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There was a post and someone commented that tumbling the brass with primer in should not be done because some of the media can become lodged in the pocket such that it is hard to deprime. If this is the case so how do you remove the spent primer when you are not supposed to run the brass in the die without lube? Do you guys use a hand primer?

I have not had problems with tumbling the brass with primer in but can see where a problem can arise.

So what do you do? Remove primer before tumbling or not?
They make dedicated decapping dies and some guys use those. I don't have one and always size & decap at once.

Re: decap & tumble vs tumble & decap
It depends on how dirty your brass is. I like to wash my cases then Size & decap then tumble. But, I do it differently all the time. Last batch I skipped washing, sized & decapped and then washed in Lemishine. No tumbling.
tumble in media with old primer in case.
My MAIN goal is to have CLEAN cases BEFORE it enters my dies.
I don't care if the case is shiny or not. I don't want the grit in my dies. A good inspection of the cases will prevent any problems with media stuck in the primer pocket.
I size and decap in one as well, I also have a stock pile of decapping pins so I don't worry to much about that aspect.

In my cleaning media I always run a small percentage of walnut in with the cobb, this is my first tumble process and it takes about 15 minutes for 200 cases and it seems to alleviate the conglomerating and binding of cobb inside the case while tumbling.

The final polish if necessary is done in pure cobb and the flash holes are checked for blockage before priming.

Haven't had any adverse effects from firing a cartridge with a kernal stuck in the flash whole, but the possibility of a primer detonation while priming is there and something to consider.
Size, then tumble in Stainless Media. No primer pockets to clean!
I resize and deprime then tumble. On some of the cases, the media will impact in the primer pocket but that is easily flipped out. The tumbling also cleans the primer pockets. There may be a bit of stain left in the pocket but that doesn't hurt.
I have a small Lee press set up solely for de-capping with one of their "Universal De-capping Dies" in it. It doesn't touch the case walls, so no damage to the cases and I get to inspect the cases before they go into the tumbler.

Having the primer pocket empty allows at least some of the primer residue to be removed.

Ed
I always tumble with the old primer in place. Then when depriming/sizing any media stuck in the flash hole gets knocked out in one go.

Used to tumble after depriming but media (corn or walnut, doesn't matter which) gets stuck in the hole and depending on the media can get really jammed into the primer pocket itself. Had to go back a second time and either knock it out with a punch or run it through a decapping die. Seemed like unnecessary effort when it could all be taken care of in the resizing operation.

Second advantage as already noted is that a clean case is run through the die.

Never had a problem with media damaging a decapping pin on any die - RCBS, Redding or Lee.
I tumble them when i got enougth to...rite from the range, then I size & de-cap ....I got a "primer pocket tool" mounted in a old drill ......done.
Originally Posted by Jim in Idaho
I always tumble with the old primer in place. Then when depriming/sizing any media stuck in the flash hole gets knocked out in one go.

Used to tumble after depriming but media (corn or walnut, doesn't matter which) gets stuck in the hole and depending on the media can get really jammed into the primer pocket itself. Had to go back a second time and either knock it out with a punch or run it through a decapping die. Seemed like unnecessary effort when it could all be taken care of in the resizing operation.

Second advantage as already noted is that a clean case is run through the die.

Never had a problem with media damaging a decapping pin on any die - RCBS, Redding or Lee.


People forget that the main reason to tumble cases is to have them clean so grit does not damage your sizing die.

I used to tumble, deprime, and tumble again to remove lube but got real tired of picking media out of cases and flash holes. I've switched to water soluable lube and simply rinse the cases after sizing.
I tumble before decap.
I also tumble before sizing/decap.
Clean brass is easier on the sizing die.
If the brass is clean after firing I skip the tumbling.
I tumble primed to get the ick off before sizing.
I don't like running dirty cases through the dies. One grit and you've messed up a die so it scratches ALL your brass.
If the primer pockets are cruddy, I'll size and decap and then tumble again, that cleans them up a little but not spit-shined.
But normally, it's just tumble, size, prime and load. If you have a media separator and keep your media unclogged, you should almost never break a pin.
Guys, I wipe my brass down with a soft cloth before resizing. This cleans the brass and helps to find any small crack or flaw. The I resize, deprime, and tumble. How is a soft brass case gonna imbed a grain of sand into a hard steel die? I have dies that are over 50yo and they're still working fine. Can someone cite me an actual case of dies being damaged? I'm not talking about some clutz that would pick up a piece of brass off of the ground and cram it it a die.
i clean thousands of cases a day every day with primer in. no worry, just de-prime and go.
I have done it both ways,primers in/out.

I have bought 2 types of the de-priming dies and they work well,even when brass is tumbled with the primers in.

Yes,i have broken several of the pins but it was due to those pesky double holed cases.

If the brass is not really cruddy i just wipe and reload.
yeah I have broken the pins because of those doube hole cases. Think there are called beran or boxer primers. hard to tell whether some fired cases handed to me is double holed with the primers still in. any way you can tell whether a case is doubleholed with the primer still in?
Berdan = two holes. Pretty much considered un-reloadable. Mostly found in foreign milsup ammo
Boxer = 1 hole. standard for domestic ammo and brass. reloadable.
no way of knowing from outward appearance whether it's Berden or Boxer. The head stamp can be a clue.
What Still says: Berdans are one-time only, but if you got desperate, you could make a bushed drill sleeve and poke them for Boxer. Been thinking about trying that for fun.
As for your scratching question, Still, I have cootied a die. I got a hunk of grit somewhere, it bedded itself in the brass and put a ding in the die. Soft metal with a large bearing surface can hold a hard thing to wreck the harder metal...sho nuff.
Thank God for die grinders. Took some nit-picking work but I got rid of the cootie and the die works fine.
Originally Posted by digger44
tumble in media with old primer in case.
My MAIN goal is to have CLEAN cases BEFORE it enters my dies.
I don't care if the case is shiny or not. I don't want the grit in my dies. A good inspection of the cases will prevent any problems with media stuck in the primer pocket.


+1
Originally Posted by Pahntr760
Size, then tumble in Stainless Media. No primer pockets to clean!


One of these days I'm going to get the SSM kit... then, I imagine my procedure will be tumble in cobb>>>size>>>tumble in SS media, if nothing more than to get the primer pockets clean.
I generally decap first, then tumble. I do this primarily to minimize the amount of lead salts in the tumbling media, both for myself and for the little helpers I have who love to reload with me.

I use Lee's Collet neck sizer on most all my rifle cases, so it's no big deal to decap & size at once, but I also have their Universal Decapping die for the semi-autos I must F-L size for.
I tumble with the spent primer. I hate to run dirty cases through my sizing die. I decap and inspect the primer pocket and usually clean the pocket out. May be overkill.
De-cap with Lee de-capping die,
Liquid case wash (birchwood-casy),
Tumble if I want cases polished,
Resize, prime, load.

I may skip toe liquid case cleaner or the tumbling depending on what I am reloading.
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