Noob turned level 2 reload questions

[Chili Palmer]

Thanks so much for the guidance whilst I was clueless. With your help and a chrono and patience I have some good loads working well. Have a few 'level 2" questions if you don't mind..


I continue to harvest years of old brass. 2 weekends ago I mowed very short, then it rained 2 inches and the brass showed up like gold coins on a shipwreck. So I'm back to cleaning a lot of old brass from .380 - .45acp - .223. I have decided it is best to sort - at least the ones that can't get caught in one another in the tumbler (like a 9mm/.380 inside a .40 inside a .45) before I tumble. When I started reloading in December I was so excited to see what my treasure would end up looking like I dumped it all in, now I think it is best to presort so you don't get some stuck together. Am I right? [after rereading this post I feel stupid like DUH for asking this but will post this anyway]

I wash/soak all my brass in water and agitate until the water runs clean as I'm digging up a lot of old stuff again, then let dry thoroughly (I am not in a hurry anymore). The old very tarnished ones seem to gleam more when done with a shot of WD-40 before the tumbler (Lyman Tufnut treated media) I have learned that a soak job in WD-40 gets media jammed in the inside – bad idea- so hitting the brass with a shot on the outside whilst they are laying down them dumping for exterior only. Bad idea? Ruining my media?

Is slightly bent (not crimped or torn) brass ok to try and re-use (straight hand gun only brass)? Right now my answer is yes, I'll see when I get that cartridge to that point- if the resize/de-primer 'rounds' it. I have PLENTY of brass so don't really 'need' these extras, but heck if you got em smoke em right?

Since I am collecting a good amount of bad spent brass, I decided to start keeping it instead of tossing in the downhill field or in my recycle. Heck why not keep it, after I get a gallon I figure it will be worth some jack at the metal recycle place?

Is .357Sig worth a lick in the long run? My bro used to shoot a lot but switched that Glock to .40. I have no .357Sig handguns. I know it is a great performing cartridge and if the SHTF anything is better than nothing for trade what have you... but does anyone but diehard .357Sig fans actively reload it? Seems like that cartridge got some good airtime then faded. (I think a neck down handgun load is unnecessary if you wish to reload)

Thanks a ton again, I will be repaying knowledge when I can.

BTW my prissy 12 year old daughter got a taste of shooting my Sig516 AR (with my assistance holding her shoulder and bulk of weight of rifle of course) and ate it up. She was shooting my Sig P226 (9mm) and Taurus 7 shot .357 (with .38s) until we were out of ammo. Wants to go back. I am stoked!

[PawPaw]

BTW my prissy 12 year old daughter got a taste of shooting my Sig516 AR (with my assistance holding her shoulder and bulk of weight of rifle of course) and ate it up. She was shooting my Sig P226 (9mm) and Taurus 7 shot .357 (with .38s) until we were out of ammo. Wants to go back. I am stoked!

Good on ya for getting your daughter out with you. But, you're also screwed. Do you have any idea how much ammo a 12 year-old can shoot up? It's a good thing you're taking up reloading.

[Chili Palmer]

anything to make her act like a human and not a teenager is worth it!

[zxcvbob]

Is .357Sig worth a lick in the long run?

Worth a lick where??

Is slightly bent (not crimped or torn) brass ok to try and re-use

Yes.

The TuffNut should be good enough by itself without the WD40 business. I mix TuffNut about 50% with ground corncob because Lyman put way too much rouge on in.

[Misssissippi Dave]

I use corncob now but have used walnut in the past. If it isn't clean enough for me I just let it run a while longer. Occasionally I will just leave brass running in the tumbler over night. Some cases that are bent up a bit I have used. So long as they go back to the proper shape after sizing and adding the flair to seat the bullet without cracking the case I figure they will work. I do check the more mis-shappened cases closer as I am reloading then the others. I also don't load all that hot for most of my loads. The exceptions might be .357 magnum, .357 Sig and if I'm using 185 grain bullets in .45 apc that have to make majors.

I do reload .357 Sig. It isn't always all that easy to find brass for this caliber. I ordered 1000 cases from StarLine brass not that long ago just to have some more cases to load. Not all .357 Sig dies work right to load this caliber. The Dillon dies do work right but even with those I had to modify the power funnel to fix a problem with neck tension.

You will probably be able to get more money selling .357 Sig brass than you will ever get from the recycling place. I do keep a bin just for bad brass or damaged beyond repair brass that is going to go to the recycling place once I figure I have enough weight to make it worth it. It will cost me at least a couple gallons of gas to make the trip to the nearest one here.

I learned early on not to put cases in the tumbler that could get stuck inside another case early on. It is a real pain to get them unstuck when you do this. Standing the cases up in a low sided pan helps me see which caliber is which and I prefer to only put the same caliber in the tumbler for cleaning. It helps keep things like getting a .380 mixed in with 9 mm problems from happening. I do sort the large and small primer .45 brass after cleaning.

Enjoy any type of doing things together with your daughter you can now. Quite soon and she probably won't be able to spare any time.

[snooze]

When I started reloading in December I was so excited to see what my treasure would end up looking like I dumped it all in, now I think it is best to presort so you don't get some stuck together. Am I right? [after rereading this post I feel stupid like DUH for asking this but will post this anyway]

Definitely. Before tumbling, I sort my brass into groups that will not fit into one another. For example, .40S&W and 10mm, .380 AUTO and .38spl, 9mm and 38 super, .45ACP and .45 Colt, etc.

[boondocker385]

Sell the .357 SIG to reloaders and the rest as scrap. I got 2.79/lbs last month and had enough to pay for 1000 primers.... all of it scrounged for free!

[Poindexter]

I scrap maybe 1% of my range pickup brass. The rest of it I usually trade to someone today in exchange for brass I need at some time in the future.

I have been watching for .327 federal, there is a user id with a request in his sig line, I haven't seen any.

Good karma is good.

Yes, I sort my brass enough so I don't get telescopes out of the tumbler.

I _personally_ tumble dirty brass in walnut shell with rougue until it looks clean with rougue on it. Then I switch to corn cob media with a dryer sheet or two torn into small pieces. Every little bit I'll change out the dryer sheets. Generally I batch 200-250 pieces of 45Colt brass at a time, maybe four hours in walnut and fours hours in corncob using maybe two dryer sheets total and I am ready to size and load. Rangepickup brass will take longer to tumble. Fresher media works faster than older media, etc, etc. When it seems like you have been tumbling a really long time and the brass isn't clean yet, its time for fresh media.

A leading cause of banana shaped brass is bent ram on reloading press. Is it someone else's ram or yours? If yours is straigtening them out, you should be fine.


.357Sig is not super popular near me (neither is 327 federal apparently). Someone somewhere wants it. When you have a big enough bucket to make it worth shipping, post it up in the for sale section here.

[Chili Palmer]

Thanks for all the feedback. Some responses:

There is a finite amount of .357Sig in my shop and on the ground... shouldn't be much left on the ground.

Same for .380 . I returned(sold back) my POS Taurus .380 and never looked back. My PF-9 is A-OK. I'll sort out the .380 and .357Sig and set aside for the revolution or trade for half a goat or something.. but eventually I will quit finding it.

I too sort .45ACP large and small primer after cleaning, and am only reloading large primer at this point.

The bent "banana?" shaped brass is from getting stepped on or run over.. my press is A-OK.

Thanks for all the replies. I wonder how long all this old brass will keep showing up. The bushhog edges drag it out of the ground when it is all the way down and dragging. We shot for 8 years without picking up brass. I found a box of good 9mm FMJ dated 10/12 for $10.95 from a not so cheap store. Wow how things have changed. I've got a thatcher I'm going to drage around this winter.. I'll bet I'll find a bunch more. Fun!

Anyway thanks again.

pow

[Nick_C_S]

Do you have any idea how much ammo a 12 year-old can shoot up?

Completely off the subject: About 28 years ago ('85) I went camping and brought about 500 38DEWC's (among other ammo). A friend of a friend had a son about 11 or 12 (never met the child or the Mom before).

With Mom's permission (she didn't shoot, but seemed to have a good deal of common sense), and after a safety lesson, I showed him how to shoot, reload, to put the spent brass in my 5gal bucket, etc.

Before the weekend camping trip was over, the youngster had shot off all my wadcutters lol.

I don't believe I ever saw the son or the Mom again.

The "youngster" would be pushing 40 now. I like to think all my ammo didn't go to waste and he is now posting on the Firing Line on a regular basis