That’s it...I’m tumbling pistol brass

[Ateam]

I have a two stage process; A lyman turbo vibratory on a timer which cleans all my range pickup which can be really muddy/dirty/full of gravel. After a go in that for an hour or so (behind the shop to keep the dust away from the house), I bring it in the house and it either gets stored or run through the ss wet tumble for use.

[NyFirefighter357]

My brass always goes for a spin in my F.A.R.T.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Only down side to my tumbler (which has a timer) is that the solution I have in it, really needs to be decanted off the brass once the timer stops; It's loud enough that I can hear it stop, though. Just can't start it and go camping or something.

[JMtoolman]

I just sent a 50-70 sizer that scratched the first brand new Starline case put into it. Yes I had cleaned the die before using it for the first time. I tried polishing it out several times with steel wool wrapped around a brush. Didn't do a thing, still scratched cases. After forty or so case costing a $1.50 each, I broke down and sent it to RCBS yesterday. The toolman.

[fast ronnie]

The only die that ever gets a dirty case in it is a de-capping die before ss wet tumbling. I will never put an uncleaned case in my dies. Soaking in water only does part of the job. Ultrasonic cleaners do not help to remove burrs on the cases. They get the brass clean, but don't finish the job.
I used to use walnut shell in a thumler's, but after switching to ss pins, will not go back.

[BK7saum]

It sounds like your die is probably a STEEL die and not a Carbide die. I am not sure that you have scratched the die, but maybe embedded a piece of brass and grit onto the inner die surface. I have had this happen on a couple of occasions from lack of lube and resizing cases that weren't super clean. Just chuck a bore mop or chamber brus in the drill, cover with a cotton or flannel patch with a liberal coating of JB Bore Paste or Flitz and spin the mop or brush for 30-seconds to a minute. Lube and size a piece of clean brass and see if the "scratch" on the brass is gone.

This works on steel or carbide dies, but carbide dies are less likely to hold embedded brass and grit.

Good luck. Double check your die construction and give this a try.

[BK7saum]

And sometimes you can embed/transfer brass onto a steel die from a clean, but not properly lubed cases.

[stubshaft]

After 54 years of reloading, I bought a tumbler last year for sh!ts and giggles. I've shot IPSC, PPC and other events where brass regularly hits the ground. Not to mention High Power rifle and their assorted shooting environs. I have never worn out a sizing die, damaged a chamber or had a problem with dirty brass. I have better things to do with my time. Dirty brass was a way of life for Ackley, Keith and host of others.

[lefty o]

After 54 years of reloading, I bought a tumbler last year for sh!ts and giggles. I've shot IPSC, PPC and other events where brass regularly hits the ground. Not to mention High Power rifle and their assorted shooting environs. I have never worn out a sizing die, damaged a chamber or had a problem with dirty brass. I have better things to do with my time. Dirty brass was a way of life for Ackley, Keith and host of others.

it only takes once!

[oldpapps]

Interesting....
I started loading, heavy, back in 1973 when I was shooting PPC. Before that I loaded mostly rifle stuff, started in 1963.... Oh boy, I'm old!
Anyway, being a young COP, I didn't have a lot of cash and would scrounge as much brass as I could to load. Some of that was some nasty 'Star' brand re-load stuff. I think they lubed with motor oil... I had regular steel sizing dies and quickly learned about scratching. I quickly started cleaning in a rattle tub.
Now these many years later I have progressed to wet tumbling with stainless steel pins, everything.
I punch the old primers first and clean them all. I like having clean primer pockets when I load.
Clean brass and no damage to dies are great. I recommend it to everyone.

Load with care and enjoy,

OSOK

[charlie b]

I am another who has spend a few decades reloading 'dirty' cases, rifle and pistol. Every now and then I would put all my brass in a big bucket and wash it with laundry soap just to get all the accumulated grit off of them. I never ruined a die. Never got a case stuck in a die. And I never cleaned a primer pocket or trimmed a case (except for wildcats).

FWIW, I love the person who came up with carbide dies for straight wall cases

Recently I broke down and got an ultrasonic cleaner. I use it for cleaning other stuff but it does well on cases too, so after a day at the range I toss the brass in the 'bath' for about 30min. It is kinda weird for me to have reloads with shiny cases

[RED BEAR]

I wash all brass in Citric acid before sizing. Most of my dies are steel so I hand lube all of them and inspect and only tumble after sizing.

[cwlongshot]

Same here,
I bring it home and sort, rang brass just goes in 5gal bucket. The "good" brass (That I count the loadings before becoming range brass) goes in baggies but ALL goes in tumbler before it gets loaded!

Only stuff I really wash, is unknown sourced brass or super dirty/brass off a muddy range.

CW

[high standard 40]

All of my brass, rifle or pistol, gets handled the same way. I use a decapping die first, then use a wet tumbler with S/S pins before any case enters any one of my loading dies. It reduces the chance of scratching a die and I have found that really clean primer pockets reduce the force needed to seat primers. I use a hand priming tool and I get a much greater feel for correctly seating a primer once the primer pockets are cleaned well. Everyone has their own standards to adhere to when loading ammo. To each his own.

[BHuij]

I tumble it all. The vast majority of my brass is range pickup. It's covered in dirt and gunk. I'd rather toss it in the wet tumbler for a few hours (takes me 2 minutes to get going) and let it dry on a towel overnight than feed my dies and guns gritty rounds.