TOMD1943

just came back from range, shooting sr9. put about 150 rounds through pistol an had 4 failure the eject for the first time. I do not tumble clean my brass. so is it realy needed to clean your brass before reloading it? I've had around 3000 rds through the sr9 since owning it. the brass does have some discoloring on them but I can not feel it when I check for cracks in the case mouth. thanks in advance for your input. TOMD1943

bhefley59

I tumble all my brass . I use rice with a cap full of car wax 4 -6 hrs later and it looks almost new. Used corn cob media for a few years but the rice is cheaper and works better for me .
Good luck

StrutStopper

I tumble with walnut media from the pet store. Lizard bedding (think its called zilla?) is made of crushed walnut. You can put in some nu-finish or similar to make it really shine, but its un necessary.

Seneca

Cleaning will save wear and tear on your reloading dies, all it takes is a piece of grit from a dirty case to embed in the die and you'll get a permanent scratch on every case you run through the die after that...

I can't say cleaning your spent cases will help you find case defects...cracks and splits etc...but it won't hinder that process either...

I started cleaning my cases after replacing a couple of scratched dies, I figured two ruined dies about coveres the cost of a tumbler...I haven't had to replace a set of dies since and thats been...oh...ages ago, in the long run I have saved money...

To the question of is cleaning your brass necessary...It's not, just don't be suprised if at some point you start picking up scratches in your brass from the dies.

James6591

Bought this RCBS recently, and am using corn cob media.
Only used it three times so far, working great.
It's so much easier to see shiny brass at the range (grass).

Nick0410

I use corn cob bought from drillspot.com. I have a huge 40lb bag of it for about $30 bucks, should last a while, no additive besides used drier sheets. Works great and cheap.

I dont think cleanign brass is a HUGE part of reloading, its nice but its mostly to keep your dies and gun cleaner. I like to make my brass look like new though, even tumble after loading to keep them clean and load them into boxes with gloves so they stay looking new for an extended period without corroding from oils. I would hear that back in the day you could tell who a reloading was because they would be using tarnished, not cleaned brass

Iowegan

TOMD1943, I really doubt unclean brass has anything to do with your failures to eject. My educated guess .... your loads are too weak and aren't thrusting the slide back far enough for positive ejection. Likely you dropped a couple light charges because the rest of the ammo worked OK.

TOMD1943

so I guess it's up to me if I want to tumble my brass. I don't mind tranished brass as long a s it isn't causeing any fte's. lowegan, that is posable ising that I don't check every load.I check every tenth round. will see what happens at the next range day. thanks all TOMD1943

dickttx

Assuming you are using carbide dies, the carbide ring is much harder than anything it will come into contact with. It will also burnish the outside of the case. Should feed OK.
Shiney brass is purdy tho.

Seneca

I use walnut and corn cob media and two tumblers...In the first tumbler I use the walnut to clean, it also is the one that gets the polish added to it...the second tumbler contains the corn cob media and is left as is, it picks up what ever residue is left on the cases from the walnut.

They way I figure it is...I'm over doing it, because in reality two tumblers are not necessary, not by a long shot!

It was something I started doing when I used soft lubes (50/50 allox beeswax) on cast bullets. I was getting a waxy sooty residue on my spent cases that would gum up...The walnut/corn cob was my solution to clean up sticky gummy cases, which worked... I now use the hard lubes that don't gum up...yet old habits die hard...

Ruger Redhawk

The one I have is the Model B. I've had it for well over 30 years. Works great. All I've ever used to grounded Walnut shells and a little polishing compound.
Thumler's Tumbler - Professional Polishers and Tumblers

Seneca

Our local range is sandy and it's nearly impossible to pick up empties and and not get sand along with them...and its that sand that lead to my ruining a couple of dies. Switching to a hard lube helped a bunch...yet better safe than sorry, so I clean my brass. I could wipe them down, but tumbling is quicker and easier...

mikld

Tumbling brass is not necessary. Excellent, accurate, reliable brass is reloaded everyday without that "virgin" high gloss finish on the cases. Someone suggested dies last longer with clean (shiny, tumbled brass, not just clean dirt/grit free brass), but I've been arount the reloading comminity for prolly 30 years and I have never heard of a sizing die wearing out from any brass, especially un-tumbled brass. Some say you can see defects better with tumbled, shiny brass, I doubt that, all ya gotta do is look! I reloaded 12 years before I got a wobbler (Magnum handgun loads). All I did is wipe the brass with a rag dampened with mineral spirits as I inspected it. I looked for defects, split necks, pierced primers, etc. as I had the case in my hand wiping it with a rag.

I remember when, You could tell who was a reloader at the range by looking at his brass. It wasn't glossy, shiny brass, it was just clean reloads...

FlyerTom

Rice, huh?
Geeze, why didn't I think of that! I've used rice to clean the burrs in my coffee grinder for years and it never occurred to me it could be used in the tumbler. How does it hold up, and is there a lot of dust afterwards?

bhefley59

Holds up pretty good I tumbled around 6000 before I threw it out. It was getting dirty but hey rice is cheap. Also if you put a cap full of wax in you don't have to use any lube . I use carbide dies but still it slicks them up .

Good luck