Clean or Size First?

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I have switched to tumble case cleaning with wet ceramic media. Should I tumble clean first or size first?

If I throw spent cases in the tumbler before sizing, then dirt water runs into my RCBS Rockchucker when the case is de-primed. If I size first, my die get dirty. I am neck only resizing.

Which do you first?

I’m shooting .45 Colt with my boolits cast from wheel weights with Alox and Unique. The shell casings are very dirty after being fired in loose Colt’s SAA chambers.

[nhyrum]

I always at least wash them before sizing. Ideally, I would decap with a universal die, tumble for an hour or so, then size, so I don't get any grit or grime in my more expensive dies, and it gets the primer pockets clean in one wash. Otherwise I give then a quick tumble, size, then tumble again

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[Conditor22]

I won't run dirty brass through my sizing dies

I use the Lee universal decapping die on a cheap press, then I wet clean my brass with dawn, citric acid and stainless pins

[Winger Ed.]

I wash in soap & water first to get the dirt off.
I'll lay them out a day or two to dry, or put them in a 225 degree oven for awhile to dry.
Then size/deprime, polish, and load for handgun ammo.

Rifle brass gets washed again after sizing to clean off the lube so it doesn't foul the media so fast, then polished & loaded.

[kevin c]

Every case I reload has hit the deck on the outdoor ranges I shoot at, so there's dirt, sand and gravel to deal with besides the expected firing residue. I wet tumble everything before it ever sees a press (citric acid and car wash 'n wax; no pins and not decapped first). I do make a point of letting the cases dry thoroughly before the rest of processing. A towel sling initial drying followed by few hours in the sun on a hardware cloth screen does the job.

[slim1836]

I appreciate all of the comments thus far, I've done many of them, usually by missing a step.:groner:

Slim

[MrWolf]

Harvey deprimer first, then clean, then proceed. I don't want gunk in my Dillon.

[Shawlerbrook]

Deprime with universal decapping die, clean and then size. Wash, rinse, repeat !

[dragon813gt]

Always clean first. I don’t want my dies damaged. The press will always becomes dirty when depriming. There is no way around this.

[Finster101]

I'm with the universal decapping crowd. I have a Lee pro 1000 set up with the decapping die on an extra tool head makes quick work of it with the shell feeder.

[Shepherd2]

I always deprime first. Then I tumble the cases using either the wet or dry method. I don't want to run dirty, gritty cases through my dies.

[JimB..]

I’ve been depriming with a universal die and then wet tumbling.

When I wet tumble without depriming I find that the primer holds water unless I heat them for a long time, and I’d rather not do that.

For rifle I used to wet tumble twice, but this weekend I tried putting walnut media in my FART and running rifle brass, that I hadn’t deprimed, for a couple hours and it came out ready to load. Now I may just load it, but if it’ll go on the progressive I’ll probably deprime and size on a single stage then tumble again to remove the lube.

[PJEagle]

Over time and experimentation I have developed a system that keeps my press and dies clean. Step 1 is to wet tumble with stainless steel pins and some worthless car wash/wax for 45 minutes. (I'm just trying to finish off the jug.) Step 2 is to dry the brass in a dryer. Step 3 is to decap and resize the brass. Step 4 is to tumble with stainless steel pins, Dawn & lemishine followed by changing the Dawn for good car wash/wax for a few minutes. Then I dry the brass in a dryer again.

This system gives me everything I want. You may or may not like it.

[Baltimoreed]

When I get home from a match, I drop my cases in an orange ball vibrator for 3-4 hours, I do this on my deck in the gazebo so I don’t hear it. Next day I sort them out and store them until I get around to reloading them. Don’t see the need to deprime and then clean as the media will get into the flash hole. Plus its another step. Work smarter not harder.

[pastera]

Decapp on a Lee APP, wet tumble no pins, then dry over a fan.
Can process about 4lbs/hr once things get going even with my small setup - not very efficient for small batches.

I find the shiny clean brass gets sticky in carbide dies without a little lanolin lube every once in a while.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Thanks for the input guys! I’ve been cleaning first, then sizing and decaping, then oiling and cleaning my press. I’ll go back to that. Last night I ran dirty brass through the decaping and sizing step before cleaning, it didn’t feel right.

[robg]

i wipe cases ,size and expand if needed, then tumble them .if you clean them first you have to lube them again to size them then re-clean .

[Froogal]

I have switched to tumble case cleaning with wet ceramic media. Should I tumble clean first or size first?

If I throw spent cases in the tumbler before sizing, then dirt water runs into my RCBS Rockchucker when the case is de-primed. If I size first, my die get dirty. I am neck only resizing.

Which do you first?

I’m shooting .45 Colt with my boolits cast from wheel weights with Alox and Unique. The shell casings are very dirty after being fired in loose Colt’s SAA chambers.

I dry tumble, but I first apply resizing lube, allow it to dry, and then resize and deprime, and THEN they go into the dry tumbler. I find that the primer pockets are good to go by doing it that way, and also all traces of the sizing lube are gone. .38 special, .357, and .45 Colt.

ALL of my reloading dies get disassembled and cleaned on a regular basis.

[Hossfly]

Wash, dry process....

[hc18flyer]

I like to universal deprive, then run thru the Ultrasonic cleaner to clean the primer pockets. Recently I have been using Imperial wax for full length resizing, then into the tumbler to get the imperial off? I put used dryer sheets in with the media, but I still get a lot of dust. I am thinking of reversing my order to keep the dust out of my dies? Someday I might have to get the wet tumbling setup? Tom

[TyGuy]

I keep a galvanized bucket for all my pick up brass. I use a Lyman universal deprimer while sorting cases by bullet diameter. All bottle neck cases go into a sonic cleaner for a preliminary wash while straight wall cases go directly into the wet tumbler with stainless beads and Lemishine. Once the bottle neck cases have dried a few days I size and trim them and they go into the wet tumbler for a final clean. Sonic cleaned brass and wet tumbled brass are dried in separate locations. Once the fully prepped bass is clean and dry I store the cases in canisters labeled by cartridge.

Long story short, I deprime and clean prior to sizing. It’s more work but I feel better about it.

[trebleplink]

I vibrate them in corncob with a bit of metal polish thrown in. Then to the 550. If you deprime first, you're going to be picking corncob out of the primer holes.

[Froogal]

I vibrate them in corncob with a bit of metal polish thrown in. Then to the 550. If you deprime first, you're going to be picking corncob out of the primer holes.

Yes! That is one of the reasons that I switched to walnut shell media.

[LaPoint]

As many others here have also commented, I deprime with a universal depriming die before wet tumbling them in SS pins.

[retread]

I decap with a universal die, them I tumble with SS pins, Dawn and Lemi-shine. Clean brass going through those sizing dies!

[Txcowboy52]

Clean first ! Always

[fast ronnie]

As has been said here several times before, but I will repeat: De-prime first, either on the Lee APP or an old single stage and Lee de-cap die, Then tumble with S.S. pins with citric acid and Armor-All Premium Wash N Wax. No dirty cases ever get near my Dillon, or any other sizing die.

[Kevin Rohrer]

Unless you want your sizing die walls scratched from all the crap on cases: clean, then size.

[SODAPOPMG]

Clean first THEN LET DRY before they go on the press

[Livin_cincy]

Re: Handgun Brass

I do not want primer " gunk " in my reloading area. So they get quick soak / rinsed before moving to the bench. The primer gunk has most of the lead and other toxins we do not want around us.

I then let them dry before sizing & depriming with a handgun carbide die. Some might worry about dirt or carbon scratching carbide dies or brass. I do not. Then they get an over night soak in soap & secrets of the coffee can washer soaker mafia. I then dry them and let them age in a temperature & humidity controlled cave where I store wine & cheese... ����������



I actually inspect my handgun cases before loading. I know that the 1:15,000 bad case exists. So I look for it. I don't care about primer pockets sterility or shine. Neither did real cowboys...

[Mk42gunner]

I started reloading before everybody and his brother had a case tumbler, so I don't buy into the "cases need to shine so much it will blind you" theory. As long as the cases are clean that is all that matters to me.

I also don't think every step of benchrest shooting prep helps standard loading for run of the mill guns.

I have also restisted the trend of going to wet tumbling, I want as close to zero chance of moisture in my loads as possible.

My current set up is a Lee universal depriming die, then into an old Midway 1292 tumbler loaded with English walnut lizard bedding followed by a trip into the sizing die. This also ensures the flash hole is clear.

After the cases are cleaned and resized, they can go into an ammo can to wait the next time I want to load that cartridge.

Robert

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I’m really appreciating the posts.

I just gave that sizer die a good cleaning.

For the .45-70 black powder I de cap with hand de capper. Generally hadn’t thought of that with the .45 Colt because I usually have so many spent cases after a shooting session.

[Chad5005]

i deprime with a hand deprimer or lee app with universal die the wet tumble with lemishine,dawn with ss pins.then process

[375supermag]

Hi...
I dry tumble with walnut or corn cob interchangeably.
I don't see a great deal of difference between the two media's for dry tumbling. I tried washing brass in hot water, Dawn and lemishine. I thought it was more trouble than it was worth.
I clean primer pockets on handgun brass whenever I feel like it. Mostly I don't feel like it. Never saw a difference in primer ignition, accuracy or velocity either way.
I do clean rifle primer pockets but I don't typically load more than 100 rounds of rifle ammuntion at a time except for .223.

[onelight]

I de-prime and clean cases first but would have no problem resizing when de-priming if there was an advantage to it for me , at least where I can use carbide dies.

[Geezer in NH]

Universal de-prime then clean.

[GhostHawk]

FA hand de-primer, then everything gets citric acid wash, soak, rinse. Primer pockets cleaned before they ever see a die.

I do most of it from the comfort of my recliner. Wash and rinse is kitchen sink 6 steps away.

When done they get folded up in a towel and set on the gas stove pilot warm spot to dry overnight.

[Walks]

All My brass is reboxed at the range.

I put every case thru a Vibratory tumbler with corncob media.
Then cases are inspected and boxed for resizing/decapping.
After I get around to resizing/decapping, then the cases go into a sonic cleaner. Dried, they go into the house with me to be primed while I watch old Westerns.
Reboxed they go out to the Garage to be loaded whenever I get around to it.

[megasupermagnum]

For the most part, I size first. If I'm picking up old range brass that isn't from me, I'll wash first. If it is brass from grass, a tarp, or better yet, from a revolver that never touched the ground, I run them right into the sizing die. Soot will not hurt steel or carbide. I've also found the soot serves a half decent lube for neck expanders, like sold by NOE. Trying to run an unmodified expander plug into clean brass is a recipe for disaster.

[country gent]

Do what feels right to you and works for you. I deprime in a hand tool I made. I then wash and clean the brass in ground corncobs with Iosso brass polish and nufinish ( about a cap full of each with 2-4 ounces of alcohol added.

Neck sizing or full length if you leave the decapping rod in any corncob is removed when you size the cases. This keeps the dirt and carbon out of the dies. It also makes inspecting the cases easier along with handling them.

I shoot a lot of bpcr rounds. 44-40, 38-55, 40-65, 45-70,45-90. I really dont want the BP fouling in my presses dies and loading blocks. When Im shooting The brass goes into a water jug with water dish soap and a little lemishine to soak. When I get home I pour out the water and rinse 3-4 times with hot water. They are then dried for awhile and the polisher is prepped. I decapp now if I didnt at the range. Into the polisher for a couple hours. then out and blown off or wiped of dust. They are now lubed very lightly and loaded. Last step is wiping lube off. In the steps to the polisher brass is held in tubs or coffee cans to prep. These can be washed as needed easily.

[Static line]

I tried the decapping first then vibrating my brass clean but soon got tired of cleaning the stuck media out of the primer cup hole. Just don't do it that way anymore.

[jetinteriorguy]

Deprime before tumbling in crushed walnut. I don’t want any primer contaminants in my tumbling media, and I use the media that Harbor Freight sells and have never had a plugged primer hole. The only additive I use in the tumbling media is an occasional dash of Barkeepers Friend and used dryer sheets cut into strips.

[LinotypeIngot]

I always wet tumble before any brass touches my machines.

[1hole]

I find the shiny clean brass gets sticky in carbide dies without a little lanolin lube every once in a while.

When "no case lube required" carbide handgun sizers first came out no one cleaned cases down to the metal and the light film of smoke and lead bullet lube after firing was all the lube the new dies needed. Then came tumblers.

Today, a tad of some kind of lube keeps the tumbled brass from galling to the carbide and making folks think their die has been scratched. Not so, it takes a bit of diamond to scratch carbide!

[toallmy]

I remember my father asking me while I was polishing my fired rifle cases with steal wool , if that made them shoot any better .
At this point in my life I have a good supply of brass and time so I generally keep a good supply of brass prepared to load in advance so so I can take the time to clean before loading . Or as my wife calls it playing with my shiny things .

[dverna]

When I get home from a match, I drop my cases in an orange ball vibrator for 3-4 hours, I do this on my deck in the gazebo so I don’t hear it. Next day I sort them out and store them until I get around to reloading them. Don’t see the need to deprime and then clean as the media will get into the flash hole. Plus its another step. Work smarter not harder.

I did not read further as that is what I do. When you do through a lot of ammunition, and time is important, adding steps to get pristine brass is low on the list of priorities. But I reload to shoot...not shoot to reload.

Tried cleaning after depriming a couple of times and went back to the old way. Will never try the wash, pins or other modern methods when over 45 years of doing the old way works and is fast and cheap.

[ackleyman]

Old school, I Wash the cases in Coleman lantern fluid, which gets all the grime off with the following method:

a. dump the cases in a bucket
b. cover with coleman lantern fluid
c. drain off fluid using a large funnel, paper towel in the funnel, put the fluid back in the can for later use
d. dump the cases on a large towel
e. grab both ends of the towel, rock the cases back and forth
f. spread cases out on the towel and let them sit till the fluid evaporates

been using this method since the late 60's, amazing how clean they get with out tumbling them.

Note: walnut dust can and will ruin full length sizers

[Lloyd Smale]

id do it both before and after sizing. especially doing it wet because doing it first with wet gets moisture in the spent primer and it keeps dust and crud off your press. But even dry i like to size clean brass and with rifle brass that needs to be lubed what i do is size and prime then tumble again. I dont worry about primer pockets. I havent cleaned a primer pocket in 30 years and never had a problem even with brass fired a dozen times.

[MOA]

Deprime with universal deprimer.
Tumble with S/S pins, Dawn and lemi shine.
Rinse all brass for 5 minutes in fresh clean water while agitating brass.
Dry outside of cases by tumbling inside a cotton pillow case.
Finish dry on large towel for 24 hours.
Load.
Shoot.
Have fun.
Repeat.
:bigsmyl2:

[Lloyd Smale]

Deprime with universal deprimer.
Tumble with S/S pins, Dawn and lemi shine.
Rinse all brass for 5 minutes in fresh clean water while agitating brass.
Dry outside of cases by tumbling inside a cotton pillow case.
Finish dry on large towel for 24 hours.
Load.
Shoot.
Have fun.
Repeat.
:bigsmyl2:

what do you do about sizing lube on rifle rounds? Still seems like youd have to do it twice if you dont want to run dirty brass through your die or leaving sizing lube on your loaded rounds.

[MOA]

Lloyd, thanks for the question. I only use a water base lube on my brass. When I'm done loading I use a damp facecloth of warm water to wipe down the rifle casings thus removing the lube. Only take a few seconds per round. Of course if your doing lots of rifle rounds one might want to do another method for removing the lube. It's just how I do it.

[mac60]

Deprime with universal decapping die, clean and then size. Wash, rinse, repeat !

Yea, that's the way I handle it too!

[725]

Just my two cents, here:
I de-prime with the lee Universal de-prime die.
Soak and jostle in hot dish soap w/ "Lemi-Shine" or pickling salts.
Q-tip the pockets clean.
Rack on a nail board. (Finishing nails in a grid pattern to hang the cases up-side down to dry)
Size, then wipe clean of the lube.
Tumble polish if they need it. (Walnut media w/ Nu-Finish car wax)
Then start to load, trim, expand, anneal, etc. as required by whatever I'm loading.

[onelight]

I tried the decapping first then vibrating my brass clean but soon got tired of cleaning the stuck media out of the primer cup hole. Just don't do it that way anymore.
Just leave the decap pin in your sizer it will push that out when you resize.

[Lloyd Smale]

Lloyd, thanks for the question. I only use a water base lube on my brass. When I'm done loading I use a damp facecloth of warm water to wipe down the rifle casings thus removing the lube. Only take a few seconds per round. Of course if your doing lots of rifle rounds one might want to do another method for removing the lube. It's just how I do it.

i load 556 and 300 bos and others at least 500 at a time. Id rather let the machine do it while i do something else. I clean range brass for an couple hours then lube size and prime on the progressive. then they go back in the tumbler for a couple hours while i do something else. then back on the dillon to charge and seat bullets.

[MOA]

i load 556 and 300 bos and others at least 500 at a time. Id rather let the machine do it while i do something else. I clean range brass for an couple hours then lube size and prime on the progressive. then they go back in the tumbler for a couple hours while i do something else. then back on the dillon to charge and seat bullets.

That makes a lot of sense with cartridge numbers like you likely reload at a single setting.
Since I usually never load more than 500 I can get by without tossing them in the turbo tumbler to get the lube off.

[Conditor22]

I value my reloading dies (Lee also) too much to put dirty brass in them and possibly scar them up.
I run everything through a Lee universal de-capper and wet tumble bore doing anything else to/with my dirty brass

[Bmi48219]

The plus if you tumble with SS pins is they do a good job cleaning primer pockets. To me that, and keeping foreign debris out of my dies are the big reasons I deprime prior to cleaning.

[Mal Paso]

I don't own any bottom feeders, none of my brass (44Mag) hits the ground. My bullet lube is also very good case lube and 30,000 psi puts a thin even coat on the brass. I deprime and size before the brass goes into a wet pin tumbler. The sizer is carbide and I don't think burnt powder will scratch it.

I am not averse to other calibers/styles of guns but I rather cover 1 caliber well than several poorly. JAMOM and Time.

I may be stuck in a rut, but it's a very nice rut.

[LabGuy]

I historically have deprimed on my Rock Chucker SS tumbled, sized...... recently picked up a Lee APP. I’m toying with the idea of a short wet tumble with out pins (to remove sand, dirt), deprime with APP, then SS tumble. With the idea of keeping the APP clean. My Rock chucker gets trashed with dirt and sand. I want to keep both presses clean.

[country gent]

I clean before sizing, this is normally a short trip thru the polisher with older media to remove dust dirt from the range and firing residues. cases ae then rolled in a damp towel to remove dust from media. I then Lube and size then polish both to brighten cases and remove lube. A lot of my shooting has been black powder cartridges the cases are wet when I get home, a few rinses deprime and polish. clean inside with a nylon brush and prime

[Murphy]

I always clean my cases before sizing. It's easier on everything (brass & dies). I'm blessed with tumblers and can go simple, or what some would consider overkill.


Murphy

[chrometip78]

I reload in the living room so I need to keep crud and dust outside. First thing I do is deprime in the garage with a universal decapping die in a JR3 that is dedicated to that purpose and stays outside (just a dirty process). Second, they go into a rock polisher with water and soap to get all the dirt/crud out, I don't use pins, not worried about shiny brass, just clean. Makes the rest of the sizing and loading process clean and something I feel comfortable bringing in the house.

[Shiloh]

Wipe rifle cases clean at the range with Ed's Red.
Then they get sized, the necks brushed, trimmed if needed, neck's expanded, primer pockets cleaned, and polished.

Shiloh