July 2, 2012, 02:53 PM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: January 26, 2011
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 20
|
Cleaning loaded rounds
I recently opened a box of 45 rounds i loaded a year ago. I noticed that the brass appears a bit tarnished. I was considering putting them in a batch of corn cob to shine them back up. Is that ok or will there be issues due to live primers, crimp, seating depth, etc?
__________________
Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty. |
July 2, 2012, 02:59 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: June 1, 2010
Location: Phoenix area
Posts: 361
|
Primers could bet banged around and ignite. But more important is the heat generated by the tumbling. I wouldn't do it.
Mike
__________________
Mike Mattera - Tips For Mfg Video Training For CadCam Systems http://www.tipsforcadcam.com |
July 2, 2012, 03:02 PM | #3 |
Member
Join Date: June 7, 2009
Location: N.S.W AUSTRALIA
Posts: 44
|
Not a good idea, try doing it by hand with some brasso!!
|
July 2, 2012, 03:23 PM | #4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 19, 2011
Location: Eastern IA
Posts: 428
|
Nothing wrong with tumbling loaded ammo in a vibratory tumbler. I wouldn't use a rotary.
There's no way to set off a primer in a vibratory tumbler, the heat is less than you would get in your car on a hot day, and do NOT use Brasso on cases. The ammonia in it will degrade the case integrity. |
July 2, 2012, 03:38 PM | #5 |
Senior Member
Join Date: March 13, 2009
Posts: 107
|
bright & shiney
Shine the brass back up after you shoot them.
|
July 2, 2012, 07:25 PM | #6 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: November 7, 2008
Location: Shelby, MT
Posts: 1,013
|
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
July 2, 2012, 08:07 PM | #7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 7, 2001
Location: outside the perimeter
Posts: 333
|
I always tumble loaded rounds to get the case lube off. If you tumble your brass (and loaded rounds) in a capful of 50/50 NuFinish/mineral spirits it leaves them with a thin coat that prevents tarnishing. Not enough to gunk up your guns, though. Some folks use a little kerosene to get similar results.
|
July 2, 2012, 08:24 PM | #8 |
Senior Member
Join Date: July 27, 2011
Posts: 270
|
my experience with tumbling loaded rounds has been less than satisfactory.
I have yet to have a primer ignite or anything major like that but since I load with cast boolits the tumbler actually removes a lot of the lube from the bullet and leading occurs. I am still not sold on the powder breaking down theory(at least not for the 5 minutes or so that I tumbled them). So, in my opinion, Dont worry about it unless it will affect the chambering or safety of the rounds and then hand polish
__________________
"A weapon without a name is nothing; Just another hunk of steel, wood, or what have you. A weapon with a name is more. It is a partner, a friend, and a comrade to the end" |
July 2, 2012, 08:30 PM | #9 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 7, 2001
Location: outside the perimeter
Posts: 333
|
How does tumbling remove lube? The lube is in the grease grooves down inside the case.
|
July 2, 2012, 08:41 PM | #10 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: February 9, 2011
Location: Just outside Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 722
|
Quote:
__________________
The private ownership of firearms is an American Heritage. Anyone who disputes that is Anti-American and unpatriotic. NRA Life Member |
|
July 2, 2012, 09:44 PM | #11 |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 31, 2009
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 1,033
|
I think he's referring to the grease that seems to coat the outside of cast bullets by the time they are loaded. I also tries (once) to clean loaded cast bullets and ended up with cob stuck to the bullets. Also don't try to tumble HP ammo-- the holes in the bullets will clog up with media.
|
July 2, 2012, 10:14 PM | #12 |
Member
Join Date: March 29, 2010
Location: Eastern Iowa USA
Posts: 47
|
Cleaning loaded ammo
I used to tumble ALL my reloads in a small concrete mixer (late 1960's) till I got a vibrating tumbler (somewhere in the 1970's), now I clean ALL my reloads in it. It has been 4 decades, well over a million rounds, and I have NEVER had a detonation of a loaded round during cleaning. I suppose the posibility is there, but I believe the probability is very low. Cast bullets that are tumble lubed have bullet lube all over and cleaning will remove the lube outside the brass, but sometimes, if the media is dirty, not all lube is removed, and dust from the dirty media sticks to the spots of lube leaving black clumps stuck to the bullet which then should be wiped off. Do what you feel is safe. If you tumble clean your loaded ammo on the basement floor you probably won't have any excitement if one detonates, other than some media on the floor. The empty piece of brass and the media will go further than the bullet will.
|
July 2, 2012, 10:18 PM | #13 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 19, 2004
Location: Fairbanksan in exile to Aleutian Hell
Posts: 2,655
|
Putting them in a vibratory case cleaner won't hurt them or cause any problems. I do it all the time. There is also a thread on another site where rounds were tumbled for 200+ hours without hurting the primers or damaging the powder.
Quote:
__________________
Stop Allowing Our Schools To Be Soft Targets! http://fastersaveslives.org/ East Moose. Wear Wolf. |
|
July 3, 2012, 05:23 AM | #14 | |||
Senior Member
Join Date: December 7, 2001
Location: outside the perimeter
Posts: 333
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
|||
July 3, 2012, 07:25 AM | #15 |
Senior Member
Join Date: July 1, 2001
Posts: 6,285
|
It does remove some lube from the bearing surface above the case neck. This has never caused me an issue though.
|
July 3, 2012, 07:31 AM | #16 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 7, 2001
Location: outside the perimeter
Posts: 333
|
Nathan, could you post a pic of your outside lubed rounds? All mine are inside lubed.
|
July 3, 2012, 07:52 AM | #17 | |
Staff
Join Date: November 28, 2005
Location: Montana
Posts: 9,442
|
Quote:
__________________
If it were up to me, the word "got" would be deleted from the English language. Posting and YOU: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting |
|
July 3, 2012, 08:04 AM | #18 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 7, 2001
Location: outside the perimeter
Posts: 333
|
Sorry, just trying to understand his point.
|
July 3, 2012, 08:04 AM | #19 |
Senior Member
Join Date: July 6, 2010
Location: OTS
Posts: 1,035
|
gwalchmai
please read any reloading manual and check rifle round reloading. Without case lube applied to the outside of the case you will get a stuck case! There is a VERY small amount of lube applied to the inside of the case neck also.
__________________
Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. |
July 3, 2012, 08:09 AM | #20 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 7, 2001
Location: outside the perimeter
Posts: 333
|
Quote:
|
|
July 3, 2012, 08:29 AM | #21 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 25, 1999
Location: Too close to Houston
Posts: 4,196
|
Quote:
There is no need to clean brass because of tarnish. Just shoot the stuff and clean it later. Or just wipe it off and reload it again in its tarnished state. Won't hurt a thing. Running it through the tumbler won't hurt a thing either, IMHO. It's just a waste of time and effort unless your range has ammo beauty contests that you're trying to win.
__________________
Proud member of the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association. Registered and active voter. |
|
July 3, 2012, 09:22 AM | #22 |
Member
Join Date: February 19, 2007
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 62
|
If it bothers you tumble away otherwise just shoot them as normal. There is no danger in tumbling live rounds.....how do you think the factory gets them so shiny before packaging them?????
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2 |
July 3, 2012, 09:33 AM | #23 |
Senior Member
Join Date: July 1, 2001
Posts: 6,285
|
While not mine, mine look like this roughly:
My point was that the lubed portion of the bullet in the case stays lubed and there is some groove dia lead which will have it's thin lube coating removed. That's all. Not sure if it could cause leading or not |
July 3, 2012, 09:42 AM | #24 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 7, 2001
Location: outside the perimeter
Posts: 333
|
No, there's no lube on that shoulder, not intentionally, anyway. Lube is forced out from the grease grooves upon firing.
Just to add, I use moly-coated boolits (Bear Creek) and tumble them in loaded cases. The coating is cleaned and polished but not removed. |
July 3, 2012, 10:16 AM | #25 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 20, 2001
Location: Oshkosh wi.
Posts: 3,055
|
Quote:
Sizing any lead boolit in a lubrisizer will result in some lube being deposited on the driving bands both top and bottom. It can't be stopped, in fact it is desirable. The star sizer is different, but it too will have a small amount of lube on the driving bands. As for the tumbling live ammo debate goes, it winds up being about 50/50. Those that are convinced it will cause damage to the powder, and those that know it doesn't hurt a thing.
__________________
The more people I meet, the more I love my dog They're going to get their butts kicked over there this election. How come people can't spell and use words correctly? |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|