Cleaning primed brass

[cabezaverde]

I have some 308 brass that is primed. Would like to load it up for my son, but it is a little discolored.

Any problem running it for an hour or so in my vibrating tumbler?

[Super Sneaky Steve]

If it were loaded you could, but the powder would start to break down and it could increase pressure.

If it's unloaded you could get corn cob stuck in your holes.

If it really bothers you could clean it up with some Mother's and a rag. If it were me I'd just shoot it then clean it better afterward.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I wouldn't.

[Winger Ed.]

I wouldn't bother; but if it's really important, and not practical to un-prime, polish, re-prime & load---
I'd finish loading them and polish 'em by hand with Brasso or something while watching a movie.

[oley55]

never done it, but I would be concerned about tumbling media getting into the primer flash holes. I don't think it reasonable to assume the media that routinely gets wedged in the flash hole only gets shoved in there from the primer side vs through the case body. But I suppose it all depends what your cleaning media is and if it is prone to sticking in the flash holes. A little crap in the flash holes probably wouldn't impede overall ignition, but would very likely affect consistency/accuracy.

That said, some light tumbling of loaded rounds probably wouldn't hurt anything.

All of the above is assuming use of dry stuff.

[15meter]

I do it regularly, with 30-06 plinking loads. I f/l size, reprime and bell the mouth using two stations on a Dillon RL-550. Into the Walnut shell media for 30 minutes to remove the spray lube.

Powder charge off the press then back to the 550.

Seat the boolits in one station, Lee collet crimp in another station.

Never had a problem, I've done 300+ in the last week doing that.

YMMV!

[GregLaROCHE]

Just rub them down with some scotchbrite.

[farmerjim]

No problem.
1. Remove the primer
2. Polish the brass
3. Put the primer back in.

[Lksdmachine]

Decamping live primers question……
Will or can the decamping pin move the anvil of the primer possibly dislodging the primer compound?

That was my fear of decamping live primers and then reuse them in the future.
Any experience out there with this or am I a worry wart?

[Froogal]

Just load it up and shoot it, THEN tumble it.

[charlie b]

Just load it up and shoot it, THEN tumble it.

LOL

Yep, that's what I do.

When I do full length resize I use One Shot. I don't clean it off. Doesn't make any difference in shooting. Cases still go 15 or 20 reloads. It does not mess things up if I lube the primed cases either.

[MUSTANG]

Clean it with 0000 or 000 steel wool. Been cleaning up some storage areas this summer - found a few hundred .308 cases from 20 years ago that were pretty disreputable, they cleaned up well with the steel wool. I put the base in a Lee chuck for trimming and spun the cases with a drill while lightly holding it in a piece of steel wool. No need to deprime with this technique.

288259

[lesharris]

load it, then tumble, then shoot.

[rockrat]

MUSTANG has the right idea. If not steel wool, then scotchbrite should work, but might be coarser and leave scratch marks

[hoodat]

On a thread like this, I've gotta mention that I've been loading since the days when almost no one had case tumblers/cleaners, and cleaning cases wasn't even "a thing". I don't recall ever being concerned about the cosmetic appearance of my brass -- just my targets. Matter of fact I don't have a tumbler even still. Must be some kind of barbarian. jd

[mdi]

Depending on the media and how hard it would plug the flash hole, more than likely the primer would clear any media in the flash hole and ignite the powder easily. I have only tumbled 44 Magnum primed brass (half just "wanna see" experiment. half cleaning dusty brass). Tumbled in corn cob blast media, 14-20 and looked in each case to see in media plugged flash hole. Most that did have a chunk in the flash hole were cleared with a tap on the bench, mouth down. Don't rememner any that stayed clogging the flash hole, but all fired pretty consistently...

[rbuck351]

If it was clean enough to prime, it's clean enough to shoot. Discoloration will make no difference.

[oley55]

On a thread like this, I've gotta mention that I've been loading since the days when almost no one had case tumblers/cleaners, and cleaning cases wasn't even "a thing". I don't recall ever being concerned about the cosmetic appearance of my brass -- just my targets. Matter of fact I don't have a tumbler even still. Must be some kind of barbarian. jd

not barbaric, unless you are stuffing pretty PC'd boolits into them. There are after all limits to acceptable behavior!

[Brassmonkey]

I tumble my rounds after loading. Hour or less, no issues, read a study about tumbling breaking down powder

"after 30 straight days in a vibrating tumbler the powder showed no difference in appearance size and texture"

[Stewbaby]

As stated, load it first then tumble if needed. Will not harm the powder based on my experience.

[762 shooter]

Tumbling primed brass.

I don't do it.

762

[Burnt Fingers]

If it were loaded you could, but the powder would start to break down and it could increase pressure.

If it's unloaded you could get corn cob stuck in your holes.

If it really bothers you could clean it up with some Mother's and a rag. If it were me I'd just shoot it then clean it better afterward.

Sorry but this is BS.

All the big ammo makers tumble finished rounds.

[mdi]

I hope we don't get intom the "don't tumble live ammo,you'll blow your hand off, vs I do it all the time and factory ammo is tumbled" controversy again for the 10,000th time...

[Burnt Fingers]

I hope we don't get intom the "don't tumble live ammo,you'll blow your hand off, vs I do it all the time and factory ammo is tumbled" controversy again for the 10,000th time...

There is no controversy. On one side there's ignorance, on the other there's science.

https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2012/10/10/is-tumbling-loaded-ammo-dangerous/

[jonp]

I wouldn't for all the reasons mentioned. I'd either load then put in the tumbler or take some steel wool and a few swipes will clean it up. I've tumbled a few but don't make it a habit. I prefer steel wool if the spots bother me that much.

[cabezaverde]

There is no controversy. On one side there's ignorance, on the other there's science.

https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2012/10/10/is-tumbling-loaded-ammo-dangerous/

Excellent. Thank you.

[murf205]

Just put some Flitz on a soft cotton cloth and polish them when it hazes over, wipe it off. They will dazzel you at how bright they will become UNLESS....they are very very corroded.

[Alferd Packer]

Brasso will probably cause the cartridge case to break down and weaken.I believe it contains ammonia.
Better to use Bon Ami soap maybe.

[mdi]

There is no controversy. On one side there's ignorance, on the other there's science.

https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2012/10/10/is-tumbling-loaded-ammo-dangerous/
Sounds pretty arrogant and quoting one side of the discussion. I won't parcipate...

[Burnt Fingers]

Sounds pretty arrogant and quoting one side of the discussion. I won't parcipate...

It's not arrogant. It's FACT. All the major ammo makers tumble completed rounds to clean them.

The military ships rounds on C-130s for hours at a time. You want vibration, ride a C-130.

Since you probably didn't read the link I'll quote part of it for ya.

The Expert Deferral
Logic alone isn’t enough when it comes to harnessing propellant gases mere inches from a shooter’s face, so we asked experts at two of the World’s leading powder and ammunition makers. I spoke to the Chief Ballistic Scientist at Hornady Manufacturing and the Head Ballistician at Hodgdon Powder and asked for their professional opinions. Both agreed that this is a myth devoid of empirical data.

"Powder is hard, it doesn’t change shape from any reasonable amount of vibration,” said Hornady’s Dave Emary. “This notion that you can wear deterrent off of the surface of the powder is a myth, it is impregnated into the powder grains. You can’t knock this stuff off."

Both scientists felt that tumbling was a safe practice within the bounds of reason.

Gee, Hornady and Hodgdon see no problem with it. That's called fact. All the other stuff on the internet is opinion.

[Walks]

Back in the 1960's My Dad used a small cement mixer with treated walnut media as a tumbler. He tumbled before anything and after completed loading.
And We boys wiped the Rouge off every case after each tumbling.

Never had a problem.

[15meter]

Decamping live primers question……
Will or can the decamping pin move the anvil of the primer possibly dislodging the primer compound?

That was my fear of decamping live primers and then reuse them in the future.
Any experience out there with this or am I a worry wart?

Yes, there is a chance of damaging the live primer when removing. If you look at the primer you can usually tell, the anvil is what is dislodged. During covid I did ~700 44 Mags that had been primed by the previous owner. I bought them when he got out of reloading. I de-primed them with the intention of selling the brass here because I don't shoot the 44 Mag.

Ended up selling the brass locally. He had even used the red waterproofing sealant on the primers and they came out without any problems.

I think I lost 2 out of the 700. I've gone through a couple hundred of them in light rifle cast loads with no ill effects.

In this day and age 700 recycled primers is a good thing.

Would I use them during a hunt or a match of some kind? No, but they be fine as frog's hair for plinking.

[Hanzy4200]

Nobody like getting corncobs stuck in their holes.

[dondiego]

Nobody like getting corncobs stuck in their holes.

Isn't that an Olympic sport?