Tumble primed cases

[ptt811]

Can you Tumble Cases that have already had the Primers put in ?? I didnt know if the media would harm the inside of the primer or kill it somehow ???

 

[JetGirl]

Why would you want to?

 

[AllenM]

I would not. Not worth the risk of ruining the primer. Have they already been exposed to the elements that they need to be tumbled? If so they may already be questionable.
Nothing worse than a bunch of loaded rounds that don't go bang

 

[Slapstick]

I wouldn't, don't really know if you can but the media I use is so fine that little piece somethings get stuck in the flash hole.

 

[sporter]

Bad idea.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I wouldn't, don't really know if you can but the media I use is so fine that little piece somethings get stuck in the flash hole.

It's a bad idea for this reason. It won't hurt the primer itself, but this risk is very real.

 

[lovemywoods]

As has been stated, it's a bad idea to tumble primed cases. You can't be sure that all the media is out of the case. Particles of media could affect the proper firing of the primer.

If your concern is about the cosmetic look of the outside of the case, some reloaders have been known to tumble completed rounds with no ill effects. (Do some searching on INGO to find threads about tests they've run.) You could go ahead and load the rounds and then tumble them.

Happy reloading!

 

[bulletbaron]

I see some people are worried about a piece of corn cob in the flash hole, first off, think about this, what is the weight of a piece of corn cob compared to that of a lead bullet??? If a primer can push a bullet of a round with no powder 1/2 way down the barrel, I believe it would move the corm cob out of the flash hole with very little effort.

As for a minute fleck getting in with he primer in the pocket, here again a good strong hit by the striker or firing pin will crush the priming mixture into the anvil with no problem.

And lastly, tumbling loaded rounds, been doing it for 25 years!

In my opinion, if you want to tumble primed casings, I see no legitimate problem from doing so.

 

[henktermaat]

I tumble before depriming. That way, nothing stuck in pocket

 

[shibumiseeker]

I see some people are worried about a piece of corn cob in the flash hole, first off, think about this, what is the weight of a piece of corn cob compared to that of a lead bullet??? If a primer can push a bullet of a round with no powder 1/2 way down the barrel, I believe it would move the corm cob out of the flash hole with very little effort.

The point is that media stuck in the flash hole could cause incomplete ignition or even a lack of ignition. There's a lot of science behind the sequence of events that happens when the primer is struck and it turns out to be the most critical aspect of the entire process, so just because you don't see a reason not to doesn't mean there aren't any. Considering the consequences (squib fire, hangfire) why run the risk. It's easy enough to tumble finished rounds if one wants shiny brass, and much safer.

 

[sloughfoot]

Why would you want to?

I wonder the same thing. Since the cases have already been resized and are ready for loading.??

 

[ckcollins2003]

If you're worried about the cosmetic look of the case, I suggest tumbling after you've fully completed the process.

While I'm 90% positive nothing will happen even with a piece of corn cob stuck in the flash hole, the dyes you run the case through to seat/crimp the bullet is going to just dirty it up again.

Finish reloading your ammo, then throw it in the tumbler for a nice smooth finish.

 

[Yote69]

I agree that tumbling primed cases is not a good idea although I have tumbled a few myself by mistake. I never thought about tumbling completed rounds as a couple of you have stated you do on a regular basis. I might give that a try, thanks.

 

[Hazwhopper]

One thing that I know for sure, is that with reloading, you WILL have an incident. It will happen. Many have handled weapons with no regard to safety and some with all the safety in mind.
I believe that when handling weapons or ammo, that something will happen (major incident). It would be law of averages. You WILL have something happen.
So why take the chance of tumbling primed cases. Yes it might seem small. But if for some reason, the last time you tumbled the brass and thought that it was dull and you wanted to brighten it up so you added some media additives. Then you tumbled and it was great. But you since forgot what you used and the chemical is still in the media.
Then you use the media to tumble your primed cases. You reload and all is well.
Then you take them to the range. The weapon is new to you, and you are trying these cases / bullets and it doesn' t cycle properly. You think the weapon is malfuncting. So you return the weapon or put it away. You later try this ammo on a weapon that you know is good and it doesn't function right. You haven't put this together so you think that the ejector isn't right or something else is broken. You have it replaced and all the while you don't remember tumbling the primed cases.
If nothing else happens, great. But should the primers are fouled up because the media had some ammonia additives to clean your media and now have found their way into fouling your primers, think of the work that you have done and productivie loss that you could have saved yourself.
Maybe nothing happens this time or the next. You forget about how you loaded this ammo and now it doesn't function.
The one way to reload is to do the exact same way every time. With as little change as possible. There isn't any explaination why someone could tumble loaded ammo for 25 years, and not have an incident, but to say that they have done it the same way every time and have avoided an incident. But should they change even one thing, that could change the outcome. Because they have done it and you haven't yet, the only way to avoid incident is to do it exactly the way they do it, step by step and with same everything.
Good luck and I hope the incident I WILL have won't be very bad.