What did you do in the reloading room today?

49ereric

WKR
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Messages
932
Trying something new that I read about in here. I normally deprime, wash brass in a sonic cleaner, dry in dehydrator, anneal, chamfer, debur and then size.

I am going to skip sonic cleaning and drying. Just deprime, brush necks, brush primer pockets etc….

Any of you have experience with not tumbling or washing your brass? I think I am going to run my same old process for my gas guns but try this for the bolt guns.
People still clean primer pockets? 🤔 no tumbler either
 
Joined
Jan 4, 2025
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12
People still clean primer pockets? 🤔 no tumbler either
I do. Have an RCBS brass boss and out of habit more than anything, I debur, chamfer, brush primer pockets and brush necks. I have a tumbler but I don’t use it. I have a sonic cleaner I normally use. What is your process for brass prep?
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Messages
38
Trying something new that I read about in here. I normally deprime, wash brass in a sonic cleaner, dry in dehydrator, anneal, chamfer, debur and then size.

I am going to skip sonic cleaning and drying. Just deprime, brush necks, brush primer pockets etc….

Any of you have experience with not tumbling or washing your brass? I think I am going to run my same old process for my gas guns but try this for the bolt guns.
I used to have a very similar process.

I skip the initial clean unless the brass is dirty from actual dirt and debris.

I used to deprime, tumble, clean the pockets, steel wool the carbon from the outside of the neck...just a quick twist or two, not thorough. Then I anneal, lube, Resize and if it needs it, I will wipe the case and do the trim, chamfer, debur before tossing it in the tumbler with cob to get the lube off.

I did the whole, wipe the case and skip cleaning altogether thing for a bit. I just noticed cases were a little slick after firing. The Loaded cases felt fine, but the warm cases obviously had lube still on them. I started making it a point to tumble after sizing to keep my chambers cleaner.

I should add, I only clean pockets on precision reloads, not plinking ammo.
 

49ereric

WKR
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Messages
932
I do. Have an RCBS brass boss and out of habit more than anything, I debur, chamfer, brush primer pockets and brush necks. I have a tumbler but I don’t use it. I have a sonic cleaner I normally use. What is your process for brass prep?
Stop cleaning primer pockets decades ago as well as brushing necks but I don’t own a cleaning station.
I don’t shoot long distances cuz I live in the woods.
 
Joined
May 16, 2021
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1,525
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North Texas
I deprime, resize, tumble in rice to remove case lube, set final size necks with mandrel, inside chamfer, anneal, reprise, charge and seat bullets.


I only wet tumble or sonic clean if cases are extremely dirty.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 

Harvey_NW

WKR
Joined
Feb 13, 2019
Messages
2,067
Location
WA
Unboxed and setup the burstfire annealer. Did a few test runs with some old brass before running a larger batch. Seems great for the price!
Love my Burstfire! Only used the annealer setup twice and it was okay with medium sized cartridges, but the case prep station is by far my favorite addition of tools!

Trying something new that I read about in here. I normally deprime, wash brass in a sonic cleaner, dry in dehydrator, anneal, chamfer, debur and then size.

I am going to skip sonic cleaning and drying. Just deprime, brush necks, brush primer pockets etc….

Any of you have experience with not tumbling or washing your brass? I think I am going to run my same old process for my gas guns but try this for the bolt guns.
Skip cleaning pockets too, makes zero measurable difference. The only reason I tumble brass is to get lube off after sizing. I use lanolin/alcohol spray for sizing lube, tumble in white rice, run through a cheap rotating media separator, and onto priming. Most streamlined way I've found to size and clean brass.
 
Joined
Jan 4, 2025
Messages
12
Thank you all for sharing the good info. I am always looking for ways to streamline my process and pick up new tips and tricks.

What are your thoughts on annealing?
 

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Joined
Jan 4, 2025
Messages
12
I deprime, resize, tumble in rice to remove case lube, set final size necks with mandrel, inside chamfer, anneal, reprise, charge and seat bullets.


I only wet tumble or sonic clean if cases are extremely dirty.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
Is there a benefit to annealing after you size?
 

bober90

FNG
Joined
Sep 11, 2022
Messages
77
Love my Burstfire! Only used the annealer setup twice and it was okay with medium sized cartridges, but the case prep station is by far my favorite addition of tools!

Do you use something else for annealing? Or just found it difficult to use? I’ll be using it for creedmoor sized cases. The prep center is a major upgrade over my hand tools!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Harvey_NW

WKR
Joined
Feb 13, 2019
Messages
2,067
Location
WA
Do you use something else for annealing? Or just found it difficult to use? I’ll be using it for creedmoor sized cases. The prep center is a major upgrade over my hand tools!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No, I just don't shoot a huge volume of precision reloaded brass, and I don't anneal every firing. I've got a couple of lots of brass I'm tracking where I intend to anneal every 3rd firing or so.
 

drphodges

FNG
Joined
Jan 4, 2025
Messages
5

Athens

FNG
Joined
Oct 29, 2023
Messages
43
Loaded some cast bullet loads in 22TCM once I got the set-up right it isn't too bad using an old Spar T Lyman that isn't used any more. Now I need to get to the range and see if they will cycle the Rock Island before I do anymore.
 
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