Tumblers

[Chicken Thief]

Schuetzen shooters often breech seat their bullets and load a charged case behind the bullet. It is commonplace to use the same case dozens, even hundreds of times with no cleaning. If any "crud" builds up inside the case it is not apparent from the results on the target--1/2 MOA is not uncommon for a proven match winner.

Ya bet ya!
And the trend is evident here:
http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html
Snoop around and indifferency regarding case cleaning is the "norm" right?

[6bg6ga]

I will probably get knocked down for my reply but I think that clean cases help with accuracy. I seem to get a tighter group with clean bass over dirty. It can't hurt by any means and its kinda nice to load the gun and still have clean hands.

[1hole]

" Once carbide on the FL sizer die is scratched, it pretty much cannot be salvaged."

That's really not so and it's virtually impossible to scratch carbide unless you do it with a diamond.

What happens when carbide sizers are used unlubed on cases that are too clean is the two dry metals rubbing under pressure gall, in which the softer metal adheres to the harder like it's welded. The galling starts microscopically but builds with each successive case until scratches get large enough to actually damage cases. The galled brass can be removed fairly easily tho.

I make a die cleaning lap out of a wood dowel rod by tying a strip of snug fitting 3M Scotchpad (green) pot cleaner around it on one end. Chuck the other end in a drill motor and spin the lap in the die until the brass has been cleaned away.

There's no need to be concerned about changing the dimensions of the sizer, only a diamond lap can do that.
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" I don't know what weakened cases look like. --- i do"

Bill, would you care to elaborate on what weakened cases look like, in some 46 years of reloading I've never even heard of that one. [Of course the incipient head seperation stretch ring is well known (or used to be) but the current craze of tumbling eliminates that warning sign.]

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No one has ever suggested reloading "dirty cases" but I can't imagine ammo that has been reloaded to be so dirty that I could dirty my hands chambering it. ??

[DCM]

[QUOTE=wch;1146178][B]Is case tumbling really necessary?

I don't take chances on ruining my dies so I clean ALL of my brass.

I don't necessarily polish it, but it does get cleaned.

It certainly makes it easier to spot defects in cases.

Necessary would be a personal call.

[unclebill]

" Bill, would you care to elaborate on what weakened cases look like, in some 46 years of reloading I've never even heard of that one.
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No one has ever suggested reloading "dirty cases" but I can't imagine ammo that has been reloaded to be so dirty that I could dirty my hands chambering it. ??

it makes it a lot easier for me to spot tiny cracks/spilts that are forming.
no i dont have a magic technique for spotting things that havent happened yet.

[Rio Grande]

Most responses I think show a bias toward self-justification after spending $.

Tumbling cases is fine if you like it, but totally unnecessary.

[unclebill]

Most responses I think show a bias toward self-justification after spending $.

Tumbling cases is fine if you like it, but totally unnecessary.

i got my thumblers vibratory tumbler for free.
i love it.
pride in workmanship you see.



sparkling cases make me happy.

[Skipper488]

It's prettier

[1hole]

"Is case tumbling really necessary?"

Okay, certainly it's necessary. If we don't shine our cases, rifle bolt handles will rust and front sights will fall off. "Dirty" cases will soon destroy dies, shell holders and powder funnels. And, silly stuff like groups aside, how could we prove to others on the line our pride and expert reloading skills if people didn't gasp in happy astonishment when they see the gaps between their teeth in the mirror shine of our cases?

Sure, brass case reloading was done for about a hundred years before anyone realized shiney cases are a necessity. But those old guys? Sheesh, all young guys know they hardly knew what they were doing, just spending a lot of effort getting better powder, primers, bullets and designing/making loading tools like standardized dies, strong and easy to use pressses, semi-auto primer systems, in-line seaters, excellant powder measures and tricklers, neck turning tools and bullet concentricty gages, magnetically damped highly sensitive and accurate scales, hand cranked case trimmers, etc, but they couldn't get it right cause they didn't understand the emotional hazards of using "dirty" old cases over and over!

Only after some younger guy found that crushed corncobs and metal polish could make brass really purty - or something seriously important like that - did reloading really start to roll!

[mold maker]

I clean and polish my brass, same as I do my guns. I wash and wax my 73 Chevy truck too. It's a matter of pride.

[prs]

I much prefer liquid tumbling in the Thumblers rotary. The only media I use is enough hot water to barely cover the brass, a dib of liquid detergent, and dose of ciric acid. Rinse in clear water and spritz with case lube while stilll wet. AIr dry in orange sack. Then again, I shoot black powder mostly.

prs

[klcarroll]

Yes, I tumble clean all my brass! .......Mainly because I pick up most of my brass at the range, and I rarely sit down to reload anything less than a 1000 round batch.

Under those circumstances, the "Flitz Cloth" approach stands right next to "Mental Masturbation" in terms of practicality.

Kent

[woodyubet]

I clean all my brass. It's just a matter of pride for me. Besides the treadmill tumbler is just fun to use.

[bumpo628]

I clean all my brass. It's just a matter of pride for me. Besides the treadmill tumbler is just fun to use.

You mean like this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv1M_wnqges

I made this rotary tumbler out of an old treadmill. The front panel speed control lets you vary the speed depending on the weight in the cans. You can remove either can while it's running to check on it too.

The treadmill was free and I use walmart corn cob bedding material that costs about $2 a bag. So, tumbling doesn't have to cost a lot.

[zardoz]

I like to craft the shiny brass myself.

Last go around with the 9mm and 40 S&W cases, I put in tumbler with walnut and nufinish overnight, deprime and size, then did a hot citric acid bath, then back into the tumbler with 20/40 corncob and nufinish. That brass is so shiny beautiful, and the insides and primer pockets look like new from the factory.

Better than factory new, now that I think about it.

[woodyubet]

You mean like this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv1M_wnqges

I made this rotary tumbler out of an old treadmill. The front panel speed control lets you vary the speed depending on the weight in the cans. You can remove either can while it's running to check on it too.

The treadmill was free and I use walmart corn cob bedding material that costs about $2 a bag. So, tumbling doesn't have to cost a lot.

It would be nice to reconfigure the old treadmill but it's still in use for us fat people,so I had to come up with something different. It's had some major redesigning since this photo but it works exactly the same........It really does work good for me and the media is cheap enough..............Dollor Store Rice.

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...tumbler&page=2

[DCM]

It would be nice to reconfigure the old treadmill but it's still in use for us fat people,so I had to come up with something different.

I like that Idea! I think if you add a roller just off of the end and put the drum between the belt and it you would be golden!

You could walk and tumble brass at the same time.

[Skipper488]

I like that Idea! I think if you add a roller just off of the end and put the drum between the belt and it you would be golden!

You could walk and tumble brass at the same time.

Better yet take the motor off of it and make it people powered, it'd be more incentive to excercise.

[woodyubet]

I'll get a bycycle for the human powered stuff. SHE, makes me remove the tumbler so she can walk on HER treadmill nightly. I'm going to try some different media one of these days but I doubt anything will leave the cases as slippery as the rice........

[HighHook]

Every week i go shooting in the hills i pick-up 5-6 times the brass i shoot. Its been laying in the dirt and sand and some hardly i can read the head stamp.
First thing i do returning from shooting is toss it in the tumbler and let it do its job.