Wet tumbling causing inconsistent loads.

[jpsac2003]

Ever since I started wet tumbling my loads have been very inconsistent. Never had this problem when I was media tumbling. A little info when I was wet tumbling I did not use pins or deprime the brass. Loading 9mm on a 1050.

[Rnlinebacker]

Ever since I started wet tumbling my loads have been very inconsistent. Never had this problem when I was media tumbling. A little info when I was wet tumbling I did not use pins or deprime the brass. Loading 9mm on a 1050.

How are you drying the brass?

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[AHI]

you still have water in the cases. Been discussed many times.

Water is trapped in the primer.

[iflyskyhigh]

Wet really works best when deprimed first.

I dry in dehydrator and then tumble in a walnut corn cob mix to polish it up a bit.

It’s a lot of work. I reserve the process for new to me rifle brass and precision rifle loads.

[jpsac2003]

Thanks for all the replies. Sorry been out of the reloading game for a while.

[78Staff]

On 4/12/2020 at 10:31 PM, iflyskyhigh said:

Wet really works best when deprimed first.

I dry in dehydrator and then tumble in a walnut corn cob mix to polish it up a bit.

It’s a lot of work. I reserve the process for new to me rifle brass and precision rifle loads.

 

Same here, Wet was cool for a while, but reality set in and except for precision rifle stuff I'm back to the old reliable Dillon FL-2000.

[Balakay]

I changed to wet due to dust.

No pins, and I don't deprime. 2-3 hours in the dehydrator, Roll size and then load.  No issues in >50K rounds of 38SC and 9mm

 

[OptimiStick]

21 minutes ago, 78Staff said:

 

Same here, Wet was cool for a while, but reality set in and except for precision rifle stuff I'm back to the old reliable Dillon FL-2000.

 

 

Ditto. I deprime also - and I do wet / pins / lemishine for any new pickup. And I mark it. Any  I pickup that's been marked, means it's been wet-cleaned by me at least once, and just get's tumbled after that. It is a lot of work.

[Intheshaw1]

Maybe the easiest way is to do your normal wet tumble and dry process and decap a couple cases after you think you're done and check for water.

 

I've found that after I tumble if I put a fan on the brass for a day they are plenty dry. I have the brass up on an old pallet and towel and the air movement drys the brass pretty well.

Edited April 16, 2020 by Intheshaw1

[Out of Ammo]

I used to have water remain in the primer pocket.  I started depriming the brass before I wet tumbled and solved the problem.

[ltdmstr]

Like others have said, I'm limiting the wet tumbling to precision rifle stuff.  For everything else, I'm now using a mini cement mixer with corn cob and Lucas polish.  The first couple batches I did were about 2500 pcs at a time for a couple hours and the results were outstanding.  Finished cases were not quite like-new shiny that you get with wet tumbling, but they were way better than what you get from a vibrating mixer. 

[OptimiStick]

When I left primers in for wet tumbling, even after several hours in the brass dryer, I started getting alot of ringers on my Mark 7. 

[muncie21]

I wonder if the ringed out primers have something to do with the chemistry of the local water? 

 

I've wet tumbled many, many 1000's of rounds without depriming and just leave them to air dry for a few days.  Never had any issues loading them on my 650.

[OptimiStick]

Maybe - I have incredibly hard water, but I also didn’t have any issues depriming on my 650 either that I can remember.  Granted,  it was a much smaller sample size than my Revolution.  I think just the speed of the Revolution toolhead puts more stress on the primer in the process.   

[milanuk]

On 4/16/2020 at 10:28 AM, ltdmstr said:

limiting the wet tumbling to precision rifle stuff.

 

The funny part is... the people doing F-class and BR... have moved away from wet tumbling as well. 

 

Leaving a layer of carbon inside the neck helps keep the bullet seating force more consistent.

[iflyskyhigh]

 
The funny part is... the people doing F-class and BR... have moved away from wet tumbling as well. 
 
Leaving a layer of carbon inside the neck helps keep the bullet seating force more consistent.

I’ll preface this with “I have no idea what I’m talking about”, but I just use the Redding dry neck lube to recreate that layer. And I’m guessing it’s slicker than even the original carbon build up?


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[milanuk]

I just use the Redding dry neck lube to recreate that layer. And I’m guessing it’s slicker than even the original carbon build up?

Yes... to degree. The problem is applying the stuff consistently, case after case, time after time.

The stupid ceramic beads get more on the outside of the case than in, and using a bore mop is only marginally better.

It's about like copy machine toner, if you ever had the misfortune of being around that stuff when spilled - gets into/onto everything, and it's a PITA to get out of anything. Miserable stuff. Used it for years.

Then people started moving away from wet tumbling, part of which was the occasional click-no-bang, or else a really low shot, usually due to traces of moisture that got missed during the drying process when trying to turn a set of match cases around when going from tournament A to tournament B. But part of it was the mindset of "why go to all the effort to get the carbon *out* of the cases, only to have to jump thru hoops to put it *back*?!?". Why not save ourselves a whole lot of time and trouble and skip the whole thing altogether?

Shiny cases don't shoot demonstrably better... so why wet tumble?

Don't get me wrong... there are some very good F-class shooters who wet tumble. They have a process worked out, and it works for them. But an increasing number of shooters are back to dry tumbling - or just wiping the cases off and calling it good. They might be brushing the insides of the necks to knock loose the crusty bits, but that's about it.

It's about what works better in terms of consistency in seating force, and vertical on the target at distance.

I fully understand that brass for PRS guns can get a lot dirtier than other LR precision sports, so there may be a
valid argument for tumbling of some sort. If you have a system that works for you, stick with it til it doesn't.

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[iflyskyhigh]

Yes... to degree. The problem is applying the stuff consistently, case after case, time after time.

The stupid ceramic beads get more on the outside of the case than in, and using a bore mop is only marginally better.

It's about like copy machine toner, if you ever had the misfortune of being around that stuff when spilled - gets into/onto everything, and it's a PITA to get out of anything. Miserable stuff. Used it for years.

Then people started moving away from wet tumbling, part of which was the occasional click-no-bang, or else a really low shot, usually due to traces of moisture that got missed during the drying process when trying to turn a set of match cases around when going from tournament A to tournament B. But part of it was the mindset of "why go to all the effort to get the carbon *out* of the cases, only to have to jump thru hoops to put it *back*?!?". Why not save ourselves a whole lot of time and trouble and skip the whole thing altogether?

Shiny cases don't shoot demonstrably better... so why wet tumble?

Don't get me wrong... there are some very good F-class shooters who wet tumble. They have a process worked out, and it works for them. But an increasing number of shooters are back to dry tumbling - or just wiping the cases off and calling it good. They might be brushing the insides of the necks to knock loose the crusty bits, but that's about it.

It's about what works better in terms of consistency in seating force, and vertical on the target at distance.

I fully understand that brass for PRS guns can get a lot dirtier than other LR precision sports, so there may be a
valid argument for tumbling of some sort. If you have a system that works for you, stick with it til it doesn't.

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Do you think maybe wet tumbling once, or every once in a while is beneficial to super clean primer pockets?

I definitely don’t wet tumble much. Just do to the labor involved.

Like I said I usually only wet tumble bulk 5.56/300BO brass that is new to me after I’ve sized and trimmed. I find that some of those cases that look tarnished beyond repair coming out new looking. And it’s easier to get the cases cleaned up. Use quite a bit of lube for that process.

Also, sometimes when brass has been fired several times in a suppressed gun. SO dirty.

I don’t wet tumble my precision rifle brass after every firing. Usually only once in a while. Maybe after a good resize and trim. And when I say “precision rifle” I’m not a bench rest guy, or chasing one whole groups. I’m just looking for sub MOA consistency repeatably out of a couple of “tweaked” rifles.

[iflyskyhigh]

Do you think maybe wet tumbling once, or every once in a while is beneficial to super clean primer pockets?

 

I definitely don’t wet tumble much. Just do to the labor involved.

 

Like I said I usually only wet tumble bulk 5.56/300BO brass that is new to me after I’ve sized and trimmed. I find that some of those cases that look tarnished beyond repair coming out new looking. And it’s easier to get the cases cleaned up. Use quite a bit of lube for that process.

 

Also, sometimes when brass has been fired several times in a suppressed gun. SO dirty.

 

I don’t wet tumble my precision rifle brass after every firing. Usually only once in a while. Maybe after a good resize and trim. And when I say “precision rifle” I’m not a bench rest guy, or chasing one whole groups. I’m just looking for sub MOA consistency repeatably out of a couple of “tweaked” rifles.

 

Sorry, accidental post, but I thought I’d use it anyway.

 

In a follow up to my last post. Is there even any benefits to have super clean primer pockets?

[milanuk]

If you're priming on press... probably not.

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[iflyskyhigh]

If you're priming on press... probably not.

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I use the Frankford Arsenal hand primer for “precision rifle” stuff. Everything else is on the press. (That primer is slick btw)


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