Tumbling primed pistol brass

[Wally]

I have 1,000 primed pistol cartridge cases that I have resized & pulled the bullets on..will I do any damage to the primers if I used my vibratory tumbler to clean them before I load them?

[462]

Wally,

I suspect that the flash hole would get clogged with media.

[Wally]

Wally,

I suspect that the flash hole would get clogged with media.

I'd use dry treated corncob media..this seldom obstructs the flash hole. I would check each case and use a blast of compressed air to blow out any stuck there--however I tend to doubt it ebing there would cause any problems. What I am concerned about is if cleaning the cases might damge the primers.

[docone31]

I would be reluctant to do that.
It is not the accidental discharge, it would be the degradation of the primer compound I would worry about.
I might live with them a little less than polished.

[Wally]

I would be reluctant to do that.
It is not the accidental discharge, it would be the degradation of the primer compound I would worry about.
I might live with them a little less than polished.

Yes, I am worried about that as well--perhaps somebody has tried this and can tell us if it worked out ok...

[RayinNH]

Try 50 first, load them and chronograph to see if you get different results than normal. Material in the flash hole will get blown out upon firing. No need to ruin 1000 good primers...Ray

[jmorris]

I would load them first then tumble. I post load tumble ammunition all the time to get the lube off the cases.

[Heavy lead]

I wouldn't do it, the corncob media I use does clog the flashole.

[Wally]

I would load them first then tumble. I post load tumble ammunition all the time to get the lube off the cases.

Yes, I never thought of that---do you use a tumbler type or a vibratory one?

[RayinNH]

If you tumble them too long after loading, you will change powder granulation size and thereby change burning rate...Ray

[Lloyd Smale]

dont know guys. Ive done 10s of thousands of .223 and .308 like that and never had a single problem.

[gray wolf]

come on now leave the dam cases a little tarnished till the next time. Walk around the reloading room and I am sure you will find 20 other things to do.
I say this in jest---don't get upset.

[sirgknight]

I would have two questions: why would you want to tumble brass that has already been primed and not reloaded? were the primers seated into filthy brass? If the brass is halfway decently clean I would reload the brass and then if you felt a need to tumble, then tumble after reloading. That would remove any doubt of damaging the primers. It's not so much of a safety issue as it is just being practical. I would not want any kind of media tumbling around all over the detonation side of the primers....too much chance of damage. Just my two little bitty cents worth.

[Wally]

I would have two questions: why would you want to tumble brass that has already been primed and not reloaded? were the primers seated into filthy brass? If the brass is halfway decently clean I would reload the brass and then if you felt a need to tumble, then tumble after reloading. That would remove any doubt of damaging the primers. It's not so much of a safety issue as it is just being practical. I would not want any kind of media tumbling around all over the detonation side of the primers....too much chance of damage. Just my two little bitty cents worth.

It has bullet lube in the inside case neck and if I charge with powder it sticks to that area.

[acoilfld]

Although probably not advisable, I have removed live primers from brass several different times to re-use. I just used a slow steady pressure and they popped right out - unharmed. Just a thought

[Wally]

Although probably not advisable, I have removed live primers from brass several different times to re-use. I just used a slow steady pressure and they popped right out - unharmed. Just a thought

As have I--never had a problem ...worked just fine

[acoilfld]

Set your de-caper pin lower in the die (so you are not resizing them again) and run them through your press. I had media in a flash hole once. The round did not fire - it just blew the primmer out of the back of the case. Made it hard to rotate the cylinder to eject the round (.45 Black hawk). Took a bit to figure out what happened, now I look at every single flash hole before priming.

[Wally]

Set your de-caper pin lower in the die (so you are not resizing them again) and run them through your press. I had media in a flash hole once. The round did not fire - it just blew the primmer out of the back of the case. Made it hard to rotate the cylinder to eject the round (.45 Black hawk). Took a bit to figure out what happened, now I look at every single flash hole before priming.


I have used a univerasl decapper...but I am not about to decap 1,000 cases with live primers--I'll just load and shoot them "as is"...

[jmorris]

If you tumble them too long after loading, you will change powder granulation size and thereby change burning rate...Ray

My grandfather “post load tumbled” rounds behind the back seat of his pickup for decades and they always shot just fine.

I personally had a box of 20 .223’s (well the box had long since been destroyed) in the tool box of a 4 wheeler forgotten about, or “under experiment”, for over 10 years of trail riding, after pulling a bullet and inspecting the powder there were no visual difference (or volume difference, if it had “broken” down there would have been) between it and powder from another bullet from the same lot that had been sitting for the same amount of time on a shelf at my house. To be fair the powder charge was compressed.

However, I have also done chronograph tests of pistol loads (from the same batch) tumbled for two days (48 hours) vs. not at all and they were consistent with one another. Your results may vary so just test them and let us know.

I use vibratory tumblers.

[jimkim]

I used to think it was dangerous, until someone pointed out how many hours of tumbling ammo would go through traveling by rail from coast to coast. I use a vibratory tumbler.

[DLCTEX]

I now use a corn cob media that is small enough that it doesn't stick in the flash holes, but I'll bet you can't stick corn cob in the flash hole tight enough that the prime will not blow it out and fire the load just fine. It seems most stuck cob enters from the base, not the mouth of the case. Maybe there is no pressure on the cob that deep in the case. I say this because if I clean cases before depriming I very rarely have found blocked flash holes, and yes, I used to check because I was worried I'd break the decapping pins. Walnut is a different matter as it always plugs the holes very hard, is difficult to blow out with compressed air and sometimes even with a pin punch.

[Lloyd Smale]

to load 223s or 308s on a progressive press i will do it two ways. I size reprime and then tumble then bring it back to the press to finish or i will load the complete round and tumble them for about a 1/2 hour to get the lube off.
I would have two questions: why would you want to tumble brass that has already been primed and not reloaded? were the primers seated into filthy brass? If the brass is halfway decently clean I would reload the brass and then if you felt a need to tumble, then tumble after reloading. That would remove any doubt of damaging the primers. It's not so much of a safety issue as it is just being practical. I would not want any kind of media tumbling around all over the detonation side of the primers....too much chance of damage. Just my two little bitty cents worth.

[REDTAIL]

I agree with Jmorris, I tumble my loaded brass for years never any problems firing them or accuracy problems etc.

[Burnt Fingers]

I agree with Jmorris, I tumble my loaded brass for years never any problems firing them or accuracy problems etc.

Ya know this is a nine year old thread?

[RED BEAR]

I do it all the time i size , bell and prime my brass and place in plastic jar with stay dry pack. When ready to reload i just polish them back up or polish them after loading been doing it for over 40 years with no ill effects.

[onelight]

My knee jerk reaction is that is a terrible idea..... but apparently not it’s working all of you guys.:p
Learn something new every day

[BigAlofPa.]

Sometimes bumping an old thread is good. If someone had the same question.

[osteodoc08]

Attack of the zombie thread.

Some one took tumbled loaded rounds here years ago (Larry Gibson perhaps) and noted no change in velocity or performance. I think y’all are over thinking it. One of the gun rags took primered cases with cob in the flash hole and didn’t change a thing either.

Personally, I’d just load and shoot them. If someone doesn’t like how it looks, well, they don’t have to shoot them. If I had to have pristine cases I’d just tumble the cases as is before loading. But that’s just me.