Brass Shavings

[lpsharp88]

Recently started wet tumbling and really like it. But I’ve began to get some brass shavings when loading. The cases don’t seem to be sticking, so I’m curious what the cause would be. Any ideas?

 

[edwardware]

. . . I’ve began to get some brass shavings when loading.

In your cereal? In your powder? When priming? Seems relevant. . .

I'll take a wag and say it's either when seating bullets, or when crimping. Once we know when, then we'll be some help with why.

 

[lpsharp88]

Good question. I didn’t notice it while loading too much, just after when I wasn’t as focused on powder charge. It’s at all stations, but mainly seating and crimping

 

[Megawatt maker]

Ive seen that on my Dillion also. If the brass you are using has a tight primer pocket..the press is shaving it out when you set your primers. Ever so slight bit.

How does the handle feel when you push it forward to seat the primers?

 

[lpsharp88]

The primers seat just fine the majority of the time. There’s a few that take a bit more force but nothing I noted as being odd or excessive

Ive seen that on my Dillion also. If the brass you are using has a tight primer pocket..the press is shaving it out when you set your primers. Ever so slight bit.

How does the handle feel when you push it forward to seat the primers?

 

[Blue68f100]

Wet tumbling will normally have some fine brass shavings in with the dirty water. If your not rinsing the brass well enough you will get them where ever the brass ends up. It comes from the pins burnishing the sharp edges on the brass. If you dump the cleaned brass directly on a flat clean surface you may see some. All my rifle brass is annealed after cleaning, then trimmed (weather it needs it or not). By the time it makes it to the press all of the small pieces of brass has been removed. May want to take your brass to a separator and give it a spin/shake to see if any brass shavings are currently present.

 

[lpsharp88]

that’s the thing, I haven’t used pins at all when I wet tumble. Just the brass, citric acid, and soap

Wet tumbling will normally have some fine brass shavings in with the dirty water. If your not rinsing the brass well enough you will get them where ever the brass ends up. It comes from the pins burnishing the sharp edges on the brass. If you dump the cleaned brass directly on a flat clean surface you may see some. All my rifle brass is annealed after cleaning, then trimmed (weather it needs it or not). By the time it makes it to the press all of the small pieces of brass has been removed. May want to take your brass to a separator and give it a spin/shake to see if any brass shavings are currently present.

 

[Laphroaig]

If you tumble long enough in a rotary tumbler the chamfer on the case mouth gets beat up and flattened and shaves off some of the bullet while it is being seated. Try giving your cases a quick chamfer before you load.

 

[Bosn Ski]

I set my crimping die to tight once and had shavings all over the shell plate.

 

[mdi]

I think I would closely inspect the cleaned brass before any reloading. If you see any shavings, then the problem occurs during tumbling. If you get shaving during reloading, it's the machine. Find out when the shaving starts and try to see where, as in what part of the case is shaving. This info will help you diagnose the when and where the problem starts and a fix. Caliber? Press/dies? Tumbling media/additives?

 

[PWC]

If the brass you are using has a tight primer pocket..the press is shaving it out when you set your primers

Wouldn't the shavings then go down into the pocket? These appear to be coming from the outside of the case.....

 

[Ruger 15151]

I wet tumble everything with steel pins and love it. However, even if you are not using steel pins, you will noting a little "peening" around the case mouth. This is caused by the cases banging together while tumbling. However, I see this mostly on riffle case mouths.

My guess is that this "peening" might be creating a burr that is scraping the bullet as you are seating it, especially if you don't flair the case mouth enough.

My suggestion would be to chamfer the case mouth of a few of these cases and see if the copper shavings disappear. If so, then you can just flair the case mouth a bit more and the problem should go away.

I'm don't sure what dies you are using but I would suggest looking into purchasing a Lyman Type-M expanding die. These dies have a stepped expander plug that creates a larger opening for your bullet to seat without have to over-flair the case mouth. This style of expander plug is alos include in Redding and Dillon die sets.

Also, do you seat and crimp in the same step? If so, your die may be set incorrectly causing it to start crimping before the bullet is full seated. This will also cause shavings.

How this info helps.

 

[Englishmn]

The extra clean wet tumbled brass tends to gall even in carbide dies. I will lightly spray some one shot lube on the clean brass and makes it much easier to size. You can also use a car wash and wax product when tumbling.

 

[mdi]

As Englishmn mentions, brass can be too clean. Clean nekkid brass will gall, grab dies. So, some sort of "lube" is needed like an auto wax additive to the liquid....

 

[Ruger 15151]

I tumble mine is corncob wiht a few capfulls of Nu-finish auto wax. it not only keeps them from oxidizing quickly but also aids in resizing and bullets seating.

 

[edwardware]

It’s at all stations, but mainly seating and crimping

Your picture makes it pretty obvious.

One of your dies is scraping, almost certainly your flaring or crimping die. This is common, as the profiles are lathe turned, and a bit rough.

Start with the flaring die, pull the stem, and look at the bit that works the case mouth. Smooth with 400grit, and the stem in a drill, as necessary; you don't want a mirror, but you don't want sawteeth either.

Examine your crimp die in the same manner. Polishing is harder as it's an ID, but you get the idea. Don't change the shape, just smooth the sawteeth if you find any.

You will never eliminate the shaving, but you can reduce it a lot.

 

[lpsharp88]

Thanks for all the replies. I do add wash and wax when cleaning and the loading process goes very smooth. I may try some lube like One Shot and also look at the dies. I’ve already polished the powder funnel/expander on the powder die but I’ll give it another look, and I’ll look at the crimp and seat dies as well. I use a Dillon set for 9mm and 45