De prime and clean or clean then de prime?

I deprime after tumbling. If you deprime first, the flash holes can get clogged by tumbling media. If you are cleaning the primer pockets, that's not an issue but I rarely clean primer pockets.

I deprime then clean. By clean I mean wet tumble.

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I would say it depends on your cleaning method. Tumbling with corn cob or walnut, I'd leave the primers in. Wet tumbling with pins, I'd pop them out first.

JeeperCreeper said:

I would say it depends on your cleaning method. Tumbling with corn cob or walnut, I'd leave the primers in. Wet tumbling with pins, I'd pop them out first.

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^^^this^^^

Dry tumble in media is walnut, quick rinse air dry then deprime, I know of wet tumblers and they are better I learned old school and it works for me. I do not reload 10,000 rounds every week though. Some do and need the speed of the wet tumblers

I do dry cleaning, and I've never had much luck getting the primer pockets clean by popping the primer out before tumbling. I just leave them in, so I don't have to pop corn pieces out of the pocket, then clean them in my Lyman case prep station.

I don't spend any time on primer pockets. Tumble clean, and pop the primer in the first station of my press when I begin reloading a new batch.

I have always tumbled using corn cob or walnut media then deprimed all my brass, even though the chance of the flash hole getting media in it is slim to begin with; plus, I saw a video on Youtube demonstrating that media in the flash hole has no effect on the round. I actually repeated that experiment myself and got the same results using .45 ACP, Winchester large pistol primers, and 5.5 gr of Red Dot.

I recently started wet tumbling and have also begun decapping prior to tumbling, just because the brass looks so new afterward.

Just FYI - wet tumbling actually takes longer to complete than dry tumbling - 3 hrs in the tumbler, rinsing, using the magnetic pin removal, then drying the brass for an hour or so.

I don't waste time cleaning primer pockets, has no effect on your reloads.

I tumble first, my brass falls on grass and dirt, I for one don't want dirt going through my dies.

I deprime first. I like the primer pockets to get a good wet tumble. I use a hand decapper now so no worries about dirtying my dies.

jtg452 said:

I deprime after tumbling. If you deprime first, the flash holes can get clogged by tumbling media. If you are cleaning the primer pockets, that's not an issue but I rarely clean primer pockets.

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JeeperCreeper said:

I would say it depends on your cleaning method. Tumbling with corn cob or walnut, I'd leave the primers in. Wet tumbling with pins, I'd pop them out first.

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For years I would dry tumble in corn cob then walnut with the primers in. Cob gets them shinier ...walnut cuts better and leaves a bright patina. I worried about the grit getting in the primer pockets but figured that the depriming pin is going thru the hole so it should make no difference.

Dry tumbling would be three-five hours. Dusty...Now I deprime and tumble with pins.

Washing them with the primers in takes longer for them to dry.

I use walnut and corn cob together no depriming.

But, if you REALLY want clean primer pockets, wet tumbling with pins is the way to go. I don't load on a progressive, so I don't mind depriming before tumbling, BUT, I won't necessarily clean brass every time, either. It has to get pretty dirty before I mess with it. That'd be a problem with corn cob or walnut, but not wet tumbling with pins.

Smokewagon said:

I don't spend any time on primer pockets. Tumble clean, and pop the primer in the first station of my press when I begin reloading a new batch.

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Exactly what I plan on doing from here on out. De priming 500 rounds before wet tumble is not fun.

Taurus1965 said:

Exactly what I plan on doing from here on out. De priming 500 rounds before wet tumble is not fun.

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I've done more than twice that before tumbling. It's not too terrible a job with either a universal decapping die or the FA hand decapper I got. Just sit in front of the TV and do the mindless task that is depriming.

Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Hand Deprimer Tool for Standard Primer Removal for Reloading https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RPABDZO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_e0DLBbHA0NVRC

Olyolson said:

I use walnut and corn cob together no depriming.

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When I processed mine like that I had no ignition issues and it is very productive as I would re-size/deprime/prime on one stroke on the Lee Turret into the resizing/decapping die.

Taurus1965 said:

Exactly what I plan on doing from here on out. De priming 500 rounds before wet tumble is not fun.

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But since I do it on the Turret Press it results in a resized and deprimed case. After tumble cleaning the case is popped into the shellholder after the Safety Prime has loaded the primer arm and it's a half stroke to set the primer into the case.

Taking out the index rod and flipping the dies with my "weak hand" allows me to short stroke the other processes of setting the bullet and using the FCD. You cannot short stroke the lever when indexing.

stupimlico said:

I deprime then clean. By clean I mean wet tumble.

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Yup, me too....

I resize, which de-prime and then they get cleaned.