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SS Wet tumbling seemingly ruining case mouths

Tiltshift

I have had a Rebel 17 for a year or so and have always used it for ~2 hours a batch. recently I started shooting a 30BR with ~9.5-10 thou case neck thickness and was surprised to see 2 things.

  1. first the chamfer on the necks was completely flattened out. this in turn created a very small "burr" like feel if running my finger nail on the neck. last month I had to pull out of a competition as none of my rounds chambered (was my second firing) and I think I have now found the reason for this "burr".
  2. Significant dents in the neck. one piece of brass looked like a hexagon opening at the mouth rather than a round one. I ran these all on my expanding die to get them round again but...
Has anyone else seen either of these issues with Stainless tumbling? maybe just an issue as the 30br brass I am using is so thin? I looked on my 223 brass and looked like the chamfer was also gone but I haven't reloaded that brass recently to know if that was the case or if I am now seeing the issue everywhere because I saw it once...

For BR type cartridges with thin case necks how do people prefer to clean their brass? or do they not?
 
It is best to do your sizing, deburring and chamfering afterwards. The condition of your chamfer indicates that the needles are doing what they would normally do, remove edges.
I personally don't like the SS tumblers, they have a tendency to work harden the neck thereby, in my opinion, defeating the annealing that I do every firing. I use a dry vibrator with walnut shells, the very first step.
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

Has anyone used ultrasonic cleaners instead? I like the idea of getting the case neck to a consistent level of cleanliness to make the tension uniform but if I have to chamfer each firing...

So as I see it I can:
  1. don't clean at all
  2. SS tumble but for 10-30min and hopefully not have to chamfer or anything
  3. switch to ultrasonic (maybe its better?)
  4. switch to walnut and vibratory
  5. do what I do today (2h SS tumble) but have to chamfer every time
  6. ???
For benchrest I know there must be some good articles on brass prep. if someone knows of any would be grateful if you can send a link.
 
Another thought process on this, is that many desire the build up of carbon inside the neck as do I. It is believed that it actually assists in providing consistent neck tension and a smoother release surface for the round.
I couldn't say for certain if this is scientifically accurate, but I have had good luck with it.
 
Tiltshift said:
Thanks for the replies so far.

Has anyone used ultrasonic cleaners instead? I like the idea of getting the case neck to a consistent level of cleanliness to make the tension uniform but if I have to chamfer each firing...

So as I see it I can:
  1. don't clean at all
  2. SS tumble but for 10-30min and hopefully not have to chamfer or anything
  3. switch to ultrasonic (maybe its better?)
  4. switch to walnut and vibratory
  5. do what I do today (2h SS tumble) but have to chamfer every time
  6. ???
For benchrest I know there must be some good articles on brass prep. if someone knows of any would be grateful if you can send a link.
Click to expand...

I actually look for a 'consistent' level of ....dirtiness in the neck. Walnut tumbling, while not state of the art, allows this. I only chamfer if I Had to trim.
Between SS pin size, peening of the neck, denting the neck, putting my cases in water, trying to dry them, NO. Then I always wondered what one SS pin that chose to stay in the case and I missed it would do when loaded and fired.
If any of this SS pin cleaning made my groups smaller...yup I'd do it, but it fact it did nothing for my group size, but was really pretty looking brass.
I went back to the walnut vibratory.

Saw it after I posted but 100% with Papa Charlie
 
Charlie and M-61,

I have heard the same that carbon acts as a lubricant (AMP anneal wrote something fairly recently and in good detail on this). So far what I do is clean then dip the case necks in graphite. Doing this I shot my personal best a 250-15x (out of 250-25x). I like the idea of cleaning thoroughly as the flash hole, primer pocket, inside the case will not have a build up of carbon that grows overtime which I hope leads to more consistent loads....

Looks like I will have to repurchase a walnut tumbler to at least play around with it... at least I now know that SS tumbling can peen the necks and make for some more work and a different set of downsides.

Thanks!
 
I shoot 308 my brass is on the thick side though , changed to SS & pin tumbling , never had the problem but have heard of it before . I pop the primers first , Clean with the pins , size , clean again to remove the lube then trim an chamfer on my last step. I don't have a problem with dings . I keep the water 1/2" from the top , could be you don't add enough water.
 
Papa Charlie said:
Another thought process on this, is that many desire the build up of carbon inside the neck as do I. It is believed that it actually assists in providing consistent neck tension and a smoother release surface for the round.
I couldn't say for certain if this is scientifically accurate, but I have had good luck with it.
Click to expand...
Same here, I didn't like what was going on at the mouths and I agree on the carbon. Still use it for pistol brass though
 
Use more pins, use less brass, tumble for shorter time, chamfer/deburr after tumbling. I tumble for around 25 minutes, a trick to help get them cleaner in that time is to let them soak in the soapy mixture for a few hours before tumbling. Also, don't skimp on the soap/lemishine.
 
Here's what I do. Shoot, anneal, size/trim, tumble in corncob media for about 15 minutes to remove lube, prime and load.

I do like carbon buildup in the neck and don't overly clean my brass. It may not be the prettiest on the line, but it does shoot good!
 
Tiltshift said:
I have had a Rebel 17 for a year or so and have always used it for ~2 hours a batch. recently I started shooting a 30BR with ~9.5-10 thou case neck thickness and was surprised to see 2 things.
For BR type cartridges with thin case necks how do people prefer to clean their brass? or do they not?
Click to expand...

I have a small Harbour Freight tumbler and I fill it with a lot of brass and fill with water to about 1" from the top. Tumble as long as 3 hours without damage. Don't understand how a case gets pounded hexagonal. There should be almost non-existant impact force, the brass should be gently rolling around. The large amount of brass and water limits movement and how hard the pieces hit each other. I give polished cases a light chamfer, just enough that I feel the roughness disappear.
 
I reload 6ppc with .009" thick necks and I won't put them in any kind of tumbler. I put a case spinner on and use a scotch brite pad. Run a nylon brush on the inside, just to get any grit out, not to remove the carbon layer.
 
with my bench guns i clean the cases with a rag dampened in ballistol. usually while i am at the range while people are posting targets or while i am waiting for my barrel to cool i deprime with a harvey's decapping tool and wipe the carbon off the cases. the sooner you do it the better. then i put them in a ziplock.

ballistol makes a great sizing lubricant for these small cases. i take them out.of the ziplock and run them through the sizing die. then i wipe the lube off with a clean dry rag.

carbon remains untouched in the necks. just run a nylon brush lightly through the neck before priming. use a crockagator to clean the primer pocket.
 
I no longer understand cleaning brass to the point where they shine. I've tried all methods. We probably all hand load here so the brass almost never hits the ground. Mine don't. after firing I scotchbrite the necks, get home, dip the necks in powdered graphite, wipe off the outside, lube, size, wipe off lube, trim, chamfer and deburr if necessary. None of my range buddies ever once said to me that my brass looks dirty.
 
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