Reloading dirty brass.

[maillemaker]

So I've heard some folks here say they don't clean their brass.

Last night, after wet-tumbling my brass with the primers still in, and discovering water and crud trapped under the primers, I decided to deprime all of my brass, about 1000 pieces, and then re-tumble.

I had another box of about 100 cases I forgot to tumble the first time.

So I pulled the charging and seating dies out of my 3-die Lee Pro1000 progressive reloader, leaving only the sizing/depriming die in place, and loaded her up.

The amount of force it took to run the machine through dirty brass felt almost twice as much as for clean brass. The difference was astonishing to me. It certainly felt like I was putting much more stress on the machine.

So I would say that right there is a good argument for cleaning brass.

Steve

[demigod]

Not cleaning your brass would be foolish. Polishing it to a pretty shine is nonsense to me, but I like it to be clean enough to run through my dies.

[wncchester]

There is a vast difference between "dirty" and "clean" and "polished". Clean is good but polished is eye candy. I had reloaded for 20 years before tumblers even came on the market but I never put "dirty" cases in my dies. I polish now but I don't kid myself about it being important in any practical way.

[mikld]

Still ain't figgered out how to quote, but I agree 100% with wncchester. For many years I only wiped my brass with a mineral spirits dampened rag as I inspected it prior to reloading.

[dawico]

Dirty brass also wears out your dies faster. That right there makes it worth the little bit of extra effort to clean them.

[Sevens]

There's a lot to be said for pride in your loads... and if polishing them gives you that, it's a tangible advantage, not an imagined one, no matter how you try to curmudgeonly sell that opinion.

I don't really polish my brass... I think. I run 'em through the tumbler with a capful of NuFinish. They look decent, but they don't look factory new.

Running dirty brass through your dies... especially your sizing die is a horrible way to treat your tools. It also makes your hands dirty all the time, during every operation, whenever you handle it. That stinks, too.

[maillemaker]

I didn't know there was a difference between cleaning and polishing.

I tumbled mine in soapy water with Lemishine. Came out clean and shiny!

Steve

[demigod]

Yeah. If you go wet, adding lemishizzle makes those suckers pretty. I've done some lemishine in my ultrasonic.... and that BRASS looks GOOD!!

[HiBC]

Assuming there is some range grit on the dirty brass,as it goes into the die,the hard steel of the die forces the grit to embed in the brass.Much grit is silica or some other hard abrasive.Each embedded piece of grit is a cutting tooth.This principal is used in industry for lapping operations.
Not only does the grit embedded brass cut your dies,it cuts your chamber.

I prefer to sit with my hand tool and a universal decap die,deprime,then put the brass in the vibratory bowl (no abrasive compounds) before reloading.

[FM12]

Dirty brass= rough on dies, rougher on chambers.

[hogcowboy]

When you say dirty, you mean on the ground dirt right? Not just fired. Cuz I only clean my brass about every 3rd firing. I don't see a problem but my brass never hits the ground. But with this thread I'm beginning to wonder.

[wncchester]

"There's a lot to be said for pride in your loads...Running dirty brass through your dies... "

NO ONE has suggested reloading "dirty" cases.

I take a lot of pride in my loads but it comes from the targets, not the glitter. And, as I said, I tumble. But, as I also said, it's eye fluff and I know it, there's nothing practical about it. If the loads are good, a lack of polish isn't going to destroy the accuracy. If the loads are bad, polish won't make 'em shoot any better.

As an ol' sargent used to tell us, "You can spit polish a dog drop but it will still be a dog drop so do your job right." At age 70 and with 45 years of reloading under my belt, my rights as a curmudgeon who actually understands the difference between good ammo and shiney dog drops is indisputable.

[maillemaker]

When you say dirty, you mean on the ground dirt right? Not just fired. Cuz I only clean my brass about every 3rd firing. I don't see a problem but my brass never hits the ground. But with this thread I'm beginning to wonder.

The cases I tried depriming were just fired. They were sooty from firing. And the amount of force it took to operate the machine was easily double what it took running clean brass through the machine.

Call it tumbling, polishing, cleaning, whatever you like. If you run sooty brass through your machine it takes more effort.

Steve

[PawPaw]

Originally Posted by maillemaker

Call it tumbling, polishing, cleaning, whatever you like. If you run sooty brass through your machine it takes more effort.

So, what effort are you measuring? Total effort to produce a round of ammunition, or effort to pull a handle?

I'd maintain, from a purely curmudgeonly standpoint, that no measurement was conducted, and that there was effort involved in... how did you say it... tumbling, cleaning polishing, whatever.. the brass. So, how much effort is involved in getting brass ready to prime? At this point it's pretty much subjective.

If you feel better making your brass shiny, then by all means, enjoy your time at the bench. It's a hobby. In two decades of reloading, I've never owned a tumbler of any variety.

[4runnerman]

I don't spit polish mine either,but i can't see why you would not want to at least tumble.It's not a physical job,you just dump in tumbler turn on and leave for an hour or two or three. The whole reloading proccess is fun and a hobbie to me. Sometimes i think i shoot so i can reload again I must admit i tumble 1000's before i start loading,them size and prime all at same time too. So when it comes to reloading all i do is grab how ever many cases i want to load. One step at a time,but do 1000's each step.

[m&p45acp10+1]

For Pistol brass:
My range pick up brass goes through the tumbler for a bit. Most of my range pick up brass is dirty as sin from being in the bucket, or on the ground. I put a dab of NuFinish car polish on a couple of patches, and throw them in with the brass. Run for a half hour of so in the tumbler. Then take them out, and load as normal.

For Rifle brass:
Range pick up gets a half hour in the tumbler first. Then I lube with liquid silicone (It works so well.) Then Full length size/decap. Then the brass goes back into the tumbler for another half hour. Take out of tumbler. Prime, charge, seat bullets, bag, then go shoot it up.

Fire formed brass goes straingh to the Lee Collet Carbide Neck Sizing die. No cleaning needed.

[wncchester]

"...Lee Collet Carbide Neck Sizing die."

Now, that's INTERESTING!

[HiBC]

I use plain corncob or walnut hulls,depending on what I an doing.I do not add any polish compounds.
I place no value on shiny brass.You do as you wish,for me,its a misplaced priority.

[maillemaker]

So, what effort are you measuring? Total effort to produce a round of ammunition, or effort to pull a handle?

I'd maintain, from a purely curmudgeonly standpoint, that no measurement was conducted, and that there was effort involved in... how did you say it... tumbling, cleaning polishing, whatever.. the brass. So, how much effort is involved in getting brass ready to prime? At this point it's pretty much subjective.

If you feel better making your brass shiny, then by all means, enjoy your time at the bench. It's a hobby. In two decades of reloading, I've never owned a tumbler of any variety.

All I know is that it took roughly twice as much effort to work the progressive die with dirty, fired brass than the stuff I had wet tumbled.

Enough that the machine started to come apart. The ram that pushes the shell holder up and down pulled out of the base of the ram. I had to loosen the socket screw, push the ram back in place, and lock it down again. Basically when the cases popped free of the sizing die the machine shook violently. It also caused problems with the case feeding mechanism. Sometimes it would lock up, other times, the brass would get kicked under the die holding plate and prevent upward movement of the ram.

Now it could be that the machine is just new (this was the first major run of brass I put through it) and was not securely together.

But I still had to put enough force on the arm that I was wincing when I did it.

I'm sold on having clean brass before I run it through my reloader.

Steve

[700cdl]

I tumble my brass, rinse it in acetone or denatured alcohol to remove any grit or dust from the media, and then resize it. I've never been one to expose my brass to oily, water based agents, or solvents. Anything that leaves even the smallest amount of residue worries me because of what it can do to powders in a loaded cartridge. A sealed case will cause residue from solvents to vaporize which will cause the powder to clump up over time and exposure to normal temparatures. Clumped powders will have an altered burn property, this can have a drastic effect on pressures and anticipated performance. I've seen powder charges that have clumped up to one hard mass because the case was exposed to a brass cleaning agent that was actually considered as an acceptable product intended for that purpose. I'm not saying all wet agents will do that, all I'm saying is make sure the inside of your case is absolutely dry and free of oily residue. The easiest way to determine if an agent is leaving a residue is to dust a couple of cartridges with baby powder or talcum powder and then tap it out real well. If you have powder still stuck to the inside of the case, then there is a residue causing it to stick.

[Sport45]

As others have said, it's not a good idea to run dirty brass through your sizing die. I believe you when you say it took a lot more effort. If all you want to do is deprime before cleaning then I suggest a universal depriming die. It doesn't touch the case walls when depriming. An alternative would be to use a sizing die for a case larger than wht you are depriming, for example using a .44mag sizing die to deprime 9mm.

[Mike38]

I’ve been reloading for 15 years now. Tens of thousands of .45 ACP. Thousands of .223 and 9mm. I do not own, nor have ever owned a tumbler. Same reloader, same sets of dies this whole time. I do rinse the dirty brass off with water, but only when real dirty. The way I look at it, a hole in the X-ring, or a dead Prairie Dog doesn’t care if it came from dirty or clean brass. But that’s just me.

[Clark]

My brass is passed through an Asian Palm Civet.

[WESHOOT2]

I make it shiny.
Shiny......(I mean, it takes no more work from me to get it that way. Easier to inspect, easer to run through my dies, smoother functioning through the gun, easier to spot on the ground.)

[WANT A LCR 22LR]

I've reloaded my brass about 3X without cleaning and am due to wash it with simple green in a ultra sonic washer ( today infact ) Using a Lee 1000 progressive, cleaning everytime adds a few extra steps. The outside of the used brass typically has some small bit of soot but nothing drastic as it wipes off in the carbide sizing die.

I'm also due to clean the sizing die as I'm sure it has a bit of dirt.

As for someong getting brass stuck in the sizing die and the whole machine shaking, someting is wrong beyond simply sooty brass. Is the brass getting pushed too far into the sizing die and jamming?