New to reloading, serious question

[USAFGopherMike]

Had you been diligent you could have scored a NIB 550B with 223 dies i sold today.

I like the RCBS , Dillon or hornady dies for 223. use D & rCBS for everything else. I have a s/s RCBS and a few dillons.

The only down side to reloading is buying components, and more components and more ..................

I wondered how long it would take Jim to wade in. Having seen his operation I can say he's a guru. I haven't bought a press yet, still doing research and saving.

[Great-Kazoo]

I wondered how long it would take Jim to wade in. Having seen his operation I can say he's a guru. I haven't bought a press yet, still doing research and saving.

Thanks.
However Just because you have the tools , Doesn't mean you have the Knowledge.

I am always reading, reading and researching. Cannot learn enough, especially when it comes to a process, if not done correctly could damage a gun if not something serious to you.

[Ronin13]

Had you been diligent you could have scored a NIB 550B with 223 dies i sold today.

I like the RCBS , Dillon or hornady dies for 223. use D & rCBS for everything else. I have a s/s RCBS and a few dillons.

The only down side to reloading is buying components, and more components and more ..................

Dammit! I need to troll the trading post more! Like DSB said... where can I find components? Everywhere is backorder hell! I checked out Brownells and Midway and it seems like everything is picked clean. I don't mind waiting on backorder, gives me more time to accumulate brass.

Okay, onto a separate, but similar subject (Jim you can answer the PM I sent)-
Tumble vs Sonic brass cleaning.... I found a Hornady sonic cleaner that's right about $100... I don't plan on having more than 100-200 cases at a time to clean so I don't need some huge industrial tumbler. Has anyone used both that could give some input? Thanks, this info you guys are giving is awesome! I'm soaking this stuff up like a sponge!

[asmo]

Tumble vs Sonic brass cleaning.... I found a Hornady sonic cleaner that's right about $100... I don't plan on having more than 100-200 cases at a time to clean so I don't need some huge industrial tumbler. Has anyone used both that could give some input? Thanks, this info you guys are giving is awesome! I'm soaking this stuff up like a sponge!

I am sold on the wet tumbling with stainless steel. My brass has never looked so good.

[Ronin13]

I am sold on the wet tumbling with stainless steel. My brass has never looked so good.

WOW! You could eat dinner off that brass! And I'm scratching my head- that's the one part of reloading I haven't done enough reading on... What exactly is entailed in "wet tumbling with stainless steel"? I read and saw in a couple of places that guys tumble for 48 hours... Does it really take that long to get brass clean and shiny?

[asmo]

WOW! You could eat dinner off that brass! And I'm scratching my head- that's the one part of reloading I haven't done enough reading on... What exactly is entailed in "wet tumbling with stainless steel"? I read and saw in a couple of places that guys tumble for 48 hours... Does it really take that long to get brass clean and shiny?

Thumers Tumbler
5lbs of stainless steel rods
Dawn dish soap
Lemishine

2 hours and your brass will look like that - depending on how filthy it was and the size of the load. Stuff from long runs under a suppressor take a little longer for that level of clean, maybe 3 hours. I have seen no appreciable level of difference in cleanliness going from 4 hours to 16 hours (left it on over night and the next morning on accident).

[dwalker460]

I use a standard vibratory tumbler and either walnut or corncob media. I used to have an ultrasonic cleaner, very cool tool, but its dead now.

[XC700116]

I use Walnut in a vibratory tumbler, Most times unless the brass is really bad, it's clean and shiny with 4 hours. about every 5th or 6th run through the media I add some nu-finish car polish ot the media and it helps shine it up and keep dust down.

Been wanting to switch over to stainless and a thumbler, but can't quite justify the price for the difference. If I were starting out and didn't already have my setup, I'd go stainless and a Thumbler.

[rondog]

I finally got my new cement mixer from Horror Freight assembled, and I'm running my first batch of .30-06 brass as I write this. I bought 25 lbs. of the stainless steel pins, and I had about 19 lbs. of dirty '06 brass. Stuff's been running about 1.5 hours as of right now, looking great so far.

I'm hoping it'll handle 25# of media and 25# of brass, plus the water. So far, it's just churning right along.

It's this one, cute little thing, only about waist-high. 1.25 cu.ft. Caught it on sale, threw in a 20% off coupon, final cost $117.



But as far as the press goes, do whatever you guys want and can afford, you've gotten lots of good advice so far. Myself, I use a Lee Classic Cast Turret Press and all Lee dies. It works very well for me, and I can crank 'em out plenty fast for my needs. I can also remove the drive shaft and use it as a single-stage, do that all the time.

I'll typically deprime all the dirty brass I have of all calibers with a Universal Decapping Die, then tumble them, then prime them. I'll then store them in buckets all polished and primed, ready to load when I get in the mood. Rifle brass, I'll resize and trim, and then prime and store. Rifle brass requires neck sizing and uses special decapping pins to get the inside dimension right, pistol doesn't.

I don't know about other brands of dies, but with the Lee sizing dies, you can remove the decapping pin or just move it up out of the way, so resizing pistol brass with new primers in them is no issue. Just resize, dump the powder, seat the bullet, done.

[asmo]

I finally got my new cement mixer from Horror Freight assembled, and I'm running my first batch of .30-06 brass as I write this. I bought 25 lbs. of the stainless steel pins, and I had about 19 lbs. of dirty '06 brass. Stuff's been running about 1.5 hours as of right now, looking great so far.

If this works can I come to your place with some buckets of 5.56?