I have some large amounts of rifle ammo of different calibers thats a little tarnished dirty. Is it unwise or dangerous to tumble small amounts of this to clean it up?
Tumbling Ammo
- Thread starter kiloechoxray
- Start date
Youll be fine, not sure just tumbling in cob or anything will do too much if its tarnished to badly though.
Some say ok to tumble as some commercial producers do while others say No Way...over the years I've never seen conclusive evidence one way or another...would be interesting to test it...
I've done it on 9mm and .223 ammo. Probably will try a small sample of 308 to see what happens.
I use cob media with little bit of polish for a quick 20-30 minutes. Cleaned it up nicely
I use cob media with little bit of polish for a quick 20-30 minutes. Cleaned it up nicely
Someone at AR15.com did a test on this and found no noticeable changes to powder after a dry tumble. You'll be fine.
I have done this for damn near three decades and have never had a problem. The key is to make sure you have enough media in the bowl so rounds aren't bouncing around. The media should flow in a clockwise manner from bottom to top.
If people are worried about it being dangerous bouncing around a bit then they will shit their pants when they discover what happens to anything when it goes through shipping.
Well, this is an interesting topic with even interesting'er inputs.
Around 20ish years ago, on another forum ('Roster) this same question was brought up and the resounding replies were 'NO'. The statements made 'back then' were that the powder continuously rubbing/agitating inside the brass 'can' or 'does' break down which changes the burn characteristics to a much higher rate.
They also said about some of the 'coatings' on the powders also erode, again changing the granules to a 'much higher/faster' burn rate. Which (allegedly) has been the cause of a number of firearm "kabooms".
Now, I say this, simply as a lesson or discussion that I paid attention to, almost 2 decades ago of a group of my Betters. If anyone here knows of where I'm talking about, and/or the people doing the talking, I'm sure that they wouldn't argue with me. These men were leaders in many venues. But I have to say for the record, that I personally have NO experience with tumbling live ammo, simply because I've never done it.
And those are the reasons why. Your Mileage May Vary.
Live Long And Prosper, Go With God, and Smile!
Around 20ish years ago, on another forum ('Roster) this same question was brought up and the resounding replies were 'NO'. The statements made 'back then' were that the powder continuously rubbing/agitating inside the brass 'can' or 'does' break down which changes the burn characteristics to a much higher rate.
They also said about some of the 'coatings' on the powders also erode, again changing the granules to a 'much higher/faster' burn rate. Which (allegedly) has been the cause of a number of firearm "kabooms".
Now, I say this, simply as a lesson or discussion that I paid attention to, almost 2 decades ago of a group of my Betters. If anyone here knows of where I'm talking about, and/or the people doing the talking, I'm sure that they wouldn't argue with me. These men were leaders in many venues. But I have to say for the record, that I personally have NO experience with tumbling live ammo, simply because I've never done it.
And those are the reasons why. Your Mileage May Vary.
Live Long And Prosper, Go With God, and Smile!
Based on a study reported here several years ago, I have no concerns.
I also understand commercial ammunition is tumbled before shipping but have never confirmed this.
I did overload my DILLON tumbler and burned out the motor tumbling 9 mm ammo.
Dillon replaced it for $100 but wanted me to return the 20 year old original.
I explained what I had done but they replaced the unit anyway.
I also understand commercial ammunition is tumbled before shipping but have never confirmed this.
I did overload my DILLON tumbler and burned out the motor tumbling 9 mm ammo.
Dillon replaced it for $100 but wanted me to return the 20 year old original.
I explained what I had done but they replaced the unit anyway.
