How many out there lightly tumble fully reloaded rounds?

lightly tumble ??

I have tumbled a lot of loaded ammo never a problem . You can not put a bunch in at a time about half what you would with just brass .

One note you said TUMBLE not Vibrate . Loaded ammo will just go to the bottom and just lay there and Vibrate .
 
I do it sometimes with my .223 loads in my vibratory tumbler. They tumble just fine, though I can only put about 150 rds in at a time. I usually let them roll around for about 1.5 hrs. As I understand it, it's only for purely aesthetic purposes; making them shiny does nothing for performance, or so I've been told.
 
There used to be a lot of concern about the powder dusting and changing the burn rate, but one of the forums or web sites did some lengthy testing with tumbling and had no problems on that score. This old Yarchived post is interesting though. One guy showing no problem and the other showing a big problem (burst gun from vibratory tumbled cartridges). So it may depend on the powder, with some perhaps more brittle than others. The cartridges in question were old, so it's possible the powder had started to deteriorate. Rotary may be better than vibratory. I don't really know. I think it would be a good idea, if you are going to do it, to make up an extra cartridge or two to pull down and inspect the powder and compare it to fresh powder, just to be sure.
 
It's really hard to come up with a really good reason to believe that lightly vibrating loads could be harmful.

You almost certainly can't set off a primer by bouncing it around in that bucket, I don't believe that it's even remotely possible to hammer on the primer hard enough to compress and shock the compound.

Smokeless is in fact a plastic compound, and as such, it's almost inconceivable that a brief run through a tumbler would be enough to shake the powder to pieces, grinding it into dust. These are my two biggest concerns. My only other concern is that maybe, your priming compound could be damaged during the vibration and not ignite properly. I don't really believe that that could happen, not without a long, rough trip through the tumbler, and even then, since that stuff is made as a powder that is mixed with a plastic compound, even that seems impossible. If the primer is damaged, what might happen? a hang fire or a failure to fire. So, follow the saf.ety instructions for a failure to fire.

I think that it should be avoided just out of principle. Maybe something could happen. If you choose to do it, common sense says to only do it for as long as it takes to clean it up, and that you use a full load of media to avoid excessive banging around with one cartridge hitting the others. Run it in small batches.

It makes me wonder. I might do a test someday, I have an old vibratory, and I might just set it up with a couple dozen rounds and run it for a week or so and see if the powder is still intact and whether they will in fact fire.
 
I don't understand why it would be necessary tumble/vibrate a loaded cartridge at all. For a final shiny finish, all one needs to do is tumble the lubricated, resized/deprimed/trimmed, chamfered and deburred (if necessary)cases to remove the lube and shine the cases. Then prime and charge.

If you happen to have a load that has tarnished over time and it must be shined up for satisfaction, I'd do it by hand with some brass polish, maybe avoiding the primer area.
 
Tumbled plenty of loaded rounds to knock off lube and what not. No issues, though admittedly run times have been probably in the 30 or less minute range.

Imagine the amount of vibration and shaking a round goes through during loading into boxes at the factory and the various stages of delivery. Much less .mil rounds that are likely subject to more abuse. A few minutes in a vibratory or rotary tumbler is no issue.
 
The following is a response I wrote during October of 2012. There is quite a bit written about the subject.

Do I tumble loaded ammunition? Nope, but that does make it a bad thing to do so.

There are two lines of thought, one for and one against. Powder manufacturers strongly recommend against it as it will break down the powder and change the burn rate. This is that line of thinking. The guys who make case tumblers also oppose tumbling loaded ammunition.

The other line of thought is it matters not especially for short periods of time. A Google of tumbling loaded ammunition will bring up dozens of results with varying ideas on the subject. Mere transport of loaded ammunition submits it to vibrations. There have been many experiments performed by hand loaders experimenting. There are a few threads in this forum on the subject.
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This was taken from another thread:
From Lyman Products Tumblers FAQ....

Q: Can I tumble loaded ammo?
A: No, this can be very dangerous. Tumbling loaded ammo can break down the powder causing extreme pressure problems.

Lyman Products Your Primary Source for Reloading Equipment


From another forum....

My Question

A discussion within a Reloading Forum which I frequent has led me to ask
a question from the experts regarding Tumbling Reloaded Rifle cases.
What is the stance of your company regarding this practice?
Does tumbling loaded rounds effect the powders inside? Are some powders
effected more so than others? Example. Are the Stick or extruded
powders effected in the same manner as a Ball powder or flake type
powder?
Any input you might be able to give me would be greatly appreciated and shared within my reloading circle.

...answer.....

And here is Mr. Mike Daly's response back.

Sir,

OK, here is the answer. DO NOT TUMBLE LOADED AMMO. The tumbling will cause degradation of the powder. This will increase the burn speed of the powder raising pressures to what may be high enough levels to damage firearms or people.

It really is this simple.

Have tests been done? Yes, tests on powders have been done in regard to degradation by vibration. Here’s what we learned, DO NOT TUMBLE LOADED AMMO.

The longer the ammo is tumbled, the worse the problem. No, We cannot tell you what length of time would be safe to tumble ammo.

Here is what we also know about the internet. There are always those people who portray themselves as experts due to the anonymity of the internet. Our responses are limited by the truth, theirs are limited by their imagination. We try very hard not to get involved in arguments on the net because of this. IF people really want the answers, they should contact us personally rather than trusting a message forum on the internet.

I hope this answers your question to your satisfaction

Mike Daly

Customer Satisfaction Manager

Hogdon Powders


Jay's final comment.....

By the way, It doesn't matter to me whether anyone tumbles loaded/primed cases or not. I won't do it, but that's just me. If YOU do it, I won't get injured if one of your cases becomes over-pressured and blows up. If you never have a problem, that's great. If you get injured the only sympathy I'll offer is that I'll be sorry that you gambled on safety and lost.
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While most of the Do Not Tumble may have been the result of attorneys writing it the ultimate decision rest with you.

Just My Take
Ron

I should point out the only reason I don't tumble or vibrate loaded ammunition is because it doesn't fit in my normal sequence. Most of my brass is relatively clean so I resize and then clean the brass. Since the brass is spray lubed prior to resizing it gets cleaned later. My thinking is do some homework as you are doing and then decide what works for you.
 
I can't really argue the point of whether it is a good idea.
I consider reloadron's post informative.
It is possible to design or stage the reloading process to minimize or eliminate the need.
Clearly,the brass should be clean before sizing.

The universal decap die,then tumble cleaning is ,IMO,a good choice.

Carbide handgun dies will eliminate the need for case lube.
Its easy to run them through a progressive process,with no post-clean required.
But bottleneck and tapered cases require lube.Spray lubes are convenient and effective.
If sizing lubed cases is done as a single stage operation,either loading single stage,or as a prep for progressive loading,lube can be cleaned off nicely with a clean,dry corncob vibratory bowl session.

The dry cases require no post-loading cleaning.So then,its a moot point.

If the choice is to run decapped,clean,lubricated cases through the entire process,particularly with a progressive press,it can be argued it takes less time and is more efficient.
But the end result is loaded rounds with case lube on them.They still require another operation to remove the lube.

So,there is a choice.Remove the lube in an operation before priming,charging,seating,OR remove the lube as an operation after seating.

If you do it before,no need to tumble live ammo.

If you don't,you have lubed loaded ammo to process through removing lube.

I personally don't hestate to give loaded ammo 15 minutes or so in corncob to remove lube.

But,IMO,its better to just lube,size the cases,tumble in corncob,and then run sized,dry cases trough the process.

End result is clean,dry ,loaded ammo with no need for post processing.

Then we don't need to even wonder.
 
I wet tumble the brass til it's squeaky clean. Size and then dry tumble the cases with 20-40 corncob for 30 minutes. Seems to leave a thin, protective lanolin film. We'll see how that works out in a year. But they'll all probably get shot before then. :)
 
I did not see were the OP said he was even a reloader . He may have some older ammo he would like to clean up ?

I got one ammo can full of Service 30 Cal a year or two ago that was just in need of a cleaning . The ammo was fine just not stored well I cleaned it up shot some saved some .
 
Any loaded ammo that isn't going to be shot right away gets tumbled.I use corn cob and Turtle wax scratch and swirl remover 20 minutes or so then handle with gloves.If I don't I'll get fingerprints etched on the brass in time.Just shot some .223 that was loaded in 2012 looked like I just loaded them.
 
:confused: I still don't understand why loaded ammo is tumbled in the first place. AFAIK this is not a step that ammunition mfg. find a need for.

1 - IMO you should tumble/vibrate clean your brass before loading
2 - If you're loading pistol cases, use carbide dies. Spray lube optional.
3 - If you're loading bottleneck cases, use one of the new, inert spray lubes
that don't need to be removed. aka, Hornady One-shot, Dillon, etc.

If I clean my cases before reloading and then use spray lubes where needed and leave the remaining waxy coating after they're loaded, that coating keeps the rounds looking new for years.
 
My Grandfather post load tumbled ammunition behind the back seat of his truck my entire lifetime. It always went "bang" and never "kaboom".

I have post load tumbled my ammunition to knock lube off without giving it a second thought.

I imagine the amount of vibration I subject ammunition to being post load tumbled would be less than factory ammunition would have to endure being shipped to my house from wherever it was produced (even if they didn't post load tumble them too).
 
If I clean my cases before reloading and then use spray lubes where needed and leave the remaining waxy coating after they're loaded, that coating keeps the rounds looking new for years.
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I do not want anything between the case and chamber but air; when it comes to air I do not want a lot of air because of factors. I have tumbled cases to determine if the powder gets ground to powder, and then, there is the effect or difference between powder and ground powder. I have pulled down cases loaded ammo after tumbling; I have not found crushed grains in cases that have been tumbled or vibrated.

And then there was that time I was not trying to turn grains of powder to dust, I was trying to remove dried on and caked lanolin from cases that were loaded in 1971 and 1972. I decided to pull down all 400 plus rounds and start over.

F. Guffey
 
I tumble my 45 Colts to rid my reloads of soft lube. Turns the bullets dark gray and I rather like that.

2016-10-15%2017.19.32_zpskeaxkb5m.jpg
 
I still don't understand why loaded ammo is tumbled in the first place. AFAIK this is not a step that ammunition mfg. find a need for.
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Of course the makers don't do it. The brass is brand new, cleaned and sealed, and untouched by human hands until you stick it into your magazine.

if you are okay with gross looking ammo, fine. Myself, I really hate it, it makes me look unprofessional and less than qualified. So if I wind up with a batch of nasty looking ammo from the past, heck yes I'm going to run it through a light cleaning, it is my own option and and I've done it a few times because it was just intolerable. For that matter, I dug out a box of stuff that had been dumped in cardboard, and stored against a concrete wall that leached a little wet and calcium into the box. Stuff was nasty.

It was old, mostly old military, and corroded and dark, who needs those rounds so badly that they can't get rid of them? I dumped them into a can, covered it with bleach and put it outside. Then I took it to the recycle center and dumped it with the toxic facility.
 
"if you are okay with gross looking ammo, fine. Myself, I really hate it, it makes me look unprofessional and less than qualified. So if I wind up with a batch of nasty looking ammo from the past, heck yes I'm going to run it through a light cleaning, it is my own option and and I've done it a few times because it was just intolerable. For that matter, I dug out a box of stuff that had been dumped in cardboard, and stored against a concrete wall that leached a little wet and calcium into the box. Stuff was nasty.

It was old, mostly old military, and corroded and dark, who needs those rounds so badly that they can't get rid of them? I dumped them into a can, covered it with bleach and put it outside. Then I took it to the recycle center and dumped it with the toxic facility. "

Old nasty ammo from the past? Sounds to me like you made the right choice in trashing those rounds and not trying to tumble-clean them. If they were showing signs of exterior discoloration/corrosion, there's no telling what the interior of the case wall was in. Let alone powder deterioration.
 
This subject has been bandied about for waaay too long, every since I've been frequenting reloading forums, starting in 2005...

I have not been to a ammo factory, but I am familiar with metal working. Any time a flat chunk of brass is turned into a cartridge case it is oiled/lubed several times before it is boxed up and sent out (a press and dies would last a very short time if the stock were not lubed and the parts would be destroyed, not formed). Even the machines that seat the bullets (last step) will have some sort of lubrication on the moving parts and product (or there would be a lot of very expensive tools quickly worn out and mangled "dry" brass. I believe I've read (but of course can't prove it) that factory ammo is indeed "tumbled" clean prior to boxing...
 
It wouldn't take much "tumbling" to clean contaminants off of loaded ammo, I'm not sure what they would use. any absorbent product, not like an abrasive like cob, could strip off the slight layer of oil left behind, if there was one. if they used dry waxes, there would be no reason to clean that off.

If I was going to do that I'd just use the biggest rotary tumbler I could manufacture, pack that thing as full of oatmeal or other highly absorbent material I could use, and run relatively small loads of brass in it. Anything that you use would be best off blown dry afterwards.

Used oven dried coffee grounds may work...
 
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