Is it safe? I have read about other reloaders doing it and still remain unsure whether or not this is safe. Seems to me like tumbling live rounds would raise some eyebrows... What are your thoughts?

The factories do it, as a final step before packaging.

10 minutes to remove lube, or 10 weeks to simulate a life time of being left in the glove box?

What tailgunner said +1 .
They use cement mixers at the factory.

I did tumble 36 old 308 winchester's loaded with power points, they were factory ammo that were given to me.

quote:

Originally posted by stillbeeman:.
They use cement mixers at the factory.

I'll beleive that when I see it. Maybe someone has pictures but I doubt it.

There was a book printed a few years ago that went through a detailed examination of ammo production at the Winchester Factory. They didn't tumble AT ALL. They used a chemical "pickling" process to remove the neck anneal etc.. The book was several years old and maybe dated but I can't think of why they would use a process that takes far longer than a chemical wash and puts large amounts of stuff that can blow up in one moving mass - doesn't make sense to me but again maybe someone has pics and can prove me wrong.

In general I think it's a bad idea to tumble loaded rounds. How much tumbling before the powders deterrant coatings deteriorate and change the burn rate of the powder? Why risk potential problems for an unnecessary operation. Tumble the lube off your cases before they are primed and loaded why wait to do it until they are loaded? If you have tarnished loaded ammo spin it and clean it with steel wool instead.

I know lots have people have tumbled live ammo. I just can't see a valid reason for doing so and there are potential problems so why do it?..............................DJ

As a handloader I would not do it. Factories have many safety devices and safe rooms we don't have.

No reason to do it.

i don't like to tumble softpoints, as the lead will get dinged up
military POINTY fmj bullets are all tumbled ..

i don't recommend it, though i do it

When one considers the vibrations caused by the distance that powder travels via plane, train, and automobile to get from the manufacturer to your loading bench, an additional few minutes of rattling around in a tumbler is pretty insignificant.
I personally have not seen loaded rounds tumbled in cement mixers but it has been posted too often by some of the frequent core of posters for me not to believe it.
This is just another case of "oh it looks like it might be dangerous, ergo, it is dangerous" and the chicken littles run and hide. Kinda like why we have many of our government regulations.

quote:

Originally posted by stillbeeman:
I personally have not seen loaded rounds tumbled in cement mixers but it has been posted too often by some of the frequent core of posters for me not to believe it.
This is just another case of "oh it looks like it might be dangerous, ergo, it is dangerous" and the chicken littles run and hide. Kinda like why we have many of our government regulations.

I guess I tend to be a little suspicious of unusual facts that I've "heard on the internet".
In the end tumbling loaded rounds is an unecessary operation, you can tumble the brass before it's loaded.

I'd rather be a lot too carefull than a little not carefull enough...............................DJ

I read within these very pages that tumbling finished rounds does something to the powder. Seems there is some kind of "coating" on the little spheres and sticks and tumbling causes it to be worn off, which may change the way it ignites and burns-- which would change the dynamics of everything once the firing pin hits the primer. My brass is always spotless after I clean it, so I never tumble once the rounds are loaded...

From the Sierra reloading manual #5, pag 27:

"No, don't do it"

Please re-read my post about how much vibrations the powder gets before you get your hands on it again. I can't remember who wrote that BS about the burn rate changing but it certainly must have been a slow news day.
As usual, do what you want but don't run around screaming that a person that does it is gonna end up with smoking shards of steel sticking out of his head and an inability to count to ten. Too many of us know better.

well,why dont somebody load a box or two,and tumble half of them,and compare?

I quit believing all the old wives tales about it several years ago... tried it with reservations...

no problems... tumbled some corroded factory rounds I found... just to see.. left them in the tumbler for 24 hours... no problems.... came out pretty clean.. fired a few.. no performance problems..

I don't even think about it anymore.. I tumble them if they need tumbling...

I have tumbled loaded rounds with out any problems but I probably won't do it any more. The last loaded batch that I tumbled were 204 Ruger loaded with 35 grain Bergers. Even though the Bergers have a very small hollow point they got packed full of media, dust,whatever. Impossible to get that stuff out. Today I went out to my club and set up on the 200 yd range. I shot 6 five shot groups-3 with the media packed bullets and 3 that had clean bullets. Everything else was equal. The 3 groups with the clean bullets averaged just a hair over an inch but the media packed rounds opened up to over 2 1/2"- good enough for coyotes maybe but nothing smaller than that. At least I know better than to tumble hollow point bullets again. Dave

quote:

Originally posted by jb:
well,why dont somebody load a box or two,and tumble half of them,and compare?

I have....there is no differance

Well it's true. After visiting Speer manufacturing in Idaho I was amazed at the scale things are done there. Then a trip to South Dakota to an ammo manufacturer there and they do have huge tumblers (not cement mixer sized for this one though) and they tumbled loaded rounds. Their reasoning was for appearance more than anything else. And they did remove anything from the hollowpoints by running them through a home made vibrator machine.