Is it really necessary to clean the primer pocket everytime?

[4runnerman]

As other have said. It is part of the reloading process. I do always and always will. Those that don't,,well they just don't. Nothing wrong or right with what ever way you go. Does it make a difference ??? It is said each and every process you do in case prep can make as much as 2 to 3% better accuracy.
As always..What you read in this forum is others personnel opinion. We all have them and no ones is any better than the rest. Believe half of what you read here and that half take it with a grain of salt. I have read some real out ragous things in here.

[hounddawg]

Interesting how you factor in cost of SS Pin process with absolute highest cost of professional equipment, when $50 of pins and existing tumblers will work, as opposed to working with heating up water to a boil with an expensive stove, dealing with the danger of boiling water, and HOT brass.

Be SAFE, Have FUN, something you're not doing!

I wasn't aware that stainless steel pins worked with standard vibratory tumblers, in fact this article says they do not.

http://www.accurateshooter.com/techn...ainless-media/

So at minimum I would need a rotary tumbler for lets say 150 bucks and pins for another 50. My stove I have anyway so no purchase necessary, old stainless pot which was headed for Goodwill store, no cost, a nickles worth of detergent. I am a house husband so boiling liquids don't really scare me.

so why I should spend spend 200 bucks or more so my brass can be shiny escapes me.

My unshiny brass gets me velocity standard deviations in the single digits so I must be doing something right.

[4runnerman]

Hey Hounddawg- I think what he was getting at is the stove is 240 volts at a very high amp draw. I think after x amount of times doing it on the stove you raised your electric bill to that of buying a tumbler any how. Seems the stove works good for you so i wont argue that for sure.

[hounddawg]

gas stove takes about 5 min to bring it to a boil, once it is at a boil I turn off the heat and let it steep for 20 or 30 min. In a perfect world it takes 1 BTU to raise 1 pound of H2O 1 degree F. Figure I am using about 1 quart of H2O which would be roughly 2 pounds and bringing it for 50 degrees to 212 at maybe 50% efficiency so that would be 700 BTU's give or take. Contrast that with running a tumbler and I think it would pretty much break even. Anyway it isn't the money to me it is the hassle and waste of money that could be spent on something that might actually improve my range scores. I have everything I need to get my brass clean inside and out, so why should I spend that money on something that is really unnecessary? 200 to 600 bucks will buy a lot of bullets and powder which allows me more range time which will improve my scores a lot more than having my brass shine.

[Unclenick]

I must have tried boiling water at one time or another, but don't recall the result. I'll sound a caution to use a pan you don't cook in. Water soluble lead compounds in primer residue can probably bond to a number of surfaces, including glass, IIRC, then be redissolved when you cook something acid in the same pot.

[hounddawg]

I must have tried boiling water at one time or another, but don't recall the result. I'll sound a caution to use a pan you don't cook in. Water soluble lead compounds in primer residue can probably bond to a number of surfaces, including glass, IIRC, then be redissolved when you cook something acid in the same pot.

I agree, can't use a pot that may in the future to cook food with.<joke> Grits and gunpowder taste horrible together and don't ask me how I know that. </joke>On the serious side you can't use aluminum pot if you use any type of acid. The acid and aluminum will react with each other and cause surface blackening of the brass where it touches the aluminum.

Have not tried the plain old detergent and cold water routine yet I got busy on a honey do project. However thinking about it it should work. If I get a chance in the morning I am going to dump about 3 pounds of 38's in my kitchen sink with some Dawn and swish em around for 5 minutes and see if they are clean enough to run through the dies. It was pointed out by someone else on another thread the purpose of cleaning brass is to remove dirt which could harm the dies. Cleaning the primer pocket on precision ammo also makes sense to me because I feel it provides a more consistent ignition.

That is not to say shiny is bad, if people feel like their ammo shoots better cause it shines then more power to them. In my opinion however you can get your brass too shiny if you are going for precision reloading. I don't feel like doing the research right now but over on the bench rest sites one of the bench rest shooters made a statement that the carbon layer on the inside of the neck provides a bit of lubrication for the bullet while raw brass gives a inconsistent neck tension. While I don't know about all that I do know that I get darn good groups and chrono's with soot on the inside of my cases so I am not going to lose sleep over it or buy that 300 dollar cleaning system to get rid of it.

[MEATSAW]

I clean all my brass in a plastic 5 gallon bucket with warm water and dawn. I use my hand as the tumbler. I rinse with warm water in a strainer and then air dry. Brass ends up being clean. So far so good and no reason to change.

[Edward429451]

They have stainless steel media now that is used with water and dishsoap that makes the brass look virgin again even the primer pocket and insides.

[oldmanFCSA]

February 26, 2012, 05:50 PM #102
hounddawg
Senior Member


Join Date: March 1, 2009
Posts: 356 Quote:

I wasn't aware that stainless steel pins worked with standard vibratory tumblers, in fact this article says they do not.

I use a Thumlers Tumbler Model B "HiSpeed" - 20 lb barrel.
To me this is a TUMBLER.

"Vibratory Tumblers" are not true tumblers, they are "VIBRATORS" (hmm, I better be careful with that terminology).

To stay safe - when I say TUMBLER, I mean the Rotary Tumblers that have capability to use dry or wet processing in a sealed barrel rotating horizonally.

I have a VIBRATORY "tumbler" for polishing brass or loaded pistol rounds, prior to packaging for customer or for long term storage. Dry media choice determines use. Note: Polishing vs Cleaning.

[Deja vu]

I use an ultrasonic cleaner so I don't have to. It all so does a good job on the inside of the case.

[Unclenick]

BTW,

Several members have picked up Thumbler B units on eBay or at garage sales for very reasonable prices. These had been bought originally for use as rock tumblers. Probably for kids who lost interest or for craft projects that faded away. Thumbler's has been around for a long time and since their products cross several industries, I don't expect them to go away. You can expect belts, liners, motors, and other replacement parts to be available with no problems. For that reason, I wouldn't feel uncomfortable buying one used rather than new for a steel pin experiment.

[t45]

I clean them for my own personal preference.