Dealing with cases stuck inside other cases.

Put the stuck cases in a vibe tumbler, no media, and run it.
The cases will be vibrated much more violent without media and should separate themselves.
Worth a try, no time involved, costs nothing...
jmo,

I try not to mix brass that can fit inside other pieces...in the past when this happened they went into my trash brass bucket, that, when full went to the scrap metal dealer

If you have a hammer type bullet puller use this to pop them apart. Use an ear plug in the bottom to protect the brass. If you want to clean them all at once uzing dry media put the biggest ones in, tumble a couple minutes to fill them with media then add the next size. Then wait a couple and add the next smaller size etc.

I learned from THR members here to introduce the larger cases first, let them run a bit, then put in the smaller cases.

If you dump them in all together they seem to nest a whole lot easier... and are a lot more difficult to separate. Since I load .32 up through .45 Colt I had some doozies until I was shown that trick.

I used the bullet puller trick on the tough ones.

Stay safe.

Well, obviously the first step you've already taken...set them aside.

I know components may be scarce now, but so long as you have a working amount of cases to support your reloading, they can simply spend their time in another box/can for the time being. If it turns out that it's a relatively insignificant number overall, and they're too much of a pain to separate, scrap 'em.

I'd try a penetrant (or lube of your choice, preferably one you can easily clean later) and @FROGO207's idea with the hammer type bullet puller.

FROGO207 said:

If you have a hammer type bullet puller use this to pop them apart. Use an ear plug in the bottom to protect the brass. If you want to clean them all at once uzing dry media put the biggest ones in, tumble a couple minutes to fill them with media then add the next size. Then wait a couple and add the next smaller size etc.

Click to expand...

This is a great idea. I can't believe I haven't thought of this before.
thanks

Being cheap and lazy strikes again!

If the cases fit inside, I’ve always found them nested no matter the tumbling method. SS pins can also get stuck so it becomes a Chinese finger trap. You just learn which cases get stuck and don’t do it or suffer the consequences. .40’s and 9s are notorious, and when dealing with thousands of them inevitably you’ll have a 40 in the 9mm process. Separate before tumbling I say. Good luck.

I call that brass having sex.
Brass sex is no good for reloading. I do like the the dry tumbler fix.
With all the shortage issues this will keep you busy till you can find primers.

FROGO207 said:

If you have a hammer type bullet puller use this to pop them apart. Use an ear plug in the bottom to protect the brass. If you want to clean them all at once uzing dry media put the biggest ones in, tumble a couple minutes to fill them with media then add the next size. Then wait a couple and add the next smaller size etc.

Click to expand...

I've used this method with success when I've accidently put a small caliber case in with the larger caliber.

My wife made jewelry made out of brass cases for awhile. So that means all sorts of range brass got tossed in the tumbler. 22LR cases get stuck inside well everything quite often. I kept a pair of needle nose pliers with the tips wrapped in electrical tape to pull brass apart. When I got tired of doing that enough I just tumbled cases by similar size. 22LR got their own load, 9mm/38, Rifles etc.

Maybe you could have some fun!

You could pop primers in the .357 brass, then load them up and see how far the .32 brass goes downrange when you fire!

I just wet tumbled some 38, 357, 9mm, & 223 yesterday. A 9 will stick on a 233 case neck pretty darn well, just so you know. Some of us know better and still do it, don’t feel bad.