Possible Reloading Issue.

[Jura]

I had sized and primed 150 .318 Westley Richards cases with Magnum Primers which I have been reloading for many years with Ramshot Magnum Powder.

However, I recently decided to follow the Hornady Data for the .338.06 (a very similar cartridge to the .318WR) which calls for Viht N150 powder and a standard primer.
So, I de-capped the Magnum primers without incident and re-tumbled the cases in corn cob media. However, I was not pleased with the result as they still looked a bit black so after picking all the media out of the primer pockets and making absolutely sure there was no media in the cases, I made a solution of Citric Acid and boiling water to let them soak for a couple of hours in a Tupperware bowl.

After flushing with cold water for several minutes I was very surprised to see a considerable amount of residual media being flushed out and now believe this could have given rise to varying velocities for any given charge with the chronograph at the range. Comments welcome.

As this was the first time, I cleaned my cases wet I drilled holes in a reloading block and used a heat gun to dry them.

PS: I will be using the wet method to clean cases in the future.

 

[finnbear270]

Dry in the oven @ 50/ 70 degrees.

 

[paul o']

I used too dry mine in a food dehumidifier 75 Deg 1hr , now gone back to corn dry cleaning after faffing around with a sonic 6lt tank and drying setup . old school drill /cutter the pockets out & wire neck brush in a drill turn around use the lee case speed holder and trim to size same time I VLD cut and de bur then the troops are then ready for parade

 

[25 Sharps]

I had sized and primed 150 .318 Westley Richards cases with Magnum Primers which I have been reloading for many years with Ramshot Magnum Powder.

However, I recently decided to follow the Hornady Data for the .338.06 (a very similar cartridge to the .318WR) which calls for Viht N150 powder and a standard primer.
So, I de-capped the Magnum primers without incident and re-tumbled the cases in corn cob media. However, I was not pleased with the result as they still looked a bit black so after picking all the media out of the primer pockets and making absolutely sure there was no media in the cases, I made a solution of Citric Acid and boiling water to let them soak for a couple of hours in a Tupperware bowl.

After flushing with cold water for several minutes I was very surprised to see a considerable amount of residual media being flushed out and now believe this could have given rise to varying velocities for any given charge with the chronograph at the range. Comments welcome.

As this was the first time, I cleaned my cases wet I drilled holes in a reloading block and used a heat gun to dry them.

PS: I will be using the wet method to clean cases in the future.

get a wet tumbler and dry them in the oven

 

[User00044]

I gave up tumbling a while back , I see no benefits to shiny cases . If anything there is possibly a negative effect on obturation . Decap and a 10 minute cycle in the ultrasonic , rinse and then dry in a warm (50°C)oven .
The benefits are internally clean brass and primer pockets , with the added benefit of keeping the wheels on the Annealeez clean when annealing.
Your batch size will effect the size of ultrasonic , I bought a £20 Lidl one 8 years ago , when it fails I'll buy something bigger .

 

[25 Sharps]

I gave up tumbling a while back , I see no benefits to shiny cases . If anything there is possibly a negative effect on obturation . Decap and a 10 minute cycle in the ultrasonic , rinse and then dry in a warm (50°C)oven .
The benefits are internally clean brass and primer pockets , with the added benefit of keeping the wheels on the Annealeez clean when annealing.
Your batch size will effect the size of ultrasonic , I bought a £20 Lidl one 8 years ago , when it fails I'll buy something bigger .

Wet tumbling cleans the outside, inside and the primer pockets, brass comes out literally like new.

Did ultrasonic for a while but unless you are only cleaning 20 cases or so at a time it’s a faff and leaves you with tarnished cases and often the primer pockets aren’t spotless

 

[User00044]

Wet tumbling cleans the outside, inside and the primer pockets, brass comes out literally like new.

Did ultrasonic for a while but unless you are only cleaning 20 cases or so at a time it’s a faff and leaves you with tarnished cases and often the primer pockets aren’t spotless

I get about 40 or so cases in , calibre dependent of course . Never had any of the problems you mention using Lymans additive and tarnishing is of little importance to me . I didn't see an improvement in accuracy with shiny cases over tarnished ones . I saw an improvement when I returned to a beam scale and target master over my gen6 or started annealing , shiny cases made zero difference.
If you prefer sparkling cases , I'm not going to criticise , it's up to the individual.

To be fair, reloading is a faff !

 

[25 Sharps]

I get about 40 or so cases in , calibre dependent of course . Never had any of the problems you mention using Lymans additive and tarnishing is of little importance to me . I didn't see an improvement in accuracy with shiny cases over tarnished ones . I saw an improvement when I returned to a beam scale and target master over my gen6 or started annealing , shiny cases made zero difference.
If you prefer sparkling cases , I'm not going to criticise , it's up to the individual.

To be fair, reloading is a faff !

It is. I do 200+ cases at a time, I found when I did more than about 20 cases the ones not over the vibratory plate in the base didn’t get their primer pockets cleaned properly.