Quote:
Originally Posted by Joeaksa
Always deprime before tumbling. Otherwise the primer pocket is not cleaned.
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I actually leave the primer in when tumbling, except for my BPCR cases. I've found the media simply clogs the primer pocket and flash hole, so it probably doesn't clean that pocket very well anyway. So, here is what I do:
Black powder only: neck size (full length die backed out four turns) and punch primer out.
Black powder only: stand cases up in cut off bleach bottle and immerse in white vinegar to neutralize salts in BP fouling.
Everything: tumble brass until clean.
Black powder only: clean the damn media out of the primer pocket.
Bottle necked rifle and straight rifle cases: lube with RCBS spray lube.
Smokeless: re-size and punch out primer. Straight cases get full length sized, bottle necked are neck sized.
Everything: measure a sample of cases for case length. Trim if necessary using RCBS rotary trimmer (hand crank).
Straight case: flare case mouth.
Smokeless: scrape out primer pockets.
Everything: re-prime.
All of the above is done without a loading block. I use old margarine tubs and just dump all the cases into one, transferring to the other as they are processed.
Everything: Adjust Lyman #55 measure to throw proper charge. Black powder by volume only, never weighed. Smokeless is weighed on RCBS # 5-0-5 balance beam scale to adjust measure. With ball or flake powders, only every tenth is weighed once the measure is set. With stick powders, an RCBS trickler is used to add last couple of grains to pan on scale because the measure won't throw them consistently enough.
Everything: charge all cases. Use 30" drop tube for black powder.
Black powder only: seat over powder wad, either .030" LDPE of vegetable fiber.
Everything: visually inspect all cases for proper charge (they are now standing up in a loading block).
Everything: seat bullet, crimping straight cases (except for black powder) and place in plastic MTM ammo boxes.
All of the above is done one at a time, on an old RCBS single stage press.
Fill out and affix label to box. Label has date, bullet (and alloy if applicable), lube (if applicable), wad type (black powder only), powder type and charge, primer type, case brand, how many reloads on cases, how many times they have been trimmed, and last chronograph results.
Enter all label data into reloading notebook for particular caliber and firearm(s).
Beyond that, and obviously done as entirely separate operations, is the bullet casting, sizing, and lubricating.