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See, this is what I am struggling with as well... I am seriously considering a progressive press, but unless you are loading clean unfired brass, how do you treat the brass before reloading? Decap, then tumble, then resize and reload? Or Decap/resize on the press, then tumble, then reload? But you need to have reasonably clean cases before you run through the resizing die or risk scarring the die.... in either case it doesn't seem like the nice, smooth, loaded round with every pull of the handle in the videos.

Are we talking pistol or rifle brass?
And it seems that wet cleaning of brass is in the mix also.

Most pistol brass will split before needing primer pocket cleaning. I've never cleaned my pistol primer pockets and never had a slam fire before the case split.

If you wet clean and wanna clean your primer pocket. ... you have to live with the extra steps before priming etc etc.

My AR rounds are after sizing are put back in the vibratory with corn cob or walnut to clean off the sizing lube. And station 1 has a Lee universal decapping die to punch thru anything stuck in the primer hole and station 2 primes etc etc.

Good luck and have fun.
 
See, this is what I am struggling with as well... I am seriously considering a progressive press, but unless you are loading clean unfired brass, how do you treat the brass before reloading? Decap, then tumble, then resize and reload? Or Decap/resize on the press, then tumble, then reload? But you need to have reasonably clean cases before you run through the resizing die or risk scarring the die.... in either case it doesn't seem like the nice, smooth, loaded round with every pull of the handle in the videos.
I tumble all my brass for 2 hr in my Frankford arsenal wet tumbler with 5lb of pins in it.. dry the brass and they are so darn close to new brass on the inside and out the only thing dirty is the primer pocket. For rifle brass I take more time and use a Lee universal deprime and then tumble and load. Unless it's my Precision ammo.. then it gets more steps. But for pistol ammo.. tumble, dry, load. Almost all of my loading is done on my Dillon 550, here soon my precision 270 and 308 will also.
 
I am thinking primarily pistol brass, although I can see an occasional 7mm or 7.62x39 batch running through as well... So you wet tumble with pins with spent primers in place on pistol brass?
 
I am thinking primarily pistol brass, although I can see an occasional 7mm or 7.62x39 batch running through as well... So you wet tumble with pins with spent primers in place on pistol brass?
Absolutely.. they come out looking like brand new brass.

This pic is brass I wet tumbled and then dryer and loaded.

IMG_20161023_140053.jpg
 
It's not the crud in the primer pocket but the crud that drops out of the pocket when de-priming on a progressive press that eventually causes problems...

The problem(s) with most/any progressive press seems to be priming, and that can be traced to crud from 3 sources.
(1) Crud from de-priming
De-priming on a different press, before tumbling, will keep that crud off the progressive.
(2) Crud/Spilled powder from the shell plate snap at the end of every index.
Putting a lighter detent spring and a nylon index ball in any progressive will end/lessen that powder spillage(crud)...on any color press.
(3) Spilled powder because the powder drop stays open until the shell plate hits bottom.
Mostly because of using the chain on a Lee powder measure instead of a spring.
With the spring on the Lee Pro Disc or built into the Lee Auto Drum measure, closing before the expansion/flare punch leaves the case will stop that powder spillage.
jmo
:D
 
See, this is what I am struggling with as well... I am seriously considering a progressive press, but unless you are loading clean unfired brass, how do you treat the brass before reloading? Decap, then tumble, then resize and reload? Or Decap/resize on the press, then tumble, then reload? But you need to have reasonably clean cases before you run through the resizing die or risk scarring the die.... in either case it doesn't seem like the nice, smooth, loaded round with every pull of the handle in the videos.
All the cleaning is to make pretty cases. That's it.:D More than once I have just picked up the brass, slapped it back on the press and reloaded straight thru without a lick of cleaning. :eek: I am more likely to clean a batch of range brass of dubious pedigree that I picked up just to make it easier to look for imperfections. Stuff that I have used and am re-using, no.
Now as to scarring or scratching the die, I don't see that happening anytime soon. If it did somehow scratch/wear the carbide on the die, I would just buy a new one. How much is a new sizer? $20? If memory serves, at least one manual mentions sizer die scratching, and I know of one well known writer who mentions it, but I just_don't_care for what I do, especially pistol loading. If I was running hi-pressure rifle and trying to maximize case life .... maybe.
If running dirty brass thru the press you might be interested in this (or not): use the Hornady (or other) Case lube aerosol. Put the cases in a big box lid or such, and spray both sides. They'll go thru the press sizing stroke like greased little pigs, dirty or not.
 
Oh sure, you can usually salvage a die that got gunk in it by judicial use of 800 grit sand paper, but why not avoid it to begin with? After multiple times of sanding, you are bound to affect tolerances on the die...just saying. Pistol rounds, I don't get too finicky about, but going for long distance 600 plus yard rifle rounds, I spend a little more time seeking perfection.

For the record, I bought 250 decapped 38 special cases at a gun show awhile back.....I should have spent a bit more time scrutinizing the cases. About a third of them were deeply gouged in multiple places on the cases an unusable. Obviously the fellow I bought them from had a screwed up sizing die and sold the resulting mess :mad:
 

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