Tonight I loaded up 100 rounds.
75gr Hornady BTHP
LC '13 Brass
CCI 400 Primers
25.5 gr CFE 223
OAL 2.250
ETA: 5.56 NATO chamber only load.
My last step is to toss them into the vibe tumbler for a short spin in corn cob to shine them up and remove all lube.
Tonight I noticed tiny pieces of corn cob in the hollow point tips. This doesn’t happen with 77 gr SMK’s.
Does anyone think this will negatively affect accuracy?
Why not polish them before you reload?
Not sure about the answer to your question but I personally wouldn’t want corn husk stuck in the tip of any match load.
I do, but the loading process gets them all gunked up and it does a nice job of getting all remaining lube off of them.
I picked all of it out with a needle, never noticed this before tonight. I load mostly 77 gr SMK’s and not many 75 gr H-HPBT’s. Looks like the Hornady rounds have larger holes in their tips.
Any chance you could pluck them out? Try using a larger corn cob…I get great results with the Lyman treated green corn cob.
I would see if you can find a coarser or different media.
I used to polish all my brass but the last year or so I’ve gone away from it. Picking corn out of the primer pockets was tedious enough. If some brass starts to get rough I’ll toss some in the tumbler, otherwise I’ve removed that step for the most part. I hand load all my rifle ammo so it doesn’t get terribly dirty in the process.
Might want to try crushed walnut media. I get very few stuck pieces.
Also, I polish right before and right after sizing. Gets all the lube off the case before seating. Its worked well for me.
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I wet tumble as an initial clean and wet tumble after sizing. That way I have clean, shiny, lube-free brass before priming/dropping powder. Personally, I wouldn’t get powder anywhere near a piece of brass that still has lube on it…
FWIW, if you haven’t tried wet tumbling in stainless media, I would seriously look into. The results are MUCH better than vibratory tumbling. It gets ALL of the carbon crud out of the casing and primer pocket. You can get into it for ~$75.
I’ve shot brass that was brown with no negative effects. Tumbling after loading is putting form before function.
I’m no veteran reloader, but why would anyone drop primer, powder, and projectiles into a lubed case?
My steps:
1: Clean dirty brass with crushed walnut.
2: Lube
3: Resize/decap and trim if necessary
4: Clean and polish with corn cob and Nufinish polish (only add polish around every 4-5 loads) to get lube off
5: Prime, drop powder, seat bullet
6: Choot it up and repeat steps 1-5
Never heard of anyone loading lubed 223/556 or tumbling loaded cartridges, at least on purpose.
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This ^^^ Although I use thumbler’s tumbler… heavy rubber drum.
I have wet tumbled for 35 years and consider it far superior (and cheaper) than vibratory. Although ultrasonic has piqued my interest.
I use the Thumlers as well. I wonder if the model I have could wet tumble as I’ve been wanting to try it but not wanting to invest in any more equipment. I guess just buy the SS media and give it a go :fingers crossed:
I know one thing for sure- that Thumlers will turn A LOT of brass and never miss a beat.
ETA: how long does the wet media go before having to clean it or change it? Seems like case lube would ruin the fluid quickly.
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It’s dish detergent and lemi-shine or other surfactant added to water. You throw the solution out after each batch, because it’s almost free. The pins last for about…forever.
Thanks. I actually just looked it up on some site that sells the tumblers and media and read all that same info. Also noticed the process is pretty much exclusive to rotary tumblers.
My Thumlers is a vibratory tumbler, not a rotary. Guess I’ll just stick to that for a while b/c I am not interested in investing anymore into reloading equipment at the time. Seems like a great option for the future though.
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Yes, I use a small amount of Dawn and the hottest water I can get. All the crud is removed, not just lube and the hot brass now evaporates the remaing water pretty quickly. Drying time is not all that much. Although the downside is you must ensure the cases are completely dry! I’ve never had an issue though.
The whole process is a lot faster than vibratory with media.
I haven’t found the water temp to make much of a difference. Also, I use a food dehydrator to dry the brass. I usually put the wet brass in at night and unplug it in the morning and it’s ready to load whenever you’re ready.
I am and I don’t. I wipe off the lube before I prime and trim. You can never get all the lube off unless you toss it into the vibe.
I’ve looked at wet tumbling and that just sounds like so much more work for very little gain. I’ve never had an issue with accuracy by leaving some powder residue in the case and flash hole.
I see. That makes more sense to me now. I thought I may have been missing out on something I wasn’t doing.
I run the same steps, except for tumbling after resizing to be sure I get the lube off AND out. Sounds like you’re pad rolling your brass to lube them or rolling it with your fingers. I dump 100 or so pieces in a zip lock bag and spray and roll. I have to tumble to get the lube out before loading.
Do you ever run into powder residue being difficult to get out of the casing b/c lube got in it?
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If you want to try it, move Step 8 to 3 and drop tumbling after seating. It saves the wiping and gets lube off the exterior and interior of case. And no more media stuck in open tips.
My process:
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I thought putting loaded rounds in a vib. tumbler was bad for the powder…? Coused it to crack and become finer changing the burn rate or what ever…
Not at all.