[Rory]

i had heard that i can just toss this stuff in to a tumbler for a couple hours and all will be fine again.. is this true, and or ok?

i have the larger dillon tumbler. how many should i throw in at a time. looks like i have 1000 of this lot and another thousand of another lot.


i also have about 1000 shotgun shells that look similar but not nearly as bad.

any suggestions? what media to use, what additives?

rory

 

[csapow]

I understand you should not tumble live ammo. I could think of a few reasons why: components may move from their seated positions, powder grains may become deformed which may affect burn rate, primers are shock sensitive. Any other thoughts? If a round was to detonate, would the tumbler contain the schrapnel?

 

[HottAK47]

I just shot up a thousand or so 8mm and 7.62x39 that looked way worse than your examples when I started. I used a wire wheel and patience because I didn't have a tumbler. I might have used a wire wheel even if I had a tumbler. It didn't take all that long and suprisingly I didn' have a single mis or hang fire out of the lot. YMMV

 

[Rory]

how fast with the wire wheel, primers too?


r

 

[quizkid]

I'd chance sacrificing my most beatup UZI mag, screw-in an old beater barrel and enjoy some UZI goodness with the ammo just the way it is!

 

[junkmanted]

How about a damp rag with tarnex
just a thought
If you want to sell it let me know

 

[Rory]

i have more that is in far better shape but if tumbling can make this ok i will tumble.thinking about buying up a cheap 12 ga to shoot up the 12 ga ammo that is iffy. no reason to throw it in either of mine. they are not purdys or the like but they are still way better than an 870 (pricing concerns, not making fun of the 870)

r

 

[MJB68]

As CSAPOW said, live ammo shouldn't be tumbled. The powder will grind itself down and change the burn rate, which MAY cause hazardous pressures (i.e. KABOOM) in your weapon. If you're a reloader, how about pulling it down and using the components?

 

[Mouse]

I understand you should not tumble live ammo. I could think of a few reasons why: components may move from their seated positions, powder grains may become deformed which may affect burn rate, primers are shock sensitive. Any other thoughts? If a round was to detonate, would the tumbler contain the schrapnel?

Negative...
This has been claimed as fact on nearly every gunboard that ever existed.
Tumbling live ammo isn't a problem, I tumbled a quantity of LC 5.56mm for a week, yes a full week and there were no ill results. I used a number of rounds as a control sample and didn't tumble them, after a week of tumbling I pulled bullets and compared the tumbled powder to the non tumbled powder by dumping it on a sheet of white paper to examine it. No discernable difference. I chronoed some of the remaining rounds and you couldn't tell the diference from the tumbled to the non tumbled.
The primers aren't nearly that sensitive either, if they were they would likely detonate through recoil or being chambered.

Tumble away...

 

[Mouse]

As CSAPOW said, live ammo shouldn't be tumbled. The powder will grind itself down and change the burn rate, which MAY cause hazardous pressures (i.e. KABOOM) in your weapon. If you're a reloader, how about pulling it down and using the components?

Again this is BS, every ammo manufacturer tumbles loaded ammo prior to packaging.

 

[Bill S]

I understand you should not tumble live ammo. I could think of a few reasons why: components may move from their seated positions,...

If the components are that loose, you shouldn't shoot the stuff anyway.

powder grains may become deformed which may affect burn rate,...

Smokeless powder is granulated to make it easier to work with and more consistant to measure. Changing the size of the grains shouldn't affect the burn rate much at all.

primers are shock sensitive.

The TINY taps that a primer will get in a tumbler will not detonate it. It takes a pretty decent direct hit to touch one off.

 

[Rory]

ok so how many at a time and with what, walnut? any other type stuff i should pour in too?


i have the:
Dillon's CV-2001 Vibratory Case Cleaner

says that it can do 1300 38/357 or 550 30-06 cases per hour in their little spec page.


thinking about 500? or should i go way less, like 250?

rory

 

[Mouse]

Just dump em in till it looks right, there's no right number. I use crushed corncob because it's cheaper but walnut should work great. Pour in some car polish and turn them on and let it run a couple of hours, that should remove most everything that's going to come off.

 

[Rory]

how much car polish? seriously the tumbler is still in its box. have not had the need for it yet so never used one. good place to get corn cob media? i know that harbor freight sells the walnut


r

 

[AaronHorrocks]

Smokeless powder is granulated to make it easier to work with and more consistant to measure. Changing the size of the grains shouldn't affect the burn rate much at all.

I know of a guy missing a hand that would tell you otherwise!

Oh, and laws of physics disagree too.

 

[Mouse]

how much car polish? seriously the tumbler is still in its box. have not had the need for it yet so never used one. good place to get corn cob media? i know that harbor freight sells the walnut


r

Jeez Rory you worry to much!
Let me put it in terms you're familiar with.... use 1 shot of polish, if it's really dirty use 2 shots!

As far as media I have the best luck with hitting the pet or farm stores and getting pet bedding. Make sure it's crushed corncob, use 1/8" NOT 1/4", it usually comes in 25 or 50 pound bags.
This ain't rocket science, fill the tumbler, add a shot or two of polish and let it run for a couple of minutes to mix it in a bit, throw in the brass.
A little common scense will tke you a ong way here, it's the only part of the process that's hard to screw up!

 

[bigbird1]

how much car polish? seriously the tumbler is still in its box. have not had the need for it yet so never used one. good place to get corn cob media? i know that harbor freight sells the walnut


r

Rory, get the walnut at the pet smart or other pet store, they sell it in big bags for cheap, I never had much luck with corn cob, it always just got stuck in the shell and had to be picked out, and took too long. good luck

 

[Rory]

Jeez Rory you worry to much!
Let me put it in terms you're familiar with.... use 1 shot of polish, if it's really dirty use 2 shots!

As far as media I have the best luck with hitting the pet or farm stores and getting pet bedding. Make sure it's crushed corncob, use 1/8" NOT 1/4", it usually comes in 25 or 50 pound bags.
This ain't rocket science, fill the tumbler, add a shot or two of polish and let it run for a couple of minutes to mix it in a bit, throw in the brass.
A little common scense will tke you a ong way here, it's the only part of the process that's hard to screw up!

look jerky.... thanks

is the polish just to make it look all bright again? as i am not so worried about it being all pretty and shiny, more just trying to get the crap off if it.


r

 

[Mouse]

look jerky.... thanks

is the polish just to make it look all bright again? as i am not so worried about it being all pretty and shiny, more just trying to get the crap off if it.


r

It will help clean it and put a thin coat of "wax" on it to help keep it looking pretty.
Dillons brass polish is very popular and expensive at 1.00 per ounce, it's supposed to be the old "Blue Coral Car Polish". A year or so ago I went on a search for the Blue Coral stuff but it looks like it's no longer marketed in that name or the formula has changed. Nobody that sells it or bottles it is talking and I never could find it, I spoke with the manufacturer and tried to find out if they supplied Dillon but no joy. There is still a Blue Coral brand but it's not the same stuff Dillon sells, at least not any more.

 

[Bill S]

I know of a guy missing a hand that would tell you otherwise!

Oh, and laws of physics disagree too.

So give us some actual info about the guy who is missing his hand. Is this just one of those legends in the making, or can it me substantiated? If it can be truly shown that the cause of his lost hand was tumbled powder, then you've got something.

And "laws of physics" might benefit from some proof as well. Yes, we all know that greater surface area can allow for faster surface burn - but can you demonstrate that tumbling actually creates significantly greater surface area in the powder in cartridges? Or that surface burn is solely responsible for ignition of smokeless powder? (As opposed to heat, for example?)

In past discussions on this topic people have described actual experiments with tumbling that consistently failed to cause dangerous ignition rates or excessive pressures. Real observed results carry more weight with me than vague hypothetical worries.