Is it necessary?

[Wenatchee Kid]

Tumbling brass, that is. I've been tumbling brass for years and recently started buying "once-fired" brass, and wonder if tumbling is really necessary?

Your thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[rdinatal]

Depends how clean they are. You don't want junk messing up your dies.

Oh, shiny...

 

[Frack N Cylons]

Oh, shinny..

Sums it up for me. Must be shinny

 

[GoWolfpack]

Nope. Don't care unless it's so gross it gums up the resizing die.

 

[11B CIB]

I like to shine it up so I can spot cracks easier on suppressor dirty brass. Also…I don’t want to put that filthy stuff back into a rifle

 

[Dale Gribble]

Tumbling brass, that is. I've been tumbling brass for years and recently started buying "once-fired" brass, and wonder if tumbling is really necessary?

Your thoughts?

Thanks!

I tumble mine.

I don’t have a annealer…do it manually and when the brass is clean, it makes it so much easier to see the color change in the casing.

 

[Toprudder]

All that is necessary is for the brass to be clean (no dirt or abrasives) so that it doesn't scratch the dies. Anything more than that is a matter of preference.

Me, I like it shiny - partly because it makes case inspection easier, and seeing how much powder is in the case, but mostly because I just like it shiny.

 

[rodell]

For my hunting or precision rounds, tumble, anneal, and admire. For handgun rounds, just tumble and admire.

Since I switched to wet tumbling my rounds have higher velocity, lower variance, kill better/faster and are definitely more accurate. I'm sure of it.

 

[Toprudder]

For my hunting or precision rounds, tumble, anneal, and admire. For handgun rounds, just tumble and admire.

Since I switched to wet tumbling my rounds have higher velocity, lower variance, kill better/faster and are definitely more accurate. I'm sure of it.

I did not see the sarcasm flag flying, but I could sure hear it flapping in the wind. 😆

 

[reloader762]

I buy a lot of once fired brass, mostly pistol, but I buy some rifle on occasion as well. I always buy the unprocessed brass, it's dirty to one degree or another, but it's cheaper and clean it myself before sizing and trimming if necessary. I like my brass clean and shiny, that's just how I've always done it.

 

[Charlie]

I loaded for decades without a tumbler. I wiped off the cases with a towel. It worked fine for me. I prefer a tumbler. I have mine running as I write this.

 

[Gator]

My dad, who best I can tell last reloaded in 1964, didn't own a tumbler. But he was a hunter, only shot at the range to verify zero. So he reloaded at most 20 rounds at a time.

He used a plastic bristle brush that was made to clean the standpipe that supported the basket in a percolator to clean the case necks. Then just wiped down the outside.

.

 

[Downeast]

I dry tumble mine about every 3rd firing or so. Just to get the residue off. If it shines up fine, if not, that's fine too. I cut up some dryer sheets and add to the media. It seems to help keep the media clean (?) and my brass smells nice too.

 

[Clicker]

In most situations I'm happy with running cases through the ultra sonic with a basic detergent mix.

 

[GymB]

I think grit removal is important to prevent damage to dies and chambers, but I like mine shiney. Processed 15 gal of 9mm, 10 gal of 45acp and 5 gal of 357mag brass last weekend…that’d be a lot of wiping.

 

[Get Off My Lawn]

I like them shiny, much easier to find the brass in the grass.

 

[NCLivingBrit]

I dry tumble mine about every 3rd firing or so. Just to get the residue off. If it shines up fine, if not, that's fine too. I cut up some dryer sheets and add to the media. It seems to help keep the media clean (?) and my brass smells nice too.