Vibrating Live Ammo To Clean

[Eddie O]

Got some very tarnished 8mm Egyption surplus to plink with. Ammo was so cruddy that it would not feed properly in my FN. threw some of it in my BRASS vibrator with sawdust for about an hour and it polished the AMMO LIKE NEW. Fed it to my FN and it feed like candy to a Baby.

Done a check on this process on the net and I got two Schools of Thought. Several post advised Don't Do it , it will break down the powder and increase chamber pressure to dangerious levels. And others from experienced reloaders, Senior Members who replied Bullcrap, All manfactures of Ammo vibrate it to clean it up before packing. And secondly Old Military Ammo has been shipped, shimmied and bounced for over 40 years with no adverse effect, and a hour in a low impact table-top vibrator has no chance of turning Powder to Dust and changing burning properties.

Has anyone else done this, I've seen the negative claims but not a one showed a damaged weapon to back it up. Some Post were so graphic in warning that I thought of carrying my ammo sealed in foam, like Nitro so as not to shake it or KABOOM!!!!

Any thoughts on the subject?

Thanks,
Eddie O

[afrattner]

Yeah you have a good point there.....Virbrate or Not to virbrate

Id like to know because ive got 800rds of 303. thats looking scrappy.

[Poonie]

Has anyone else done this, I've seen the negative claims but not a one showed a damaged weapon to back it up. Some Post were so graphic in warning that I thought of carrying my ammo sealed in foam, like Nitro so as not to shake it or KABOOM!!!!

Any thoughts on the subject?

Thanks,
Eddie O

So, you need to see a destroyed gun before you'll not do it? Well, you may be seeing one shortly, yours! Do you need that kind of proof behind the wheel too before you slow down? People are warning you because there is a present danger when tumbling live rounds. Just because nobody can provide physical proof isn't reason to ignore the warnings. People ignore cancer warnings on cigarette packs too, but the danger is still valid.

You do what you want, but personally I'd never tumble loaded rounds. For that matter, I won't even tumble newly primered brass. Why take the risk, any risk when you don't have to.

[Searcher67]

First. The tumbler I have states "DO NOT TUMBLE LIVE ROUNDS" yeah I know you may think this is just a get out of court card for the manufacturer and it may very well be. But, do you want to take the chance?

Second, the last poster stated that he wouldn't even chance tumbling freshly primered brass. Well, I would never do that, for the simple reason that a tiny piece of media could possibly block the charge hole and cause a misfire.

Personally, I have found media stuck in the primer pocket and charge hole just about everytime I tumble brass, most just blow out with my air gun but some I have to pick out.

Just not a good idea to do either! If you don't like how the brass looks then just take a rag with some polish and clean them up. But is it really worth the PITA (ARM)? Who cares what the brass looks like as long as it fires.
That said, do not fire brass that has green or white powdery residue on it

[762xIan]

I tumble live ammo all the time, with my reloads to remove case lube and old milsurp ammo just to clean them up. Had a few thousands rounds of old 8mm that were a bit gummy with some kind of residue, same with some tarnished .30-06, tumble for an hour and they have nice and clean cases for my nice and clean chambers.

Manufacturers put the "don't tumble live ammo" warnings for liability reasons.

This issue has been done to death on gun discussion boards over the years, if you don't want to do it.... don't, to me it's a non-issue.

To each his own.

[eightshot627]

I have seen this twice. The first time I had gotten some 30-06 ammo from a friend. We took it to the range and were having fun shooting. On the third shot BOOM! Gas escaped out the vent hole in the side of the action (Savage 110) and the safety tang broke off. I didn’t know what happened. The primer was FLAT! The case split. I asked him if they were reloads thinking double charge he said no that they had found them in the box in his grandfather’s basement but threw them in the tumbler over night to knock the green stuff off them. They were Winchester-Western Silver Tips factory loads. I pulled some of the bullets. The powder looked different in about 1/3 of them. I tossed the lot. I took the rifle to a gunsmith who checked it out ok and replaced the safety. I still shoot the rifle today.

The second time the guy besides me at the range got a face full from his Model 94 30-30. He didn’t know what happened just sat there looking stunned. My dad asked if he was OK? He didn’t talk for what seem a minute or 2. He had been shooting but that BOOM! was double. He put the rifle down and went and sat down awhile. Dad and I tried to open the action. Dad held the barrel and I worked the lever. The case failed and the primer was flat except where it flowed back into the firing pin hole. Worse then any primer flow pick on the net. The action wasn’t true anymore. I think it was junk. After gathering himself we talked to him and he said about the same as my friend. He left ammo in his hunting jacket that had gotten wet. The cartridges turned green and he just put them in the tumbler to clean them up.

Powder burn rates deal with formula, size, shape and coatings of the powder, tumbling could affect 3 of the 4. I won’t do it.

Scotch-bright the big stuff off, shoot it and then reload as normal. A quick scrub with Scotch-bright a goes quick and is safe.

Walt

[Keystone.45]

That's great info Walt. I remembered reading not to do this so I went and looked it up. From Sierra Reloading Manual, 4th edition.

"handloaders should never tumble loaded ammunition. Doing so may cause a deterioration of the powder's deterrent coating, or, in extreme cases, may damage the powder itself. Either situation would alter the burning rate, possibly raising pressures to dangerous levels."

[Gunny1969]

I've tumbled occasionally and sparingly (like 5-10 minutes) in walnut media. My understanding is that you can get away with limited tumbling of "ball" powders. Grain or stick powders are more susceptible to breaking down when vibrated.

[Buckster]

I dont see an issue with limited tumbling to clean live rounds like 10 mins. I have done it to remove lubes and range dirt if I drop rounds in mud or something at the range. I dont tumble anything over night let alone live rounds. And if I had corroded ammo or green ammo that wont chamber, I'd just throm them out and get new rounds. Has the ammo market gotten this bad that we have to recondition ammo?

[Eddie O]

I would like to thank everyone, most everyone, sarcasm is a sign of a low I.Q. I saw the warnings and I know a lot of re loaders "VIBRATE" not tumble (two different things) Live Ammo.
The Ammo was not Green or White, there was no leaking from the Primers or Necks, It was just highly tarnished and sticky from being stored in old cardboard for 50 plus years.
I was hoping someone had a personal experience with Vibrated Live Ammo, The only thing I heard was the same, Some experienced, knowledgeable SENIOR re loaders say no problem in moderation. Others give me the same old hearsay stories "I once knew a guy who knew a guy's Sister who had a Boyfriend who blew up a High Rise Building with a tumbled round Yada Yada Yada.
I did however hear some viable information that may cause me to discontinue that course.
And to answer YES surplus ammo is getting too expensive to punch paper, check on .308 or .45 lately.

Now, I'm humbling asking as a novice reloader can anyone give me a good powder load for a .308 NATO to be used in a Enfield 2A in excellent shape, And a load for a 8MM Mauser for a K98 and FN.
I may have been convinced that after cleaning I may pop the Bullets with my Impact Puller, dump the old powder for new and re-seat the Bullets. And yes saving a couple of hundred bucks is worth it.

Another action I'm considering may also raise some eyebrows, I have buckets of good clean fired Berdan Brass, and as we know we cant get Berdan Primers in the Good Old USA (for that we cant get any primers) however I picked up a couple of hundred .308 Blanks, Berdan Primed for about $8 bucks. $8 Bucks for 200 Primers, Free Brass, not bad.

Now I'm thinking open the Blank Cases, Dump the old Powder,, might even save that for the 4Th, punch out the live Berdan Primers with a re-enforced water-Punch, (Seen the instruction for that one on the net, There is also a commercial version for $30 Bucks) Punch the live Berdan Primers, let them dry well, and re-prime some of the expensive Berdan Brass with modern loads?

Please be kind, I'm looking to save some money and have good, safe 2ND Amendment fun.

Reloading may be our last safe haven, if we can get the supplies.

Any constructive thoughts?

By the way I just purchased two Tokarev TTC's from Century at a little over $200 each, One was absolutely "As New" and 5000 rounds of ammo at a price comparable to high grade .22's

GREAT GUN, don;t miss this chance, it wont last, Do not, absolutely DO NOT purchase the ultra cheap polish rounds, Jackass's are buying it cheap about $60 a case in volume and reselling on Gun Broker. This crap has split necks that split almost to the rim when fired and jam and worse blow hot gas back into the receiver. Do not stand to the right of anyone firing that crap. Buy the slightly more expensive 80's Yugo or Romanian. The crap Polish is from the 50's.
If you call Century about a Tok ask for Josh, great guy. Century no longer supplies the holster and extra Mag. I believe SOG still has them (They buy their Toks from Century), but Century held back the best guns for their customers. Great Shooting at a good price. I understand that the round although smaller is comparable to a .357 Mag.

Thanks,
Eddie O