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That's worse than pouring a cup of bleach on top of the wifeys' laundry load. Her clothes came out kinda camo looking!
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Got the press today.... need to get some proper fasteners but I'm finally doing something. Depriming and sizing .50 Beowulf. Makeshift lube pad too. Still lacking a few things.... but soon enough.
Guess two schools of thought as to when to clean..... before or after de priming. I'm going for the latter..... will have to borrow my dads cleaner/media tumbler. But I have enough to get started making rounds. Woohoo!
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Thank you for your experience.... always appreciated. Dad says the tumbler media will clean that pocket out too. But I'm just using whatever tools I have available to do a thorough job. I mean (slowly) 100 rnds go a long way for this cartridge.If you're going to tumble with walnut/corn media after decapping be sure to check the flash holes for media. I don't clean primer pockets on handgun rounds. I DO, however, tap the cases firmly on the bench, open end down, after priming and before charging to get carbon out that had broke loose from priming.
With handgun rounds I tumble W/walnut before decapping. I recently started doing shouldered rounds and I tumble a second time after sizing to remove trace lube. Checking for media is no problem for me. I'm slow and methodic with rifle rounds and another chance to handle/inspect brass is a good thing.
Great to hear..... I was looking at my empty casing and wondering if little black soot inside it gonna fail to fire or what. Guess all the reading I do or videos I watch and the way my father in-law talks about this like clock making or high explosive. Most literature on reloading is written like a Bible. I'm starting to see common sense works fine here after loading some dummy rounds for seat depth and crimp. Again some people talk refinement for every case. I'll get there when I'm sub MOAA quick twist around the inside of the primer pocket with a small pick or tiny screwdriver will remove most of the residue. I like shiny brass and clean primer pockets too, but I'm not sure just how necessary they are.
I was helping a friend get set up for reloading, and he kept asking about tumblers. I kept telling him that he can always find one later, after he gets a feel for what direction he want to go with reloading. He seemed to think it was absolutely essential equipment.
I pulled out a bag of range pick-up .40S&W brass that hadn't been cleaned or prepped at all. I washed it in the sink for a few minutes with dish soap and Lemishine, then dried it with a hair dryer. Normally I would just let them dry overnight on a towel, but we were in a hurry.
We then went through the steps and loaded them up. They looked perfectly fine. I use a tumbler, but unless your brass is especially dirty or tarnished, you don't really NEED one.
He seemed to think it was absolutely essential equipment.
LOL !WHAT??? "Not Essential"?? The vibratory tumbler was the FISRT thing I got after I bought the RCBS kit at BiMart.
Thank you for your experience.... always appreciated. Dad says the tumbler media will clean that pocket out too. But I'm just using whatever tools I have available to do a thorough job. I mean (slowly) 100 rnds go a long way for this cartridge.
Okay.... I sized and de primed my bigger and small quantities compared to what I just started (many more) .223
I see LEE suggests that you can THIN resizing lube with water..
what about a spray bottle for a great many cases? A lot for me for now. Or is it lube pad only?
It has been 6 years since I tumbled cases in media or ran cases in media with a vibrator. I feel that sonic cleaning of cases is the way to go. Using simple green and distilled water, I can sonic clean a large number of extremely dirty cases in 30 minutes. And I don't have to worry about media stuck in flash holes, primer pockets or media hung up inside the case by the flash hole.
Yes, I do gave to rinse the cases when I finish sonic cleaning. But rinsing is very simple job.
Lookin good! You just saved about $50 bucks.First 50 .38 Super off the press, Starline brass and Berry's 124 gr .356 projectiles... Not looking too shabby.
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