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Wet Tumbling?


Don Jorge

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With wet tumbling, where does the water go after use?

 

Can wet tumbling be done without first depriming?  Does that process, as an isolated step, add to the case prep time overall?

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I have read that tumbling without first depriming extends the life of your dies. If nothing else, it keeps the dies cleaner. 

 

Wet tumbling be done without first depriming obviously doesn't clean the primer pocket, but if your dies are clean that shouldn't be much of an issue.

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16 minutes ago, Itchy Trigger said:

I have read that tumbling without first depriming extends the life of your dies. If nothing else, it keeps the dies cleaner. 

 

Wet tumbling be done without first depriming obviously doesn't clean the primer pocket, but if your dies are clean that shouldn't be much of an issue.

I'm still using dies that have a 1978 date stamp. 

Don't think die life is a legitimate concern. 

I de-prime and use ceramic media. 

The water goes down the sink drain.

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I don’t deprive before wet tumbling.  Water goes on gravel drive.  

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I deprime-only before the wet tumbling.  Lee sells a deprimer die that only does that operation

 

If you let the wet brass with primers still in them sit for some time then you risk the chance of corrosion between primer pocket and spent primer

 

from replies above ▲ it would appear this is not a major issue.

 

my water goes in the grass and no adverse effects have been noted

 

while you didn't ask I use a ¼ teaspoon of Lemi-Shine and a ½ oz of whatever is the cheapest car wash & wax at wally world.  Leaves a thin wax coating, which you won't be able to feel on the cases that keeps them from tarnishing.  Won't  interfere with powder or primers either 

 

It does take a bit more time but the shiny brass, especially in the Texas Sun, is worth it for me, I have no life :D

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I deprime first using a decapping die in a dedicated toolhead in my Dillon 550.It doesnt take long to deprime several hundred cases.

I then wet tumble and dry the cases,in the sun,or in an old toaster oven kept for that purpose.

Clean primer pockets helps assure that primers are fully seated. This step has nearly eliminated FTF problems that I was having.

Clean brass doesnt scratch your sizing die , or leave scratches on your brass, which helps case extraction.

The extra time invested in depriming first, tumbling,and drying your brass pays off in the smoother operation of your firearms, especially on the firing line.

Of course  YMMV.

Choctaw Jack 

 

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I deprime first, then ss pins with simple green, lemishine, a bit of oxyclean dishwasher drying agent. Run them till satisfied, spread them out on old towel and turn on a fan directly over them. While they dry I run another bunch. I run the same mixture for several batches then dumpin in an old stump. 

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2 hours ago, TN Mongo, SASS #61450 said:

I deprime first with the tool listed below.  I find my brass dries faster when deprimed.

 

Easy To Use Priming & Depriming Tools | Frankford Arsenal

+1

Deprime everything first with this tool so the primer pockets get clean.  Water goes down the utility sink or outside, or your neighbors' flower beds.......   Then you just size cases when you are ready to load up.

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There is no if about it, the primers will rust unto the case if you don't deprime first.  Then the primer punch either won't push it out or pushes the middle out and leaves the sides of the primer cup stuck in the case.  I wet tumbled  a couple of hundred cases without depriming and let them sit a couple of weeks before I tried to load them.  Probably had 40 out of 200 with the primers stuck.  I always deprime now before wet tumbling.  I also use a Lee universal depriming die. 

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15 minutes ago, Jack Spade said:

There is no if about it, the primers will rust unto the case if you don't deprime first.  Then the primer punch either won't push it out or pushes the middle out and leaves the sides of the primer cup stuck in the case.  I wet tumbled  a couple of hundred cases without depriming and let them sit a couple of weeks before I tried to load them.  Probably had 40 out of 200 with the primers stuck.  I always deprime now before wet tumbling.  I also use a Lee universal depriming die. 

 

My experience is the exact opposite. Wet tumble, Air dry in the sun, and then put into 30 cal ammo cans till I'm ready to reload. No stuck primers.

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On any brass that will fit in my Mighty Armory universal decamping die it gets deprimed first. On my brass 12G shells I run them through the tumbler for about 30 minutes first just to clean the sand and grit from the range. Then deprime/ size and send back through the tumbler to polish and remove sizing lube. 

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I don't deprime.

 

Water goes in the yard.   

3 hours ago, Jack Spade said:

There is no if about it, the primers will rust unto the case if you don't deprime first.  Then the primer punch either won't push it out or pushes the middle out and leaves the sides of the primer cup stuck in the case.  I wet tumbled  a couple of hundred cases without depriming and let them sit a couple of weeks before I tried to load them.  Probably had 40 out of 200 with the primers stuck.  I always deprime now before wet tumbling.  I also use a Lee universal depriming die. 

 

 

Brass rusts?

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4 hours ago, Jack Spade said:

There is no if about it, the primers will rust unto the case if you don't deprime first.  Then the primer punch either won't push it out or pushes the middle out and leaves the sides of the primer cup stuck in the case.  I wet tumbled  a couple of hundred cases without depriming and let them sit a couple of weeks before I tried to load them.  Probably had 40 out of 200 with the primers stuck.  I always deprime now before wet tumbling.  I also use a Lee universal depriming die. 

In 13 years of shooting BP, which requires wet soaking, I’ve never had a primer corroded in place, or otherwise stuck. Cases go in the solution at the range and might remain there for 24 hours or more. After rinsing, they’re allowed to dry on a towel in the basement or outdoors in the sun, depending on the weather. 
 

From there, they go into the dry media tumbler with walnut media. Primers remain in the case until reloading, which might be months later. I leave the primers in the case to avoid media getting stuck there. 
 

 

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9 hours ago, Don Jorge said:

With wet tumbling, where does the water go after use?

 

Can wet tumbling be done without first depriming?

 

 Does that process, as an isolated step, add to the case prep time overall?

I pour my tumbling water in the sink by my reloading bench which in turn goes to the sump pump that goes to the ditch in my back yard.

 

Yes.

 

Adds time to hand deprime as my progressive press deprimes.

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I shoot smokeless power and I never deprime before wet tumbling.  I only use dawn and a 9mm case of lemishine.  I don't use the steel pins.  They are more trouble than they are worth as far as I'm concerned.  Finding a stray steel pin during the depriming process could really cause problems.  After drying and inspection, all the cases go into a large tupperware tub waiting to be reloaded.  I've never had any problem with primers corroding in the primer pockets.  I changed over to wet tumbling to reduce my exposure to lead.   I think the lizard litter vibratory tumbler was unnecessarily adding to my lead levels.  Hopefully they will be down the next time I get it checked.

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I guess my experience has been different than some other guys.  Brass doesn't rust but something, I am guessing corrosion of some kind, stuck those primers in the case and I have had it happen more than once and it is a pain.  You do it however you want.  

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I have a separate Dillon tool head with only a Lee depriming die. I bulk deprime before I tumble if it’s over 100 rounds or so.  For load development I have another depriming die for my single stage.

 

I like clean primer pockets, so I deprime first then wet tumble in SS media and a Dawn/Lemishine mix. Water goes in the large utility sink in my loading room.

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4 hours ago, Jack Spade said:

I guess my experience has been different than some other guys.  Brass doesn't rust but something, I am guessing corrosion of some kind, stuck those primers in the case and I have had it happen more than once and it is a pain.  You do it however you want.  

I shoot smokeless. I wash/ agitate my brass in Simple Green with water, then dry in an old dehydrator. One time I didn't dry them enough and did have quite a few that got stuck I guess. Seemed as though they got pulled back into the case. The Dillon pin certainly goes in far enough, but some still had the old primer still in when I tried to seat the new one. Now I dry them longer and only occasionally have one stick. Oh and after drying, I run them in corn cob with polish for an hour. Real shiny outside, but dirty inside. Haven't had good results with walnut, corn is way shinier. 

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There are several Videos online about Wet Tumbling........ Here is one of the Better Ones.

 

 

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I also do not deprime before I tumble and I've never had a problem with stuck primers (at least no problem that I could attribute to wet priming being the cause).

 

Immediately after the brass is cleaned, I rinse and place it in an older food dehydrator to dry.  Doesn't take but an hour or so at max temp to completely dry - inside and out.

 

You can spend money on a dehydrator with Hornady/RCBS/Lee etc on it, or you can go to a Goodwill and buy an older one for a lot less money.

 

I do not let wet brass sit around for any amount of time.

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Okay, it's expensive, but I ordered the stuff to try it.  Better be as good as y'all say!

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A few random thoughts:

 

I never deprime first; never had an issue.  Primer pocket "may" be dirty? My take is if there's a primer already in the pocket, a new one will fit just fine.  Never fails.

 

Gave Sassparilla Kid one of those Frankford Arsenal tumblers from Amazon for his birthday. 

 

The Amazon ad said the pins were sold separately (see below), so I bought him a 5-lb box from Sportsman's Warehouse 'twarn't cheap, at just a hair under sixty bucks with tax.  However, the drum did have a package of pins and sample container of "cleaning solution" included.

 

Damned impressed with its performance!      

 

 

  • Quote

    CONVENIENT: Works great with Frankford Arsenal Stainless Steel Media (1097884), Cleaning Packs (110040), and Cleaning Solution (878787) sold separately

 

 

 

 

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On 11/21/2022 at 2:46 PM, Griff said:

Okay, it's expensive, but I ordered the stuff to try it.  Better be as good as y'all say!

Yup, I'm with ya pard. Mine will be here tomorrow.

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On 11/20/2022 at 1:19 PM, TN Mongo, SASS #61450 said:

I deprime first with the tool listed below.  I find my brass dries faster when deprimed.

 

Easy To Use Priming & Depriming Tools | Frankford Arsenal

Yep.

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Seems Santa (Ellie) is going to get me one! Anybody find a price better than Amazon @ $140 and free shipping for the large FART?

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