Tumbling .22s

[BillytheKidder]

Not sure if this is the right section, but don't know where else to ask.

Is it safe to put live .22 LR ammunition in a case tumbler with crushed walnuts? I have 1000 or so, somewhat dirty/corroded Golden Remington's. They ship in a bucket, I can't imagine a tumbler would be any worse.

[Brian D.]

That doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Thinking as much about bullets coming loose from their crimp, as much as the tumbling and other movement setting off the rimfire primers..

[BobK]

I would not hesitate to do so. I tumble loaded centerfire rounds all the time. A primer is a primer, and I would not worry about it going off.

If if one did go off, it certainly isn't going to harm anything. A loose round going off does not have the danger of a chambered round.

[JustaShooter]

My biggest concerns would be loosening the bullet (remember, these are heeled bullets) as well as removing any lube from the bullet. Loosening probably isn't much of a concern, really, but still I think I'd do a small batch and examine them and do a few range tests before doing them all. If these are jacketed/copper washed then no lube worries, but I would not do this with lead bullets.

[Brian D.]

I would not hesitate to do so. I tumble loaded centerfire rounds all the time.

Bob, why do you tumble loaded rounds? I was always happy with cleaning the empty brass in a tumbler and proceed to reload them. They still seemed acceptably bright and shiny at that point.

[BobK]

I would not hesitate to do so. I tumble loaded centerfire rounds all the time.

Bob, why do you tumble loaded rounds? I was always happy with cleaning the empty brass in a tumbler and proceed to reload them. They still seemed acceptably bright and shiny at that point.

Because I suffer from OCD . . . I guess?

Actually, back when I used the Lee Alox tumble lube process for my case bullets, tumbling the finished ammo would give a nice look to the cast bullets and remove any stickiness.

Now that I use a lubrizer, I really don't have to re-tumble so much unless I don't like the way they look.

[stephen45-70]

ive tumbled .22's before to clean them up .. no harm no foul so long as they are jacketed bullets , naked lead and you remove the lube as mentioned above .

[BillytheKidder]

Thanks for the input. I tried it and it seemed to have worked, bullets don't seem any more loose than normal for bulk ammo. We'll see how they shoot.

[Klingon00]

Out of curiosity, is there any danger of the powder being tumbled over a long period of time maybe changing it's shape, becoming finer and possibly changing the pressure characteristics/burn speed?

[Brian D.]

Out of curiosity, is there any danger of the powder being tumbled over a long period of time maybe changing it's shape, becoming finer and possibly changing the pressure characteristics/burn speed?

I've always wondered about that too. Closest experience I have was during a weeklong shoot held way out in the country, the last several miles to and from the range each day were VERY bumpy. By the last couple of days my .45 acp bowling pin loads had seemed to have lost some power. Chronographed some when I got home and confirmed that something had degraded them almost 100 feet per second, and it wasn't hot, cold, or humid weather.

[glocksmith]

If the lead has developed a white oxidized coating, you might have issues if you are using them in a semi-auto. My Dad had a batch of ancient .22's like that, and he also tumbled them. They still wouldn''t chamber properly in his Ruger MkII. IDK for sure, but the bullet may swell in diameter if the oxidation penetrates subsurface.

[BobK]

Out of curiosity, is there any danger of the powder being tumbled over a long period of time maybe changing it's shape, becoming finer and possibly changing the pressure characteristics/burn speed?

I've seen studies posted on TheHighRoad where they tumbled loaded ammo for ridiculous amounts of time (12-24-48 hours!) and then broke down some ammo and measured particle size, finding no difference. The same studies measured velocity and found no statistically valid differences.

I've seen people try to argue about military ammo being transported thousands of miles in bumpy trucks, but frankly, I do not think those analogies are valid. The vibration profile of a bumpy truck is totally different from the vibration profile of tumbled ammo.

I have never worried about moderate tumbling of 30 to 120 minutes.

[glocksmith]

Most of the military ammo I've handled had 100% loading density. There was no airspace inside the case, and the powder could not roll around in the case - no matter how bumpy or long the rides were.