brentwal
Member
Bling Bling
are your handloads "bling bling" or does dull do it for ya?
- Thread starter FlyinBryan
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FlyinBryan
Member
ya, i will let it run for a few hours.
its not like its twice as hard for me to run it for two, or even three hours instead of one, lol. kidding.
just because it has to perform does not mean it cant look good too, right?
i guess to me its kinda like sweeping and powerwashing my driveway. it dont make it easier to park, i just like it pretty, lol.
cliffy
member
Pretty Equates to Clean
Tumbling brass is a given regarding clean brass. I tumble at least three hours. I used to spin brass in 0000 steel wool, but this practice put many tiny pieces of steel into my fingers. Spinning in steel wool creates the shiniest brass possible, but my fingers resented this practice. Tried wearing rubber gloves, but this made my hands sweat uncomfortably. Tumbling is very practical for whatever hours, with no physical pain involved. cliffy
Tumbling brass is a given regarding clean brass. I tumble at least three hours. I used to spin brass in 0000 steel wool, but this practice put many tiny pieces of steel into my fingers. Spinning in steel wool creates the shiniest brass possible, but my fingers resented this practice. Tried wearing rubber gloves, but this made my hands sweat uncomfortably. Tumbling is very practical for whatever hours, with no physical pain involved. cliffy
rockinrussky
Member
I've been reloading for more than a year and haven't tumbled a single case 
Are the cases shiny? Hell no they look like sh*t, but then again they shoot perfectly fine. Personally, I reload to get good performance and save money, not win any beauty contests. I've recently 'retired' a whole slew of 308 win brass that has been shot/reloaded about a dozen times. This brass was becoming ridiculously dirty. By this point, though, the brass was already banged up enough by my FAL that I decided they weren't any good for safety and structural integrity reasons.
My point of this ramble? If looks aren't important then chances are you can probably get away without tumbling them during their lifespan. Reloading takes up a fair amount of time and money as it is. Just my perspective. Yours, of course, may differ.
Are the cases shiny? Hell no they look like sh*t, but then again they shoot perfectly fine. Personally, I reload to get good performance and save money, not win any beauty contests. I've recently 'retired' a whole slew of 308 win brass that has been shot/reloaded about a dozen times. This brass was becoming ridiculously dirty. By this point, though, the brass was already banged up enough by my FAL that I decided they weren't any good for safety and structural integrity reasons. My point of this ramble? If looks aren't important then chances are you can probably get away without tumbling them during their lifespan. Reloading takes up a fair amount of time and money as it is. Just my perspective. Yours, of course, may differ.
Griz44
Member
I put a timer on my tub. I load it up and go to bed. When I get up, I have a pot full of pretty brass waiting for me! Clean is good. Clean is better for your dies and your eyes!.
40intheknee
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- Aug 21, 2008
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- 10
3 hours in walnut shells, 3 hours in fine corncob with 8 ounces of nu-finish, 3 hours in clean corncob. comes out looking newer than new 
Crazy4nitro
Member
Jeez Slackers..No Pics Yet..
Fine I'll Bust out one that was thrown together for a quick shot...I have got a ton of comments and 2 people that I know of are using it for a Background on their computer.
678 rounds I built for Wifee's G27. She likes the Pretty Bullets.
165gr FMJ,Nickel Cases,CCI Primers,and 5.0gr WSF to Burn. (My G23 and a few WSP primers mixed in there somewhere)
I shoot Lead Bullets,she dont like the smoke. *shrugg* She don't shoot very often so I accommodate her wishes.
'Nitro
Fine I'll Bust out one that was thrown together for a quick shot...I have got a ton of comments and 2 people that I know of are using it for a Background on their computer.
678 rounds I built for Wifee's G27. She likes the Pretty Bullets.
165gr FMJ,Nickel Cases,CCI Primers,and 5.0gr WSF to Burn. (My G23 and a few WSP primers mixed in there somewhere)
I shoot Lead Bullets,she dont like the smoke. *shrugg* She don't shoot very often so I accommodate her wishes.
'Nitro
40intheknee
Member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2008
- Messages
- 10
i also tend to reload ALOT of nickle it just looks so nice in a 1911
DWARREN123
Member
Mine look as good as factory but I think they work better and I know they are cleaner when fired.
kmtirish
Member
shiney shiney shiney i love it i tublem in walnut for 2 hours+ and the after for 30 min in corn
snuffy
Member
Hmm, pics you say?
Why not have clean, shiny cases? Those who say my ammo LOOKS used are saying they don't want to bother with tumbling. Fine, they'd rather be loading and shooting, more power to them! BUT they can't prove it to me that their "dirty" brass ISN'T hurting their rifle/handgun chamber. Or that unseen debris inside the case doesn't do anything to the barrel.
Those cases in the pics were tumbled in corn cob with flitz tumbler polish added, about 3 hours. I have since switched to FA tumbler polish additive, it's much cheaper and does the same job.
After listening to numerous posts here and on other boards, I bought some zilla walnut media from petsmart. What crap! Even after 6 hours, the brass was dull and still looked dirty/dusty. I dumped it, put it in corn with FA polish, bling was back!
Picking up brass fired in my 40 at a ipsc match, someone remarked, "geeze you always shoot new brass"! Nope, it's just tumbled bright often fired reloads. Okay, how do I get mine to look like that?
Why not have clean, shiny cases? Those who say my ammo LOOKS used are saying they don't want to bother with tumbling. Fine, they'd rather be loading and shooting, more power to them!
BUT they can't prove it to me that their "dirty" brass ISN'T hurting their rifle/handgun chamber. Or that unseen debris inside the case doesn't do anything to the barrel.Those cases in the pics were tumbled in corn cob with flitz tumbler polish added, about 3 hours. I have since switched to FA tumbler polish additive, it's much cheaper and does the same job.
After listening to numerous posts here and on other boards, I bought some zilla walnut media from petsmart. What crap!
Even after 6 hours, the brass was dull and still looked dirty/dusty. I dumped it, put it in corn with FA polish, bling was back!Picking up brass fired in my 40 at a ipsc match, someone remarked, "geeze you always shoot new brass"! Nope, it's just tumbled bright often fired reloads. Okay, how do I get mine to look like that?
Crazy4nitro
Member
I Tumbled all 678 of those rounds in that pic of mine above. But thats ME
YMMV
'Nitro
YMMV
'Nitro
Looks good snuffy.
I use the FA polish as well and it works great. Corncob from Grainger is what I am using. I tried some walnut, but corncob does a better job. I throw in about 10% walnut, but just to use it up.
Grainger corncob
Some loaded rounds
More reloads
I use the FA polish as well and it works great. Corncob from Grainger is what I am using. I tried some walnut, but corncob does a better job. I throw in about 10% walnut, but just to use it up.
Grainger corncob
Some loaded rounds
More reloads
elChupacabra!
member
- Joined
- May 29, 2008
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- 562
Well, I'm in the "Only one bling" camp.
I tumble all my brass for about 3 hours before loading in plain old Lyman corncob media with a capful of Brasso. I know I know about the Brasso - but I don't see any ill effects, so I use it. When this bottle is empty (as it will be soon), I'll probably go to some other sort of car wax that I read about here.
Anyways, I tumble for 3 hours really more to get range dirt and such off than anything else - it's part of my routine when I return from the range to tumble my brass while I clean my guns and unpack my gear. I then either batch it back up, if rifle ammo, or dump it in the appropriate "once / twice / thrice fired clean mixed" bin if pistol ammo.
After I load it, I give it another 30 minutes, this time dry (no Brasso). This is mainly to get any lube off, although it has the added benefit of taking most fingerprints off the bullets themselves.
I do take pride in my ammo, and I do like boxing it up knowing its very clean and the bullets are nice and shiny. But beyond functioning properly and not damaging my firearm's chamber / barrel or my dies, I don't really care how shiny it is. I'm definitely not going to spend all day passing my brass through 4 different rounds of tumbling in various medias / concoctions / etc. I already spend about 2-10 hours a week reloading, which is enough for me without fussing over the brass more than I do.
I tumble all my brass for about 3 hours before loading in plain old Lyman corncob media with a capful of Brasso. I know I know about the Brasso - but I don't see any ill effects, so I use it. When this bottle is empty (as it will be soon), I'll probably go to some other sort of car wax that I read about here.
Anyways, I tumble for 3 hours really more to get range dirt and such off than anything else - it's part of my routine when I return from the range to tumble my brass while I clean my guns and unpack my gear. I then either batch it back up, if rifle ammo, or dump it in the appropriate "once / twice / thrice fired clean mixed" bin if pistol ammo.
After I load it, I give it another 30 minutes, this time dry (no Brasso). This is mainly to get any lube off, although it has the added benefit of taking most fingerprints off the bullets themselves.
I do take pride in my ammo, and I do like boxing it up knowing its very clean and the bullets are nice and shiny. But beyond functioning properly and not damaging my firearm's chamber / barrel or my dies, I don't really care how shiny it is. I'm definitely not going to spend all day passing my brass through 4 different rounds of tumbling in various medias / concoctions / etc. I already spend about 2-10 hours a week reloading, which is enough for me without fussing over the brass more than I do.
Snapping Twig
Member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2007
- Messages
- 655
Clean brass treats carbides dies better.
I tumble 1 ~ 2 hours in I-don't-know-what-it-is media with a bit of Dillon Brass shine while I clean my guns and when I reload, all the range dirt is gone and the brass looks new.
My rounds look like factory, if factory used high quality cast bullets and there's a bit of alox on them from time to time.
I used to not have a tumbler and my brass got disgusting. I was actually embarrassed by it. No longer.
Quality is #1, but just like when you service something, cleaning the outside before delivery goes a long way to making the job better.
I tumble 1 ~ 2 hours in I-don't-know-what-it-is media with a bit of Dillon Brass shine while I clean my guns and when I reload, all the range dirt is gone and the brass looks new.
My rounds look like factory, if factory used high quality cast bullets and there's a bit of alox on them from time to time.
I used to not have a tumbler and my brass got disgusting. I was actually embarrassed by it. No longer.
Quality is #1, but just like when you service something, cleaning the outside before delivery goes a long way to making the job better.
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