I've been doing this for years, and just realized I may be making things harder than they need to be.

When I have shot enough to fill it, I throw the brass, spent primers and all, in the tumbler, clean them to remove lubricant and any large dirt, then
decap and size. Even with my carbide dies, I use just a smidge of lubricant for the expander, and smoothness. Then I tumble again to remove any lube that may remain before priming and powdering the cases.

I use lightly treated 50-50 corncob/walnut shell media, and It just struck me: The polishing grit is a mild abrasive, and some residue is always left on the cases, so will it scratch or increase wear on the dies? Or would just wiping the brass with a clean cloth before lubing/sizing be sufficient to avoid scratches? What do you guys think?

I think technically you are right that it would wear on the die but I think unless you are loading thousands and thousands of rounds its not enough to really worry about. One thing you could do is mike parts of your die, the expander ball for example and check it from time to time to see if it is actually wearing down.

Dies are hardened very hard so they resist wear themselves... I think brass wiped down (dont forget inside the neck!) would have so little polishing abrasive on them it would take a great amount of use before you saw die parts degrade to the point you need a new set.

But correct me if someone knows better


-DallanC

I agree with Dallen that it won't make much difference in your dies. I usually run all my brass through a dedicated decaping die first on a press out in the garage next to the tumbler. Then off for resizing, primer pocket uniforming/cleaning, trimming, deburing, etc. etc. then another quick trip to the tumbler to remove the lube. The dust from the 50:50 mix is probably no problem either if the ammo is not stored long term (years) but it is just more dirt that finds its way into the chamber. I give the loaded rounds a wipe before storing in plastic ammo boxes.

Only thing I do different is I pop out the old primer resizing in the process , so I'll get the primer pocket cleaned out with the media ..
FWIW , I'm with D on the wear , the dies are very hard , and I have one set ( 44 mag carbide RCBS ) , that I know have over 20k run thru them as I document all my rounds loaded and fired .. No problems yet , I do clean the dies every year or two ..
Jack

im of the opinion that i do not clean my brass except to wipe it with a cloth.

every time you clean your brass you remove metal so your cases wear out faster, it doesnt effect how well the finished shells shoot and i dont care how ugly they get.

reloading winchester brass this way i average 15 reloads when full sizing and have nexk sized the same brass over 20 times and have only lost a very few cases to failure

I dont care how soft brass is, You aint looseing metal unless your vibrateing them in steel shaveings.

I agree with ya crackshot corncob media isn't gonna remove brass. And (imo) clean brass works in the action smoother than dirty brass.
Joe

Sniper...Does this technic work for you? And have you had any problems doing it your way? If the wheel ain't broke, why change it. What you are doing will not hurt the quality of your ammunition nor is it a sin and I bet it is easier to resize them cases. I know several people that do it your way. I am not one except I do tumble them before I deprime and resize then tumble again. I see no reason to discontinue what you are doing if it works for you...

And to everyone else...

And yes...You are loosing some brass every time you tumble them. The amount is sooo miniscule that it isn't worth mentioning, but remember God's universal abrasive is WATER...In time it will wear anything down. Even the "mountains" of the west. Just think...Someday our mountains will look just like the ones in the mid-east and east. Sure make them easier to climb and hunt. That's for sure...

I agree with Dallan, and I also like to run my brass through the tumbler before resizing to remove dirt etc that would otherwise collect in the resizing die and scratch my cases. I would say clean cases feed better and certainly look a lot better.

Hey, who am I to say what you or any one should do, I personaly like my brass to look clean and be clean. and the extra time it takes is no problem with me. However, most die companies say that tumbling or vibrateing is a nice touch to make there dies last longer, I have dies that have been used by my Father, and only god knows how many rounds they have loaded and they are still in no danger of being replaced as of yet.
Also, clean you dies with alchahol every now and then to get out dust and other contaminates that just naturaly find It's way into and onto sticky places. When not in use, coat with oil(lightly)inside and out, Clean before use.
I do realize other people have limited time ..........so....do what works for you.