Tumbling Primed Brass?

[shibbershabber]

I got a bunch of mystery reloads and pulled the bullets, dumped the powder....

But the cases are looking rough, can I run a primed case through a walnut tumble?

Any ill effects on the primer being vibed for a few hours?

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[CLT65]

You'll likely end up with bits of media in some flash holes. Whether this matters or not I don't know.

I did it once, many years ago, then spent a while trying to tap all the media out of the flash holes. Some of them just wouldn't come out at all, so out of curiosity I loaded them up and shot them. They all shot fine. I expect that the media was easily blown out of the flash hole when fired, and incinerated in the the burning powder.

That said, I still wouldn't recommend it. Just because it worked OK for me doesn't mean it would for you. It just doesn't seem right.

 

[41mag]

Any ill effects on the primer being vibed for a few hours?

I've run a few over the years by mistake/accident/unintentionally. Never had any 'ill effects' other than a slight pucker.

 

[Grizzly_A]

Using larger/fresh media would be a consideration. What's already has been said is valid.
Primers "shouldn't" ignite by getting tumbled....heck riding around in a bulk sack in the back of my rig while driving around eastern oregon hunting roads for hours is more vibration than a tumbler.

It's one of those choose your own adventure deals. You get to decide for yourself what level of risk you want to incur. We don't see what you're seeing, so it's gonna be your call.

 

[BlindedByScience]

Wouldn't do it based on my experience and the reasons stated above. I'd be worried about getting media in the flash hole. As they say, one man's opinion....

 

[ar addict]

I have done it, no problems. If some of them don't go off for some reason, you already know how to pull bullets.
The primers have enough power to shoot a plastic bullet 20 ft and kill a stuffed animal.
That should be plenty of power to dislodge a tiny piece of walnut and set the powder off.
Only way to find out for yourself is to do it.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I have done this before with no ill effects. That said, punching those spendy primers nowadays could get to be an expensive endeavor...

 

[RVTECH]

Tumble the brass with media for whatever length of time you decide.

Dump brass, remove media and tumble without media to help dislodge any remaining in the flash holes but as others said no real issues with minute amounts of media in the flash holes.

 

[DLS]

A few years ago I found some never fired, primed .44 Mag brass in the bottom of a box containing odds-n-ends that had been stored in an outside shed. I dug back through my notes and realized these cases had been primed at least 15 years prior since they predated when I started keeping good notes but I did remember priming that batch of brass. It was more likely 20 years they had been floating around.

The cases were so corroded that I would never think to fire them. So, just to see what would happen, I dumped them into my corn cob containing case cleaner. After a good 5 or 6 hours (I forgot it was running the garage) I pulled the cases and they were still too corroded to use so I had my young boys come out to the back yard and we fired them off. All 50 when bang with authority. Being curious, I primed 5 cases with new primers and fired them off as a test. The spit of flame coming from the barrel and the noise were essentially the same, so it appears the primers were no worse for wear after 15+ years of storage in a damp climate and then hours of tumbling.

The only thing that would have made this a better story would have been if I had thought to grab some wax and make wax bullets for the boys to shoot instead of just making noise. I didn't think of this until they cases were almost totally fired as I really didn't think they would fire at all.

As far as media getting stuck in the flash hole I wouldn't care. It's on the "exit" side of the hole so will simply be pushed into the powder column and consumed. Considering all the different stuff we have put into cases over the years, such as Cream O' Wheat, poly powder, nitro cards, tufts of Dacron, etc. a small grain of organic corn or walnut will have absolutely no effect.

I hope this helps!

 

[Dozer99]

I have done this many times. Never a problem and so far not one has ever failed to fire. The small bits of media that are left are pushed forward when the primer ignites and don't seem to hinder ignition.

 

[thorborg]

No deleterious affects to be expected though I'd caution against using the ammo for CC just because.