Do I need to tumble?

[turnerdye1]

Well i plan on reloading some 9mm here sooner then later but i was wondering... Is it really necessary to tumble the brass or is it just a personal preference?

 

[red_zr24x4]

Need to? No, as long as its clean. You can rinse them in soapy water and get all the crude off, just make sure they are good and dry before reloading. I've heard of people putting them in the oven on as low of temp as it will go, I think I'd just leave them sitting in the sun all day.

 

[ckcollins2003]

You want the brass clean before running it through your dies. I've found that tumbling is the easiest way to go about it, as you just throw them all in for a few hours and then they are done. You don't have to scrub each one by hand if you use a tumbler.

Come to think of it, I guess it's really just because I'm lazy

 

[WhitleyStu]

I started reloading in 1977 and no one polished their brass. We just wiped off the brass with a rag and something like WD40. In the 80s tumbling started catching on and now it is thought of as a necessary part of reloading. You can get by just wiping off the carbon so it does not harm your sizing die, but once you get a tumbler you will like the finished product.

 

[Leo]

Stu called it right. I remember loading back in the 70's and a lot of the experienced shooters actually laughed at guys cleaning brass. Those old smoky bullseye pistol loads using Hercules bullseye powder and lead bullets with the old bees wax lube would turn the cases almost black, and we kept shooting them anyway. Some of the top guys would shoot one hole 25 yard groups with those scorched cases, and the old revolvers and 1911's just kept running. Since I own a tumbler, I now mostly shoot shiney brass. If I am in a hurry, I don't bother, and it does not hurt anything.

 

[CalebToNowhere]

If you are worried about the cost of a tumbler, there are some homemade versions on youtube that you could make...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDbrM8Zh_2U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMONRQjM3Tc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1S2q_MuixI

 

[turnerdye1]

Well i was actually worried about the price a little bit too but those videos seemed to solve that problem. I have the supplies on me now to make the first one so i might have just found me a sunday project. Thanks alot

 

[turnerdye1]

Okay i didnt want to make other thread for a simple question so im going to post here again.

Is it necesarry to crimp 9mm Luger? Im looking into dies and i was just curious if the crimp is worth the extra money for this caliber. Thanks

 

[WhitleyStu]

A taper crimp die is normally used to remove the bell on the case mouth.

 

[turnerdye1]

okay well im looking at the lee carbide dies and the 3 set has the bullet seater which would remove the bell wouldnt it?

 

[XtremeVel]

okay well im looking at the lee carbide dies and the 3 set has the bullet seater which would remove the bell wouldnt it?

The Lee (3) die set does have a taper crimp included... Adding the factory taper crimp die is not necessary. In the (3) die set it will be in the third die.. Just simply adjust to crimp lightly as it seats the bullet...

If you were to add the 4th die ( FCD ) later, you just simply adjust the 3rd die to seat only.

Although not neccesary, the factry crimp die is nice. Not only does it crimp in a seperate operation as seating, it will also have a secondary carbide ring for " touching up " any slight bulges you might get in previous steps.

If you do decide on the FCD, don't buy a 3 die set and add... Buy the (4) die set from the beginning. It would save you a few bucks that way.

 

[turnerdye1]

thanks alot! that cleared things up.

 

[G_Stines]

(Snipped) I remember loading back in the 70's and a lot of the experienced shooters actually laughed at guys cleaning brass. Those lead bullets with the old bees wax lube would turn the cases almost black, and we kept shooting them anyway. Some of the top guys would shoot one hole 25 yard groups with those scorched cases, and the old revolvers and 1911's just kept running.

This is exactly how I learned to reload from grandpa. I have never tumbled brass, I will wipe them off if they are exceptionally dirty, but usually they aren't bad at all, even in my semi autos. I use a beewax/paraffin mix for lube on my casts, and my guns have never complained. Grandpa still grumbles about tumblers.. I just laugh at him.

 

[turnerdye1]

Didnt wanna start another thread but i got another question/questions.

I already have my brass and ordered my bullets so now im looking into primers and powders now.
Im trying to keep the cost of this ammo as low as i can but have good reliable ammo. The ammo will just be 9mm plinking ammo.

I know CCI and Federal have good primers but i found some wolf and tula for pretty cheap. Does anybody have an expierence with either of these? Reliable?

And finally whats a decent powder? I dont need anything special or super performance. Just a good handgun powder....and relatively cheap.

Thanks

 

[sloughfoot]

Hey! I want to answer your original question. My answer is to put my fired pistol brass in my pocket and walk around with it. It cleans the carbon right off the outside and my wife never sees the black inside my pockets.

It is good for 50 or so 9mm cases. Lots more if it is cold out and I am wearing a jacket.

Now, to your last question. There are several suitable powders for each bullet weight for the 9mm. They are all in the same price range in 1lb bottles for each powder. Since you are going to get roughly 1400 rounds out of a pound of powder, it seems that a couple dollar difference in powders is pretty insignificant.

I would look at consistancy and efficiency of the powder instead of the raw cost of a pound of powder. Same with primers.

 

[turnerdye1]

I never thought about putting them in my pocket haha. But i built a homeade tumbler like in the first video and it works pretty well.

So any suggestions for powders and primers? Ill but shooting 115gr FMJ out of a G19

Any good recipes?

 

[sloughfoot]

I have become cautious about putting exact recipes on this or any other forum.

Something on the order of WIN 231 is what I like for 115 bullets. I am currently using up a 8 lb keg of WAP that has been laying around for 20 years or so. I don't think primers matter much. I use CCI, Remington, Winchester interchangeably. It doesn't seem to matter much for a pistol.

Sounds like you need a reloading manual. I always suggest the Richard Lee book on reloading. Available from Midway or direct from Lee Precision.

It is called "Modern Reloading".

 

[turnerdye1]

i have a reloading manual on order with my lee pro auto disk measure so ill have one then. im just looking into some reliable powders and primers. i think ill try the wolf primers because its 20 for a thousand compared to 35. but ill look into the winchester 231 powder

 

[sloughfoot]

i have a reloading manual on order with my lee pro auto disk measure so ill have one then. im just looking into some reliable powders and primers. i think ill try the wolf primers because its 20 for a thousand compared to 35. but ill look into the winchester 231 powder

I think it is a semantics issue. I really think that all powders and all primers are reliable.

It is just that some powders are more suitable for a given cartridge than other powders.

For the 115 9mm, several powders are suitable and they are all fast powders like 231 or bullseye.

Good luck in your quest.

 

[turnerdye1]

Thanks!

I think im gonna try the 231 out unless somebody else has some better suggestions?