A word to the wise

[jhansman]

Tonight, while working up 10-rnd batches of .223, I thought may have seated a bullet in an uncharged case, so I weighed the completed loads to see if one was light. All were approx. the same weight, except one that cause the beam on scale to peg at the top. This round turned out to be a full 5gr. heavier than the others. "Odd," I thought, "what would cause that?" Anyone want to hazard a guess?
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When I disassembled the round and poured the powder into the scale, in it was walnut media! I think I audibly gasped. Apparently, enough had gathered at the bottom of the case and lodged together just enough to not be displaced by my normal routine of sifting out the media when the brass comes out of the tumbler. Now, I always visually check my charged cases (single stage loader) before seating the bullet, but still did not notice an appreciable difference in the remaining volume. Obviously, my routine will now change, but I am curious if this has happened to anyone else, and how big a deal is this? It certainly got my attention.

[thump_rrr]

What are you using as a media separator?
I'm using an RCBS separator which is fully enclosed.
This allows me to viogorously spin the cartridges in both directions several times without kicking up any dust.

[cdoc42]

Did you add any brass polish to the walnut media? I have seen it clump in the tumbler, but not inside the case. But - I do not weight every finished cartridge, either......

I do knock the polished cases, mouth-down, before I inspect the primer pockets for obstruction. Maybe I've just been lucky.

[Jim243]

Been there, done that, but in my case the powder overflowed the neck and I knew something was wrong before seating the bullet. If you use a powder and charge that fills the case, you can not over charge the 223.


Jim

[jhansman]

I use as sifter very much like this one (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=878190) and give the brass a real workout to rid it of media (though, apparently, not enough!) before bringing it to the bench. In the tumbler I only add a cut up drier sheet, no polish. The load I was working with was 19gr. of H4198, so no, it would not fill the case. I now have a printed sign above my bench that reads, "Is your brass empty?"

Perhaps it is time to invest in a media separator that does a more thorough job.

[Hawg]

I've had corn cob media stuck in the bottom of all my calibers. Sometimes tight enough it has to be picked out.

[hogcowboy]

I always leave my vibrator type turned on while dumping. Thanks for the heads up though.

[Sport45]

I clean my brass before I deprime. That way I can feel clumps of stuff left in the case. There's a definite "crunch" if cleaning media hasn't been emptied.

[jhansman]

Like several of you, I inspect each case to see if the flash hole is obstructed, and use an old decapping pin to free any chuncks of media that may have become lodged. This step is done when I clean the primer pocket. That's why I was so surprised to see all that walnut fall out with the powder. Anyway, things will change from here out. Thanks.

[snuffy]

The answer is; don't tumble AFTER sizing. If you do, then you MUST inspect every case for clumped tumbler media.

If that happened before sizing, the you would feel it when the deprimer hit it, or if you didn't feel it, you'd bend or break the deprimer spindle.

It also sounds like you need to use a finer grit grade of media. The finer stuff works better on the small calibers like .223, 204 and 17.

[Aldadentist]

After separating the cases from the media I will place the cases back into the umbler and run just the cases with no media. Makes a terrible racket but any media in the case gets dislodged. After this I deprime and size. This just makes sure no media is persent. I started doing this after a similar problem arose with stuck media in the case. It is a bear to remove with a small screwdriver or needle.

[demigod]

Been there, done that, but in my case the powder overflowed the neck and I knew something was wrong before seating the bullet. If you use a powder and charge that fills the case, you can not over charge the 223.

I agree. This is rare, but another reason I visually inspect 100% of the powder charges before placing a bullet into the case mouth.

It's fairly easy to spot a significant powder charge error when it happens.... a 1/2 a grain here or there might get missed though. But that generally won't create a dangerous situation.

[chiefr]

Agree with most, had the same problem. I too inspect cases with a strong light. Most of the time it happens when you add the media polish. I run my tumblers for an hour or so after I add the polish. Another Idea which I have had great success with is to add a sheet of cut up BOUNCE fabric softener strips when I tumble. The BOUNCE picks up all the dust. Try this sometimes.

[4runnerman]

I take mine.upside down and hold them against the bolt that comes up in middle to hold cover down. I find that the vibration of the tumbler knocks everything out of them. I also use a very fine media so that won't happen and never any addatives. I don't need my cases sparkeling new ,just clean and good to go.

[NWPilgrim]

Besides individual inspecting cases, I load .223 Varget which is pretty much to the case mouth and compressed. Anything in the case before the powder will cause it to noticeably overflow.

[jhansman]

I'm tumbling a batch of rifle and handgun brass as I write this. One thing I stopped doing was mixing my .45ACP in with my .223; half the .223 would end up inside the .45, trapping media with it. Should be interesting to see if the rifle brass captures anything this time around. BTW, I'm a Bounce man myself (and my wife doesn't know it!)

[Winterhawk56]

This was a hard lession for me also back in the 70's as I experianced a similar problem only when I placed the same amount of powder the case over flowed! I removed the wowder and a case 1/4 full of curshed walnut hulls.

I have made it a habbit to always check my cases after tumbling to ensure the flash holes are clear (and I can see through the case) to ensure its empty before placing a primer.

Long ago I stoped placing large and small cases in the same media to tumble, especially if one could fit in the other.
How do I know well----- I placed 44 mag with 9MM and spent the remaining afternoon pulling them apart. CASE SEX is terrible! and they just wont stay apart.

Good info on all reads!!!!

[brmfan]

I always brush the inside of each case and hit them with compressed air. Even media stuck in the flash hole gets blown out with ease.

[TXJohn]

I also brush each case after tumbling. I do not tumble after sizing and every completed round is weighed. Since I weigh all components each should be about the same weight.

[jhansman]

Case sex-good description. My .45ACP and .223 are now abstinent.

I am now using my handy dandy little flashlight to visually inspect the insides of all rifle brass. I load and process in small batches, so taking the extra few minutes is no biggie. This step just made it on to my "10 (now 11) Rules of Reloading" posted over my bench.