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Old January 19, 2020, 02:04 AM   #4
Driftwood Johnson
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Join Date: January 3, 2014
Location: Land of the Pilgrims
Posts: 2,033
Howdy

I load 45 Colt and 44-40 with Black Powder in batches of 200 at a time on my Hornady Lock and Load AP progressive press. There is no provision for removing primers on a progressive press. I don't deprime separately, never have. I have never worried about the flash holes, modern primers have no problem igniting Black Powder without cleaning flash holes or primer pockets.

At the end of a match I dump my spent brass into a jug of water that has a squirt of dish soap in it. Back at the car is plenty of time, it does not have to be done as the rounds are fired. Don't wait to soak the brass 24 hours, that will give verdigris time to form. At the end of the match is fine.






When I get home I shake the jug and rinse repeatedly until the water runs clear. I dump the brass and dirty water into a kitchen sieve, the pour clean water into the jug and rinse some more. I do this several times until the rinse water is clear. This does not affect the pH of the fouling, what it does is dilute it.

Then I lay the brass on a cookie sheet with some paper towels spread on them to soak up the extra water. I used to dry the brass in an oven on low heat, these days I just let the brass air dry a few days. This is a mixed batch of 45 Colt and 44-40.






Then into the tumbler for a few hours with crushed walnut shells. I do not use expensive crushed walnut media, I use a similar product found in big box pet stores. It goes under a few different names, but it is the same crushed walnut shells you can buy for your tumbler, but much cheaper.






That's all there is to it. Been doing it this way for about 20 years.


By the way, my brass never gets like new shiny again with this method, it stays slightly stained. I always say shiny brass does not shoot any better than stained brass, it is just easier to find in the grass. If I really wanted shiny brass I would add a little bit of polish to the tumbler, but I don't care.

Here is a typical batch of my Black Powder 44-40 rounds.

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