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Discovered my wet tumbled brass for 9mm has the powder funnel/expander "sticking" and the bullet seating more difficult vr. dry vibrated brass from corn cob media. I figured out the dry corn cob is leaving a dust film on the brass that acts as a lube. The wet tumbled is squeaky clean so it sticks. Each stroke of the handle I have to "pop" it upward (not hard just a bit) to unstick the expander and down stroke is firmer as the bullet is seated.

Anyone using a little case lube even on pistol brass to help with the processing consistency?

Set up: Progressive Dillon 1050 running 9mm. Not automated yet. I have seen with the AmmoBots they say to lube all cases. Thinking that might be what I am missing with it even just hand operated.
 
Discovered my wet tumbled brass for 9mm has the powder funnel/expander "sticking" and the bullet seating more difficult vr. dry vibrated brass from corn cob media. I figured out the dry corn cob is leaving a dust film on the brass that acts as a lube. The wet tumbled is squeaky clean so it sticks. Each stroke of the handle I have to "pop" it upward (not hard just a bit) to unstick the expander and down stroke is firmer as the bullet is seated.

Anyone using a little case lube even on pistol brass to help with the processing consistency?

Set up: Progressive Dillon 1050 running 9mm. Not automated yet. I have seen with the AmmoBots they say to lube all cases. Thinking that might be what I am missing with it even just hand operated.
Try a couple coats of flitz (or a similar polish) on the expander and the sizing dye. It helps for awhile. Or run them in the vibratory for 30 minutes or so with some polish.
 
When wet tumbling use Armorall car soap.

Problem will disappear assuming you don't wash them in warm water or put them in the oven to dry. The thin carnuba wax film left will resolve the sticky mess.
 
I experienced the same problem, and do what Dyjital says. After wet tumbling and rinsing, I rinse them in some wash & wax, then dry them with a blow dryer. It leaves a dry, hard, imperceptible layer on the brass that really helps. No, the micron-thin wax won't affect the powder or primer. It's basically in the pores of the metal, so thin you can't even tell it's there.

This issue has been raised before, and the solution discussed before, so I know there are those who will adamantly reject it because they're worried that the "wax" will somehow contaminate the round. That's fine. I'm just saying what has worked for me, and worked very well.
 
My wet recipe is:

Frankford arsenal tumbler load:
Water
citric acid (9mm case full)
Amorall "Orange" Car wash w/wax
dash of dish soap

The result is brilliant, it's taken just adjusting in the amount of citric acid to match the pH of my local water. Its the first cleanings from months ago with too much acid that left a few batches of brass dark and dull looking. They have been on the shelf for as I have not needed to load 9mm until now. I cleaned out my dry vibratory cleaner, put fresh corncob media in it and added some Dillon case polish. I polished up the dull brass and that is where I discovered it loading easier with no sticking. Since then I have been rerunning all the wet cleaned 9mm back through the dry process to "dust" them up. This process is also adding wax to it.

CLT65 and Dyigital good suggestion to do a finishing rinse with the wash-n-wax. I can move the freash water rinsed brass to a clean bucket and rinse it again with the wash-n-wax. Cool, I have about 40lbs of brass to start processing (been waiting for warmer weather) and will use this with this next round.
 
That works great too: a quick tumble in a regular tumbler with some brass polish. I used Nu-Finish in walnut media for years, until I got my stainless tumbler.
 
My wet recipe is:

Frankford arsenal tumbler load:
Water
citric acid (9mm case full)
Amorall "Orange" Car wash w/wax
dash of dish soap - Not needed

CLT65 and Dyigital good suggestion to do a finishing rinse with the wash-n-wax. I can move the freash water rinsed brass to a clean bucket and rinse it again with the wash-n-wax. Cool, I have about 40lbs of brass to start processing (been waiting for warmer weather) and will use this with this next round.

You are on the right track just remember that dish soap will and can cut that wax off you just applied.

I found out the warm water also killed it and well... a hot oven does too.

I dry my brass over night in a food dehydrator brass dryer by Frankford Arsenal at a low temp to ensure I retain the coating.

Let us know how the next batch turns out. (You can also just cut the soap from the tumble and use the Armorall only)
 
Weird.

I've been using nothing but dawn dish soap and a cap full of lemishine for ages now.

I would say my cases are essentially spotless and void of any residue.

Never have I had anything stick in a die.
 
You are on the right track just remember that dish soap will and can cut that wax off you just applied.

I found out the warm water also killed it and well... a hot oven does too.

I dry my brass over night in a food dehydrator brass dryer by Frankford Arsenal at a low temp to ensure I retain the coating.

Let us know how the next batch turns out. (You can also just cut the soap from the tumble and use the Armorall only)

I have been using the recipe from the owner of AammoBrass in FL. I bought 10k rounds of their wholesale Lake City 5.56 to trim in 300blk. The stuff is just brilliant. So bought their "torn stainless media" and been using their recipe with solid results. I will omit the dish soap next batch to test.
 
I use carbide dies for my handgun loading (of course), and clean with a dry tumbler, walnut media with an occasional capful of mineral spirits and NuFinish. Does a great job (especially when I forget it's running in my shop and I'm stuck in the house), but I was concerned over the debate of lube or no lube, even with carbide. Most sources I found said you should run an occasional lubed case through, just because I guess o_O.

Anyway, I've settled on a technique that seems to work for me. After cleaning, I just spread the brass out in a sheet pan and give it a very light spray of Hornady One Shot case lube. Let it dry, and away I go. I'd noticed that even with carbide dies, the resistance would increase noticeably as the session wore on, and I'd start getting tiny scratches on my brass. This would ease up again after popping the die out (Hornady LnL) and giving the carbide ring a quick swipe with a lubed Q-tip, but I needed to do that every 10 rounds or so. Using the "new" method, I just resized around 500 .45 ACP's, everything ran smooth as silk, and no breaks in the action. Added bonus, it's such a light coat that I'm not concerned with needing a post-resizing clean like I do after running rifle brass. This might be especially helpful for those of you using wet tumblers and ending up with squeaky clean brass. Hope it helps, later.

Dave
 
I still dry tumble my brass with two Thumblers, they handle large capacities. I use corncob media, Jasmine rice & whatever auto wax I happen to not use on the truck...:D
20180130_212526.jpg
 
I wet tumbled clean some range pickups today. Cleaned 157 pieces of 8mm Mauser and 181 pieces of 30-06. I had both wet tumblers going today. The Frankford arsenal and the Thumlers. Still can't get over the awesome results I get with wet tumbling. Listing these for trade in the reloading classifieds for stuff I can use.

The dirty 30-06.
A-IMG-0982.jpg

The clean 30-06.
A-IMG-0986.jpg

The clean 8mm Mauser.
A-IMG-0984.jpg

The end results.
A-IMG-0988-2.jpg
 
I wet tumbled clean some range pickups today. Cleaned 157 pieces of 8mm Mauser and 181 pieces of 30-06. I had both wet tumblers going today. The Frankford arsenal and the Thumlers. Still can't get over the awesome results I get with wet tumbling. Listing these for trade in the reloading classifieds for stuff I can use.

The dirty 30-06.
View attachment 571354

The clean 30-06.
View attachment 571355

The clean 8mm Mauser.
View attachment 571356

The end results.
View attachment 571357
Nice! Ya wet is crazy good.

Ooofh I cant imagine cranking of 181 rounds of -06 at the range in one day. Someone was motivated.
 

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