After reading that some here have used tumbling to quickly remove case lube and put a final polish on their rounds, I decided to run a batch in the tumbler for 5 minutes, and ended up with rounds covered in a film of media dust. I ended up having to wipe all of them off with cloth. So, for those that use this technique, did I do something wrong?
Removing lube with a tumbler
- Thread starter Telperion
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Archie
Member
(Setting timer for first warning about never tumbing loaded ammo...)
You're probably using 'processed' crushed walnut shells, right? The 'processing' adds something to the shells, like jeweler's rouge or the like to shine up the brass. Also, after using walnut shells, the shells start grinding themselves up and leaving that powder.
Drop a half a paper towel in the vibrator next time. The dust gets sucked up by the paper towel and doesn't deposit on your cases. Some folks use a laundry dryer sheet, but I'm cheap.
If you want to be fancy, use ground corn cob for the final polish. It leaves a minor residue, but it doesn't show much and it's harmless.
Oh, the 'don't tumble loaded ammo warning' is the theory tumbling ammo will possibly alter the grain size of the powder, by shaking it and grinding it down; this in turn will alter the burn rate and you could have a dangerous overload.
Don't tumble it long. For that matter, there's no data to substantiate any changes in powder burn rate by tumbling.
You're probably using 'processed' crushed walnut shells, right? The 'processing' adds something to the shells, like jeweler's rouge or the like to shine up the brass. Also, after using walnut shells, the shells start grinding themselves up and leaving that powder.
Drop a half a paper towel in the vibrator next time. The dust gets sucked up by the paper towel and doesn't deposit on your cases. Some folks use a laundry dryer sheet, but I'm cheap.
If you want to be fancy, use ground corn cob for the final polish. It leaves a minor residue, but it doesn't show much and it's harmless.
Oh, the 'don't tumble loaded ammo warning' is the theory tumbling ammo will possibly alter the grain size of the powder, by shaking it and grinding it down; this in turn will alter the burn rate and you could have a dangerous overload.
Don't tumble it long. For that matter, there's no data to substantiate any changes in powder burn rate by tumbling.
byf43
Member
I use OLD media for the final 'cut the lube' and polish the brass media.
Crushed jeweler's rouge (red) is really good, too.
Crushed jeweler's rouge (red) is really good, too.
Rollis R. Karvellis
Member
I will let the rounds go for about an hour, or so 5 minutus is just to short of time.
Peter M. Eick
Member
I found that with a bit of testing, less then 15 minutes will get RCBS lube off loaded rounds from my Pro2000. I use lubes for the 30 carbine, 357 Max and 308 winchester and have never had a round go off in many years of doing so.
Archie,
It looks like we made it 12 hours without the "warning".......
Archie,
It looks like we made it 12 hours without the "warning".......
NavyLCDR
member
+1 for the dryer sheet! I cut one up into 1/4's and then add two 1/4 dryer sheets to each batch. You can use the same two 1/4's for 2 loads (at least I do). And I think 5 minutes is too short.
My routine is to tumble cases first for 2-3 hours. Then lube and resize. Tumble again for .5 to 2 hours with the dryer sheets to remove lube and polish. Then prime, charge and load. I don't mess with the loaded rounds now, but when I first got my tumbler, I polished my 2,000+ loaded rounds (.223, 9mm and .45ACP) in the tumbler with no problems at all.
The only stage you need the cases lubed for is resizing.
My routine is to tumble cases first for 2-3 hours. Then lube and resize. Tumble again for .5 to 2 hours with the dryer sheets to remove lube and polish. Then prime, charge and load. I don't mess with the loaded rounds now, but when I first got my tumbler, I polished my 2,000+ loaded rounds (.223, 9mm and .45ACP) in the tumbler with no problems at all.
The only stage you need the cases lubed for is resizing.
I put just a little bit of mineral spirits is the media when cleaning tumble-lubed cast bullets.
As to sizing lube, I use RCBS Case-Lube 2. It is water soluble and rinses off easily. I size a bunch at a time, rinse them in the kitchen sink, let them dry a day or so, tumble, inspect, then load. It's time consuming but works good for me.
As to sizing lube, I use RCBS Case-Lube 2. It is water soluble and rinses off easily. I size a bunch at a time, rinse them in the kitchen sink, let them dry a day or so, tumble, inspect, then load. It's time consuming but works good for me.
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