Reloading ?

[Quaka Wacka]

What kind of media do you guys use to clean your brass? Do you use any additives?

[baltz526]

walnut shells with red talc? i would love to find a buyer for a brass tumbler, i have not used it for several years.

[duckdog310]

Corn cob to clean the nasties off the cases prior to resizing and such. Walnut media with a polish for the fully prepped cases. . .if I'm feeling particularly motivated that day, anyhow!

[MarlinMark]

Quaka Wacka,

I bought the walnut media and additive stuff out of Cabela's. Actually it was a gift from Dad. He called and said he was online with Cabela's and what did I need for the bench for my birthday. Worked out slick. Media cleans them up nice and shiny. You putting together the stuff?

Mark

[Steve L.]

Walnut shells to scrub them, ground corn cob to polish.

[Quaka Wacka]

MM-I'm trying to get all the stuff I need. I'll probably take you up on your offer, in the next month or two.

[skein]

I actually use 400 grit steel wool and a tool from Sinclair that holds the case in my variable speed drill. But I just neck size my brass, and load hot enough that the shoulder seals up pretty tight and doesn't discolor the cases beyond the neck most of the time.

I started that when I was shooting competitively and didn't want my cases hammering around on each other in a vibrator. That, and I didn't want the media to build up inside the cases. That's particularly a threat if you use something like jewelers rouge.

No matter which way you do it, you can do a lot better job of case inspection when they are all cleaned up.

Skein

[dubl_t]

since I don't own a tumbler I've been using Birchwood/Casey's "Case Cleaner", a liquid soaking solution. I'm happy with it: not really an "acid" that eats away the cases, but more of a jewellers soaking solution.

[Quaka Wacka]

skien-do you neck size everything? Even your hunting ammo? And do you use a neck sizing die or just adjust your FL?

[Hunt'nFish]

I use a 50/50 mix of walnut & corn cob with just enough mineral spirits to wet it a little. Been using the same media for several years and it doesn't seem to work any less. And I've run buckets and buckets of brass through my tumblers.
I will say this, once the media gets worn down it starts to get stuck in the flash holes, so watch for that. I have a "special allen wrench" just for clearing the flash holes. Better safe than sorry.
Hunt'nFish

[BrianMaguire]

I will say this, once the media gets worn down it starts to get stuck in the flash holes, so watch for that.

Worn down? Brand new it gets stuck in the flash holes :smile:.

[Bait O' Eggs]

I dont have a tumbler, I like to shoot my brass all dirty and nasty looking, sort of a natural camo thing

I always assumed you would tumble it before you deprimed it :whazzup: :whazzup: Which would keep the medium from getting in the flash hole


On a side note, I bought my rockchuker about 17 years ago, dad use to make us load all all our hunting ammo on his really really old RCBS press before we could go hunting. For ever and ever, the way you weighed powder was with a soup bowl/spoon followed up with a powder trickler and balance scale. It was never a big deal, I load a couple hundred rounds a year for my magnum and it doesnt take long. I use to do some pistol shooting but it literally took forever to weigh out the small amounts for my 357. Went shooting with the wife recently, she loved the 357 and told me to load up some shells so could shoot them up. I have forgot how tedious it is to weigh out the small amount of powder for the pistol. I drove over and bought a uniflow powder measure this week. I rank it right behind the wheel for all time greatest inventions. I reloaded 50 shells and after dumping the powder I realized it was pretty dang close each time and have enough trust in it to just reload at this point without weighing each and every load for my pistol. I am way off maximum so I dont see a problem. I cant believe I have never bought one before, it sure speeds up the process, even if your weighing after cycling the crank. What a wonderful tool.

[BrianMaguire]

A digital scale would have made it less painful than a balance beam. The balance beams drive me nuts.

I tumble after depriming to remove the lube from the case. Unless you deprime without lube and just love the workout.

[Hunt'nFish]

Brian hit it on the head, to remove the lube.
Sometimes when I'm doing small amounts, I wipe the lube off manually with alchohol & rag. Actually there is nothing that says you "have to" polish the brass. So Skein, keep right at it. "natural camo look"...that's funny. I will say trying to find a fallen peice of brass in the grass is easier if it's bright & shiney.

Brian, I have an extra RCBS Digital Pro Scale w/ dispensor. $280 and it's yours. Midway sale, they goofed up my order and shipped me two and charged me for two. Threw it up on the shelf and forgot about it for until it was too late to return. brand new in the box never been used. I love mine. Best money I ever spent. Makes doing load eval's a breeze. Makes short work of sorting brass by weight too.
Hunt'nFish

[skein]

Quack,

Yes, I neck size everything. My brass seems to last longer that way, and as long as I'm not switching rifles and brass it's a lot easier. It's kind of a pain when you have two rifles of the same caliber, like mine and my wife's .222's, and you have to keep the brass separated, but it's worth it in the long run.

To my way of thinking, if you full-length resize every time, you are continually fire-forming your brass. Once it fits your chamber, why mess with it? Just tighten the neck down to hold the bullet and you're good to go.

Another thing I do is when I seat the bullet, I rotate the case 180* and reseat it. I feel that gives me a much more concentric round.

Skein

[Weatherby]

How much for your tumbler and with size and kind is it? My Midway 2094 just blew up.

[Beeatease]

Neck sizing is recommended for magnums especially, the cases weaken with the stretching back and forth when shot and then full length sized ...over and over and over and.......

[Boatdog]

Skein,

Are you using full length dies adjusted for neck sizing only, or the dies that only perform neck sizing?

Any tips for neck sizing only with full length dies? To me, It just doesn't seem possible with full length dies to properly size the neck only...

I use corn cob media in a vibrating bowl, and even when new it stuck in the flash holes.

[skein]

Gundog,

No, I use dedicated neck-sizing dies, not full-length dies backed out. Yeah, the dies cost extra, but after lovingly prepping those cases (ugh) I want them to last as long as possible. Plus, as one of my favorite gun-writers said years and years ago, "Only accurate guns are interesting."

I do everything I can to keep 'em interesting. :grin:

Skein

[Hunt'nFish]

Boatdog,
Partial sizing w/ FL dies is a common practice...use a once fired case, smoke the neck, back the FL die off and slowly adj it down until it just kisses the smoke on the shoulder. DONE. Lock it down and your sizing the dia of the case but not the length. This is a common method for custom handloads for semi-auto's. Load will shoot "almost" as good as true neck sizing. Almost.
Hunt'nFish

[Quaka Wacka]

Does tumbling them clean the inside of the case as well? And would hitting all the cases with a blast from the air compressor clean out the flash hole sufficiently?