I use a Dillon 550 to reload 223 Remington. After tumbling, case lubing and case sizing, I want to remove the case lube. I have then used the tumbler with corn media --plugs up the primer pocket, IOSSO liquid -- messy. Someone recommended complete the reloading process, then put the completed round in the vibrating tumbler. Sounds good, but I am uneasy about putting live ammo in the vibrating tumbler. Has anyone done this and not had a problem?

Its okay to tumble it, but you are better off just taking a paper towel and wiping the cases off. Its easy and doesn't take as long as tumbling.

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I just lube and resize then tumble. No big deal to clean out primer pockets and that needs to be done anyway. If the cases are dirty, I will tumble for a bit and then lube, decap / resize and tumble a bit more to remove the lube.

One Shot lube almost evaporates after sizing anyway.

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There are a few ways around this. One way is to decap only (with something like a Lee Universal Decapper die), then tumble. While you lube and size, the sizer die decap pin will remove any media.

I tumble only once, after I size (unless the brass is really dirty). That removes the lube and cleans. I poke any media out with a stiff wire as I hand-prime. I use a single-stage press, so that might work on a progressive.

You could remove the lube at the very end, by sloshing the loaded ammo back and forth in a rolled towel that is sprinkled with rubbing alcohol. I do that often. You can do 100 or more at a time with handgun or .223-size rounds.

Edit to add: I also find that untreated walnut doesn't plug flashholes nearly as much as corn cob.

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If you search our Archives you'll find several past threads on this subject.

Some folks shudder at putting loaded cartridges into a tumbler and others have no concern whatsoever. Takes a pretty good hit to set off a primer and normal viberating action won't provide it.

Safest recourse is as above - either hand wipe (what I do) or tumble prior to priming and loading.

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I'd be too worried about the vibrating knocking too much of the coating off the powder, and changing the burn rate, probably to the faster side. This might give much higher pressures.

It's not that tough to poke the media out of the flash hole.

If you miss one, you might get a dud, but not a BOOM.

.

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I use a Lee universal decapper, then tumble the cases. Only clean polished brass go in my resizing dies. They get tumbled to take off the Hornedy one shot spray lube even though Hornedy says it isn't necessary. Poking the few kernals of media out of the flash holes is a simple matter and only takes a few minutes. I use a Lee case trimmer for that.

I'm using a single stage loading setup. I have to admit if I were using a progressive loader I would approach it differently. You might check with Dillon and see what they recommend. They've been doing this for quite a while.

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I don't know how well my method could be incorporated with a progressive press but this is what I do. While I'm sizing cases I have a folded bath towel laying across my knee. As I'm sizing, I "palm" them in my left hand, when I get three to five in my hand (depending on case size) I roll them back and forth together on the towel a couple of times. Only takes a second. I use Hornady One Shot most of the time and it's not hard to get off. I'm not sure it even needs to be wiped off.

I've always cleaned the primer pockets, and removed tumbling media with a very small (small enough to fit through the primer hole) jewler's screwdriver. I use one the smallest one from one of the cheap sets that are available everywhere. They last a long, long time, and the pivoting head is nice. Surprisingly, a screwdriver that small is faster cleaning the carbon from the pockets than tools sold for that purpose. Once around the pocket, and you are done!.......... Guess I'll go do some now. :-)

I use the towel with alcohol on it method. Just drop the finished rounds into a large towel, gather 4 corners, sprinkle a little alcohol, and slosh back and forth.

I make my own lube, use 99% alcohol and liquid lanolin in a spray bottle. Goes a long way.

Don

After tumbling in corncob, flash holes get cleaned of any media with the cheap, trusty round tootpick. I just consider this as part of normal case prep and have been doing this for such a long time that it's no bother.

Oderless mineral spirits sold at hardwares, paint stores and any kind of big box store that sells paint will remove most case lubes except Lee's, which is water soluble. Put the lubed cases in a paint bucket of the stuff and let them soak a few minutes. Slosh about a little, then take the cases back out and shake the excess solvent back into the can, the bounce them around a little in a terri cloth rag then let them dry overnight on it. By morning they should be dry. If you want to get fancy, take a board and tap enough finishing nails in that are long enough to hold your cases up when you put them mouth-down over the nails to dry.

As most lubes tell you they don't need to be removed before shooting, obviously any tiny trace remaining after this treatment is meaningless. Thus, the can of mineral sprits can be used over and over again. This is not a process for having the loaded rounds in the same loading session, though. I try to keep sized and trimmed cases ready ahead of need, anyway, so I wouldn't care if took a month to dry out. The odorless mineral sprits are a concession to my spouse, who can smell the smallest drop of any solvent at a thousand yards faster than the speed of light can travel that span. Otherwise, I would probably use kerosene to save money, despite the fire hazard.

A basket that lets you dip the cases in and out of the mineral spirits for agitation is also a good time saver.

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Mineral spirits are more volatile than kerosene, so form a vapors in air that are easier to ignite than kerosene. It's mineral spirits that have the higher flammability hazard.

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