.223rem decapping before tumbling?
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CPTMurdoc30
New member
It will not make a darn bit of difference. I tumble before sizing then after sizing. I just found that you need to be rough with them in the cleaning bucket. I have a bucket with a perforated lid I dump them in their and stir vigorously until media is gone.
This may be a factor of the relative size of your media. Smaller, finer media obviously flows out of the brass easier.
Depriming before tumbling isn't going to make any difference whatsoever in how the media sticks in the case. What it will do is give you little pieces of media stuck in the flash holes, which really sucks.
Some folks deprime before tumbling because they hope that the tumbling will then help clean the primer pockets, but that's never worked for me.
I've tried it both ways and it works so much better to tumble before doing ANYTHING. Tumble, then resize, then trim, then prime and load.
Depriming before tumbling isn't going to make any difference whatsoever in how the media sticks in the case. What it will do is give you little pieces of media stuck in the flash holes, which really sucks.
Some folks deprime before tumbling because they hope that the tumbling will then help clean the primer pockets, but that's never worked for me.
I've tried it both ways and it works so much better to tumble before doing ANYTHING. Tumble, then resize, then trim, then prime and load.
I take out the primers and resize before i tumble them. unless they are really dirty. I do it so I can get the resizing lube off at the same time as I shine them up. but the corncob media i use also is hard to shake out and they get stuck in the primer pocket and flash hole. I use a small allen wrench to scrape it out but it takes forever and isn't very fun. So if anyone is out there that is smarter then I and has a better way please inform me
hold the casing loosy and gently place it on the rod that the tumbler cap sits on, if you feather it it will shake back and forth rattling on the rod and all the media will come out fast, or drill a hole in the sifter and place it over this rod, turn the maching on and give er hell
Yup, I hold the brass against the rod that holds the top on while its running. Vibrates the media out. And I tumble before I size to get the dirt off. I also tumble after I size to get the lube off. And yes, I get media in the flash holes. I punch that out with an old decap pin out of some die I had. Doesn't take that long as I'm also sticking the cases in a case guage to see if they will run through the gun. I don't consider myself picky either. I just want to make sure the gun works with what I stick in it.
lll Otto lll
New member
"Yup, I hold the brass against the rod that holds the top on while its running."
To remove media in the flash hole, why not just tumble the brass without any media in the bowl?
To remove media in the flash hole, why not just tumble the brass without any media in the bowl?
1911_freak
New member
1 decap
2 clean primer pockets
3 tumble
4 use canned air!
2 clean primer pockets
3 tumble
4 use canned air!
There seems to be some misconceptions about the reason for tumbling. First and foremost is to get the cases clean, so you don't carry dirt and abrasives into a steel die. That crud can and will scratch the die. Then each case sized after that will be scratched.
So tumbling before sizing is a must. Whether you shine the cases, is an added feature, but not necessary. I happen to LIKE shiny brass. Gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. While it does nothing to aid in accuracy, it just looks nice.
As for getting the media out of the cases, get a media separator.
This is that brass in the top pic before it was tumbled for about 3 hours. That's 40 S&W in corncob media with flitz tumbler polish added.
The FA tumbler and separator work just fine together. About 20 turns of the basket removes the media from even .223 brass, IF the media is the right size. Corncob, like the stuff in the pics, is sold by lots of reloading sites. It IS the right size for even .223 brass. I suspect it would even come out of .17 caliber necks, but may take longer.
I never tumble AFTER sizing. There's just no reason for me to do it. I remove lube with a paper towel soaked in denatured alcohol. If I'm loading .223/.308 on the dillon 650, I tumble the loaded ammo for about 20 minutes to remove the lube.
So tumbling before sizing is a must. Whether you shine the cases, is an added feature, but not necessary. I happen to LIKE shiny brass. Gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. While it does nothing to aid in accuracy, it just looks nice.
As for getting the media out of the cases, get a media separator.
This is that brass in the top pic before it was tumbled for about 3 hours. That's 40 S&W in corncob media with flitz tumbler polish added.
The FA tumbler and separator work just fine together. About 20 turns of the basket removes the media from even .223 brass, IF the media is the right size. Corncob, like the stuff in the pics, is sold by lots of reloading sites. It IS the right size for even .223 brass. I suspect it would even come out of .17 caliber necks, but may take longer.
I never tumble AFTER sizing. There's just no reason for me to do it. I remove lube with a paper towel soaked in denatured alcohol. If I'm loading .223/.308 on the dillon 650, I tumble the loaded ammo for about 20 minutes to remove the lube.
OK, I thank you all for your info. I have a rotary basket strainer I use in my tumbler to separate media from brass. I'll avoid an extra item, and just tumble, decap&size, tumble again, then seat bullet.
What lube do you use inside the neck (.223rem)? I have been told to use graphite. any thoughts?
Also, what if the brass has small dents in the wall, prior to sizing)?
What lube do you use inside the neck (.223rem)? I have been told to use graphite. any thoughts?
Also, what if the brass has small dents in the wall, prior to sizing)?
For neck lubing, I use the Midway (Frankford Arsenal) case neck lubricator kit with the fine powdered mica stuff. It's nothing more than nylon cleaning brushes and a little hopper for the mica. The mica is like this ultra-ultra-ultra fine powdered stuff that lubes the case neck.
Dents in the brass prior to sizing? Small dents don't matter and pulling the trigger will iron them all out. However, if you have no dents on a case and then send it through the sizing die and it comes OUT with a dent or two that means you are using too much case lube. Nowhere inside the die for the extra lube to go, so it dents the brass.
Dents in the brass prior to sizing? Small dents don't matter and pulling the trigger will iron them all out. However, if you have no dents on a case and then send it through the sizing die and it comes OUT with a dent or two that means you are using too much case lube. Nowhere inside the die for the extra lube to go, so it dents the brass.
I deprime before tumbling. Then primer pocket brush. Then nylon brush the inside of the case. Next tumble. I use two different stages with two different media, the first lizard litter/walnut for getting the majority of crud off, and then corncob with polish to get them "golden hued". (I like my cases to look nice.)
The occasional media stuck in the flash hole gets poked out with a small finishing nail. And if I am really picky, compressed air.
I agree with Snuffy, the main point is to keep the dies clean.
The occasional media stuck in the flash hole gets poked out with a small finishing nail. And if I am really picky, compressed air.
I agree with Snuffy, the main point is to keep the dies clean.