Tumbling...

[RoyalTenenbaum]

So I am sitting here, trying to assemble all of the necessary supplies and equipment to get started reloading. I scratch my head and think, eventually this will save money... eventually. All I am seeing is dollar signs flying out the door. If you have read any of my previous posts, you think to yourself; here goes that insufferable bastard trying to squeeze a penny hard enough to make it crap out a dime. So I am asking myself, what is the purpose of tumbling brass. Is it the full body clean that Irish Spring promises in the shower, cleaning all 2000 of my cases little itsy bitsy parts? Or is it simply cleaning the outside of the case and making it pretty to look at? If it is about cleaning all 2000 little nooks, crannies etc. should I skip the cheap tumbler and save for the ultrasonic jewelry cleaner on steroids that is working it's way from our wives jewelry cabinet into our reloading rooms? Welcome to cawffee twalk. The Holy Roman Empire, neither Holy nor Roman. Discuss.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Mostly it's to make the brass shiny and pretty.

It can also be used to clean off case lube from rifle rounds, but that's not strictly necessary depending on the lube.

 

[SSGSAD]

The more, you shoot brass the dirtier it gets ..... sooner or later you will scratch the sizing die, and this will put a scratch on the brass..... This causes difficult extraction from the chamber.... and can scratch the chamber ..... sounds like a vicious circle .....

 

[jim7310]

Purpose:
1. Clean off grit and grime to keep from scratching dies.
2. Remove lube residue from loaded rounds so the do not pickup grit to scratch chamber (let's not start the good v. Bad on tumbling loaded rounds)
3. Make pretty ammo!

You CAN save money reloading if you buy just what you need, cast bullets and stick to a couple of powders that you can buy in bulk. What it amounts to for me is the ability to shoot more for the same money. I try not to track the economics too closely...kind of like the cost per pound for venison...

 

[G_Stines]

It also helps them feed reliably out of magazines, buildup and cause them to not go in full battery. If you mostly shoot/carry revolvers, it shouldn't really matter because unless there aren't feed issues to worry of. My tumbler I built in my garage out of random stuff and a little electrical rigging. I know a guy who hooked his home made tumbler up to an exercise bike, and works out while he tumbles for a couple hours... if you are really trying to penny pinch, have a look around, and see what you can DIY out of..

 

[shibumiseeker]

Feh, there are other ways of cleaning brass than tumbling.

Put it in the dishwasher, the wife won't mind. You are already using her jewelry cleaner.

A little dish soap, warm water, some lemishine, viola, clean brass safe for the precious dies.

 

[shibumiseeker]

The more, you shoot brass the dirtier it gets ..... sooner or later you will scratch the sizing die, and this will put a scratch on the brass..... This causes difficult extraction from the chamber.... and can scratch the chamber ..... sounds like a vicious circle .....

I'm curious how brass can scratch a chamber?

 

[G_Stines]

Feh, there are other ways of cleaning brass than tumbling.

Put it in the dishwasher, the wife won't mind. You are already using her jewelry cleaner.

A little dish soap, warm water, some lemishine, viola, clean brass safe for the precious dies.

Wait... WHAT?!?

 

[sloughfoot]

I reloaded for 20 years before inexpensive vibratory cleaners became available. Of course true revolving tumblers were always available from the rock polishing crowd, but they were and are, tough on brass. Low capacity too.

We just washed out brass in soapy water, rinsed it, let it dry, and reloaded it.

This whole concept of shiny brass is relatively new.

 

[jim7310]

It is not the brass that scratches the chamber - it is the grit that sticks to the brass that scratches.

And the dishwasher is for cleaning the cosmoline off of surplus rifle stocks (when wife is gone)!

 

[RoyalTenenbaum]

I saw an old clothes drier on the side of the road today. Now Clarke don't go falling in love with it now, because, we're taking it with us when we leave here next month.

Kidding aside, sounds like some decent reason to shell out even more. I know it will save me a ton in the long run to reload. Young, new dad, sick wife so on and so forth. Every dollar needs to be spent with a lot of forethought as to whether capital is better allocated elsewhere.

*my wife doesn't actually have an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner.

 

[SSGSAD]

I'm curious how brass can scratch a chamber?

Brass is soft, it picks up grit you resize the brass and the hard die drives the grit into the brass, scratching the die..... the bullet is loaded with the grit imbedded in it, and you shoot and the brass expands and the grit touches the chamber and then the action works, and when the brass is extracted, wala, the chamber gets a scratch.....

 

[RoyalTenenbaum]

I reloaded for 20 years before inexpensive vibratory cleaners became available. Of course true revolving tumblers were always available from the rock polishing crowd, but they were and are, tough on brass. Low capacity too.

We just washed out brass in soapy water, rinsed it, let it dry, and reloaded it.

This whole concept of shiny brass is relatively new.

This begs the question, what if I put 100-200 cases in a mesh bag in with my laundry in a front load washer? I have unloaded the washer hundreds of times to find some of the prettiest brass in the world that had come out of pockets. I figure putting it in with the clothes would prevent the whole lot from being slammed around and getting dented up against the washer walls as it sloshes back and forth. Thoughts?

 

[shibumiseeker]

Brass is soft, it picks up grit you resize the brass and the hard die drives the grit into the brass, scratching the die..... the bullet is loaded with the grit imbedded in it, and you shoot and the brass expands and the grit touches the chamber and then the action works, and when the brass is extracted, wala, the chamber gets a scratch.....

Can't say I've had it happen in many, many tens of thousands of rounds of reloading, only about half of which get tumbled.

Not saying it can't happen as you say, but never seen it.

Must be a hazard for progressive press users, because I handle each piece of brass and if it's just filthy cruddy I wipe it off first.

I think the difference here is whether "cleaning" brass is necessary, not whether "tumbling" brass is necessary. I won't argue against dirty brass being cleaned before loaded, but I will argue that running it through a tumbler isn't necessary. I loaded for over a decade before I ever bought one.

 

[mac45]

Just me, but I think relatively clean brass is necessary.
How you get it clean doesn't make a lick of difference.
If you're on a budget, by all means, toss it in the washer. Lots of folks do, and it works just fine. The only issue I see is the drying time.

 

[sloughfoot]

Actually, I would never put fired brass in a dishwasher or a clothes washer. There are toxic residues in fired brass that I don't want in my clothes or on my dishes. Or more importantly, in my children or grandchildren.

If you are going to wash fired brass, go to a sink that is not used by anyone else and do it there. Rinse it well after you are done. Don't slowly poison your family.

The same cautions apply with the media used to clean brass and fired primers.

Wash your hands after handling any of this stuff. You might even consider wearing a mask when handling media.

Lead Styphnate from the fired primers is the hazard.

 

[Chefcook]

I used to be able to do cartwheels but as I have gotten older I just cant do them anymore. Wait was that not what this thread was about? I really need to start reading threads before I post...

 

[RoyalTenenbaum]

Actually, I would never put fired brass in a dishwasher or a clothes washer. There are toxic residues in fired brass that I don't want in my clothes or on my dishes. Or more importantly, in my children or grandchildren.

If you are going to wash fired brass, go to a sink that is not used by anyone else and do it there. Rinse it well after you are done. Don't slowly poison your family.

The same cautions apply with the media used to clean brass and fired primers.

Wash your hands after handling any of this stuff. You might even consider wearing a mask when handling media.

Lead Styphnate from the fired primers is the hazard.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Actually, I would never put fired brass in a dishwasher or a clothes washer. There are toxic residues in fired brass that I don't want in my clothes or on my dishes. Or more importantly, in my children or grandchildren.

If you are going to wash fired brass, go to a sink that is not used by anyone else and do it there. Rinse it well after you are done. Don't slowly poison your family.

The same cautions apply with the media used to clean brass and fired primers.

Wash your hands after handling any of this stuff. You might even consider wearing a mask when handling media.

Lead Styphnate from the fired primers is the hazard.

This is sage advice. My mentioning putting them in the dishwasher was tongue-in-cheek and not intended to be serious advice, based on the likely beating the OP would get when the wife found out.

I used a bucket for cleaning brass and that was the only thing that bucket was used for other than storing reloading gear when not being used. This was back when I was poor and a tumber was a hundred bucks I couldn't afford lo those many years ago.

I don't even tumble indoors, I put the tumbler out on the porch because I don't want the dust residue in the house.

 

[sloughfoot]

I recognised your advice as tongue-in-cheek.

The other thing to consider is the fine glass that is used in primers to get them to detonate.

I read all too often the lax attitude of some reloaders to the dangers of fired brass.

I have tasted too many times the results of my inattention to detail when prepping brass. Lead has a taste. And it accumulates in the body.

I sprung for my first $100 tumbler about 1991. I still have it. For a hundred bucks back then, I could have bought 1500 match bullets. So it was a big decision.