Tumbling

I remove mine before. It's an individual choice. De-priming before tumbling requires some manner of checking for flash hole bockage before priming. Sizing with a de-priming pin in place can serve that purpose.

I tumble first - the cob does nothing to clean the primer pocket anyway and with the primer out it greatly increases getting media lodged in the pocket or flash hole.

Tumble in corn first, then decap, then tumble in walnut, inspect, resize then decide whether to reload or put back in stock for later.

If I wet tumble I remove first, so the primers don’t corrode inthe pocket.

For dry tumble I remove after, so pieces of media don’t clog the pocket or flash hole.

For pistol brass. I tumble in dry media once, and off to the Dillon for reloading. Now and then toss one, but other than that I do nothing to pistol brass. Rifle is different.

When I tumbled with dry media i would not bother as the primer pockets would not get cleaned anyway. Now that I wet tumble with SS pins I do remove them first so the pockets get cleaned long with the inside of the brass.

For me, tumbling is more about getting the resizing lube off the case than it is about cleaning, so I tumble after resizing.

And that's only when I'm loading a large batch of .223 match ammunition. Everything else I load in small batches, and for that I just clean by hand. Takes a little longer...the way I like it.

Primer comes out first, no matter what tumbling method, LEE Universal decapper.
Wet tumble, is becoming usual first tumble,
next processing steps: debulge, size, bell/expand . . .
Then dry tumble in walnut to remove lube, if any.
Don't have any corncob media.
Then prime, powder, bullet, crimp (if any).

I dry tumble and decap afterwards, to ensure no media is left in the flash hole. I never have seen a need to clean the primer pockets.

I do what i call a pre-clean tumble with the primers in. I use old media for it. I have to deal with coal dirt. I do a inspection of each case. Cull out the bad. After that then i de-cap. And do a final tumble in clean media with some polish and mineral spirits.

I always pop the primers first . I know the primers pockets won't get very clean , I do it to keep the extra primer filth out of my media .

Tumble, size/deprime, remove spent primer, tumble again...................

I always tumble first. I don’t want dirty brass running through my dies.
I recently bought a universal depriming die. Things may change a little.

AR. Hillbilly said:

I recently bought a universal depriving die. Things may change a little.

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Yeah I saw that on the CPoA site. Didn’t know if was for reloading,,,

If the cases are really dirty with dirt and other grit on them, I'll tumble them before sizing. Got to get that garbage off the cases before it wrecks the sizing die. I generally deprime the cases first but not always. I still clean them again after sizing.

If the cases have not groveled in the dirt for a period of time, I resize the cases then tumble them to clean them.

As FROGO207 said, if dry tumbling, I do not expect the primer pockets to get clean. Wet tumbling with pins usually clean the primer pockets if that is what floats your boat.

For rifle on single stage:
First tumble to clean brass.
Close inspection of brass.
Resize, deprime.
Primer pocket clean.
Trim if needed.
Champher inside/outside case mouth.
Second tumble to remove sizing lube, and polish/coat with NuFinish to protect brass from long term oxidation.

For Pistol on progressive press:
Tumble once.
Load.

But I like pretty ammo.

GeoDudeFlorida said:

Yeah I saw that on the CPoA site. Didn’t know if was for reloading,,,

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Yes that sounds more like it would keep me from reloading. I think I’ll sell it.

alanwk said:

Do you remove the spent primer before or after tumbling in corn media?

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Pistol, I tumble without doing anything else and then run it through my 750 to load it.

Rifle, I tumble, lube, size/deprime, trim, swage, tumble, load. I use a universal decapper in station 1 to make sure nothing is in the flash hole before I load.

I deprime first to keep the spent primer residue out of the media and use a deburring tool in the flash hole.

Trick question. I wet tumble before putting any cases through my dies and tumble in corn media after the rounds are fully loaded.

I tumble (in walnut...) after I separate everything, then size/decap. Occasionally, I'll retumble brass if it's sat a while. I don't prep handgun primer pockets, but I've never had a problem with media in the flashhole.

Rifle brass I typically tumble after separation, then, again, after sizing to get the case lube off. Again, I don't typically prep primer pockets.

I deprime before tumbling, whether its wet or dry tumbling. I try to keep any dirt out of my dies.

DANGER!! WARNING!!

A tumbling thread!

Yes, no, maybe. I have been reloading for a while and have found no need for wet tumbling to get my primer pockets pristine. I don't clean primer pockets anymore as I have found most are "self cleaning" and have not had any problems from "dirty" primer pockets in about 40 years of reloading. Most of my tumbling is done with corn cob blast media 14-20, and I only tumble 2 calibers to a shine; my 45 ACP and my 30-06 Garand so I can find them in the dirt at the "range". Some folks don't want any primer residue on their press so they tumble or first use a dedicated decapping tool. I just clean tumble and process my brass as I have a habit of keeping my equipment clean (no primer dust lingering on my Co-Ax)...