Tumbling brass, does it make a differnce?

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Yup. There's something satisfying about collecting 4 to 5 gallons of misc. range brass and sorting, de-capping and tumbling it. I have gallon freezer bags crammed with shiny cases for calibers I don't own/load for. It's less a chore and more like therapy. Plus, you can barter with shiny brass.
 
If my dies could talk, I'm sure they'd tell me they prefer having clean brass run through them. As far as making sizing easier, I would just have to assume it does since I've never tried it with dirty brass. After a quick tumble I run my used brass through a universal decapping die before a 2 hr. bath in the rotary tumbler before any of them touch the dies in the press.

I guess it's like asking, "do you like driving around in a dirty car or a nice clean shiny one?" ;)
 
The way I figure it, a hole in the X-ring doesn’t care if it came from a bright and shiny piece of brass.
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What is this "hole in the X-ring" of which you speak? There is an invisible force field around the X-ring on my targets. I couldn't poke a hole in it with a pencil at 2 feet.

Back on topic, I tumble my brass so that all that stuff that gets on my fingers when I handle untumbled brass doesn't wind up in my dies. And it does make inspection easier for these old eyes. ymmv
 
It is well known that shiny brass is more accurate than nasty tarnished brass, and this has nothing to do with obsessive or compulsive behavioral disorders. :D
 
Slamfire-say it aint so, say it aint so. I am not compulsive, I am not compulsive, I am not compulsive. Ok I feel better now. Really though, I just tumble to a blinding shine because it is no effort on my behalf. I dump into tumbler and jut walk away. Clean rifles, mess around on this forum, Read books and If ( at my age) I remember in 3 to 8 hrs that I have the tumbler going I will shut it off:D.
 
There are so many reasons, but the three that I like tonight, is:

1. Clean and shiny brass means it's clean and shiny safe!:D That means I can quit worrying about whether if I got it clean enough to put in my dies or my guns.

Before I bought my first tumbler......maybe I cleaned it maybe I didn't.......two weeks ago. Couldn't always remember, so I don't doubt that some got cleaned more than one.....and that's frustrating.

2. Bling makes good ammo look like it's good ammo. It gives others the impression that maybe your "reloads" are as professionally done as factory ammo. Yes I know, that could be a shallow perception of reality. But perception is as important as reality if you want people to feel safe around you. Just don't screw that up with dangereous shiny reloads!:D

3. I shoot better. The ammo doesn't......I do. Why diminish a good mood with ugly ammo. I bet everyone shoots better when they feel good, mentally, or physically.
 
The only significant reason I used to tumble brass, and currently have a 2+ year backlog stacked up and waiting to be cleaned.....

...is because 90% of my "new" brass is range pickup brass.
It's usually dusty.
Sometimes it's muddy.
Once in a while the cases might even have some grit embedded in them.

And, even my good brass often hits the dirt, in the middle of the desert, when I'm shooting.

I don't want that crap getting anywhere near my dies.

I'll get another tumbler, one of these days. But, until then, I'll continue running the nasty, dirty brass into the universal decapping die that's mounted in a Lee Reloader press (I don't want that nasty grit on any of my good presses, either ;)), and piling the brass up for that 'one day'....

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it is well know that clean pretty brass will make clean pretty holes in targets. dirty ugly brass will make black holes.(think deep space):D
 
I have to admit, while I have loaded some without tumbling/cleaning them, the vast majority were tumbled between stages of processing.

Certain things aren't meant for chambers,bolts, barrels, etc... Tumbling removes all the things that don't belong. If you don't remove the crud from your brass, your firearm will. My firearm isn't a dust pan. God Bless
 
"Finish" makes no difference, never have "gotten" the rationale to spend hundreds of $$ on ultrasonic and the like, then have to dry your brass in the oven, etc. I'm all about spending less time- not more- on reloading.

"Clean", however- can make a huge difference. I usually single-load my bolt guns at the range- so the brass goes from the case, to rifle, back to case.

With semi's like our AR-15's and AR-10, the brass ends up on the concrete, sand, and grass. If it's not thoroughly cleaned, any grit- small as it may be- can scratch your sizing die and the brass. Remember, the tolerances you're dealing with here are in thousandth's of an inch, or less.
 
I memmer going to a police range in the mid seventies and watching a couple old fellers shoot their 1911s, and they were shooting a lot. First thing I noticed was they picked up all their brass. Then I looked at the targets; no X ring left, all shot out (also known as "good shootin'!"). When I got a little closer I noticed all their ammo was brown, not shiny brass. I guess this was before tumbling became a necessity or a measure of a reloader's quality...:rolleyes:
 
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Toxic compounds

Toxic compounds are present in the residue on fired brass. Lead is there even if you are using jacket bullets, because all US primers contain lead. Look at your hands after handling fired brass. Then wash your hands.

Dish washing detergent in hot water removes 99%. I deprime first so they drain better. Tumbling gets the other 1% and convinces you they are clean. The shinier the better.

Clean brass is also much easier on sizing dies as all grit is gone.

Then I tumble after sizing, to remove the sizing lubricant. I use Lithium grease to prevent bipolar brass.:rolleyes:
 
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