Tumbling after priming ?
- Thread starter hounddawg
- Start date
I make sure my reloading procedures have me tumbling brass before priming or after the round is assembled, but since lead styphnate, the active ingredient in most primers, has a wavefront velocity of about 16,000 fps, there's no danger that a flake of media is going to deactivate a primer.
@hdwhit
I have never considered tumbling after assembly, do the rounds stay concentric and OAL stay uniform?
Normally I tumble twice, once before annealing then again after sizing. I was being lazy and thinking of using some cases I primed several years ago during a winter binge load spree to do a load workup. I checked ten random cases for length and all were within SAAMI specs but were only acceptable for zombie apocalypse ammo with lengths varying as much as .015 from each other
I have never considered tumbling after assembly, do the rounds stay concentric and OAL stay uniform?
Normally I tumble twice, once before annealing then again after sizing. I was being lazy and thinking of using some cases I primed several years ago during a winter binge load spree to do a load workup. I checked ten random cases for length and all were within SAAMI specs but were only acceptable for zombie apocalypse ammo with lengths varying as much as .015 from each other
I like the anvil on my reloaded primers to be seated against the bottom of the primer pocket...
"...to get the brass shavings out..." Shouldn't be any brass shavings after tumbling before priming. The chances of the walnut shells filling the primer hole are much higher if you tumble after priming. Mind you, brass shavings won't make any difference one way or the other.
"...once before annealing..." You only anneal when it's required. Annealing is not an every time thing. No need to tumble before annealing anyway.
Ya'll really want the reloading process to be far more complicated than it is.
"...destructive test of firearms..." Isn't done by the military anywhere.
"...once before annealing..." You only anneal when it's required. Annealing is not an every time thing. No need to tumble before annealing anyway.
Ya'll really want the reloading process to be far more complicated than it is.
"...destructive test of firearms..." Isn't done by the military anywhere.
If you read the first post you'd know the brass shavings he is referring to would come from trimming cases that were already tumbled and primed for loading.
My main question is, why do you need to get the shavings out? They will blow out when you shoot the gun. They are not harder than the bore. Indeed, bullets can be made from brass and fired and they work just fine. They are only unpopular because brass is expensive and less dense than either lead or copper solids. So, what are you saving yourself from by cleaning a few shavings out?
Incidentally, brass wire edges from using sharp case chamfering and deburring tools show up all the time in cast bullet lube build-up left in seating and crimping dies. You find them when you clean the dies, so you know some stayed with their cartridges and were fired through the barrel. I've never seen any sign of harm from them.
My main question is, why do you need to get the shavings out? They will blow out when you shoot the gun. They are not harder than the bore. Indeed, bullets can be made from brass and fired and they work just fine. They are only unpopular because brass is expensive and less dense than either lead or copper solids. So, what are you saving yourself from by cleaning a few shavings out?
Incidentally, brass wire edges from using sharp case chamfering and deburring tools show up all the time in cast bullet lube build-up left in seating and crimping dies. You find them when you clean the dies, so you know some stayed with their cartridges and were fired through the barrel. I've never seen any sign of harm from them.
@ Unclenick
Excellent question and one I have no answer for. I suppose I was just thinking that they did not belong in there so they needed to go. As you pointed out though they would affect nothing at all, thanks for pointing that out
@T. O'Heir
If you want consistent neck tension it is best to anneal before each reloading cycle. It is pretty easy with the setup I have takes maybe ten minutes for the first fifty cases and maybe another five minutes for every fifty following the first batch.
I clean before annealing for two reasons. First the next step after annealing is case sizing so I like my cases clean before they go into the dies also any soot on the inside of the necks will affect the anneal so not only do I tumble before the anneal but I also brush the inside of the necks with a bronze bore brush chucked in my drill press.
Using my method I get vertical dispersion of less than 1 MOA or less out to 800 yards. Neck tension does matter in LR shooting
Excellent question and one I have no answer for. I suppose I was just thinking that they did not belong in there so they needed to go. As you pointed out though they would affect nothing at all, thanks for pointing that out
@T. O'Heir
If you want consistent neck tension it is best to anneal before each reloading cycle. It is pretty easy with the setup I have takes maybe ten minutes for the first fifty cases and maybe another five minutes for every fifty following the first batch.
I clean before annealing for two reasons. First the next step after annealing is case sizing so I like my cases clean before they go into the dies also any soot on the inside of the necks will affect the anneal so not only do I tumble before the anneal but I also brush the inside of the necks with a bronze bore brush chucked in my drill press.
Using my method I get vertical dispersion of less than 1 MOA or less out to 800 yards. Neck tension does matter in LR shooting
Last edited:
I would say the answer to that is a question . Maybe not in your case this time but I’ve trimmed case that left a long curly Q of brass which at times brake into smaller but still large-ish pieces . Can those pieces fall into or work there way through the flash hole obstructing the ability for the primer crush correctly ?
I have a general understanding of how primers work but if there was enough obstruction in there would a fail to ignite ?
I have a general understanding of how primers work but if there was enough obstruction in there would a fail to ignite ?
Since his primers are already seated, there is no way for the brass chips to interfere with their depth or the setting of the bridge, so I don't see how a primer ignition failure could occur. If you get a large piece of brass down in the flash hole, then it will have much the same effect as flash hole burrs, redirecting the flame a bit. If he is benchrest shooting and deburrs his flash holes for better powder ignition consistency, then at least tapping the mouth of the inverted case on a block of wood to dislodge large brass pieces would make sense to do. A Q-tip could be used to pick up anything else loose from inside if it were concerning him.
Emerson Biggies
New member
I have loaded and fired thousands of 9mm with tumbling media specs in the flash hole. No problem. The speck of media just goes out the barrel.