Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnieB
Don't dip too deep. I try to stay just below where the bullet diameter equals the caliber. Doesn't seem to matter much in revolvers, but some pistols get cantankerous. It runs through my Ruger MK II like fat through a goose, but my neighbors Walther PPk will start misfeeding after 3-4 rounds if they are dipped too deep.
Several brands of factory ammo use those plastic trays with holes in them in their boxes and I occasionally do the same trick to FMJ in other calibers.
I also use thinned out LLA to tumble lube the pre-lubed cast boolits I reload with.
Back on topic. 
I've tumbled loaded ammo in the past, but these days I just make the brass shiny and slick so it loads easy. |
I have done the double lube a few times now. I need to get off my butt and shoot some .45ACP that I double lubed. I think I might try thinning down some alox and dip some .22LR for testing. Sounds like a quick easy mission for this weekend.
Quote:
Originally Posted by olskool
Never ever tumble any loaded ammo! It changes the structure of. The powder to a different burn rate and it can kill you! Trust me don't do it.
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I thought the same thing when I first heard about this. I wasn’t a loader at the time but has some gun show milsurp that looked nasty. My cousin had a bullet puller and some reloading stuff so we decided to try it. We pulled a variety of .223, .308, 7.62x39 and x54R, 9mm, and I think .45 ACP. We pulled all the bullets and first stuck wax plugs and then taped them over. Those we left powder and primers alone. Then we first pulled bullets, dumped powder, and then replaced the bullets on another batch. We cleared out an area of the garage and removed anything flammable like the gas cans. We poured in the media to cover them and plugged it in for an hour. Nada. We left it running over night. Nada. We left it running for a couple of days. Nada. We left it running for a little over a week. Nada. Well, I’m lying. At this point the media started to break down and had a lot of dust. After the week long test we go with some of her neighbors and they made up some dummy loads with more powders than I can remember. We had some old stuff, some new stuff, and flake, stick, and ball were present. We even thought about hand loaded primers rattling out or coming apart. So we went through a bunch more testing. Know what happened? Nada. Stick or extruded powder didn’t come apart, snap, or break. Flakes didn’t crumple, crinkle, or turn to dust. Ball powders didn’t turn into bigger or smaller balls. Primers didn’t fall apart, compound didn’t fall out, and they didn’t back out or fall out. I know we went on with this for about two weeks and ended up borrowing a bunch of vibratory bowls. I wouldn’t do it to match grade F class or Palma ammo, but we found nothing unsafe about it. And all the nasty milsurp got cleaned up real good.
So unless someone has some form of proof to offer on why this shouldn’t be done then I see no reason not to discuss it. I am always open for being proven wrong, but I would appreciate evidence to refute me other than verbal warnings.