I must be missing something...

[AJC]

The initial conditions of the brass matters a lot. If you are shooting them ejecting them in your hand and back into the box, the initial clean may be able to be skipped. Lube decap and size then wash dry prime and load. Your total process will determine if this path works. Do you anneal every time and require clean brass first then your process may not allow for skipping the first cleaning. PRS match with all your brass all over the place in the dirt and mud. How you shoot and the total life of the brass make all the difference in how you process.

 

[JimSC]

I have been using my rotary tumbler with dry media lately. Decap with a Universal then a 15 min tumble, size, size, trim, chamfer and use a Lyman primer pocket cleaner ($7.69 each at Brownells) chucked in a cordless drill to clean the pockets then back in the tumbler for another 15 - 30 min to get the lube off and final polish. The stainless steel pins and the drying just got on my last nerve plus lubing the necks with graphite was a messy pain in the butt. I can clean 50 pockets with the drill in ten minutes

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Have not cleaned a piece of brass in many years. From the br cases up to the Lapua improved and everything in between, competition, hunting, elr, handgun, ext. I dont clean any of it.

 

[David Christian]

I'm a big fan of wet / stainless steel tumbling brass. But I hate doing it twice per batch of brass.

I de-cap before tumbling to get primer pockets clean.

Then I tumble, and gotta dry the brass.

Then I lube and size the brass. But gotta wet tumble *again* to get the brass clean.

Is there a better way so I only hafta wet tumble once per batch?

@garandman, I’ll go the other way with my post since most on here don’t clean or don’t use stainless pins.

I have been successfully cleaning with stainless pins for 2 years now. You can remove the need for a second cleaning by rearranging a few steps in your process. Here are my steps:

Anneal
Size cases (bump shoulders and decap)
Stainless tumble and dry
Trim with Giraud
Expand neck with gage pin
Prime
Drop powder
Seat bullet

Here a picture of a cheat sheet that goes into every fired box to remind me which step I am on for that particular box.

Good luck!

 

[JFrank]

Have not cleaned a piece of brass in many years. From the br cases up to the Lapua improved and everything in between, competition, hunting, elr, handgun, ext. I dont clean any of it.

Alex,
In my case it’s probably laziness for not cleaning brass and someday it’ll probably bite me in the azz.
What prompted you to stop cleaning brass?
Just curious

 

[NorCalMikie]

What is the advantage of wet tumbling with pins as opposed to

how ever you do it??
SS pins WILL get rid of any carbon. That CAN be a problem when it comes to bullet seating. Shoved a few shoulders down into the case body trying to dry seat a bullet. Too much SS treatment wears brass. Corn Cob doesn't. Consider dry lube for the necks if the brass is THAT clean.
You have to pick the cob out of the primer pockets if you dry tumble, not a problem for me. Another chance to inspect my brass.
When I'am forming (wildcat) brass, I go after the lube in the necks with Brake Parts Cleaner and a Q Tip. Outside of the case, no problem. Wipe it off with a cloth and Brake Parts Cleaner.
SS pin treatment, not TOO often. Once in 4 or 5 firings should do.(if that often)

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Alex,
In my case it’s probably laziness for not cleaning brass and someday it’ll probably bite me in the azz.
What prompted you to stop cleaning brass?
Just curious

I just found it helped nothing by cleaning and hurt nothing by stopping. One less step is good with me. I did experiment with ultra sonic and ss pins, but I prefer to leave the carbon in my necks. Some guys have very good results with quite intensive cleaning procedures and the required neck lubing procedure afterwards. But others have equally good results by not doing any of that. When it comes to reloading I really only want to do what works on the target.

 

[garandman]

@garandman, I’ll go the other way with my post since most on here don’t clean or don’t use stainless pins.

I have been successfully cleaning with stainless pins for 2 years now. You can remove the need for a second cleaning by rearranging a few steps in your process. Here are my steps:

Anneal
Size cases (bump shoulders and decap)
Stainless tumble and dry


<snip>


Good luck!

Thanx David. This gets to my point. From your post, its seems you are lubing and sizing "dirty" cases. (correct me if I am wrong)

My concern is the sizing goop with the residual carbon from firing will gumm up my sizing die.

Have that been a probem for you?

 

[garandman]

But others have equally good results by not doing any of that. When it comes to reloading I really only want to do what works on the target.

That stmt right there sums up ***all*** of firearms handling, cleaning, maintenance, reloading, building, modifying, upgrading, etc etc.

If it does well on my target, THEN it is the right thing to do, regardless of what others say / do.

 

[jimmymac]

I have watched the big boys, who reload at the matches, simply run a brush down the neck of their brass and clean the primer pockets with a battery powered drill, wipe the necks with very fine steel wool, then resize, drop powder and insert a bullet. They all seem to get those tiny one hole groups consistently. It's not what I do, but then I don't reload at the range.

Since you are shooting BR with a PPC, you should try it. Sometimes a couple, three tenths either way makes the difference from a quarter inch group to a dot on a given day. Or, of it is a day where your normal load just won't shoot good at all and the groups are big, you have the ability to make a big change on the spot instead of shooting the pre-loaded ammo that you already know won't shoot before you ever even pull the trigger. To me, that's the worst feeling.

Sorry for thread derail...

FWIW, count me in the crowd that never tumbles brass. I have better stuff to do.

 

[David Christian]

Thanx David. This gets to my point. From your post, its seems you are lubing and sizing "dirty" cases. (correct me if I am wrong)

My concern is the sizing goop with the residual carbon from firing will gumm up my sizing die.

Have that been a probem for you?

@garandman, I clean my sizing die every 200 cases. I also dip my bullets in Imperial Dry lube just before seating and get a smooth as butter result.

 

[garandman]

@garandman, I clean my sizing die every 200 cases. I also dip my bullets in Imperial Dry lube just before seating and get a smooth as butter result.

Forgive my questions, please...

Full length or neck sizing only?

How you go about cleaning your dies?

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

I clean my dies with break cleaner dry them, then use an appropriate sized shotgun bore mop.

 

[garandman]

I clean my dies with break cleaner dry them, then use an appropriate sized shotgun bore mop.

Disassembled?

 

[JMayo]

I Clean the necks and put in a tackle box sectioned off for the weight they weighed when new.

When I've gone through the 200 I go back to the start of the rotation.
I spray, size, depeime, wipe with paper towel, use small drill to clean pockets, reprime, powder, bullet.

 

[hammerjack]

This stuff works real good for those that like to tumble to get the one shot off or whatever you are using to size with.
Petco has it.

 

[JFrank]

That stmt right there sums up ***all*** of firearms handling, cleaning, maintenance, reloading, building, modifying, upgrading, etc etc.

If it does well on my target, THEN it is the right thing to do, regardless of what others say / do.

Well I don’t know about all the other stuff but my rifle shoots pretty small with my dirty brass that I’m too lazy to polish.

 

[garandman]

I’ve usefu

Well I don’t know about all the other stuff but my rifle shoots pretty small with my dirty brass that I’m too lazy to polish.

Well would you listen to someone who Insisted you change your practice when it opened up your groups on target?

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Who's insisting? And if they are, do they shoot smaller than you? I like to keep open ears. Im not saying you need to change a thing, but I have not read anything but options and opinions from guys trying to share their experiences.

 

[oley55]

He said he tumbles *after* sizing. Which means he sizes *before* tumbling. Which means they are still carboned up when sizing. Unless I am misunderstanding him....

he said:
I de-cap before tumbling to get primer pockets clean.
Then I tumble, and gotta dry the brass.
Then I lube and size the brass. But gotta wet tumble *again* to get the brass clean.