Cleaning loaded rounds

[Rangefinder]

If you're really picky about shiny brass, just give it a quick wipe with steel wool. NO Brasso--ammonia highly corrosive. It's fine for a lamp that needs a shine--not good for something that is meant to withstand tens of thousands of PSI. Tumbling increases the possibility of powder break-down, which can increase burn rates dramatically. BAD idea.

Best suggestion--Shoot 'em as they are and then worry about making the next ones shiny.

[snuffy]

Tumbling increases the possibility of powder break-down, which can increase burn rates dramatically. BAD idea.

No it does NOT! It's been proved time and again by me and a slew of others by actual tests. Do a search, I'm busy!

[gwalchmai]

"You can have my internet reloading myths when you can pry them from my cold, dead fingers!"

[Bart B.]

Wahoo95 claims:

There is no danger in tumbling live rounds.....how do you think the factory gets them so shiny before packaging them?????

Name one then prove it.

[Mike-Mat]

OK so lets say that many people tumble loaded brass and have not had any KaBooms. I like the idea if tumbling with some NuFinish to put a coating on them for long term storage.

Plus I have some rounds that I loaded where the brass wasn't as shiny as I'd like. I guess I could re-tumble those finished rounds.

So my question is how long do you tumble your rounds to get them nice and shiny?

Mike

[gwalchmai]

So my question is how long do you tumble your rounds to get them nice and shiny?

I usually tumble loaded rounds 15-20 minutes. I have forgotten and left them in overnight and they got real shiny.

[Rangefinder]

Tumbling increases the possibility of powder break-down

please note the chosen wording---...increases the possibility of.... I don't believe I said it DOES, indefinitely, without a doubt. Kind of like driving without a seatbelt "increases the possibility" you're going to be injured in a collision. Though it's not likely or "proven" powder can or even might break down and become dangerous, I can think of plenty of reasons the need for ultra-shiny loaded rounds is less important than keeping fingers and eye-sight.

[gwalchmai]

Originally Posted by Rangefinder

please note the chosen wording---...increases the possibility of.... I don't believe I said it DOES, indefinitely, without a doubt. Kind of like driving without a seatbelt "increases the possibility" you're going to be injured in a collision. Though it's not likely or "proven" powder can or even might break down and become dangerous, I can think of plenty of reasons the need for ultra-shiny loaded rounds is less important than keeping fingers and eye-sight.

Respectfully, you are employing the "if it saves even one child" argument. If a danger is infinitesimal it's not worth warning about it. Seatbelts have been proven conclusively to prevent and reduce injuries in collisions, while no such proof can be shown for the powder breakdown theory.

[Rangefinder]

Here's one thought that comes to mind. Ever have tumble media stuck in cases after cleaning? I have, as have many. I'm OCD on things like this, so every case gets inspected inside and out. Does that mean everyone else does the same? Nope. By itself, that can be dangerous if there's enough. With a couple loose pieces, it just exits at firing. So lets say there are a couple pieces of walnut shell loosely jammed but still stuck in the bottom of a case, it goes unnoticed, gets loaded, and then spends a half hour in a tumbler rolling around with a charge that isn't compacted. Think it can't break down the powder?

Likely? Depends on who is doing it, and how OCD they are at every step of the process. Is it possible? Yup. So I'm not going to openly make recommendations of the sort as unnecessary shortcuts to a purely cosmetic problem.

[gwalchmai]

Here's one thought that comes to mind. Ever have tumble media stuck in cases after cleaning? I have, as have many. I'm OCD on things like this, so every case gets inspected inside and out. Does that mean everyone else does the same? Nope. By itself, that can be dangerous if there's enough. With a couple loose pieces, it just exits at firing. So lets say there are a couple pieces of walnut shell loosely jammed but still stuck in the bottom of a case, it goes unnoticed, gets loaded, and then spends a half hour in a tumbler rolling around with a charge that isn't compacted. Think it can't break down the powder?

No, I don't think it can.

[Rangefinder]

No, I don't think it can.

Suit yourself. Seems to be pretty good at breaking down carbon, residue, and tarnish. BUT, I'm not the one firing your loads, so no worries here.

[gwalchmai]

Great, that makes two of us.

Anyway, no one's suggesting putting walnut (or straw men) inside cases.

[Sport45]

Seems to be pretty good at breaking down carbon, residue, and tarnish.

I wonder about that. If you put one piece of brass in a tumbler full of media will it shine up? Or does it need to have other pieces of brass driving the media into the case?

I know my tumbler with walnut media isn't effectice at cleaning the insides of the cases.

Media left in the case would influence pressure by taking up case volume and would erode the barrel when ejected if it wasn't fresh and clean.

[gwalchmai]

Originally Posted by Sport45

I wonder about that. If you put one piece of brass in a tumbler full of media will it shine up? Or does it need to have other pieces of brass driving the media into the case?

Yes, perhaps uva uvam vivendo varia fit.

I have noticed that there is an optimal density of cases in the tumbler. Too few or too many diminishes cleaning efficiency.

[snuffy]

It's funny when somebody trys to prop up a myth by making a claim like that one!

So lets say there are a couple pieces of walnut shell loosely jammed but still stuck in the bottom of a case, it goes unnoticed, gets loaded, and then spends a half hour in a tumbler rolling around with a charge that isn't compacted. Think it can't break down the powder?

Powder granules are some pretty tough stuff. It resembles plastic in it's make-up. Try cutting some once. It doesn't fracture easily. As for it being abraded by itself, most of it is coated with graphite That's a pretty good lubricant.

Tumbler media, whether it be crushed walnut of corn cob, is pretty soft as well. It's only supposed to polish or smooth the surface of brass cases. The minute movement of some trapped tumbler media INSIDE a brass case with powder would not be enough to cause abrasion of the powder.

When I did some tests over on THR with walkalong, we could not find any evidence of powder breaking down. That evidence would have shown up as dust from the surface of the individual powder granules. I used WW-231, walkalong used IMR-700-X. I loaded some berry's 165 plated RNFP. Walkalong loaded some 45 acp IIRC 230 rn. Examined with a 20X magnifier showed no difference in the appearance of the powder.

They were tumbled,(vibratory) for 48 hours. Then a sample was pulled apart to examine the powder. A control of half those loaded were not tumbled.

The shells were fired in my Glock M-22 @ 25 yards, while shooting over my Pact chronograph. Group size and velocity were identical, considering my lousy shooting abilities. Also, consider that it was very cold outside!

Want to read the whole thread? Go here;

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthrea...=498890&page=2