thread on tumbling live ammo

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ljnowell

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does anyone have a link to the thread here on THR about tumbling ammo where the tests were done and shot over a chrono? I think Walkalong and maybe bds were part of it. I searched and searched and cant find it.
 
You know, the thing I never understood about tumbling finished rounds was why a person just didn't tumble them before loading??
 
You know, the thing I never understood about tumbling finished rounds was why a person just didn't tumble them before loading?
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My thoughts as well - I do not want the jeweler's rouge I have in my media coloring my ammo red and leaving a thin coating of that to get into every little nook and cranny of my gun
 
You do tumble before loading. You just tumble again to remove the lube from the case.
 
You know, the thing I never understood about tumbling finished rounds was why a person just didn't tumble them before loading??
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If I'm loading in one step on a progressive, the finished product come out the other end with lube all over it.

Sometimes I just want to clean the finger prints off to make it look better.

If ammo is being put up for extended storage, I like to tumble w/ car polish to keep the brass from tarnishing.

FWIW, Until that thread was pointed out to me, I thought it was un-safe to tumble loaded ammo.
 
I tumble live rounds to get the lube off them, and to give them a final shine. Rifle rounds have case lube on them, and pistol rounds just have finger oils and light tarnish. The NuFinish in my corncob media also puts a thin protective film on them to keep them shiny. I like shiny ammo - sue me. It all gets boxed up, put into ammo cans and goes into storage. Some of it might get shot up someday, but most of it may be stored for years.

I recently traded a gallon ziploc full of 9mm brass for a BUNCH of old ammo of various kinds, some are really old and obscure - stuff for my collection and display. Anyway, that stuff had the old age funk and stink going on, so I tumbled all that in walnut and corncob as well. Got most of it shined up quite well. No intentions of firing the majority of it, but some is common modern stuff.
 
I understand now. I use a single stage press and tumble again after sizing. I can see the need in a progressive press to tumble after the load is completed.
 
I understand now. I use a single stage press and tumble again after sizing. I can see the need in a progressive press to tumble after the load is completed.
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Has nothing to do with "progressive presses", strictly a matter of personal preference. I use a turret press, and frequently use that in single stage mode anyway. I finish tumble all my finished rounds, whether they're .380 acp's or .30-06, or anything in between. I want them clean and shiny, so do many other guys, and many others couldn't care less if they're shiny. Personal preference. But getting the case lube off one way or another IS important, especially with rifle rounds. Lube not only attracts dirt, but it will prevent the case from gripping the chamber properly when fired.
 
I always do a final tumble after resizing, and then I proceed to loading them. And if finger prints are a concern, wear gloves while loading and boxing and your rounds will remain nice and shinny.

GS
 
I always do a final tumble after resizing, and then I proceed to loading them. And if finger prints are a concern, wear gloves while loading and boxing and your rounds will remain nice and shinny.
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Running through the tumbler for 20 minutes is much more convenient than wearing gloves the entire time you reload and box ammo.
 
You know, the thing I never understood about tumbling finished rounds was why a person just didn't tumble them before loading??
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Hopefully I can clear it up for you. I am one of those people. I do tumble all of my brass before it gets sized. My rifle cases get lubed before they are sized. After sizing and case prep they get loaded on a progressive. After they are loaded they get tumbled to remove the lube. It just works out easier for me doing it that way instead of tumbling again after sizing. For me pistol ammo only gets tumbled once before sizing and that's it. You will find a lot of people that tumble rifle ammo after loading for that reason.
 
There are a lot of factors here.

How much powder agitation happens in a cartridge with a compressed load?
how much space is actually in your cartridge for the powder to move in?

It is a fact that cartridge manufacturers tumble their loaded cartridges before packing.

Powder manufacturers also tumble their powder.

There is an "expert" on another forum who claims to have done a six month test with a large amount of ammunition.
Once a week for six months he retrieved a number of rounds from the tumbler.

He broke down a few and observed the powder and amount of powder dust in the case.
He fired the other few rounds over a chronograph and saved the group information too.

After six months with no significant change in performance he stopped the test.

When I asked for documentation of this test so I could present it to my reloading class students, he balked about providing any actual documentation.

However, Geoff is a religious man and I believe him.

So, are you just now getting around to tumbling dirty brass after it is loaded?

Why not tumble the empty brass until it is clean then load it?
Then a short tumble in clean corncob to clean off the lube and you are done.

That is the way I've been doing it for years.

I started reloading in 1962 and still have both eyes and all of my fingers.

My 2 cents.

YRMV

Steve
 
wont hurt a thing to tumble em, Every couple of months I tumble my limited(~45) cartridge collection to keep em nice and pretty for display over the bench. Heck, I just threw a couple hundred loaded 357 rounds in the tumbler. If im paying $18 a box in components for bulky magnum powder and XTP's, you bet your arse im gonna make em nice n pretty :) . for my $2/box cast lead ammo I dont bother. I usually tumble em before for a bit, sometimes I dont even tumble them at all! Good for removing lube from rifle casings... Other than that I guess its like having a nice new expensive car. you are going to keep it nice and pretty while your beater truck developes body rust.
 
All commercial ammo manufacturers tumble live rounds. "Smaller" manufacturers tumble them in cement mixers. (preferably the ones with the poly tubs) ;)
 
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