HELP ! Flash hole plugged with media - Drives me bananas!

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MinnMooney

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After I lube and size my rifle brass, I sometimes toss them back into the tumbler with walnut media (as recommended) to clean off the lube. (If I only have 100 or so then I rub the lube off with paper towels or a rag.)

My problem is that 40% of the flash holes have a piece of walnut shell lodged in place. Some come out easily but others have heard the occasional French word. It's time consuming and all of the time saved is wasted by prying these rock-hard flakes out of the holes.

What is the solution? Or isn't there one other than the tried-and-true paper towel method?

P.S. I've tried the boiling water routine & it's easy & foolproof - but it makes my brass blackened and ugly!
 
I tried a variety of different procedures, and I settled on one that prevents the problem you described by priming first -

  • Clean brass in vibratory cleaner w/ spent primers in place
  • Lube using a lube pad and nylon brush
  • Resize/decap/reprime on the press
  • Wipe off excess lube with paper towel
  • Check for headspace and length, toss into "trim" or "don't trim" bins
  • Trim and chamfer the brass in the "trim" bin
  • Resume reloading with prepped brass

I found I spent more time trying to use the vibratory cleaner to remove lube than it was worth, and decided to do it as I was handling each case. This keeps lube out of the cartridge headspace gauge, too.
 
I generally use the vibratory cleaner before resizing the brass. After resizing/depriming, I clean the primer pocket with a Lee primer pocket tool, inspect the flashhole and check for splits or other ugly situations, then wipe down the outside of the case with a cloth. I feel that I'm handling each case for inspection anyway, and a quick twist with a cloth does a pretty good job of removing the sizing lube without much effort.
 
and a quick twist with a cloth does a pretty good job of removing the sizing lube without much effort.
Click to expand...

This new spray lube (pump that sprays out a mist) that I'm using is more wax-like by the time that I'm finished sizing and I have to really twist and turn and clamp down extra hard on the rag to get it off. After trying that on ten casings, I gave up.


a quick blast of air from my compressor
Click to expand...

This I might try tomorrow morning. I have another 1200 casings :what: coming out of the tumblers in the AM.
 
As mentioned many times here in regarding tumbling brass. Graingers Industrial Supply sells corn cob media in grit size 20/40. Pours like sand, WILL NOT plug or get stuck in flash holes or primer pockets, and polishes just great. Available in 40 lb. bags for around $25.00 with no shipping if you pick it up.

There is an outfit doing free drop shipping on the above item for less money but can't remember what the name is. Drill something, do a search.

Just found it---drillspot.com

There you go
 
Quoted from Coop923
I generally use the vibratory cleaner before resizing the brass. After resizing/depriming, I clean the primer pocket with a Lee primer pocket tool, inspect the flashhole and check for splits or other ugly situations, then wipe down the outside of the case with a cloth. I feel that I'm handling each case for inspection anyway, and a quick twist with a cloth does a pretty good job of removing the sizing lube without much effort.
Click to expand...
I use a tumbler but I do it the same way as Coop. I really don't want dirty cases going thru my dies. Plus I have to inspect them anyway, so that's as good a time as any. And the media doesn't do much cleaning in the primer pockets even if the primers are out.
 
In regards to pistol brass I generally resize before tumbling. All of my pistol dies are carbide, carbide is nect to diamond in hardness, so there is no problem with damaging the dies if they are not spotless.

Unless of course you have diamond dust on your brass cases, then its a different ballgame.
 
I never clean the lube off. Maybe I'm not putting as much on mine to start with but I don't even get my fingers greasy from them. I only want enough to let it cycle through my dies easy.

As far as the media getting stuck I normally deprimering after tumbling but if I do the best way I have found to remove it is to put them in my 7 year old's hands & give him a piece of wire.
 
I'm with you on this MM. I tumble in walnut before sizing and other case preparation steps and then I tumble again.

However for the second tumble clean I use fine corn cob (as suggested by others here). I'm pretty OC so I have a second machine dedicated to this with clean corn cob with a trace of polymer car polish. I find the polish cleans and protects the cases from tarnish.

Sometimes still get a bit of cob stuck in the flash hole. For bulk practice stuff I no longer worry about that. I have run chrono and accuracy tests with cases with and without a bit of cob in the flash hole and can't detect the difference.

Because of my OC'ness, for high value ammunition I still remove the corn cob if stuck just because it makes me feel better not because I think it makes a difference.

Actually for really important stuff I use an ultrasonic cleaner in the process before the second tumble.
 
Pick up a brass cleaning jag for .17 calibers. I rigged up a base that holds it next to my trimmer. It fits in the flash hole and knocks that stuff right out!
 
Grainger 20/40

Grainger 14/20


Drillspot 20/40


Drillspot has no shipping charge from them. Grainger will ship free to one of their stores if you are close, but if you don't have a Grainger, Drillspot is the way to go.

I think longdayjake is the one who hooked us up with media at Drillspot.
 
I also toss my resized brass into the tumbler for a bit and have the same problem. The solution for me is this: I use a Lee turret press (four hole) to reload, and in the first hole, instead of the resizing die, I put in a universal decapper die. That will "decap" corn and walnut fairly easily and not slow you down much.
 
As far as the media getting stuck I normally deprimering after tumbling but if I do the best way I have found to remove it is to put them in my 7 year old's hands & give him a piece of wire.
Click to expand...

Nothing better than a good "shop rat"! :)
 
+1 on the smaller sized media this has made me almost forget those french words I used so often in the past.:neener: Lots of good solutions but the best is not to get in the predicament in the first place and the small media is a time saver and seems to polish faster IMO. :D
 
Another vote for the Granger corn cob media. I use it both for initial polishing and removing lube. It's so fine that it will not plug the flash hole.

Historian

"A gerneral dissolution of princples and manners will more surely undo the liberties of America than the whole force of a common enemy."

Samuel Adams
 
To get the walnut out of the flash holes, put the brass back in the tumbler and tumble without any media.

For removing lube on large amounts of brass, I use a rotary tumbler and hot soapy water.
For small amounts of brass, I just use a rag to wipe them clean.

Everybody has their own technique I guess.
 
My problem is that 40% of the flash holes have a piece of walnut shell lodged in place.
Click to expand...

I had the same problem. Now I tumble them after they are loaded to clean the lube off and don't have that problem any more.
 
The method I use is easy. Tumble, lube, load, tumble to remove the lube.
 
I used to have that problem when I used the bigger 14/40 corn cob media. As walkalong said I recently found drillspot for 20/40 corn cob media. Grainger wants to charge quite a bit for shipping but drillspot ships for free from Grainger. It works great and doesn't get stuck in the flash holes at all. The one downside with it that I have noticed is that there is a lot of dust that comes with it. Especially when you go to use your media separator.
 
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