To Deprime or Not Deprime?

The #1 community for Gun Owners in Indiana

Member Benefits:

  • Fewer Ads!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • harleymac1

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Dec 19, 2013
    343
    18
    Morgan County
    I have traditionally deprimed my cases and then cleaned my brass in the lemishine and dawn dish soap mix with stainless steel rods. Do you all clean your brass before or after depriming? I only reload 9mm at the time.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    WhitleyStu

    Keep'em Scary Sharp!!!
    Rating - 100%
    11   0   0
    Feb 11, 2009
    1,466
    63
    Whitley County/Allen County
    When I was doing a lot of .45 acp reloading I wouldn't decap/clean pocket till the primers weren't seating nice and flush. I would decap/cleaned the primer pockets then back to just just tumbling and decaping in the reloading press.
     

    bgcatty

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    23   0   0
    Sep 9, 2011
    3,021
    113
    Carmel
    Deprime then clean because clean brass is next to Godliness. Everything works better when it is clean and the same goes for brass. I always deprime then clean. Who wants the gunk from fired primers mucking up the cleaning solution. My 2 cents for cleanliness. LOL!
     

    BiscuitsandGravy

    Future 'shootered'
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    10   0   0
    Nov 8, 2016
    3,900
    113
    At the Ranch.
    Deprime then clean because clean brass is next to Godliness. Everything works better when it is clean and the same goes for brass. I always deprime then clean. Who wants the gunk from fired primers mucking up the cleaning solution. My 2 cents for cleanliness. LOL!

    +1 vote for de-prime then clean. :yesway: Helps clean the primer pocket and flash hole.

    :ingo:
     

    Bfish

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    13   0   0
    Feb 24, 2013
    5,801
    48
    I don't deprime pistol brass before tumbling because it's one less step to complete and saves lots of time.
     

    harleymac1

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Dec 19, 2013
    343
    18
    Morgan County
    I don't deprime pistol brass before tumbling because it's one less step to complete and saves lots of time.

    Bfish, this is exactly the basis of my question. I have traditionally deprimed my brass before cleaning but got to thinking that a decapping die in a progressive press is useless. I am actually now considering dry cleaning and just decapping during the loading process. I was just curious how everyone else handles it.
     

    Doublehelix

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    15   0   0
    Jun 20, 2015
    1,874
    38
    Westfield
    I used to deprime before wet tumbling because I loved the clean primer pockets as well, but then I got lazy. It basically is just a much work to run a brass through the system to deprime as it is to load, so it was taking me twice as long to get finished cartridges from dirty brass.

    Now, I just deprime as part of the loading process.
     

    AGarbers

    Expert
    Rating - 100%
    24   0   0
    Feb 4, 2009
    1,360
    48
    Martinsville
    I used to de-prime, then vibrate clean. In the last year I started cleaning, then de-priming and it much easier. I just de-primed 100 .45-70 to try wet tumbling them. The brass didn't get as clean as I had expected so I placed them in my vibratory cleaner with Lyman grit. While the cases look great, Now I have to clean the grit out of the primer pockets...
     

    bwframe

    Loneranger
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    93   0   0
    Feb 11, 2008
    38,170
    113
    Btown Rural
    I have never cleaned pistol primer pockets. I do like clean brass and dies so I wet tumble without media. Depriming and sizing are done on the first die of the xl650.
     

    ljk

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    30   0   0
    May 21, 2013
    2,690
    149
    Pistol, NO. You don't need lube the brass with carbide dies.

    Rifle, Yes. Lube, de-prime, wet tumble. It cleans the brass and washes off the case lube at the same time.
     

    bwframe

    Loneranger
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    93   0   0
    Feb 11, 2008
    38,170
    113
    Btown Rural
    Hawkeye7br introduced me to the Lee universal deprimer. I use this on a single stage for rifle brass, with no need for lube. I'll deprime some 300 BLK brass to clean their primer pockets at the same time as the not deprimed 9mm.
     

    Chewie

    Old, Tired, Grumpy, Skeptical
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Dec 28, 2012
    2,333
    113
    Martinsville
    Deprime/size then wet tumble, always. Since I use a single stage press I see no additional effort required. Always go for the shiniest. Think Gollum and "my precious"!
     

    Doublehelix

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    15   0   0
    Jun 20, 2015
    1,874
    38
    Westfield
    Pistol, NO. You don't need lube the brass with carbide dies.

    Rifle, Yes. Lube, de-prime, wet tumble. It cleans the brass and washes off the case lube at the same time.

    I actually replied that I did not decap, but I should have clarified as @ljk did: No for pistol, yes for rifle. I just don't do much rifle...
     

    INGarand

    Plinker
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jul 1, 2014
    52
    8
    Buffaloville
    Old school, always de-prime, size and trim if rifle cases then tumble clean. Don't always reload after prepping cases so I sort them by caliber and bag them for reloading.
     

    gregkl

    Outlier
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    33   0   0
    Apr 8, 2012
    11,868
    77
    Bloomington
    Never really thought about it until reading this. I always clean first so I'm not putting dirty brass through my die. I load on a single stage and my decapping die is also my sizing die.

    Keeps my hands clean to during the reloading process.:)

    But I also reload in batches. Sometimes I'm tumbling brass. Sometimes I decap/size. Another time I prime. Yet another I bell the mouth of the case. I keep large coffee cans filled with brass in various stages of the process.

    Then one night I'll sit down, charge some cases and load up rounds with just one pull of the handle of my single stage press.:) Makes me feel progressive!:):
     

    Sniper 79

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    19   0   0
    Oct 7, 2012
    2,939
    48
    I clean then they get tossed into the case feeder for loading. No need to clean primer pocket. Less steps the better.
     
    Top Bottom