Ugh! Media in the primer hole

[analog_kidd]

I just got a new tumbler, my first one, and ran a batch of brass through it. I thought that it would be a good idea to deprime the brass first, so that it would get a thorough cleaning. However, I just spent an hour and a half last night removing media from the primer hole of about 200 cases.

Every single piece of brass had media jammed in there. Had to use a small finish nail to poke it out of each case.

[Trekbike]

IMO it's best to tumbler the brass first to get the powder, dirt, etc off the brass to save some wear and tear on the sizing die.

[gsbell]

+1 tumble first save your dies and sanity.

[Guest GunTroll]

+2 agreed!

[Clone]

I use a air compressor with a blower nozzle, takes about 10 min to do 300 casings.

[dlm37015]

use a good media sifter like midway or lyman shake it hard will clean out most

[SpacemanSpiff]

I use a universal decapping die to deprime first, then I tumble, then I resize. Extra step, but I feel better with my results. It doesn't really take long to deprime with the universal decapper in a single stage plus the primer pockets usually clean up nicely.

[Rightwinger]

Yep, Lee Universal to deprime so the primer pocket gets some cleaning as well. I use a small nylon brush with a wire core so it pokes the media that gets stuck out. You have to inspect the primer pocket and flash hole anyway, why not at this point?

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I finally broke down and got an RCBS Trim Mate to run a primer pocket uniformer on every case. Works great. It is geared down slow and has lots of torque, and the slow speed keeps from blistering fingers too bad when the uniformer bit occasionally grabs the brass too good and spins it in the fingers. Primers seat so nice and easy and precise after uniforming the primer pockets.

I clean, then deprime, then uniform the pockets, then progressive load. Sometimes I deprime with the progressive press, but more often hammer them out with a deprime punch. The press is out in the shop and it is less boring to decap in the living room listening to music or watching TV.

Recently started using corncob polishing after walnut cleaning. It makes the cases much prettier. But the corncob media is fine enough to make little balls of media clogging the inside flash hole (maybe 1 in 4 cases), making it hard to center the deprime punch in the flash hole.

Haven't tried the compressed air trick. Maybe that would reliably dig corncob out of a flash hole. Am thinking maybe try to make a deprime punch with a diameter equal to the ID of fired brass. That ought to make it a no-brainer to center the punch even if the flashole is filled with a mound of corncob.

There are various hand decap tools, but haven't seen one that looks ultra convenient and quick. The ideal tool would be some kind of pliers that you could keep in one hand, and decap the brass like shelling peanuts or whatever. Most of the hand tools look like you would have to move the tool around too much, making it no more convenient than hammering out the primers with a punch.

Edited July 15, 2010 by Lester Weevils

[LngRngShtr]

I use Walnut media to clean then :

for rifle...tumble first then you can clean primer pockets,trim to length and inspect for head separation etc. in one step....

then you run it through the reloading process like pistol ammo

pistol ammo tumble and reload no trimming and never had to worry about primer pockets

unless it is my S&W 52 ... that gun made a masochist out of me but it shoots oh so sweet so it gets the trimmed prepped brass like a rifle..same lot# on brass etc.

then corncob to clean off lube after they are loaded,..maybe 15 mins. or so and puts a final shine on them..

only bottlenecks stretch straight wall casings tends to shrink if anything...

John

Edited March 8, 2011 by LngRngShtr

[Guest nicemac]

I just tumbled (with walnut shell media) about 500 .223 cases Saturday after sizing and de-priming to clean the lube off. I only had around 20 cases with media left in the primer hole after I ran them through my separator. Before I ran them through the separator, probably 50-60% had primer pockets with media in them. I was able to inspect/ clean what was left out with a small pick in about 15 minutes.

[Jonnin]

I have one of those primer pocket cleaners, its a wire brush and handle with 2 sizes for large/small pockets. Probably overkill but it was only a few dollars and it gets the job done. I tumble with the old primers installed, knock them out, brush, and continue from there. Most spent primers have a kernel or so of media stuck in them, but its cleared out when deprimed.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Go buy some Zilla Lizard Litter from a pet supply store. Make sure it is the desert blend and you will not have an issue again. The walnut media is small enough to fall through the flash hole. Another bonus is that it is relatively cheap at around $7 for 10 pounds. One more thing, add a few handfulls of airsoft BB's. They seem to help the media scrub the brass better. I happened upon this when I didn't have enough media so I added the BB's to increase the amount of media.

Here is some on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Desert Blend Lizard Litter - 10Lb: Kitchen & Dining

Dolomite

[Guest canebreaker]

I've loaded some brass with media in the flash hole, .38spl. they shot fine.

[Jonnin]

dumb question time, lol. When do you change the media? I am still on the first 1/2 of the free bag (corn something) that came with my setup (poured 1/2 the bag in on day 1) and it seems to still be just fine. Or does it just slowly "evaporate" and decrease in volume due to becoming dust or spillage or a speck here and there in the primers etc?

[Dolomite_supafly]

dumb question time, lol. When do you change the media? I am still on the first 1/2 of the free bag (corn something) that came with my setup (poured 1/2 the bag in on day 1) and it seems to still be just fine. Or does it just slowly "evaporate" and decrease in volume due to becoming dust or spillage or a speck here and there in the primers etc?

When you notice it doesn't work as well as before. I am always experimenting with different cleaning agents and ratios so I tend to ruin more media than wear it out.

Dolomite

[Guest friesepferd]

yep. I always tumble before I deprime. My media isnt fine enough to clean out the primer pocket anyways, so there is no point

[Guest nicemac]

I was referring to rifle brass.

Tumble.

Lube.

Size and de-prime.

Tumble again to remove lube, then process to completed round.

The second tumble is when I get some media in the primer hole.

Pistol Brass–tumble, then put on the progressive press and complete in one run.

[Guest friesepferd]

ooooh!

In that case... get differance size media. Either something small enough that it will fall out or big enough that it wont go in!

[tnhawk]

I have one of those primer pocket cleaners, its a wire brush and handle with 2 sizes for large/small pockets. Probably overkill but it was only a few dollars and it gets the job done. I tumble with the old primers installed, knock them out, brush, and continue from there. Most spent primers have a kernel or so of media stuck in them, but its cleared out when deprimed.

+1

[Guest KCSTEVE]

If you are using a turret press, what does it hurt if you run the deprimer thru the case again?

Its already sized so it won't cause undue stress.

[Guest canebreaker]

Place 2 new or 3 used dryer sheets in the tumber. They will catch a lot of the trash in the media, replace every tumbling. My media is about 100 tumblings old.