Overtumbling

[goosevr1]

Is it possible to over tumble your brass? Does anything happen other than you running up your electric bill?

I tumble before depriming and then after case lubing to remove lube. Do you just wipe the lube off or do you tumble?

[Wrangler5]

There are people who will admit (not me, of course) to forgetting to turn their tumblers off and coming back days later to find REALLY shiny brass. No other harm, though, just more miles of the tumbler.

[Ruger4570]

I left my tumbler on overnight one time, as posted, really nice looking brass inside and out.

[Leftoverdj]

I've seen nickled brass with most of the nickle tumbled off.

[Russ5924]

I also might have done that for about 24 hours? Sure was nice and shiny, I used to clean before I deprimed but found was just as easy to clean after I deprimed the primer holes came out cleaner.So far have had no problems with the Media getting into the primer hole

[dogfood]

I know I have .38 Special brass that has been tumbled more than 20 times ... and sometimes for several hours at a time (yes, because I forgot). No problems observed.

And, yes, after lubing and resizing rifle rounds, they just go back in the tumbler. Probably shortens media life, but it's easier.

dogfood

[goosevr1]

I resized/deprimed and threw some .308 brass in the tumbler last night to get the lube off before I trimmed/deburred. Forgot to unplug it this morning...looks like it'll be tumbling for close to 20 hours...oops. At least it could be shiny....

[billindenver]

Very old post, found in the search engine. For soul cleansing purposes, chalk another admission up for forgetting to turn off the tumbler. 18 hours sure made the brass pretty. Kinda happy I loaded that tumbler practically full now.....

Oh well, no harm no foul I guess.

[TimRB]

If you get one of those cheap timers that you can put your lamps on when you're on vacation to make it look like someone is home, then when you go off and forget your tumbler it will only run for an hour or two ever 24 hours. Not that I have ever done anything like that.

Tim

[wncchester]

I routinely tumble over night. No problems yet.

[Sevens]

Yep, lamp timer is absolutely the way to go. And yeah, they do make them with a 3-prong grounded plug, too. I tumble for 3 hours.

[Mike40-11]

Sign me up for 2-3 hours in the tumbler. And for leaving it on overnight more than once. Including last night, actually. Think I'll get me one of those timers.

[the_right_reverend]

plug it in and go to work

[BigV]

I have tumbled brass for 24 hour many times without any problems. After resizing and depriming my rifle cases I do not tumble them again to remove the case lube. If you do, be cautious the media does not get stuck in the primer pocket inside the case. This could cause problems with delayed ignition or misfires.

[ryalred]

I, too have forgotten to turn of my tumbler, but saw no problem with the brass. I have a solution to the problem--I bought one of those times that controls lamps, etc. and plugged my tumbler into it and set it to the length of time I want it to run.

[Crazy4nitro]

I tumbled these after I assembled them. All 687 of them were Nice,slick and Bright.

Am I telling YOU to tumble Live Reloaded Ammo...NO
I'm just saying that I did and do. It works very nice IMO.
'Nitro

I'm sure I'll draw Flame on this post........*shruggs*

[BigV]

WOW!
Tumbling live ammunition is NOT a good idea....

No flame, just fact!!

[Sevens]

Not fact, but a long argued internet discussion topic that gets debated here quite often.

Definitely not a fact.

[BigV]

Fact:
I have owned 4 tumblers, all different makes and ALL, without exception have warnings that state: “DO NOT TUMBLE LIVE AMMUNITION”.

I’m sure this warning is CYA type and should not be heeded.
Just like smoking while filling your gas tank. I’m sure you could do it, but why take the chance. I wouldn’t want to be the one the finds out why it shouldn’t be done, would you?

[Sevens]

There are many, many warnings out there from manufacturers. Glock (and many others, including Ruger for sure, since that was that last one I bought and fresh in memory) tells you NOT TO SHOOT RELOADED AMMO IN THEIR FIREARMS!

Frankly, if we wanted to err completely on the side of caution, we could certainly do that-- we could completely stop reloading, and that would make for sure that we don't blow up any of our firearms with a double charge or an overload of our own doing.

Many different handloaders have run their own very well controlled tests on the tumbling of loaded ammuntion. And the factory ammunition companies tumble their own loaded rounds. You can call up powder manufacturers and get opinions both ways.

In the end, if you don't feel comfortable tumbling loaded ammo, you should NOT do it, and I would never ridicule such a choice. Myself, I rarely have reason to do it, so I only do it in the odd situation where I feel the need.

But to further a theory that's been long debated with mountains of evidence to the contrary, and even go as far as to call it fact is doing a disservice to any/all who may read it.

Call it what it is-- your opinion. A fine opinion, for sure, but miles from fact. The only fact here is that the tumbler makers tell you not to do it. If that is a guideline you will fight to the death to defend, you should likely also stop using reloads in most firearms because the manufacturers warn heavily against it also.

[Alleykat]

I’m sure this warning is CYA type and should not be heeded.
Just like smoking while filling your gas tank. I’m sure you could do it, but why take the chance. I wouldn’t want to be the one the finds out why it shouldn’t be done, would you?

Really bad analogy! Absolutely no chance of an explosion when tumbling (in a vibratory tumbler) loaded ammo.

[CPTMurdoc30]

What forget to turn the tumbler off. I have never done that before...

Other than nickel :barf:brass I doubt you could do much unless you have it full with sharp steel media.

[The Lovemaster]

In my opinion, tumbling live ammo is no big deal. I often do mine for 15 minutes to clean off the lube and give it a final polish.

Just imagine the abuse the powder in the factory ammo takes, what with handling at the factory, shipping, warehousing, and who knows what before the customer shoots it.

Has there ever been a case of a round going off in a tumbler? Not that I know of.

[BurkGlocker]

Never left the tumbler on for extended periods, but I remember tumbling my bullets in moly coat for the first time... That was a learning expereince all in itself...:barf: And moly does NOT come off easily...

[sc928porsche]

Using a tumbler or vibrating case cleaner with live ammo is not a great idea. You can actually change the burn rate of the powder inside the round and if you have reloaded to max, it can create and over pressure.