Question about tumbling brass?

[taylor]

This morning I tumbled for the first time. It came out sparkling clean and there were no problems except one; all the .38 and .357 cases ended up inside the .45 Colt cases, when I pulled them out along came about a teaspoon of dirty media.
Is the only solution to run 2 batches? or is there some simple answer I'm missing?

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[k7grc]

I don't mix calibers for this reason, and I need to sort at some point.

 

[Abunai]

I hate when that happens, so I sort the brass first, store it by caliber, and then tumble as needed. Of course, since I often shoot a variety of guns at the range, sorting can be a pain, so I use sorting baskets that I got from Midway.

 

[zdogk9]

Mixing brass does not work, you just have to sort it before tumbling. It is way, way easier than trying to sort it after tumbling, as you've found out.

 

[AMProducts]

Heh, yea don't mix brass at any point. I hate dealing with mixed brass. it's probably my biggest annoyance when dealing with range pickup brass.

There are a few ways to deal with this, there are a few companies out there that make sieves for separating the obvious calibers (.45 colt and .38/.357) would work really well, but it won't seperate .38, .357mag. But those won't cause as many issues when reloading as long as you catch them before the belling stage.

 

[giddyupgo55]

I'll take the other side here. Like the rest have said somewhere along the way you will have to sort. I have no problems mixing small amounts of different calibers as long as they cannot get inside each other, then sort after I'm done. There are times when I don't have enough of any caliber to do by itself so I'll mix them together. This is just me though.

 

[deadshot2]

I like to hand inspect all my brass, especially pistol which once the reloading process starts I won't touch again until it becomes a finished round. This allows me to separate all the different sized. My main gripe is 9mm cases getting stuck inside 40 S&W cases. They get real tight sometimes and unlike the .38 inside the .45, there's nothing to grip while separating.

I do mix rifle cases in one batch if I don't have enough of each to run separately. The don't get stuck inside each other.

 

[Browning55]

Good consensus that mixing brass is not the best way to go - or at least brass where smaller cases end up inside larger ones. That's the best way to go.

 

[bmgm37]

I use Lyman brass baggies. That way you can do small batches of mixed brass without the problems of them getting mixed up.

Lyman Turbo Tumbler Brass Baggies Package of 12 - MidwayUSA

 

[Mark W.]

I use Lyman brass baggies. That way you can do small batches of mixed brass without the problems of them getting mixed up.

Lyman Turbo Tumbler Brass Baggies Package of 12 - MidwayUSA

I bet onion bags from the grociery would be cheaper.

 

[deadshot2]

I bet onion bags from the grociery would be cheaper.

Maybe if one got some from the 50's. Todays are too flimsy. I just bought some onions at the grocery a couple of weeks ago. The mesh was too large and the fabric too light.

 

[driftin]

The brass bags work well and they last for a long time. I bet the onion bag would work to. Sometimes when the brass nests together only part if the case gets cleaned so I always sort them first - bag as necessary.