I used to get quite a bit of range brass. Some of it was really dirty. Soaked in mineral spirits then acetone to get rid of the mineral spirits. Then tumble. I always tumble my brass cause its easier to check for split necks, that sort of thing. I find that once the brass has a good shine then the next trip through the tumbler is usually less time. Basically just cleaning off the powder fouling. I clean my primer pockets with a cordless drill in batches. This way don't get the crud from the primer pockets in the tumbling media. I also prime all my cases before using the dillon. Just insert case, charge, insert bullet,and seat. then it plops into one of the bins. I think anything you do to the case prior to actual reloading leaves you able to load more rounds at a faster rate. I weigh every tenth charge as a check. Frank