deprime->tumble->resize or deprime/resize->tumble or tumble first?

Boris

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I'm not clear on these operations order, especially for dirty range brass. I'm thinking of pistol brass if that makes any difference.

1. I think that the first step is to hose the brass off, to remove loose dirt etc.
2. deprime
3. tumble
4. lube/resize

The reason for steps, I think this way primer pocket gets cleaned better? If I'm using walnut shells, would they clean the primer pocket enough?

I know that most presses will resize brass as they deprime in one pull. I'm not sure that I want to do that because dirty brass may contain particles that would wear the die and also may not get the dimensions right.

Am I crazy? I never reloaded before.
 
I tumble first. Also used brass I've bought online has come tumbled and usually needs depriming unless you pay more for primed brass. The depriming will clean out the hole but I have seen trace bits on the cases after they've been tumbled. I've not had any problems with that.

I do progressive loading so for me it is easier to tumble first and do the depriming as the first station on my press.
 
  1. Sort (by caliber and remove any aluminum/steel cases)
  2. Tumble clean
  3. Inspect (Look for splits, missing primers, sooty rings around primers, etc)
  4. Size and decap. Get carbide dies so you won't have to lube.


You need to read up on the subject or take a class. I'm teaching one at GOAL in Northboro in about three weeks.
 
1) Sort (as above) and inspect.
2) Quick wipe with paper towel and rubbing alcohol (just to keep soot and dirt out of my tumbler).
3) Decap
4) Tumble
5) Size and bell.
6) Ready to prime as needed.

Foregoing is for pistol calibers for which I have carbide dies.

For bottleneck rifle cartridges, the routine is a bit different:

1) Sort and inspect.
2) Quick wipe.
3) Decap
4) Lube and size.
5) Quick wipe.
6) Tumble
7) Size
8) Gauge and trim if needed
9) Ready to prime as needed.
 
You need to read up on the subject or take a class. I'm teaching one at GOAL in Northboro in about three weeks.

I read ABCs of reloading and bunch of different sites, I'm looking for rationale why things done in that order.

I saw that there is a primer pocket cleaning tool, so I assume that the pocket gets dirty. I don't have any experience to judge how dirty it usually gets/ how often and if I need to clean every single case, I think I don't have to. I figured that tumbling after deprime would clean overall cases and primer pockets too.

I looked at some pages with people saying that tumbling before deprime can get media stuck in the flashhole and cause a broken deprime pin. Other people say that deprime then tumble may still cause tumbling media stuck in the primer hole and cause priming issues. I guess that may be all true depending on media size. I have 1cu ft of walnut shell media from HF that I haven't unpacked yet. I don't know big it is or how it will work with case, as in sticking in tight holes.
 
  1. Sort (by caliber and remove any aluminum/steel cases)
  2. Tumble clean
  3. Inspect (Look for splits, missing primers, sooty rings around primers, etc)
  4. Size and decap. Get carbide dies so you won't have to lube.


You need to read up on the subject or take a class. I'm teaching one at GOAL in Northboro in about three weeks.


^This is good advice^
 
If after reading the ABCs of reloading and bunch of different sites (sometimes the interwebz can do more harm than good), then the class would probably help you a bunch.

I do things different than most, I'm in no hurry and I don't reload more than a couple hundred at a time. One of these days I'll get a Lee Turret or a Progressive but, for now slow works. Everything else in my life runs at a max throttle frenetic pace, its nice having something to do that doesn't.

I either use a Lee Loader, an old Lyman full length shell sizer (hammer in hammer out type), and an arbor press or an HDS Compac Tool with Lee Carbide dies depending on my mood. I only reload for one caliber so the sorting part takes care of itself.

Sometimes I'll do all the case prep up to priming all in one go, sometimes I'll do a bunch of one step and come back a day or two later and do the next.

  1. Deprime.
  2. Soak the deprimed cases in some hot water and Lemishine.
  3. Let the cases air dry or dry them in a 200 degree oven for 20 minutes or so if I do get in a hurry.
  4. Tumble.
  5. Inspect & resize (or lube and re-size when using the Lyman re-sizer).
  6. Bell. (if I didn't do it above.)
  7. Prime. I use a Lee hand Prime Tool to do all my priming.
I put the prepped and primed cases in a plastic tub so when I actually sit down to load I've got a bunch ready. the rest of the process I don't do in a piecemeal fashion, once I start I go to they are done. no interruptions!
 
I would definitely tumble then de-prime. I thought I'd get nice clean primer pockets by reversing the order. I did, but I also had little kernels of cleaning media stuck in the flash hole that I had to push out before priming which negated any time savings I was hoping to achieve.
 
I would definitely tumble then de-prime. I thought I'd get nice clean primer pockets by reversing the order. I did, but I also had little kernels of cleaning media stuck in the flash hole that I had to push out before priming which negated any time savings I was hoping to achieve.

THIS. i had that exact same problem. this was no time saving step. it actually added several hours of extra work.
 
I read ABCs of reloading and bunch of different sites, I'm looking for rationale why things done in that order.

I saw that there is a primer pocket cleaning tool, so I assume that the pocket gets dirty. I don't have any experience to judge how dirty it usually gets/ how often and if I need to clean every single case, I think I don't have to. I figured that tumbling after deprime would clean overall cases and primer pockets too.

I looked at some pages with people saying that tumbling before deprime can get media stuck in the flashhole and cause a broken deprime pin. Other people say that deprime then tumble may still cause tumbling media stuck in the primer hole and cause priming issues. I guess that may be all true depending on media size. I have 1cu ft of walnut shell media from HF that I haven't unpacked yet. I don't know big it is or how it will work with case, as in sticking in tight holes.

I have been reloading for over 30 years and have never cleaned a primer pocket. It is just not necessary.
 
If you are picking up range brass that has dirt and such in or on the cases heres what I do.

I have a five gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom. I keep the bucket in the back of my truck. I go and hunt for brass. After a few days as long as it stays dry 80% of the dirt is now in the truck( or place inside another bucket without holes to contain dirt). I then put a lid on the brass bucket and shake and roll for a while. This gets almost all the dirt off before tumbling
1. tumble
2. sort and inspect
 
I cleaned primer pocket on my 30-06 loads a million years ago. Now, I don't bother. Never made any difference.

The depriming operation (part of the full length resizing step) pops a pin through the flash hole, removing anything that might have been stuck there.

Sort First
Polish/Tumble each caliber separately (they tend to nest inside each other if you don't do them separate)
Full length resize/deprime
 
  1. Sort (by caliber and remove any aluminum/steel cases)
  2. Tumble clean
  3. Inspect (Look for splits, missing primers, sooty rings around primers, etc)
  4. Size and decap. Get carbide dies so you won't have to lube.


You need to read up on the subject or take a class. I'm teaching one at GOAL in Northboro in about three weeks.
Best class ever! So worth the money and the time it took for me to get there. I hear it's even better because there is more equipment so the students get more hands on. I may take it again just to refresh and ask more questions.
 
Taking a class gives you the confidence that reading will not. Hands on - instructor right there to answer simple or complex questions.
I recommend taking a class.

That all being said I tumble first and I too have never had to clean a primer pocket in my 5 years of experience on pistol brass.
 
I tumble first in corn cob media and then deprime/size.... This is primarily to protect my dies from abrasive crud on the brass..... If I want really clean brass I then wet tumble with SS media....
 
If you are picking up range brass that has dirt and such in or on the cases heres what I do.

I have a five gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom. I keep the bucket in the back of my truck. I go and hunt for brass. After a few days as long as it stays dry 80% of the dirt is now in the truck( or place inside another bucket without holes to contain dirt). I then put a lid on the brass bucket and shake and roll for a while. This gets almost all the dirt off before tumbling
1. tumble
2. sort and inspect

you should patent that! I was thinking about that and it makes perfect sense as far as separating floating and heavy dirt.
 
I've been reloading for almost 30 years and I've never cleaned a primer pocket on a pistol case.

The only time I've ever worried about a primer pocket was for very long range precision ammo (rifle only) and those pockets got 'cleaned' when I uniformed them. This accounts for about 0.1% of the rounds I reload. Maybe less.
 
I've been reloading for almost 30 years and I've never cleaned a primer pocket on a pistol case.

The only time I've ever worried about a primer pocket was for very long range precision ammo (rifle only) and those pockets got 'cleaned' when I uniformed them. This accounts for about 0.1% of the rounds I reload. Maybe less.

In fairness, .1% of the rounds you reload is probably still a fair number of rounds [laugh]
 
Personally I throw my brass in the tumbler as soon as I get back from the range. After a few hours I sort and rinse, size/ de- prime , re-prime load etc. I bought a primer pocket brush and never use it.....,


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Several hours??

What were you using for media?
corn cob media. but i had done about 5 or 6 hundred of them before starting to prep them for reloading. i have a couple thousand 45s so the need to use them from the tumbler is not necessary. tumbling the shells and storing them in plastic containers is my winter project. thats why i didnt notice the primer pockets filled with the media. ( that was in my early years of reloading....maybe 25 yrs ago). that is the only time ive ever cleaned the primer pockets on any pistol brass.
 
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For Pistol

Sort by caliber - 45ACP also gets sorted by primer size.
Tumble
Load.

For Rifle - .308 and .338LM


Sort by caliper
Tumble
Lube
Size and deprime
Tumble again to remove the lube
Check primer pockets for media and remove
Load

For Semi Auto Rifle - .223/5.56

Tumble
Load

For Bolt Action Rifle - .223/5.56

Tumble
Sort by maker
Load

Depriming first, for pistol and .223/5.56 rifle is a waste of time because of the extra steps involved.
 
ugh, I ended up putting a good size batch of 9mm pistol brass with walnut media from HF into 18#s vibra-tumbler. I did not de-prime. I never used this media before, after a couple of hours most of the brass looked pretty clean. Some older pieces that had some discoloration, still had some left. I'd definitely say it's not an aggressive media.

Anyways, these little buggers (walnut media) got into every single flash hole. Finding one without is an exception. I think that I'll deprime all of them the next time around. At least with deprimed brass I can poke it from either end to get it out. At this point, I have to use a pin to fish out those little buggers. I'm too paranoid that deprime pin would bend and brake. Oh well, live and learn.
 
Boris, you should be fine. The depriming pin will NOT break, and will merely push the primer out, and clear the hole at the same time. You'll be fine! It's what I do all the time, and have never had a pin break.

ugh, I ended up putting a good size batch of 9mm pistol brass with walnut media from HF into 18#s vibra-tumbler. I did not de-prime. I never used this media before, after a couple of hours most of the brass looked pretty clean. Some older pieces that had some discoloration, still had some left. I'd definitely say it's not an aggressive media.

Anyways, these little buggers (walnut media) got into every single flash hole. Finding one without is an exception. I think that I'll deprime all of them the next time around. At least with deprimed brass I can poke it from either end to get it out. At this point, I have to use a pin to fish out those little buggers. I'm too paranoid that deprime pin would bend and brake. Oh well, live and learn.
 
You're afraid that you will break the depriming pin on a bit of media?

I've only reloaded for ~10 years. I just finished batch #136. I've never deprimed before tumbling. I've never cleaned a primer pocket.

Relax. It works. Really.
 
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