A buncha questions....

[garandman]

Re: dry tumbling ....

As I understand it, we want a little bit of carbon inside the neck to get neck tension correct.

It seems like any sort of wet cleaning would remove that.. Does dry tumbling with walnut or corn media still leave enough carbon inside the neck ?

 

[moondog]

Yes on the carbon, I light brush the inside of the necks with nylon brush after tumbling in a 50/50 mixture corn cob, Untreated walnut. Anneal, size with FL, Imperial. Pistol and AR get wet tumbling with pins.

 

[garandman]

Yes on the carbon, I light brush the inside of the necks with nylon brush after tumbling in a 50/50 mixture corn cob, Untreated walnut. Anneal, size with FL, Imperial. Pistol and AR get wet tumbling with pins.

So you dont tumble again after lubing / sizing ?

 

[moondog]

I have another step I do, but am hesitate to post for the flaming I'll get. But yes, I get the lube off. I also Trim after sizing if needed.

 

[Iowa Fox]

This is what I do these days and not even suggesting to anyone else its the thing to do.

1-Wash in hot water with a little lemi shine,

One qt water to one plastic spoon ( like comes with your chili dogs ) level not heaped. Two good clear water rinses shake out and air dry.

2- Tried most of them, For bottle neck brass loaded for precision I like Lee and sized while it is wet.

3- Full length every time. Current preferred method is a Redding body die with a old style Lee collet die . The new collet dies do not size 100% of the neck and are for cast bullet shooters.

One tool i'd like to suggest that doesn't cost much and never gets mention is a 12x Loupe.

 

[DocBII]

garandman,

Ultrasonic clean, anneal, lube with Redding water soluble lube, fl size, wash and rinse, clean neck with 4-0 wool, lube neck with Redding dry lube before powder and bullet.

HTH,
DocBII

 

[Dave M.]

As I get serious about accuracy and brass prep / sizing, a bunch of questions come up....


1. Do you wet tumble your match brass?

2. What sizing lube do you use?

3. Neck size or FL ?

Reading here and elsewhere there seems to be alot of different answers. Mostly, I want to avoid doing anything stoopit.

My application is 6mm Dasher, Peterson brass.

Thx.

Never wet tumble. It takes the carbon out inside the neck that gives me consistent friction.

Imperial sizing wax used very sparingly. I’ve also used Hornady one shot but Imperial gives me very consistent sizing.

I shoot F class and I will be shocked if anyone shooting any distance over 600 yards says anything other than FL sizing. I personally use Whidden custom FL bushing die for sizing my 6 dasher brass, however I know many guys that use custom FL dies cut specifically for their chamber without bushings.

I love the dasher and it has proven to be incredibly capable even out to 1000 yards.

dave

 

[Dave M.]

garandman,

Ultrasonic clean, anneal, lube with Redding water soluble lube, fl size, wash and rinse, clean neck with 4-0 wool, lube neck with Redding dry lube before powder and bullet.

HTH,
DocBII

If you use this method, I highly suggest shooting the anmo within 2-3 days of loading. After that, with the carbon gone from the inside of the neck, the graphite powder seems to seize the bullet to the brass. If you don’t believe me, load 40 rounds and shoot 20 immediately (for accuracy and across a chronograph). Then shoot the other 20 rounds 2 weeks later and compare the accuracy (use 300+ yards to show a difference) and SD.

 

[caihlen]

Vibratory with rice if super dirty.
Imperial.
Fl with Whidden bushing die with an o-ring.

 

[DocBII]

Dave M,

I did run into the neck welding problem (a whole 'nother argument) when only cleaning with the 4-0 wool after two or more years, I didn't encounter it with either moly or graphite during the same time period. YMMV.

HTH,
DocBII

 

[Forum Boss]

For 6BR and 6 BRDX (longer necked Dasher).

1. Wipe case necks/shoulders with aerosol Ballistol at range — removes 90% of carbon. Do this within 30 minutes of firing. I actually wipe cases between relays.
Then at home…
Do not tumble wet or dry.
2. Nylon brush inside of case necks (2-3 quick passes).
3. Wipe case with aerosol Ballistol on patch as sizing lube.
4. Full length size always. My favorite die is a honed non-bushing die.

I do sometimes run a little bronze wool on the outside of case necks before loading if there is some residual carbon, then apply the Ballistol before sizing. I will inspect primer pocket and maybe do a quick spin with tool just to remove fouling.

I find leaving some carbon in necks definitely smooths seating.

I would add that my total prep time for each case might be 20-25 seconds.
Wipe neck and shoulder 5-10 seconds (at range); at home, brush inside neck 4 seconds, twist tool in primer pocket 3 seconds, wipe case with Ballistol before sizing 5 seconds.

Caveats:
1. With bigger cases and less well-fitting dies, one may need a thicker case lube such as Imperial. I’ve tried that. It works, but the Ballistol is easier to apply and remove on BR sized cases. Hornady one shot works well for large # batches of .223 rem.

2. If you anneal, there are reasons to tumble first.

With this minimalist approach I have 4-shot groups in high ones, low twos at 100 with 105s and Varget. ES typically around 11-12 fps.

The big lesson here is that if you wipe off your cases when they’re still warm you can get by with a lot less cleaning. Additionally I found if you clean your barrel at the range while it is still warm before the carbon sets up you’ll save yourself a LOT of time.

I do tumble semi-auto pistol brass because it may be on the ground and there is often lots of carbon.

 

[INTJ]

1. Spin fired case neck/shoulder in 0000 steel wool to clean

2. RCBS lube, wipe off with Microfiber towel

3. FL. No one serious about long range accuracy--read LR BR--does anything other than FL size.

 

[DirtySteve]

So you dont tumble again after lubing / sizing ?

I wipe each loaded round with an alcohol soaked shop towel to get the lube off after loading.

 

[Dave M.]

Vibratory with rice if super dirty.
Imperial.
Fl with Whidden bushing die with an o-ring.

Tell me more about the o-ring??? I use the same die and I don’t know about the o-ring.

 

[Papa Charlie]

1) Dry Walnut Shells
2) One Shot
3) Full Length Body, Bushing Neck Under Size and finally Expand Neck with Gauge Pin (All with 15 sec dwell time)

 

[Dave M.]

I wipe each loaded round with an alcohol soaked shop towel to get the lube off after loading.

I also do not tumble after sizing. I don’t want the necks to get dinged up. I use a towel wet with 10:1 solution of hot water and degreaser.

 

[caihlen]

Tell me more about the o-ring??? I use the same die and I don’t know about the o-ring.

Stick a size 17 o-ring under the die and tighten it up. This requires a bit of finess to get it repeatable but a few times and you’ll have it. The die then floats in the press a bit and helps with concentricity. Ymmv.

 

[Dave M.]

Stick a size 17 o-ring under the die and tighten it up. This requires a bit of finess to get it repeatable but a few times and you’ll have it. The die then floats in the press a bit and helps with concentricity. Ymmv.

I’m using the Hornady l-n-l bushings. What press are you using?

 

[Bc'z]

Walnut
Anneal
One shot
FL size

 

[caihlen]

I’m using the Hornady l-n-l bushings. What press are you using?

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