Reloading Process Question

[JcBook47]

From what I've read and what I have been told have been different.

Do you guys deprime your brass then clean them or do you clean then deprime/resize?

[M&P Chris]

Either way is acceptable. I personally tumble then deprime/resize.

Check every flash hole before inserting a new primer.

[abner13]

Stuff I'm gonna run thru my Dillon get cleaned first. Most rifle ammo I do on my single stage. So I clean , resize/deprime/check/trim OAL/deburr/ retumble , then prime & load.

No sense in pressing the dirt into the brass. Clean brass seems to go thru the sizer die smoother too.

I use fine grit walnut which doesn't clog flash holes or pack up the primer pockets. Kinda cleans the primer pockets anyway.

[SSG Retired]

+1 on the before and after. There is just something about clean brass that helps you identify any issues with it.

[dk99358]

Rifle brass I tumble after resizing in order to get rid of case lube. Handgun brass I only tumble once in awhile since carbide dies need no lube.

But I mostly only shoot levers/bolts/revolvers so I'm not picking my brass out of the mud, it just doesn't get dirty. The black discoloration doesn't affect the next loading and doesn't bother me. Some folks want shiny brass.

Dale

[Pkspawn]

It is all personal preference. Doesn't matter which way. If you believe it will make your ammo more accurate for what you are doing.. Then deprime and clean.

other than looks, I couldn't tell any difference in cleaned pistol brass, dirty brass, clean primer pockets vs dirty primer pockets.

[NathanB]

I load on a dillon 650 progressive so the sizing depriming all gets done at once no sense doing it tumbling and then sending it through the same stages again

[Steve in PA]

I tumble everything prior to running through a die.

After running my rifle brass through the resizing die, I'll retumble to a few minutes to remove the lube.

So people don't mind running cruddy cases through their dies first, but I prefer not to do that.

An option is to get a deprime only die, which will only kick out the old primer and not size the case. You can then tumble everything to get the cases clean, before you resize, but that would be up to you.

[busa dave]

Everything gets tumbled before I resize. Rifle brass gets tumbled a second time to remove lube. Why would you want to run dirty cases through your dies?

[Delkal]

I always clean the cases before running them thru a sizer die. Occasionally I will tumble after depriming but the problem is the media can get stuck in the primer hole. You have to inspect each case and clean the clogged ones with a toothpick. And.....Tumbling doesn't really do a good job cleaning the primer pocket anyway.

Probably, 95+% of the cases I reload, I tumble while primed and never even look at the primer pocket after resizing. It really doesn't matter.

If I am making anything special, like trying to get an ultra accurate load, I use the Lee primer pocket cleaner. Just give it a quick twist and it gets most (but not all) of the hardened primer residue. I can't really say I noticed a difference but it is easy to do (and cheap)

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/467...pocket-cleaner