Decapping process?

[Furrly]

18 minutes ago, MemphisMechanic said:

 

Tumble it until the brass is smooth enough to run through your dies, maybe 30 minutes in walnut? It’ll still look tarnished on the outside like the photo on the left.

 

It run through your gun just like the shiny stuff does, though.

 

Minimizing time spent making ammo means figuring out where “good enough” in order to have a 100% reliable accurate weapon, and not doing any more work than that.

cool man, i usually wet tumble my brass, man that is a lot of work, and of course i was always under the assumption that dirty brass, especially inside the brass,  had effect on powder charge resulting in accuracy issues. Glad the hear otherwise.

thanks for your feedback 

[Steve RA]

Years ago I had somewhat the same attitude as above,  although I tumbled in walnut, it was primarily to clean (not make shiny) the cases so they did not dirty up the reloading equipment.  They probably worked equally well as the current shiny stuff.  

 

I will say your reloading area will become more dust laden if using walnut or corncob instead of the stainless pin method.

 

 

[MemphisMechanic]

6 minutes ago, Steve RA said:

I will say your reloading area will become more dust laden if using walnut or corncob instead of the stainless pin method.

 

This is not a lie!  

 

I’m considering going to wet tumbling without pins in order to get rid of all traces of dust with a similar time commitmen, since dumping the jub out into a food dehydrator doesn’t take much time to actually handle.

 

That said, a couple of used dryer sheets in each batch of brass in walnut media captures 90% of the dust I had when doing it without, so the dust minimal enough that I keep putting off building/buying a wet tumbler.

 

Edited March 30, 2018 by MemphisMechanic

[MemphisMechanic]

23 minutes ago, Furrly said:

 I was always under the assumption that dirty brass, especially inside the brass,  had effect on powder charge resulting in accuracy issues.

 

Not at all - certainly not for shots out to 25yd with handguns in USPSA.

 

In fact many wet tumbler guys stop using pins to clean inside the cases because when they’re totally spotless they stick when the case mouth is being belled.

 

The carbon residue left behind from firing makes for just enough dry lube to prevent that.

[Steve RA]

If you polish the powder die - where it goes into the case mouth - to a mirror finish and lube the cases in a bag with some spray lube that problem will be practically done away with.

[Furrly]

19 minutes ago, MemphisMechanic said:

In fact many wet tumbler guys stop using pins to clean inside the cases because when they’re totally spotless they stick when the case mouth is being belled

This is interesting, I do experience this often when  I am reloading, thanks for sharing !!

[Furrly]

14 minutes ago, Steve RA said:

If you polish the powder die - where it goes into the case mouth - to a mirror finish and lube the cases in a bag with some spray lube that problem will be practically done away with.

I do use Lube, i like the idea of polishing the the powder die, thanks for the tip

[RiggerJJ]

I'm retired, and love reloading. But the extra mess and farting around with wet tumbling is a total waste of my time.

 

My tumbler is in a separate area from the reloaders, so dust is not present

 I have never seen this supposed lead ladened dust anyway, other than maybe a small amount when pouring the brass/media mixture into a sperator.

jj

[ChemistShooter]

On 3/30/2018 at 11:51 AM, Redaye said:

Based on the variety of responses to my OP, it appears I'm on an acceptable track. Albeit, it's a little more time consuming and maybe a little OCD to go for clean and shinny. I'm retired so, my time is mine and since I'm new to reloading, I'll probably get less picky about the brass as i become more confident. My current process is decapping with a Frankford decapping tool, wet tumble in ss pins and dry under a fan for at least 8 hours. Allows an additional opportunity to inspect and sort out unwanted casings. I acquired a lot of prep equipment in a trade. Rotary and vibrating tumblers and various media. I'll try all of it eventually. One thing I will say about decapping off of the progressive press first is it seems to operate much smoother and I don't run into hard stops due to small flash holes. I'm able to cull those casings before I get on the press. The tiny flash holes are rare but annoying. (See Tiny Flash Port topic in this category) Thanks for all your comments. It's great to have all this experience to draw from.

 

"dry under a fan for at least 8 hours", y-e-e-e-e-e-e-ouchies.

 

I mostly lurk here but I have to say something. Go to a hardware store and buy some denatured alcohol. How much depends on how much brass you clean at one time.

 

To dry brass: Put wet brass in container. Pour in denatured alcohol to cover brass. Let it sit for a minute or two, maybe shake it or stir it around a little.The denatured alcohol will suck the water off the brass and replace it with alcohol, which will dry a HELL of a lot faster. Pour denatured alcohol BACK into container. It's reusable up to the point it's mostly water . Spread brass in a single layer on a towel, cloth or paper.  It'll dry in an hour, shorter with  a breeze on it. Normally I let mine sit overnight. It's bone-dry.

 

For the record, I decap first and clean ultrasonically. The reason I decap is the deprimer thingy on my Dillon press would sometimes get stuck on a  fired primer and pull it BACK into the case. And I want my press to run PERFECT. So now I decap in a separate step.

 

If you try this, store the denatured alcohol AWAY from primers and powder. Volatile, flammable solvents and explosives do not good neighbors make.

[Steve RA]

If you have plenty of brass the time drying really isn't important.  I don't shoot much anymore and I've still got two 4 gallon tubs of each of the calibers I presently shoot (9mm, .45ACP and .223/5.56).  One tub is loaded and the other tub is cleaned and primed, ready to load.

 

If you do it all in batches, depriming, cleaning and reloading, it makes it a lot easier.

[MemphisMechanic]

18 hours ago, ChemistShooter said:

The reason I decap is the deprimer thingy on my Dillon press would sometimes get stuck on a  fired primer and pull it BACK into the case. And I want my press to run PERFECT. So now I decap in a separate step.

 

Grind the tip of your Dillon die’s decapping pin to a point and it’ll never do that again. A very well-known fix that works superbly.

 

Edited April 1, 2018 by MemphisMechanic

[tanks]

I shoot too many rounds to spend time cleaning brass. So, I just buy shiny brass in lots of 5-10K and spend my time dry firing or shooting. Reloading is a necessary evil for me not the main hobby. As a matter of fact looking to just buy primed brass.

 

 

Edited April 1, 2018 by tanks

[ChemistShooter]

2 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said:

 

Grind the tip of your Dillon die’s decapping pin to a point and it’ll never do that again. A very well-known fix that works superbly.

 

I'm sure "grind it to a point" is something trivially easy for a mechanic.

 

Not so much for those of us not of a mechanical bent. Those of us who stare up at the sky for 10 minutes when trying to tighten up a screw from  the bottom.

[MemphisMechanic]

41 minutes ago, ChemistShooter said:

I'm sure "grind it to a point" is something trivially easy for a mechanic.

 

Not so much for those of us not of a mechanical bent. Those of us who stare up at the sky for 10 minutes when trying to tighten up a screw from  the bottom.

 

Put it in a drill and spin it against something abrasive... or the running head of a Dremel tool.

 

Or just buy a $5 metal file and do it by hand.  

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by MemphisMechanic

[RaylanGivens]

On 3/31/2018 at 11:41 PM, ChemistShooter said:

For the record, I decap first and clean ultrasonically. The reason I decap is the deprimer thingy on my Dillon press would sometimes get stuck on a  fired primer and pull it BACK into the case. And I want my press to run PERFECT. So now I decap in a separate step.

 

When a primer pulls back into a case instead of decapping, it really mucks up the process...  I've tried all kinds of smoothing, polishing, and trimming on decapping pins...  Thinning the pins down and beveling the point helps, but not all the time...  Some brass seems to have the primers welded in... 

 

I'm thinking about a separate decapping step, too...

[ChemistShooter]

21 hours ago, RaylanGivens said:

 

When a primer pulls back into a case instead of decapping, it really mucks up the process...  I've tried all kinds of smoothing, polishing, and trimming on decapping pins...  Thinning the pins down and beveling the point helps, but not all the time...  Some brass seems to have the primers welded in... 

 

I'm thinking about a separate decapping step, too...

Experience has shown mistakes happen when something screws up on the shell plate. That's when you make squibs, when a case drops wrong or the handle stops short and you know a fired primer got pulled back, and you have to stop and fix it. That's why I want my press to run perfect. If the press is perfect, so are the cartridges.

I got a Lee U-shaped press and a decapping die. Doesn't take all that long, and the 650 just runs.

[BaggerJoe]

22 hours ago, RaylanGivens said:

 

When a primer pulls back into a case instead of decapping, it really mucks up the process...  I've tried all kinds of smoothing, polishing, and trimming on decapping pins...  Thinning the pins down and beveling the point helps, but not all the time...  Some brass seems to have the primers welded in... 

 

I'm thinking about a separate decapping step, too...

I use a Dillon Universal decapping die on toolhead by itself. I have found that a chisel point on the pin works best. 

 

As far as drying after wet tumbling, I use a food dehydrator and they are usually good to go in a couple of hours. 

 

Is decapping, wet tumbling and drying worth it? It is time consuming but just like women and beer, to each his own. I'm happy with my process and the end result. What else matters? 

[Steve RA]

Only your innate sense of fulfillment !

[PhillySoldier]

Ive gone back and forth over the years whether to deprime or not before cleaning. Sometimes I do it, currently I dont. I like the primer pockets clean but I used to single stage the depriming and thats just endless hours of production time lost.

 

Now that I have a 650 w case feeder, Im thinking of getting a second toolhead and setting up just a depriming/sizing die. I can then lube the brass, throw in the case feeder, size and deprime everything, then clean in the sonic. Not only would it resolve the depriming issue but it will also take care of not having to lube and then clean off the finished rounds. 

[mwray]

I can’t see it matters that much in pistol ammo. Now all my prs ammo gets decapped before cleaning. Pistol ammo gets wet tumbled with wash and wax so no lube is needed anymore

[PhillySoldier]

Agreed I dont think it matters much for pistol ammo other than it bothers me a bit to not fully clean. Not to the point Ill ever go back to single station depriming ever again. But if it only takes me a few minutes to dump all in the case feeder and crank on through as well as the lubed casings being cleaned off in the sonic after being sized, I figure I'll give the 2nd toolhead a try

Edited July 27, 2018 by PhillySoldier

[MikeyScuba]

I leave my washed de primed brass on a towel over night and it’s dry the next day.  I’ve industrial sized ovens at my shop and I’ve forgotten more than once a load in there on the cool down.  350 to room temp and it’s all tarnished and dark brown.  The towel method is so simple.  I like my brass to be clean.  This winter I’m getting a Revolution and automating my 650 to deprime, then loading up 10-20k of 9mm, 40 and 9mm Revolver loads.

[PhillySoldier]

What is the revolution? 

[MikeyScuba]

I meant the evolution machine.  Don't need an automated press (yet...)

[zombywoof]

You're wasting  time de-priming 9mm brass. Here's my procedure.

Clean is wet tumble with pins, Dawn and wash wax, lemi

Dry in cheap dehydrator

Load

 

You've really gotta be bored to do anything more

Edited July 30, 2018 by zombywoof