Not the way to start reloading rifle (humor/my life)

[mjwcaster]

I don't reload for rifle yet, but plan on getting into it soon, .223(AR)/.308(bolt).
I don't even own a centerfire rifle anymore, but I will get back into them soon.

So a few months ago I was buying some pistol brass and there were a couple of buckets of .223 sitting there.
As you can guess, I couldn't resist and emptied my wallet and filled my car.
A while later I came to my senses and realized I didn't need that much brass, so I started sorting out the LC and selling off the rest.

Finally tried washing my pistol brass in citric acid and I love it.
Tried it with the .223, cleaned them up great, but I didn't get all the water out and they grew grunge on them.
Had to wash them again, rinse with clear water and then dry them out good.

Kind of got sidetracked and just finished sorting yesterday (anyone need brass j/k).


I decided to tumble some of my LC brass, tossed it in the tumbler with the crushed walnut media (pet bedding from walmart).
Stuff was way too big, clogged up the insides of the brass.
I got most of it out and read of a neat trick, throw it back in the empty tumbler for a few minutes to dislodge the stuck media.

It worked, but I left it in there for more than a few minutes and all the carbon/dust got impacted into the cases.

Now I need to wipe all the cases down to get them clean again.

Off to another pet store to get ground walnut media (not being cheap, closest store that sells reloading supplies is 40 miles).

Tried retumbling the dusty/carbon cases in it, not coming clean.
So I just started another batch of dirty .223 brass, hope this one works out better.
The ground walnut media sure pours out the of brass and my separator easier, will be nicer even in my pistol cases.

Now I just need the tools to finish brass prep and then components to reload.

And I rifle would help.
I would have one already if deals on used pistols didn't keep popping up.
I did grab a lower when we had some in stock at the shop, and I think I have figured out how I what I want to build.

Can't wait to see how the rest of this saga goes.

[Harter66]

Well at least you have a plan for the rifle . I wind up with an odd set of dies and then brass and eventually a rifle wanders in but most often a great rifle deal come along and waits months for brass ,dies or even ammo.

[jimb16]

FINE ground corn cob works well for cleaning too. PLEASE NOTE: I said fine ground. And make sure the cases are DRY inside. (voice of experience). If you have a feed mill nearby, you can often find large bulk quantities of both corn cob and walnut shell at them. It is a lot cheaper that way. That's how I buy mine.

[runfiverun]

oh man.... GAK.
I don't even wanna think about walnut going down my barrel at 1800 fps.
if I find some stuck inside a case I go immediately into panic mode.

[mjwcaster]

I have had media stuck in 45 with spider webs before.
I now check all cases very carefully and keep cleaned cases in a closed container.

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[NyFirefighter357]

I use a Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Rotary Case Tumbler. It works great. I have found the smaller rifle cases hold water. I de-prime my cases first, this prevents water from holding in the brass & allows cleaning of the primer pocket. I use Dawn & Lemi Shine. When clean I drain the water & pins out, fill it again & add a strong magnet, this catches any stray pins, tumble for a few minutes to rinse. Drain again and "dry" tumble for a minute with a couple of strips of chamois cloth drying towel, tumble for a few minutes and it removes most of the water from the brass. Then I air dry on a towel with the ceiling fan on.

[toallmy]

Someone here mentioned lizard bedding , so I gave it a try and now I don't play peak a bo with my brass anymore . Decap then wash then tumble the list goes on but that is how it starts .

[Wayne Smith]

Yup, Lizzard Litter is the stuff. Fine enough ground to flow through the primer hole. I decap first simply to keep the lead out of the litter.

Specifically Lizzard Litter - not just any pet store ground walnut shells.

[MrWolf]

Decap then use SS media in a wet rock tumbler. Still have my crushed shells and will not go back to them.

[Digital Dan]

I gave away my tumbler a couple decades ago. Bright shiny exteriors are nice but irrelevant to performance. I have taken a different approach in manually cleaning brass that is labor intensive, takes about the same amount of time and does a better job on the interior. And I might add that my growing inventory of straightwall BP cartridges makes it easier still. I use brass bottle/tube brushes and mops and bronze wool on the exterior. Takes about 10-15 seconds per case regardless of cartridge or grime.

[Boolit_Head]

I tried the pet store walnut and corn cob and if you have 223 they are not fine enough. Just eliminate your problems and get some from the reloading store. I tumble in Walnut to clean them before I run them through the dies. Then process the cases to get rid of crimp and trim them them then toss them in Corncob with some brasso until they are nice and shiny.

[mjwcaster]

The stuff from Walmart was big chunks.
What I found at petsmart was fine ground.
Working much better.

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[kens]

I dont tumble anymore, because of similar problems that you have. and it is really dusty and dirty on the bench.
I use citric acid, lemon kool-aid, or sillier wet soaking cleaners, it all dries out in time.
Somebody said they put the brass in a laundry bag, close it up, and toss it in washing machine.
Maybe I'll try that at local laundry mat.