Just started reloading, and wondering how important is it to clean your brass before reloading it. Do I need to buy a tumbler? What would be the ill effects of reloading without cleaning the brass?

Also, the only pistol primers I could find anywhere were large pistol primers. I reload for a 44mag Redhawk and the primers seem to work fine, but I am supposed to be using magnum primers. Would I see better performance if I was able to find mag primers?

The load I am shooting is a 300 grain Hornady JHP over 18 grains of Lil'Gun powder. The manual says this should push 1300 fps. Anyone have experience with this load combo? It seems to shoot well(1.5 inch groups at 25 yds using a 4 power TC pistol scope). This is without cleaning the brass or using the right primers.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! I just started doing this last week.

thanks

I've never cleaned my brass. If you want to clean your brass and don't want to buy a tumbler and media, I have a recipe for a soak that will make it nice and shiny. I'm just too lazy.

Your primers are fine. If you change to a mag primer you will have to reduce your load and work up as if anew.

I don't have experience with that load but it should giterdun. Get a chronograph, it is the most useful tool you can get for reloading.

" Get a chronograph, it is the most useful tool you can get for reloading."Best advice ever!

X3

Thanks guys.

I've Always Been A Bit Apprehensive About Case Polishing. My Fear Is Based On The Fact That You're Removing A Tiny Layer Of Brass From All Surfaces Of The Case Every Time You Tumble It In A Granular Medium. With The Case Thusly Getting Progressively-Thinner Each Time You Polish It You're Constantly Weakening It Ever-So-Slightly.

An Example:

The Gigantic .50 Sharps Caliber Brass Is Only An Incredible .008 Thick At The Case Mouth So It Would Definitely Not Be Wise To Remove Any Metal From It Unless Absolutely Necessary* * *

"If you want to clean your brass and don't want to buy a tumbler and media, I have a recipe for a soak that will make it nice and shiny. I'm just too lazy."


OK, I want this recipe. I have a tumbler but the noise drives me crazy.

1------Quart of water
1------Cup of White Vinegar
1/2----Cup Lemon Juice
1/4----Cup Liquid Laundry or Dishwashing Detergent

I use a small net bag to put brass in, agitate in cleaner every few minutes for 15 to 20 minutes, let drain back into container, rinse with water, hot or cold, I usually towl them off a bit, just drop the brass into a large towel fold and hold each end and agitate back and forth for a couple minutes. Allow to air dry overnight. You can tumble briefly after this if you want and get 'em really shiny.

I have also heard the "Purple Power" does a real good job when diluted 50/50, IIRC. You can buy at Wally's World.

Thanks, I'll try this out. I usually resize and deprime befor tumbling. If this works I won't have to spend the time picking out the flash hole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:50-140_sharps.jpg

In Fact:

I'll Always Suspect That The Practice Of Rolling Those Huge(700 Gr.) Lead Bullets In "Kimberly" Stout Paper Before Seating Them In The Case Mouth With The Old Original "Lyman" Pliers-Press Was A Measure Which Was Necessary To Prevent The Case Wall Grip-Pressure On The Bullet From "Telescoping" Such Frail Brass.

No ill effects of loading dirty brass. I have loaded 44 mags countless time without cleaning. I do check the primer pocket each time and keep the carbon build up cleaned out. I also want to define dirty brass. Usually discolored and dingy from use, or dull color from a little age. If there is a clod of something stuck to the brass or actual buildup on the case, that needs to be removed. A scotch bright pad will clean the brass well with little effort, and it's cheap.

I bought a 110 volt timer and keep my tumbler in the basement. That keeps the noise and dust out of the loading room, and I don't have to mind the tumbler as the timmer does that.




I find it very hard to belive that tumbling brass would reduce enough material to ever make a differance. My 218 BEE brass is about .008-.009" thick at the case mouth. I have shot it several times and tumbled it several times and I see no ill effect on case wall thickness or reduced neck tension from deminished brass. I have seen the brass work hardened to the point of neck splits, but that is another topic all together.

The Ideal Exercise Here Would Be To Resize,Load,Fire,& Generously-Tumble A Batch Of Cases (Say For Instance)5-10 Times And Employ A High-End Digital Micrometer(Before & After) To Gauge Each Of The Mouths And Determine If They've Shed-Off Enough To Be A Cause For Concern.
"Tigger" Just Reminded Us In The "Crimping" Thread That We Also Have To Consider The Gradual Stretching Of Cases That's Caused By Repeated-Firing And Resizing. This Will Naturally Thin-Out The Case Walls Very Slightly And It Seems To Me That Both Factors Combined Could Have A Most Undesirable Effect.

P.S.

Wooden Shaft Q-Tips Work Beautifully For Swabbing-Out Primer Pockets* * *

Might be an interesting experiment.

If the same cases were fired 5 to 10 times without tumbling "cleaning" and then measured with the high end digital micrometers, I'll bet you would see more wear on the brass then the tumbling would ever do.

Even with walnut shell media, I've never seen brass removed by tumbling, and I go through a lot of brass. Walnut media is softer than the brass, and therefore can't cause case erosion. Brass cases should be cleaned before reloading, to protect the reloading dies from getting embedded with grit, which ruins the dies, and also the next cases you size with that die. Polishing brass is not really necessary, that's more of a workmanship type procedure, but you do want clean cases to reload. Work hardening is probably the number one killer of brass cases, and that's difficult to get around with handgun cases because at least the case mouth should be resized to hold bullets in firmly. Chemical cleaning of cases is just fine. Just don't use anything with ammonia in it.

If you are loading only in small volume, Brasso and an old t-shirt works well.

Another thing, if you are at the range, give your brass a quick rub down from a small amount of bore cleaner like Butch's Bore Shine on a shirt. This will keep them pretty clean.

Thanks for all the responces, I'm soaking up all this info like a sponge.

I have heard alot about cleaning primer pockets. The progressive reloader that I have puts the brass through the die and deprimes the case at the same time. Then it moves it over to the primer seater and powder filler, and over to the bullet seater. With this setup there is not a spot to clean the primer hole unless I pry the case out of the progressive press between stages.
I don't mind the dirty brass, or what it looks like, I just want to shoot ALOT. Is it harmful to reload without cleaning, or just for looks.
Also, what else shoud I know?

It depends if you want precision accuracy or just plinking ammo. It's still advisable to clean the primer pockets to insure positive ignition.

Heck no.

But they don't look nearly as purdy.

Yes I do polish the brass, clean the primer pockets and put them in nice plactic boxes when I am done.

and Yes all the brass is the same brand in the same box.

I am an engineer remember

and no you can't have 47 rounds in a 50 box

Ah...

Here's Where We See That The Science Of Physics Is As Decieving As It Is Complex. If Brass Was Immune To Erosive-Effect Of Rubbing Against Something So Soft As Nutshells Of Corncobs Then Our Copper & Nickel U.S. Coinage Would Likewise Be Immune To The Effects Of Tumbling In Pants-Pockets And Abrasion By Fingers & Hands. How Many Old Pennies & Nickels Have You Seen That Are So Heavily-Worn The Numbers & Letters On Them Are Barely Visible?

you would wear it out by shooting/work hardening/spliting of the brass WAY before you weakened it enuff to even talk about with normal polishing. it's an issue not even worth talking about imo.

DING DING DING!!!! You get the prize!!!!!

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Ah...

Here's Where We See That The Science Of Physics Is As Decieving As It Is Complex. If Brass Was Immune To Erosive-Effect Of Rubbing Against Something So Soft As Nutshells Of Corncobs Then Our Copper & Nickel U.S. Coinage Would Likewise Be Immune To The Effects Of Tumbling In Pants-Pockets And Abrasion By Fingers & Hands. How Many Old Pennies & Nickels Have You Seen That Are So Heavily-Worn The Numbers & Letters On Them Are Barely Visible?
[/quote]

The coins get damaged in your pockets by rubbing against other coins, keys, pocket knives & other pocket stuffers. Newer coins are no longer made from copper or silver, so they tend to show less wear.

I don't want to start a war here, but Brasso makes brass less elastic over time because of it's ammonia content. I used to use Brasso a lot, but quit when my case life dropped to only 1-2 reloadings. There are plenty of effective case polishes out there to choose from. Brasso is great for brass furniture & other things that don't expand & contract. I had 41 & 44 magnum cases splitting their entire length within a maximum of 2 reloadings.

Also You Only Have To Look At The Erosion Of Riverbeds Caused By Nothing Other Than Water.Even Some Stone-Sculpture Carvings Are Done By Artists Using A Hyper-Pressurized Jet Of H2O * * *
[/quote]

By tumbling and cleaning your brass, after firing, in my experience, it will last longer(you'll get more reloads per piece of brass)?
HTHs, Steve