NEVER tumble cases with new primers.

N

NINEX19

New member
OK, I just learned a lesson the very hard way that I thought I would share with others. Go ahead an laugh, I am sure most have already figured this out.

Background - I have been reloading for the last seven years. Up until now, I have reloaded my own once fired cases from factory new rounds. Just dump the used cases in the tumbler and when done de-cap and move on to the next step. No problems.

Well, I had the great idea to buy some nickel plated cases to keep my "premium" outdoor loads separated from my "plinking" loads. Fine, but I soon realized that finding nickel plated for sale was difficult and when I did find them, they were quite expensive. It was almost cheaper to just buy factory loaded nickel cases than the cases alone.

I finally found a large quantity of new and primed 357 Magnum nickel plated cases that had bullets pulled (Federal) that cost 9 cents each. I thought that was a very reasonable price. When they arrived, they looked good except they had some spotting and a bit of a dull look to them. I like bright cases, and they would not quite pass my Q.C.

I am sure anyone experienced enough can see where this story is going.

Anyway, I get the great idea of throwing them in the tumbler for a quick roll around to brighten them up before loading. I am embarrassed to I admit, I did not think the entire process out before hitting the "on" switch.

So after about an hour of tumbling, I pull them out and was admiring how bright the insides were and noticed something on almost ALL 500 cases I bought. Yes, little bits of media stuck in the flash hole that would NOT come out.

Yes, I am now left with the task of de-priming all these cases, carefully cleaning out the primer and re-priming.

Sorry for the long story, but it does have a good moral. DON'T put primed cases in a tumbler and expect to use them afterwards without alot of aggravating work ahead of you.
 
I doubt it would prevent them from firing since the force will easily blow it out

You could also try using high pressure air over the top of the case to create a vacuum. I wouldn't deprime them

I'd just load them as target loads and use them
 
I doubt it would prevent them from firing since the force will easily blow it out

You could also try using high pressure air over the top of the case to create a vacuum. I wouldn't deprime them

I'd just load them as target loads and use them
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I tried using air on some. It did not work. The pieces were lodged in there pretty secure.

I am afraid those pieces will prevent ignition and I will be left with alot of misfires that I will have to clear correctly each time and then disassemble. That is a gamble that I am not willing to take at this moment.
 
TMI

I had thousands upon thousands of cases that needed cleaning, tumbling would have required 7 days+; these cases had patina. I could have placed the cases in a 5 gallon jar of vinegar, instead I placed 10 of the cases in a small container just to see what would happen. After about a day the cases were rendered scrap. I cut the time limit to 15 minutes; you have no ideal what it means to reduce cleaning time from days to minutes. It sort of puts me to thinking about a song by Gordon Lightfoot. He wrote "where does the love of god go when minutes turns to hours".

What would I have done? I would have removed 10 primers from 10 cases, tumbled then reinstalled the primers. And then; I would have chambered the cases with out powder or bullet and fired them. You could have stuffed a small piece of cotton into the case before tumbling.

Or I would have test fired the cases without powder, without bullet. I have no way of knowing why the cases were pulled down.

F. Guffey
 
You probably could have loaded them and then tumbled.


At this point, if there are a lot of them, I'd load a few clogged ones and see whether they work, and if so use them for target ammo first time around. Might be an issue with magnum powder loads, but will probably shoot fine with fast powder target loads. Beats re priming them all.
 
What Guffey said. Quick and easy test, take 10 or 20 cases and see if they go off then decide what you need to do. Primers aren't too loud so you could do it inside but outside would be best.
 
IMHO you have nothing to worry about. Unless you are using a "tough" powder like H110, you will have zero problems with proper ignition even with the media in the flash hole.

(And you shouldn't be using 296/H110 with unknown primers anyway, since those powders call for magnum primers.)
 
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IMHO you have nothing to worry about.
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I would suggest testing the media on metal. The media could be abrasive. I have no interest is blasting media out of a case and down the barrel.

Just saying:D It could be just me:eek:

F. Guffey
 
I did a test a couple months ago by placing a few kernels of media ( corn cob ) in the primers and then seat them in the case trapping them in the pocket blocking the flash hole . I then fired the empty cases into a bucket of water . They appeared to fire just fine and the media was discharged into the water .

Very important you wear ear protection when doing this . I did not thinking the primes by them selves would be very loud . They were quite loud and a bit startling I have to say .

My next test will be with flash holes manually clogged . I've already Clogged some cases . I used punches to compress and lodge media into the flash holes . I have those cases marked on there sides with red sharpie and set aside for loading .

I plan to load them with a load I have already used a chrono with to compare any velocity changes .
 
Dump the media out of the vibrator drum, put the cases back in, turn on the tumbler and walk away for awhile, the media in the flash holes will probably dislodge and fall out.
 
If it isn't broke don't fix it. Slightly tarnished cases shoot exactly the same as bright shiny cases.

I never use anything more than hot water and a little vinegar.
 
Dump the media out of the vibrator drum, put the cases back in, turn on the tumbler and walk away for awhile, the media in the flash holes will probably dislodge and fall out.
Click to expand...

That should work, and if it does not try a vacuum cleaner after tumbling with no media.

F. Guffey
 
I personally wound just feed the primed cases through my gun, and very, very carefully clean the gun afterwards.

Even if there is the slightest risk of something going wrong, is it wort that risk?

Primers are too DArned cheap to care about losing some.

If you find yourself in this situation again, walnut media can be found in much larger chips.
 
Firing empty cases isn't going to tell you anything. Of course the primers will still fire. They will also easily blow the media out. What is questionable is whether the media will block and slow powder ignition significantly, which would mostly be a concern with a case stuffed full of 296/110 where blowing the media out of the way is further inhibited by a case full of powder. 4 or 5 Grains of Bullseye floating around in there won't even notice a tiny piece of cob flew into the large case.
 
Firing empty cases isn't going to tell you anything.
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TimSr, if I selected 10 cases to test primers and after firing them with no powder and no bullet I believe it would be safe to assume the primers were good to go if during the test all the primers fired.

F. Guffey
 
Tim, the point to firing the cases was to get rid of the primers, because I wouldn't load those cases if they were the last primers on earth. That's how seriously I take my safety measures.

Everybody has their own level of acceptable risk, and I will throw away a few dollars worth of primers and there is no chance that I would put powder in on top of an occluded case. It's unpredictable. I don't like unpredictable.
 
Why in the world would you do something like that? What is your reason for priming before cleaning, rather than priming after cleaning?
 
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