I don't mind dry tumbling my fired brass since I usually leave it on in the shop for 5 hours but I hate having to do the process again after lubing and resizing because then there's always shit in the primers flash holes and I always worry that a tiny piece of corncob get stuck inside the case. If I don't really case about flashy brass, can't I just get a wet tumbler without the SS pins and simply remove the lube that way ? But then you have to dry them and that also involves more work. I do have a food dryer that I barely ever use so I guess that would work for a small batch.
Or if I only do a batch of 100x 6.5 or 308 at a time, wouldn't a small ultrasonic be better ? Right now I'm looking at the Frankford ROTARY TUMBLER LITE for wet tumbling or the Hornady Lock-N-Load Sonic Cleaner
i use a frankford wet tumbler with Frankford brass cleaning solvent. it produces brilliant clean brass.
if you are reloading previously fired brass and want good results (Precision) you must anneal the case necks. if you anneal, you must yank the old primers first....just for safety sake and to prepare for good cleaning.
if you have a hand decapping tool, (they are awesome) they save decaying pins in the full length sizing die. decap first then wet clean with the brass juice or frankford cleaner 1-3 oz per gallon, set in roto drum for 1 -2 hours, and....brillience. i also squirt in a little Dawn pump detergent. wash with hot water and use a leaf blower to get rid of the spots on the exterior of the cases. Set up the dehydrator at 135F for a couple hours and the insides will be completely dry.
we are talking about really precision loading here, so ever step may seem anal, but it all adds up to precision.
i also chamfer and deburr, before cleaning and drying so the bullets seat easily and don't scratch their way into the case.
Gunky lube doesn't want to come off very easily and you can still expect to need wiping out the inside of the case neck with a patch or something before dropping powder if you dont want it to stick in the case mouth as you set a bullet.
SS Pins do a great job but stick in the bottom of all but the largest magnum cases....forget them. chemicals work great
Dillon or Frankford spray lube and resize....now they are all gummy....back into the wet cleaner and dryer....
Now you have brilliant and dry brass for loading....load them up. (note that if you annealed the brass and got the annealing color on the cases, these colorations will disappear after chemical cleaning...they will look and be like new)
now you have greasy finger prints from the press, shell holder, and bench, and bullets with finger print stains on them, so after loading....then dry, vibrate the finished and loaded rounds and the entire round, case, and bullet will look like it came right out of a premium factory.
consider getting some nitrile gloves or something to wear when handling ammo because there are a lot of chemicals in the fired residue, lead in the bullets and the brass metals. they also keep your product clean from the acid in your hand's natural moisture.
if you are punching out a lot of plinking 223, who cares... if you are loading up 6.5 Creedmoor, or PRC, with ATIPS, then every little step counts.
good luck
