How do YOU prep your rifle cases?

[erslll]

I always tumble my cases before removing the primers. It saves having to take a dental pick and knocking the pieces of walnut shell out of the flash hole.

I found some walnut media on Amazon that is ground pretty fine. Not a problem for me anymore. Maybe once in 100 cases.

Amazon.com : Zilla Reptile Terrarium Bedding Substrate Desert Blend Walnut, 10-Qt. : Pet Habitat Decor : Pet Supplies

 

[RVTECH]

Pre clean, lube, size, trim and chamfer.
Then into the tumbler for wet SS pin tumbling
Bottom line is I want all my cases prepped and free of lube prior to reloading.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Pre clean, lube, size, trim and chamfer.
Then into the tumbler for wet SS pin tumbling
Bottom line is I want all my cases prepped and free of lube prior to reloading.

You left out dinner and a movie.

 

[RVTECH]

You left out dinner and a movie.

Ha! I manage to squeeze it in between the steps!

 

[Mygrainman]

**Fun Tip**
Put a couple used dryer sheets in your tumbler with your walnut. It attracts the soot and dirt... your cases get cleaner, and your media last longer.

-this fun tip was brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Mygrainman

 

[RVTECH]

Put a couple used dryer sheets in your tumbler with your walnut. It attracts the soot and dirt... your cases get cleaner, and your media last longer.

Not needed with wet tumbling with SS pins.

 

[Mygrainman]

Not needed with wet tumbling with SS pins.

 

[ageingstudent]

Pre clean, lube, size, trim and chamfer.
Then into the tumbler for wet SS pin tumbling
Bottom line is I want all my cases prepped and free of lube prior to reloading.

No matter how clean and shiny the cases get don't forget that all that nasty in the water represents what would be in your dry media and on your cases migrating to your fingers, bench top, clothes, and etc. I'm not against using my dry vibratory tumbler to polish clean cases, but all fired cases get a wet tumble first to capture the hazardous byproducts of shooting. I'm not a fanatical health nut paranoid about lead exposure; to me wet tumbling is just a reasonable precaution to keep stuff from getting airborne and worth the small extra effort. My presses and fingers stay much cleaner so it must be working.

 

[DizzyJ]

Throw a couple capfuls of mineral spirits in your tumbling media to "wet" it.

The brass comes out clean and no dust!

 

[bsa1917hunter]

I'd show you if my photobucket was working....

 

[Caveman Jim]

**Fun Tip**
Put a couple used dryer sheets in your tumbler with your walnut. It attracts the soot and dirt... your cases get cleaner, and your media last longer.

-this fun tip was brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Mygrainman

Does that too work with corncob media? I bet it does but we don't use dryer sheets. Maybe I can talk to the neighbors cause I can tell when they do laundry, smells like outdoor Fabreez.....

 

[Mygrainman]

Does that too work with corncob media? I bet it does but we don't use dryer sheets. Maybe I can talk to the neighbors cause I can tell when they do laundry, smells like outdoor Fabreez.....

Ya it works with any dry media.. I put 2 or 3 in depending on how dirty... and they last 2 cycles or so. we have a teenage daughter so there is no shortage around here.

 

[tac]

I always tumble my cases before removing the primers.

Me, too. Life really IS too short.

tac

 

[Mygrainman]

I actually tumble twice... first for a few hours as soon as I get back from shooting (I just throw it all in there and sort calibers later)... then I tumble again after sizing for about an hour. I'm not a fan of lube speckled cases. I use a dental pick or a tactical paper clip to get the stuck pieces out of the flash holes. it's actually an importaint step, because it's a good opportunity to double check the flash holes, rims etc... and clean or cull as necessary.

 

[Tully Mars]

I never used to worry about cleaning the primer pockets on my everyday ammo. If I happened to notice one that was really dirty I'd use the RCBS primer brush but not often. 99% of my brass is mil stuff. Toss in the tumbler over night. In the morning before work I would dump that load into the media separator before work. Continue that cycle until all brass was cleaned. Meanwhile separate brass lay out on cookie sheets and lube. Resize deprime and into the primer pocket swager. Wipe down cases, trim and reload.

Nowadays if cases are right from the depot I presoak until I'm ready to clean. Usually over night but sometimes only a couple of hours. Dump cases into the cement mixer I've converted into a wet tumbler add cleaner, pins and let er rip. Once rinsed and dry they sorted by calibre then run through a decapping die, swaged and then tumbled in corn cob. A trip through the power trimmer and they are ready to load. All of my every day ammo is loaded on dillon progressives.

Match ammo/hunting ammo and .50 BMG is loaded by single stage press. Brass is weighed, primer pockets/flash holes are trued, cases are hand trimmed/deburred. Powder is hand trickled, each bullet is checked for true weight and matched up accordingly.