dubyam
Beginner
- Nov 21, 2013
- 150
- 0
As children arrived in my life and exponentially increased the "busy" aspect (not a complaint, mind you, but a truthful observation) I've found plenty of shortcuts to get brass ready to load. Here's my regimen:
1. Deprime with universal decap die. Mine is a Lee, but any brand will do. Lee is what the store had the day I was there.
2. Tumble for about an hour in corncob with citrus polish in it. I like the liquid citrus polish. Need a fresh bottle as we speak.
3. Sift/filter brass from media, and sort all the brass into plastic coffee cans marked for cartridge and number of times fired.
4a. If I'm going to FL or PFL size, lube with RCBS lube pad and lube. Been using this for decades.
4b. Resize with FL die.
4c. Retumble brass to remove lube.
or
4a. If I'm going to neck size, break out the Forster Neck Graphiter (though I use the supplied "motor mica" instead of graphite) and lube case necks.
4b. Neck size.
5. Check length and trim if necessary.
6. Use RCBS case prep station to chamfer, debur, and clean primer pockets. This is easily one of the very best investments I've made in handloading automation, ever. I cannot imagine loading without it now. Seriously, it's that good.
7. Use a Lyman flash hole pick to clear any grit or media from the flash holes. Somewhere around 20-30% will have media lodged there. This little tool is like a deprime pin on a screwdriver shaft. Just poke and go. (For the LELers, I sure hope Tico doesn't read that. Inside joke.)
8. Now ready to prime, charge, and seat.
I find myself doing brass prep when I can, and usually have two jugs of brass of the same firings for a given cartridge - one that is "tumbled but needs all the prep" and one that is "ready to load." Seems to work well enough for me. Lots of masking tape and sharpie marker use around my bench for labeling.
1. Deprime with universal decap die. Mine is a Lee, but any brand will do. Lee is what the store had the day I was there.
2. Tumble for about an hour in corncob with citrus polish in it. I like the liquid citrus polish. Need a fresh bottle as we speak.
3. Sift/filter brass from media, and sort all the brass into plastic coffee cans marked for cartridge and number of times fired.
4a. If I'm going to FL or PFL size, lube with RCBS lube pad and lube. Been using this for decades.
4b. Resize with FL die.
4c. Retumble brass to remove lube.
or
4a. If I'm going to neck size, break out the Forster Neck Graphiter (though I use the supplied "motor mica" instead of graphite) and lube case necks.
4b. Neck size.
5. Check length and trim if necessary.
6. Use RCBS case prep station to chamfer, debur, and clean primer pockets. This is easily one of the very best investments I've made in handloading automation, ever. I cannot imagine loading without it now. Seriously, it's that good.
7. Use a Lyman flash hole pick to clear any grit or media from the flash holes. Somewhere around 20-30% will have media lodged there. This little tool is like a deprime pin on a screwdriver shaft. Just poke and go. (For the LELers, I sure hope Tico doesn't read that. Inside joke.)
8. Now ready to prime, charge, and seat.
I find myself doing brass prep when I can, and usually have two jugs of brass of the same firings for a given cartridge - one that is "tumbled but needs all the prep" and one that is "ready to load." Seems to work well enough for me. Lots of masking tape and sharpie marker use around my bench for labeling.
