Loaded ammo in Vibratory tumbler??

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I wonder if it is safe to run a batch of corroded loaded ammo in a vibratory tumbler to clean it up.

Mind you, I'm talking 10 or 20 rounds at a time. Not overloaded.

From my observations of cases in the tumbler, they move very gently in the media so I don't see there is any chance of sufficient impact to fire a round due to round to round impact.

Comments?

Ralph
 
Yes, this has been discussed many times. I, for one, am willing to "tumble" live ammo to remove sizing lube after reloading. Some will say you can break down the powder ans are sure to destroy your gun. Read the threads and make up your own mind about the risk/benefit decision.

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I wonder if it is safe to run a batch of corroded loaded ammo in a vibratory tumbler to clean it up.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't shoot corroded cases no matter how clean the tumbler got them. If it's green I would pull the bullet for later use and toss the case. If it's just tarnished I'd shoot it as is. Corrosion on the bullet can be removed with a twist of 0000 steel wool. It's not like you can ruin the precision of a corroded bullet, right?
 
Chuck Warner said:
....I almost lost a hand to tumbled ammo. I would recommend not doing it.
Click to expand...

Please elaborate or post a link if you have discussed this before. We can all learn for the experience of others. Thanks!
 
.....

.....I bought some 10mm ammo from a vendor at a gun show. Ragged factory boxes, very clean ammo. First round fired blew the grips off my Delta, magazine on the ground etc., took a while to get the feeling back in my right hand and both wrists were sore. I have blown cases before with 9mm major in the 80,s and one .38 super in the 90's. Upon contacting the vendor, found out he had tumbled the ammo to clean it up for sale. This was factory ammo and the only thing we could surmise was that the powder broke down due to tumbling too long.
soooo...My opinion is that if your gonna advise someone its okay to tumble ammo....Have the empirical data to back it up.
I dont profess to be any kind of expert on powders, but I do know about reloading a little bit. I suspect different powders act differently when broken down. I just dont think tumbling is very wise or safe.

How long does it take to break down pistol powders?
how does this affect the burn rate?
what do the ammo manufacturers say about this?

These are all questions I would want on paper before I did it.

Just my .02 cents worth.

Still have the gun and ammo and will eventually spend sometime researching those questions.

Chuck W
 
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I have said before that if vibration was enough to break down powders then transport from coast to coast by common carrier would ruin most ammo simply by distribution let alone what the individual does to it later.
I guess more study is needed but I sure haven't seen any difference or change in my loads if I run them for 20 min of so after loading.
CW I have been around the gun show circuit enough to know that guys selling ammo often get that stuff on trades or through estates and who knows what.
The vendors liability would have increased as well as possible charges for commercial manufacture if he had said anything else when you contacted him. Just a thought.
 
Loaded ammo in Vibratory tumbler

Factory ammo doesn't ship in ragged boxes. Hard telling how old the ammo was or how it had been stored or handled. Although its true the tumbling might have affected the ammo, so to does the storare and handling of old ammo.
 
I have done it. My first thought was is a round going to go off. The more thought I put into it, I thought loose powder and shaking are the flakes or ball powders going to break down into a finer granular and change, pressure, accuracy or whatever. Easy test for it, but I never tested it to see if it did. 38's would pack powder loosely, a 9mm would not. Anyone tested this yet?
 
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.....I bought some 10mm ammo from a vendor at a gun show. Ragged factory boxes, very clean ammo. First round fired blew the grips off my Delta, magazine on the ground etc., took a while to get the feeling back in my right hand and both wrists were sore. I have blown cases before with 9mm major in the 80,s and one .38 super in the 90's. Upon contacting the vendor, found out he had tumbled the ammo to clean it up for sale. This was factory ammo and the only thing we could surmise was that the powder broke down due to tumbling too long.
soooo...My opinion is that if your gonna advise someone its okay to tumble ammo....Have the empirical data to back it up.
I dont profess to be any kind of expert on powders, but I do know about reloading a little bit. I suspect different powders act differently when broken down. I just dont think tumbling is very wise or safe.

How long does it take to break down pistol powders?
how does this affect the burn rate?
what do the ammo manufacturers say about this?

These are all questions I would want on paper before I did it.

Just my .02 cents worth.

Still have the gun and ammo and will eventually spend sometime researching those questions.
Click to expand...

No matter what the vendor at the gun show said, I'd bet you got reloaded ammo.
Going to take the word of an unknown vendor at a gunshow after having a problem I'm going to trust what he says, not hardly.
Wonder how much degradation 9mm pistol gets by the time it gets to our servicemen in the middle east.
 
Yes, its safe!

Should be a Sticky!! If you dont like picking media out of your HPs, keep them out, but round nose ammo, let em tumble:)
 
I wonder if it is safe to run a batch of corroded loaded ammo in a vibratory tumbler to clean it up.
Click to expand...
How corroded? That may have more to do with it being safe then tumbling it!

Myself I don't tumble loaded ammo. Mainly because I can't be bothered setting up the tumbler when I can simply wipe them with a clean rag as I load them.
 
Media in the tip won't hurt a thing anymore than slightly damaged tips, but even though I have proved that to myself, I still don't like it. I tumble to remove lube after sizing, and before priming and loading, usually.

FMJ or HP gets tumbled after loading if it is going to be stored for some time. Handled with gloves after tumbling. I don't like to tumble soft points becuase the lead gets in the media, but have done it. A short time won't hurt anything, but it will dull the lead a bit.
 
I just got done tumbling 250 rounds of tarnished WWII .30 Carbine ammo in one load for a friend yesterday.

It won't hurt a thing, and it isn't dangerous.

Powder is basically a plastic compound, and it will not degrade in a tumbler.

As someone already noted, the factories tumble every round of new ammo after loading it.

And a Blackhawk or Humvee in Iraq vibrates ammo far worse in couple of weeks then my tumbler does in a couple of hours I betcha!

As for almost blowing your hand off?
I don't know what caused it, but it wasn't tumbling live ammo.

rc
 
I used to do it because I inherited a lot of tarnished ammo with load spec's I knew was reliable. I finally got to thinking that the powder might be reducing in size and I knew that the finer the faster. I couldn't find anyone who would put their name on anything that might have a liabiltiy behind it.
I decided it would be safer to use Lee case cleaner to clean top parts. and a piece of rubber hose on an arbor to polish base. It worked great with steel wool or Scotch Brite pads.
I had no problems with either method and can't speak with any other experience. Hope it helps
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shoney
All the ammo manufactures tumble their products before boxing them.

Not to be an A-- about this, but, you have seen this firsthand??
__________________
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No they use Smurfs and Kebler elves with rags and solvent to clean the loaded rounds.

Not to be an A____ :rolleyes:
 
billybob44 said:
Not to be an A-- about this, but, you have seen this firsthand??
Click to expand...
I haven't witnessed it first hand, but two different tech reps told me they did.

Notice how shiny factory ammo is? Military ammo isn't. Wonder why that is?
 
I've heard and seen the powder will break down. I forget where I saw it (may have been on this forum). One guy took some ammo and tumbled it for different amounts of time. The longer tumbled ammo did show some of the powder breaking down.

The powder breaking down will increase the burn rate, and could be substantially. I don't have any data on pressures or velocities or anything like that. It would make sense to me that some powders break down more than others.
 
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