip and tossing it in the dryer. I suggest that you double up on the pillow slips in case one tears. (don't ask me how I know)

I might nick one of those zip-up bags the girls wash their bras in and try that. Better wait till they're out, though, as the noise would be a give away.

So, this should be done before resizing? Do I continue to wash the cases in white gas to get the lubricant off or should they go back in dryer? Could be a new way to make fried rice

How many of us if purchasing factory rifle ammunition or as most probably do now, shotgun steel shot ammo, would accept a product with dirty, dull or stained cases/case heads. Nobody I bet. Many purchase nickel plated ammo because it looks good and does not tend to discolour as brass or brass plated steel (shotgun ammo) does over time.

I must get a tumbler one day but in the meantime I just clean with citric acid.
Bought some of the sort after Winchester compression formed 12G hulls a while back with brass heads pretty discoloured but standing in a shallow bath of citric acid solution before depriming and they cleaned up quickly, quick hot water rinse off and dry and I had dry and shiny hulls.

I like clean ammo just like I keep all my hunting tools and equipment clean. It means I inspect it and look after it.

Sure dirty ammo won't kill any differently, but what else is dirty, blunt and won't work just when you need it?

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Get the steel pins tumbler, it cleans brass much quicker, and they do look great afterwards.

+1

Citric acid? Got some of that. My greenie daughter loves it but I reckon it's more fearsome than turps.

Do you use it before decapping in case it eats at the primer pocket?