Depriming .223 brass

[TDA1]

Should I clean/tumble my .223 brass before depriming/resizing? or deprime/resize so I can clean the primer pocket?

[fishsticks]

Short answer is yes.

There really isn't a right answer, and if you ask enough people I bet they are semi close to evenly divided.

Personally, I tumble then size/deprime. But - I'm loading for 3Gun, so super wham-o-dyne accuracy isn't the #1 priority.

If I was shooting varmints or other longer range precision, my answer might be different.

[Zzapp]

I tumble before deprime and size to get crud off the brass so it doesn't scratch my dies.

[JohnnyD]

Quick tumble in walnut, size and prep, then I wet tumble to clean primer pockets and case inside n out.

[Steve RA]

If you use something like the Lee Universal Depriming Die it doesn't make any difference if it's dirty or not. Best to use a single stage to deprime so you don't get dirt & crud on the loading press.

https://fsreloading.com/lee-precision-decapping-die-90292.html

[TDA1]

Tumble it is...thanks guys. This is also for 3 gun so I'll follow your leads....thanks for the replies.

[a468bu]

I have a question along these lines also. I sonic clean and I'm just getting into rifle loading myself. Pistol is deprime first then sonic clean. And then run the process thru my progressive.

I'm wondering how I should process my 223 brass.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[glenr]

This is one of those questions like what brand of beer, truck,car,Nascar Driver etc do you like! It will depend on how you like to do things and in which order. I use a Harvey deprimer that I modified for stuck primers.

http://www.harveydeprimer.com/

For the sticking/tight primers I use a small punch and light hammer

I do it watching the tube as it becomes almost a no brainer have did about 20,000plus 5.56/.223, 9mm

I do it before the first run thru the Lizard litter, Nu finish used dryer sheet. Keeps all the left over curd in the caps out of the litter. I don't find that the wet tumble and SS pins adds anything to the casings. besides I have did enough wet SSpins in jewelry making and stone work. There are thoses that will not do it any other way. I also have a sonic cleaner and just don'y think the extra steps and time gives me any benifit. Of course I'm only punching holes in paper @ an indoor range

You can try a couple of batches both ways and see which you preffer. Doing it before sonic will keep the ynuit cleaner.

[dddoo7]

If you want primer pockets clean, then deprime before tumbling. If it doesn't matter, then tumble first. Keep in mind that it takes longer to dry if you wet tumble before depriming.

I also have a Harvey's deprimer and it is handy, but I am slower on it then on a single stage press.

[tcoz]

I tumble first so grit and dirt don't make a mess of my sizing die then after sizing and decapping, I tumble again for one hour to clean off the lube and clean primer pockets.

[dauntedfuture]

I think its best to tumble the heck out of the brass first, then size and then tumble again. Yes, the primer pockets don't get cleaned but that's not an issue and yes you might have a speck of media stuck in the flash hole when you load; there is no effect. The result is much smoother operation and you don't need much lube on clean cases as you do on dirty ones.

[RDA]

I think its best to tumble the heck out of the brass first, then size and then tumble again. Yes, the primer pockets don't get cleaned but that's not an issue and yes you might have a speck of media stuck in the flash hole when you load; there is no effect. The result is much smoother operation and you don't need much lube on clean cases as you do on dirty ones.

Some schools of thought would contend that "dirty" brass requires less lube than really clean brass (i.e., the carbon on dirty brass provides some lube qualities). Certainly on pistol brass I find that really clean brass (wet tumbled or new brass) requires more lube to run as smoothly as used brass that is only dry tumbled clean.

[Steve RA]

+1

[nwhpfan]

tumble, lube and deprime/resize, trim, load.

My brass only hits the tumbler at the begining.

[dauntedfuture]

Dirty pistol brass and dirty rifle brass are different animals. With really clean or new pistol brass the expander will stick inside the brass a little. With rifle brass you are sizing the case, not expanding. With all rifle brass I have ever loaded the cleaner the brass the less lube you need. Its also quicker to tumble lube off clean brass then or lube off loaded ammo that has real clean brass.

[tcoz]

I tumble first then after resizing and depriving I tumble again for only about an hour to clean off the lube and clean primer pockets.

[HotRod61]

I tumble first then after resizing and depriving I tumble again for only about an hour to clean off the lube and clean primer pockets.

This is also what works for me.

[david8989]

I have a slightly different method that I find less labor intensive than separating all the media from your .223 brass. Give the brass a soak in some hot water and lemishine for about 30 minutes, spray them off with the squirt nozzle and dry them in the oven at 200* for 90 minutes. Then they're nice and grit free to size/deprime and wet tumble. The whole process is maybe 5 minutes of actual handling of the brass, everything else can be done without you watching.

[RPatton]

I'll never run "dirty" range brass through a rifle die..........again. By dirty I mean it has been fired and hit the ground

If a grain of sand stuck to the outside of the case is run through a rifle die it can scratch the die. If that happens then every case after that will have a scratch on it.

As SteveRA said using a Lee Universal Depriming Die eliminates that problem when depriming first.

[tcoz]

I'll never run "dirty" range brass through a rifle die..........again. By dirty I mean it has been fired and hit the ground

If a grain of sand stuck to the outside of the case is run through a rifle die it can scratch the die. If that happens then every case after that will have a scratch on it.

As SteveRA said using a Lee Universal Depriming Die eliminates that problem when depriming first.

And that is exactly why I dry tumble all brass for four hours before I do anything else. Even using the Universal Depriming Die first would require me to handle dirty brass which I just don't like to do. My one hour dry tumble after sizing and decapping takes care of cleaning the primer pockets.

[CPD7119]

30 minutes- 1 hour in the tumbler to knock off crud (not trying to make the casings look nice)

Lube, deprime, size, cut

tumble for a few hours to clean off lube and polish casings

Load

[Miranda]

"super wham-o-dyne accuracy"

interesting turn of a phrase..

if you tumble after you decap...

make sure the hole from primer to case is clear when you press in the primer.

miranda

[zmanktm]

I use the universal deprimer to insure the cleaned primer pocket does not have stainless steel pins in it. I have run

across several pieces of 223 brass with 2 pins wedged in the primer pocket.

[bigedp51]

I have brass OCD and love my revolvers and bolt action rifles. BUT if you have firearms that throw perfectly good brass away and makes you go look for it you can have problems. Any dirt or grit imbedded in the brass will scratch your dies and in return scratch your cases.

Wet tumbling makes your cases squeaky clean much faster than the dry vibratory cleaners. I deprime the cases before tumbling to insure the primer pockets are cleaned.

I then use pin gauges to check the primer pockets for being oversized, uniform the primer pockets and flash holes and then size.

When it comes to die types, small base vs standard dies, measure your new cases, your fired cases and your resized cases. The resized cases should at minimum be .003 smaller than the chamber and .005 is best for reliable chamber and extraction.

The late Jim Hull of the Sierra bullet testing lab and world class competitive shooter like to jokingly say:

"The cartridge should fit the chamber like a rat turd in a violin case".

[Graham Smith]

If you have used brass with military crimped primers, then you may want to deprime and swage the primer pocket before tumbling. Otherwise, no.

Precision rifle is a different story.