Single Stage Reloading Startup Items

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  • Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    Nice write up and thx for taking the time to help ppl who are interested in this obsession. The only thing that I would strongly disagree with is tumbling cases after you load them. The loaded rounds wont detonate in the vibe tumbler or anything but what does happen is the grains of powder will break down smaller and after a while turn to dust. That is not good at all. The pressures will not be consistent. The recipe for the load you are using calls for certain powders with certain grains. If you break down the grains then you throw off the whole thing.

    L. Bottoms

    1) Manufacturers tumble loaded rounds.

    2) Look online, there is a report of someone who forgot, and tumbled loaded rounds for over 24 hours. They pulled so rounds and there was no degradation. They fired some rounds, and no change in velocity.

    3) Think about it, many powders we use are made in Australia. So they load them on a ship, which pitches and rolls across the Pacific, then onto trucks to the plant to fill the containers. And then on a truck to the shop. And Military ammo, flies around the world on C-130 with high vibration for MANY hours.
     

    atblis

    Ultimate Member
    May 23, 2010
    2,011
    There are experiments where rounds were tumbled for hundreds of hours! 20 minutes in your tumbler to get the lube off ain't going to hurt a thing.
     

    TTLongRifle

    Member
    Jun 21, 2011
    11
    Thanks. I've been shooting S&W K series target revolvers and 22LR target rifles for many decades. Obviously 22LR is an off the shelf search that led to Fiocchi 320 S.M. for Kimber 82G and Federal Target for the K22. The K38 has worked very well with match ammo from a variety of suppliers. Now a Remington 700 in 223 has entered my collection, someday I'll tell my wife. I've been told it is unlikely a store bought match ammo will work as well as I'd like (smaller than 1/2" groups at 100 yards) so I've been looking into reloading and was quite confused until reading this thread and the other on the types of presses with their advantages/disadvantages. Thank you very much.
     

    DaemonAssassin

    Why should we Free BSD?
    Jun 14, 2012
    23,970
    Political refugee in WV
    Thanks. I've been shooting S&W K series target revolvers and 22LR target rifles for many decades. Obviously 22LR is an off the shelf search that led to Fiocchi 320 S.M. for Kimber 82G and Federal Target for the K22. The K38 has worked very well with match ammo from a variety of suppliers. Now a Remington 700 in 223 has entered my collection, someday I'll tell my wife. I've been told it is unlikely a store bought match ammo will work as well as I'd like (smaller than 1/2" groups at 100 yards) so I've been looking into reloading and was quite confused until reading this thread and the other on the types of presses with their advantages/disadvantages. Thank you very much.
    No problem. People asked, I had free time, and I genuinely like to help people.
     

    Dalebert

    Active Member
    Apr 15, 2020
    105
    Baltimore County
    I know that I'm late to the conversation, but I'd like to add something to what pinecone said about dry vs wet tumbling...in addition to getting shinier brass, my wet tumbler gives off NO DUST. The dust that comes from dry tumblers can contain lead and especially carbon. With a wet tumbler that goes down the drain and not into my lungs. Thats what made my final decision when i was figuring out what to start with...the shiny-ness was just an added bonus.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    I know that I'm late to the conversation, but I'd like to add something to what pinecone said about dry vs wet tumbling...in addition to getting shinier brass, my wet tumbler gives off NO DUST. The dust that comes from dry tumblers can contain lead and especially carbon. With a wet tumbler that goes down the drain and not into my lungs. Thats what made my final decision when i was figuring out what to start with...the shiny-ness was just an added bonus.

    Lead is not good to inhale. But small amounts are not a big deal. Your body clears the lead over time, so it is not like it just keeps building up.

    Carbon is not a huge problem.

    And we are talking about very small amounts of dust. And a bit of wet polish will reduce that.

    Or, how about PUTTING THE LID ON THE TUMBLER.
     

    85MikeTPI

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 19, 2014
    2,699
    Ceciltucky
    Lead is not good to inhale. But small amounts are not a big deal. Your body clears the lead over time, so it is not like it just keeps building up.

    Carbon is not a huge problem.

    And we are talking about very small amounts of dust. And a bit of wet polish will reduce that.

    Or, how about PUTTING THE LID ON THE TUMBLER.

    I'm sure wearing a mask will solve that problem.. :innocent0
     

    Todd S

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2012
    1,556
    Glen Rock, PA
    Lead is not good to inhale. But small amounts are not a big deal. Your body clears the lead over time, so it is not like it just keeps building up.

    Carbon is not a huge problem.

    And we are talking about very small amounts of dust. And a bit of wet polish will reduce that.

    Or, how about PUTTING THE LID ON THE TUMBLER.

    I also put used dryer sheets in the tumbler. This seems to help reduce dust.
     

    Harrys

    Short Round
    Jul 12, 2014
    3,362
    SOMD
    Ok ok ok, lots of people like vibratory tumblers and haven't died yet from the added lead. I still like the shiny brass though :-)

    Me neither, however I do use plastic gloves and made a cover to fit over the vibrating tumbler which keeps the dust in the tumbler.
     

    SWO Daddy

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 18, 2011
    2,468
    Happy Friday. Newb questions ahead.

    I've been saving my brass for the last 25yrs, and finally decided to get into reloading.

    I'm sold on the rotary tumbler.

    Question: It seems the common wisdom is to de-prime before tumbling. How are folks doing this? Don't most die sets resize and deprime at the same time? Don't you want to tumble before sizing?
     

    K31

    "Part of that Ultra MAGA Crowd"
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 15, 2006
    35,632
    AA county
    Happy Friday. Newb questions ahead.

    I've been saving my brass for the last 25yrs, and finally decided to get into reloading.

    I'm sold on the rotary tumbler.

    Question: It seems the common wisdom is to de-prime before tumbling. How are folks doing this? Don't most die sets resize and deprime at the same time? Don't you want to tumble before sizing?
    Yes, you can deprime and size at the same time. I like to use a depriving die though and do it as a separate step for a couple of reasons. If I am going to clean two lots of The same caliber brass that have different mileage on them, say 50 cases that have been fired once and 50 that have been fired 10 times, I'll leave the primers in one lot so I can later separate it fro the other. The other reason is if I'm depriming and accidentally picked up a Berdan primed case then if I break a depriving pin it's not one that's an integral part of the die.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,665
    Not Far Enough from the City
    Happy Friday. Newb questions ahead.

    I've been saving my brass for the last 25yrs, and finally decided to get into reloading.

    I'm sold on the rotary tumbler.

    Question: It seems the common wisdom is to de-prime before tumbling. How are folks doing this? Don't most die sets resize and deprime at the same time? Don't you want to tumble before sizing?

    Pros and cons each way, with personal preference a large part of this. Another part of your answer will likely depend on whether you're loading lubed rifle brass, or unlubed pistol brass.
     

    SWO Daddy

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 18, 2011
    2,468
    Yes, you can deprime and size at the same time. I like to use a depriving die though and do it as a separate step for a couple of reasons. If I am going to clean two lots of The same caliber brass that have different mileage on them, say 50 cases that have been fired once and 50 that have been fired 10 times, I'll leave the primers in one lot so I can later separate it fro the other. The other reason is if I'm depriming and accidentally picked up a Berdan primed case then if I break a depriving pin it's not one that's an integral part of the die.
    That's good info, thanks. I was just looking and it appears Frankford Arsenal makes a universal hand depriming tool that looks interesting.
     

    SWO Daddy

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 18, 2011
    2,468
    Pros and cons each way, with personal preference a large part of this. Another part of your answer will likely depend on whether you're loading lubed rifle brass, or unlubed pistol brass.
    Thanks. I forgot to mention that I'm starting with straight-wall pistol calibers first.
     

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