[Snowboy]

Just to have an idea of how many of us are or aren't doing it

Just saw Brian Eno's DVD on reloading and he says he's doing it but I've read so many posts saying it's dangerous

[GP100man]

factorys do it .

GP100man

[Ian Sean]

I do it all the time.

[Mags]

Where's the option for "only on accident" that's the only time I have done it.

[loadedround]

This thread comes up periodically and many replies will be posted, so here's mine. Yes I tumble loaded rounds all the time in 223 and 308 to remove the sizing lube. I have been doing this for over 20 years now since I decided that wiping off each individual round was a royal PIA. No problem yet after tumbling thousands of rounds. However YMMV! :)

[hokeyplyr48]

Is nobody worried about any of the rounds going off?

[1SOW]

With straight case pistol cartridges, I'm more worried about bullet setback.


I tried 9mm once and never saw a cartridge while they were in the tumbler. With the higher weight density, cartridges collide much harder than just the cases. They appeared to stay bunched together instead of travelling through the media.

May not be a problem at all, but I have no need to test it.

[1858rem]

does a vibratory tumbler count? i recently put a batch of 9mm LRN in for a half hour to help remove the sticky lee alox on the bullet nose.

[Walkalong]

Lead bullets in tumblers really cruds up media fast.

Tumbling properly loaded live ammo is not a problem. I would not recommend forgetting about it and tumbling for two days though. ;)

[Geezer59]

I routinely vibra-tumble my reloaded ammo, both lead bullet pistol ammo and jacketed rifle ammo. It cleans the sizing lube off the bottle-neck cases, and the excess bullet lube off the cast pistol loads.

Use a dryer sheet in the media, and even lead bullets don't seem to dirty the media much. Works for me, your mileage may vary. :cool:

[.38 Special]

I used to be in the crowd that thought it was dangerous. Enough of these threads over the years have convinced me that it is not.

But I still don't see the point. All I'm going to do with reloaded ammo is shoot it. What do I care what it looks like beforehand?

[Brent2172]

Hi Guys,

I never tumble loaded ammo - I read somewhere ( don't know where ) but it was a few years back, that powder manufacturers apply various coatings over the powder granules to change ( slow ) burn rates and that tumbling live ammo can wear the coating off and result in altered burn rates and possibly higher than expected pressures when fired.

After I reload I spend time wiping each round over and having a final check that it looks okay.

Brent2172

[Otto]

Yes but only for rimfire.

[R.W.Dale]

no

but only because I have no need to

[bullseye308]

I tumble everything except my hollow points. I hate picking media out of the hole. :rolleyes:

[ambidextrous1]

The first time I tried it I set the (vibratory) tumbler in the middle of the back yard and connected it via an extension cord. Everything ent smoothly. It appears that the primers aren't even dented in the process.

As for effects on the powder, how about that box of ammo in the glove compartment of your car? How much vibration does it experience in a year???
:uhoh:

[jmorris]

I post load tumble and my grandfather did so for years, except I do it in a tumbler and he did it behind the seat of his truck.

[doorman]

I usually put the freshly loaded rounds in the tumbler and let it run while I clean up and put things away. This usually lasts from 15 min to 30 min depending on what was loaded and how much.

The rounds come out looking like they just came from the factory.

RU

[PO2Hammer]

According to my Sierra manual, vibratory cleaning can erode the deterrent coating on the powder grains, increasing pressure. They make no mention of detonation in the tumbler.

I don't because the rewards are slight, and the risks are high.

[rcmodel]

1. It is not dangerous if kept to 30-60 minutes or so.

2. It makes a holy mess on lead bullets with exposed bullet lube.

3. It is not recommended for Hollow Points because they pack full of media.

4. The factories all do it.

5. It is not dangerous if kept to 30-60 minutes or so.


BTW: Consider all the millionss of rounds that rode from Normandy to Berlin, and Kuwait to Baghdad and back in Jeeps, Trucks, Humvee & Tanks.

You can bet it got vibrated far worse for days, weeks, and months I betcha!

rc

[taliv]

i do it on blasting ammo, not on my match ammo

and only for about 5 min. that's all it takes to remove the case lube. why would i tumble longer than i have to?

[Steve in PA]

After reloading my .223 ammo, I tumble for 30 minutes or so to totally clean off all the case lube. Ammo comes out looking like brand new factory ammo. No ballistic problems or issues.

[Deavis]

that powder manufacturers apply various coatings over the powder granules to change ( slow ) burn rates and that tumbling live ammo can wear the coating off and result in altered burn rates and possibly higher than expected pressures when fired. "

You probably read that in a Sierra manual. They offer no proof of their claim anymore than Richard Lee offers proof that a round in a tumbler can aquire enough force to actually set off the primer of another round. Those coatings are applied by using tumbling techinques in the powder factory and you aren't tumbling it for days on end. If you want to remove the lube it works great.

[RSVP2RIP]

I always wondered about it/never tried it, but knew that if a detonation happened in the tumbler it wouldn't be a big deal (no barrel and all). I knew the big companies did it because of all the cob media I shook out of some Federal HP's. Walnut or cob media? Seems walnut would not get stuck in larger hollow points. Think I might start doing it as most of the stuff I load is crimped anyways.

[FROGO207]

I never used to do it but now it is a BIG time saving factor for removing case lube from finished ammo. Never need more than 10-15 minutes to do the job with walnut media. No dif in finished ammo opperation but I still polish the brass before loading so that the finishing time will be shortened.

[jmorris]

that a round in a tumbler can aquire enough force to actually set off the primer of another round.

I'll never shoot a 30-30 again.....

[ArchAngelCD]

My brass is very clean before I reload it so I see no reason to tumble it after I reload. As for lube on rifle brass after resizing, I wash it off and dry the brass before I reload it. (Imperial Sizing Wax)

[tomh1426]

I just got some cast .38's that are very sticky with lube, I think I might tumble them after I load them to get the extra lube off.
Never had a want or a reason to tumble live ammo till now!

[atvalaska]

yup! just a few min's ..get's rid of the finger prints and stuff'... wipe'em off with a clean rag...man they look good ..till i send them down range.....

[The Bushmaster]

Yup atvalaska. Ain't that sumton'? We make them shinny just to dirty them up again and again...:D

[Uncle Chan]

Always. Removes case lube in minutes. Wouldn't do it any other way.

[bobotech]

Sure I do. I have never known there to be an issue. Sure I have read all the "issues" that could arise but home studies done by various people on various boards have proven that the powders do not disintegrate at all even after tumbled for a week.

So I don't worry about it.

Heck, I tumbled about 10 rounds of 460 S&W about 14 hours by accident once and shot them and they felt exactly the same asw the other non-tumbled ammo.

[illinois brass man]

all the time.

[tactikel]

NEVER!!:what: I tumble fired cases before sizing/depriming. I'm scared to death of "setting one off".

[SASS#23149]

How do you set off a fired case ?

[Shoney]

I visited a commercial reloader who used a plastic scoop shovel to transfere the loaded cases into a cement mixer filled with shreded paper.

[Plain Old Bill]

I would keep tumbling to non-surplus ammo. The cordite or stick powder, if aged sufficiently, can break down a bit. This would seem to risk the effect of increasing the surface area of the combustible- kind of like tinder instead of thicker sticks or logs, if you're into comparisons.
Sorry, I'm a real safety nut. :o
It's really a stretch to say one could pop one off in a tumbler- the REAL problem is shooting the surplus off in your pistol or rifle and the burn rate of your powder has been increased dramatically. Possible boom.

[fatelk]

A friend of mine once told me he put a little paint thinner in the tumbling media and tumbled his cast bullet reloads overnight to remove any sticky lube.

I figured for sure that there would be misfires from ruined primers, but he said he never once had a problem.

[bobotech]

NEVER!! I tumble fired cases before sizing/depriming. I'm scared to death of "setting one off".

I keep seeing this: "setting one off". How in the world wide of sports are you going to "set one off" by tumbling a live primer?

Try this. Put a bunch of live ammo into a tumbler and then turn it on. Now stick your fingers in the tumbling media and ammo and feel all the ammo rolling around between your fingers and just think just how little force there is between the rounds bumping into each other.

Now take your finger and put it in front of the hammer of your gun. Cock the hammer (unloaded of course) and then pull the trigger.

Now compare the difference in the feeling of the rounds slightly bumping each other around and the stronger sensation of the hammer falling onto your thumb. Much different, eh? :)

There is no way a round is going to go off in your tumbler just from slightly bumping other rounds from a vibration.

[RSVP2RIP]

+1 bobotech

I never set one off in a tube magazine. Even if it did pop off there would be no compression of gasses and the bullet would not even be propelled out of the bowl if the lid were on. I'd be more worried about fracturing the powder grains or shaking off the coatings on the powder, but I've never seen any storage warnings on ammunition that specifically warns against vibration.

[David Wile]

Hey Bobo,

Good suggestion for those who think a vibratory cleaner may produce anywhere near the kind or energy produced by a firing pin spring. Like many others, I have been been cleaning loaded cartridges in my vibratory cleaner since I first got one. That has also been a lot longer than I have ever had a personal computer or even heard of a gun forum.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile