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Posted: 1/18/2015 9:08:04 PM EDT
[#1]
Quoted: I have read online people describing their case preparation of once-fired cases as follows: 1. Tumble it clean 2. Lube it 3. Resize and decap This is correct, you don't want to run dirty cases through your sizing die. Then you do a short tumble to remove the lube, trimming, crimp removal is then done on clean cases. 4. Trim length So 2 tumbles is my method. I have always Lubed cases first and only tumbled after running through the sizing die. The reason being their is lube all over the cases and the tumbling cleans it all up. Is this wrong? Yes, see above. |
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Posted: 1/18/2015 9:09:04 PM EDT
[#2]
Rifle:
1. dry tumble 2. lube and resize/deprime 3. wipe off lube 4. check case length 5. trim if needed 6. chamfer and deburr Straight-wall Pistol: 1. dry tumble 2. resize/deprime, less lube (carbide dies) 3. expand & bell I tumble to remove soot, dirt, scratches, and blemishes. The case lube wipes off easily. I also get a lot of mileage out of my media because there isn't any case lube fouling it up. |
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Posted: 1/18/2015 9:13:52 PM EDT
[#3]
I don't tumble anymore - trying to cut down on lead exposure so I use a sonic cleaner for everything now. I use a universal decapping die to remove the primers first to try and keep the water/cleaner cleaner, longer.
When I was tumbling I always tumbled first, resized, trimmed -Millbarge
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Posted: 1/18/2015 9:19:03 PM EDT
[#4]
Great replies.
What I don't understand is how you wipe the lube off if you are not tumbling it clean. I use three different case lubes and each are sticky messes. This Spray on lube is alcohol based and is the easiest type for me to use (spray on, alcohol evaporates, cases are slick and sticky). Also this liquid lube is used with a pad, harder to use and equally sticky. last is this waxy lube. Very easy to clean off but has to be applied with the fingers and is messy. If you are cleaning the lube by hand, how do you do it without making a disgusting mess? |
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Posted: 1/18/2015 9:31:50 PM EDT
[#5]
If you don't have a tumbler, you can go old school like we did before tumblers became available.
Old school; Wipe grit off fired cases with a clean rag. Lube and size. Wipe off lube with a clean rag. Moisten rag with alcohol if you want, I never did. Your spray lube link is good stuff, it's what I use. We now make our own for a fraction of the price of Franklin/Dillon spray lube. |
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Posted: 1/18/2015 9:40:36 PM EDT
[#6]
Your liquid lube, that's what we had in the old school days, spray lube is better.
Waxy lube, meh. What you want is Imperial here, I use it for case forming and very small batches. Making 6.5 Grendel from 7.62x39 cases here. Here is how to use the spray lube, cases go into box, tilt cases so they go to one end with some of the case mouth up so the inside of the neck gets some lube. 2 sprays, shake box, tilt cases and 2 more sprays. Done. Let alcohol evaporate off and size cases. Quick and easy this way. The other method is to use a ziplock bag, but no lube gets into the case necks with this method, so the box method is preferred.
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Posted: 1/19/2015 12:15:34 AM EDT
[#7]
1 tumble walnut.
2 size /trim corncob/walnut. 3 load. 4 tumble corncob/ nufinish. 5 shoot. Rinse and repeat. |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 12:28:21 AM EDT
[#8]
If they are really crusty and dirty, I'll start with a wash in the sink.
1. Decapped with universal decapping die. 2. Cleaned in ultrasonic cleaner. 3. Lube 4. Resized 5. Case prep 6. Ultrasonic cleaner again to remove lube. 7. Prime 8. Charge 9. Seat bullet 10. Polish in vibratory tumbler with walnut and Mothers polish. |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 1:29:57 AM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Great replies. What I don't understand is how you wipe the lube off if you are not tumbling it clean. I use three different case lubes and each are sticky messes. This Spray on lube is alcohol based and is the easiest type for me to use (spray on, alcohol evaporates, cases are slick and sticky). Also this liquid lube is used with a pad, harder to use and equally sticky. last is this waxy lube. Very easy to clean off but has to be applied with the fingers and is messy. If you are cleaning the lube by hand, how do you do it without making a disgusting mess? *note*: I don't lube inside the case neck when resizing. I've never found it necessary. |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 12:14:46 PM EDT
[#10]
I voted other. For me...
1. dry tumble in walnut to get big chucks and dirt out 2. cheap bastard spray lube in ziplock. Shake to cover all cases 3. deprime and resize 4. wet tumble to remove lube and clean primer pockets. I like shiny brass. 5. Size. if brass is long then I trim 6 chamfer/deburr if necessary 7. load |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 12:43:45 PM EDT
[#11]
I do the following for rifle:
1. Run brass through universal decapper. I have a toolhead on the 650 set up with the decapper so this takes very little time. 2. Wet tumble. 3. Lube with cheap bastard 1:12 lanolin-ISOheet lube. I use the shake and bake method with a gallon ziplock and never had any trouble with inadequate lube inside the case neck 4. Resize 5. Dry tumble in walnut media. Doesn't take long, 15-20 minutes if I had to gues. 6. Trim if needed. This is where I inspect case necks for cracks since I'm picking up each case anyway. If match loads I'll chamfer next. If blasting brass I'll just move straight to storage. For pistol: 1. Wet tumble 2. Lube 3. Load. 
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Posted: 1/19/2015 2:38:55 PM EDT
[#12]
Universal decap
Wet tumble Dry Throw it into the case feeder and load the 5 stations |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 3:33:51 PM EDT
[#13]
I have found that one of the major things I battle on a progressive when loading 1000's of rounds is dirt. Thus, my provess focuses on keeping dirt and grime off the progressive press. My processes:
Rifle: 1.) Decap on hand press with universal decapping die 2.) Wet tumble 3.) Dry in forced air dehydrator 4.) Lube (same way dryflash explained with the box, with the same lube for cheap bastards) 5.) Size cases 6.) Tumble off lube in dry tumbler (15 mins) 7.) Trim, chamfer and deburr with WFT and lathe-mounted tools 8.) Run through progressive - prime, powder, powder check, seat, taper crimp Pistol: 1.) Decap on hand press with universal decapping die 2.) Wet tumble 3.) Dry in forced air dehydrator 4.) Run through progressive - size, prime, powder + bell, powder check, seat, taper crimp to remove bell |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 3:54:39 PM EDT
[#14]
I dry tumble brass twice for rifle rounds:
First, I tumble in corn cob for 15 - 20 minutes to remove the soot and dirt before lubing and sizing. Spray with homemade lanolin/isopropyl alcohol lube. Then on the LNLAP, I decap, and size/trim with a Dillon 1200. Back into the dry tumbler to remove the lube. Inspect and then reload. For pistol, I only tumble once, before I start, to remove range dirt and soot. |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 5:11:34 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted: If you don't have a tumbler, you can go old school like we did before tumblers became available. Old school; Wipe grit off fired cases with a clean rag. Lube and size. Wipe off lube with a clean rag. Moisten rag with alcohol if you want, I never did. Your spray lube link is good stuff, it's what I use. We now make our own for a fraction of the price of Franklin/Dillon spray lube. Before I started loading for semi-autos (as in a LOT cleaner brass) I used the old school method of a clean shop rag to wipe off the cases. I also use graphite on the case necks when resizing and when I'm all done I took each round (usually did 50 or 60 at a time) and cleaned the graphite and carbon buildup from the neck with #0000 steel wool. Now that I'm loading for handguns and ARs I tumble the cases before I size them and after I size the rifle cases they get a quick tumble one more time. I have noticed that the little bit of Fritz brass polish in my corn cob media helps keep the pistol cases a little slicker and helps them not stick to the belling/powder die in my Dillon 650. |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 5:44:42 PM EDT
[#16]
I do it this way:
Decap with an off-press hand tool, the Harvey Deprimer Wet tumble in stainless steel media, separate and dry the brass Lube, then size cases Tumble sized cases in plain corn cob media to remove lube Proceed to loading the cases... I tend to tumble a metric butt-load of the same or compatible cases, so I have containers of clean, ready to size cases sitting around until I get around to sizing them (sometimes in big batches). Once I've sized and de-lubed a bunch of cases, I either get cracking with loading them, or I put them away for later. I'm kinda behind on some of my "clean and ready to size" stash, since I've been working on a number of projects - at the same time - and putting in a lot of hours at work, but I'm starting to catch up. |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 6:10:56 PM EDT
[#17]
Tumble
Lube Size Load Tumble to remove lube. |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 6:31:01 PM EDT
[#18]
I always trim my tumble 5.56 / .223Rem cases to length before I tumble them.
Saves me a step by de-burring in the tumbler. Although there is a slight length change with the subsequent sizing, the brass is always within spec. For pistol ammo, I tumble as the first step. |
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Posted: 1/19/2015 11:23:17 PM EDT
[#19]
The short answer is I tumble cases whenever I need them to be clean for the next step, so it depends on the type of case. I use only walnut media, and what that boils down to is:
- All cases are tumbled before resizing. (Rifle cases are always deprimed before this tumble.) - Rifle cases are briefly tumbled a second time after all case prep is complete. This removes any lube and stray brass shavings. |
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Posted: 1/20/2015 8:33:31 AM EDT
[#20]
Before sizing. After loading to remove lube (loading with 550B).
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Posted: 1/20/2015 8:39:56 AM EDT
[#21]
Rifle:
Tumble Lube Size Tumble Trim Load Pistol: Tumble Size Load |
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Posted: 1/20/2015 9:07:27 AM EDT
[#22]
Semi auto/range brass rifle- tumble, prep, tumble
Bolt gun - prep, tumble Pistol - tumble, load
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Posted: 1/20/2015 9:12:30 AM EDT
[#23]
I tumble, lube, size, tumble lube off, reload...
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Posted: 1/20/2015 2:06:51 PM EDT
[#24]
Rifle:
Dry tumble Lube (Dillon) Resize/decap Sonic Clean Load Inspect Pistol: Dry tumble Lube (Hornady) Load Dry tumble Inspect |
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