Do I HAVE to tumble my brass?

SavageMOA · December 11, 2008, 01:41 AM

I'm loading up a bunch of .38 specials and won't be getting a tumbler for another month or so. Does the brass HAVE to be cleaned? Will it affect performance in any way? Or does tumbling just make it "pretty"?

kametc · December 11, 2008, 01:45 AM

Not tumbling won't affect your cartridge performance at all. It will keep your chambers a little cleaner and make extraction marginally easier. Most important other than making your loads look like new it makes cracked cases very easy to spot. The cracks show up as a dark black line....especially in the neck after seating.

Ken

rg1 · December 11, 2008, 01:47 AM

Mostly just makes it pretty. If cases are dirty, muddy, or sand covered, your vibratory cleaner can clean them so your dies won't get scratched. I also use the vibratory case cleaner to remove sizing lube on rifle cases. Not cleaning the .38 cases will have no effect on performance.

butta9999 · December 11, 2008, 02:37 AM

You will save wear on your dies and make inspecting easier to find defects. Just throw them in and leave them over night.

HiBC · December 11, 2008, 03:54 AM

In the machine trades,brass is used as a material to make a lap.A lap is a cutting/polishing tool that works by trapping,embedding grit in its soft surface,and holding it like the tooth of a file to cut harder metal.The range sand/grit is a pretty good cutting media.The case cleaning operation serves to remove most of it.If you do not clean the brass,there are two casualties.One,your sizing die.But,the grit does not go away.Sizing forces it into the brass,to a degree.Your chamber is next.And,lets not forget the inside of a case.any small amount of grit gets sent down the bore.
I suggest,decap with a universal decapper,tumble,inspect and clear media,lube if necessary,load them,then tumble a short time in corncob to remove lube.
But thats just my opinion.

Sevens · December 11, 2008, 08:21 AM

I loaded for YEARS without a tumbler and when folks on a shoestring budget (I always was...) would ask if it's absolutely necessary, I would tell them that it wasn't.

I've changed my views a bit. No, it's not as crucial as having, say, primers. But it's right up there.

When you run a dirty piece of brass through a carbide sizing die, the die has a way of taking the filth and squeezing it so extremely tight that the filth becomes part of the brass. Dirty brass is almost better looking than dirty brass that's been run through a carbide sizing die.

And the filth on your hands and, well, everything was just too much.

These days, I'd have to go ahead and call it a necessity and I would halt production without a working tumbler.

noelf2 · December 11, 2008, 11:10 AM

Just about everybody starts out without one, and eventually gets one anyway.

ZeSpectre · December 11, 2008, 11:18 AM

Quote:

it makes cracked cases very easy to spot

+1 on that.

I'll join in with the general consensus here. You don't absolutely HAVE to tumble brass but the price you pay is most likely going to be accelerated wear on your loading dies and possibly on your firearms.

sserdlihc · December 11, 2008, 11:25 AM

I have learned not tumble 9mm and 45 acp brass together. The 9's go into the 45's then the media usually gets in between them. They are a booger to get apart. Live and learn.

AF_Reloader · December 11, 2008, 11:33 AM

+1 on the mixed brass. The very first time I cleaned pistol brass, I mixed 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45. Talk about a mess.

The utility of a tumbler is obvious, and there's something sexy about the look of brightly polished cases.

wncchester · December 11, 2008, 01:07 PM

"Will it affect performance in any way? Or does tumbling just make it "pretty"?"

Well, not shining brass won't make it explode but the bullets will likely hit the ground in humiliation onlly 20 ft. from the muzzle. NOT!

"Pretty" brass is for newbies, certainly not performance. If tumbling was necessary we would not have been able to reload prior to about 1975. I've been doing it since '65 and there was a LOOONG line of reloaders ahead of me!

We need the brass to be CLEAN, not shiney. Us old pharts used to simply wipe them clean before these new fangled viberating things came along. If any were actually dirty, as with dirt rather than powder residue or tarnish, we would wash them by sloshing them around in a bucket of soapy water, rinsing and allowing them to air dry for a day.

I've never noticed it being any easier to spot splits with glittery cases nor are they easier to extract. Splits are quite easy to see anyway. In fact, they are hard to miss if we paying any attention to what we are doing!

Sam06 · December 11, 2008, 01:41 PM

+2 on the mixing of brass. I hate 40 cal! It gets between 45 and 9mm and the cases are a bugger to get apart when you throw in some of this NC sand. The worst was some 40 and 9mm I mixed with some 45/70

It was a disaster. I have a big tumbler(Dillon) and I thought I could just load it up and watch it go. Not hardy.

I think most of us were in the same boat. A tumbler was one of the last things we got but once we had one we were like; Why did I not get this sooner!!!" They are nice to have I think you should get one if you are a reloader. You will save you dies and your brass+ the rounds look good when done.

December 11, 2008, 01:41 AM	#1
SavageMOA Senior Member Join Date: March 19, 2008 Posts: 368	Do I HAVE to tumble my brass? I'm loading up a bunch of .38 specials and won't be getting a tumbler for another month or so. Does the brass HAVE to be cleaned? Will it affect performance in any way? Or does tumbling just make it "pretty"?

December 11, 2008, 01:45 AM	#2
kametc Senior Member Join Date: April 18, 2007 Location: S W , Montana Posts: 206	Not tumbling won't affect your cartridge performance at all. It will keep your chambers a little cleaner and make extraction marginally easier. Most important other than making your loads look like new it makes cracked cases very easy to spot. The cracks show up as a dark black line....especially in the neck after seating. Ken __________________ "Allons" Blackhorse Troopers !

December 11, 2008, 02:37 AM	#4
butta9999 Senior Member Join Date: June 29, 2008 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 692	You will save wear on your dies and make inspecting easier to find defects. Just throw them in and leave them over night. __________________ Knowledge is Power!

December 11, 2008, 08:21 AM	#6
Sevens Senior Member Join Date: July 28, 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 11,756	I loaded for YEARS without a tumbler and when folks on a shoestring budget (I always was...) would ask if it's absolutely necessary, I would tell them that it wasn't. I've changed my views a bit. No, it's not as crucial as having, say, primers. But it's right up there. When you run a dirty piece of brass through a carbide sizing die, the die has a way of taking the filth and squeezing it so extremely tight that the filth becomes part of the brass. Dirty brass is almost better looking than dirty brass that's been run through a carbide sizing die. And the filth on your hands and, well, everything was just too much. These days, I'd have to go ahead and call it a necessity and I would halt production without a working tumbler. __________________ *Attention Brass rats and other reloaders:* I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss.

December 11, 2008, 11:10 AM	#7
noelf2 Senior Member Join Date: April 14, 2008 Location: Stuart, VA Posts: 2,473	Just about everybody starts out without one, and eventually gets one anyway. __________________ Liberty and freedom often offends those who understand neither.

December 11, 2008, 01:47 AM	#3
rg1 Senior Member Join Date: November 6, 2001 Posts: 1,125	Mostly just makes it pretty. If cases are dirty, muddy, or sand covered, your vibratory cleaner can clean them so your dies won't get scratched. I also use the vibratory case cleaner to remove sizing lube on rifle cases. Not cleaning the .38 cases will have no effect on performance.

December 11, 2008, 03:54 AM	#5
HiBC Senior Member Join Date: November 13, 2006 Posts: 8,287	In the machine trades,brass is used as a material to make a lap.A lap is a cutting/polishing tool that works by trapping,embedding grit in its soft surface,and holding it like the tooth of a file to cut harder metal.The range sand/grit is a pretty good cutting media.The case cleaning operation serves to remove most of it.If you do not clean the brass,there are two casualties.One,your sizing die.But,the grit does not go away.Sizing forces it into the brass,to a degree.Your chamber is next.And,lets not forget the inside of a case.any small amount of grit gets sent down the bore. I suggest,decap with a universal decapper,tumble,inspect and clear media,lube if necessary,load them,then tumble a short time in corncob to remove lube. But thats just my opinion.

December 11, 2008, 11:25 AM	#9
sserdlihc Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2008 Location: S.C. Posts: 1,454	my bad I have learned not tumble 9mm and 45 acp brass together. The 9's go into the 45's then the media usually gets in between them. They are a booger to get apart. Live and learn.

December 11, 2008, 11:33 AM	#10
AF_Reloader Member Join Date: February 18, 2008 Location: Beale AFB, CA Posts: 73	+1 on the mixed brass. The very first time I cleaned pistol brass, I mixed 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45. Talk about a mess. The utility of a tumbler is obvious, and there's something sexy about the look of brightly polished cases. __________________ My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right. "...that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart, —Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable!"

December 11, 2008, 01:07 PM	#11
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	"Will it affect performance in any way? Or does tumbling just make it "pretty"?" Well, not shining brass won't make it explode but the bullets will likely hit the ground in humiliation onlly 20 ft. from the muzzle. NOT! "Pretty" brass is for newbies, certainly not performance. If tumbling was necessary we would not have been able to reload prior to about 1975. I've been doing it since '65 and there was a LOOONG line of reloaders ahead of me! We need the brass to be CLEAN, not shiney. Us old pharts used to simply wipe them clean before these new fangled viberating things came along. If any were actually dirty, as with dirt rather than powder residue or tarnish, we would wash them by sloshing them around in a bucket of soapy water, rinsing and allowing them to air dry for a day. I've never noticed it being any easier to spot splits with glittery cases nor are they easier to extract. Splits are quite easy to see anyway. In fact, they are hard to miss if we paying any attention to what we are doing!

December 11, 2008, 01:41 PM	#12
Sam06 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2008 Location: Fayettenam Posts: 1,086	+2 on the mixing of brass. I hate 40 cal! It gets between 45 and 9mm and the cases are a bugger to get apart when you throw in some of this NC sand. The worst was some 40 and 9mm I mixed with some 45/70 It was a disaster. I have a big tumbler(Dillon) and I thought I could just load it up and watch it go. Not hardy. I think most of us were in the same boat. A tumbler was one of the last things we got but once we had one we were like; Why did I not get this sooner!!!" They are nice to have I think you should get one if you are a reloader. You will save you dies and your brass+ the rounds look good when done. __________________ The two most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.