A Brass Polishing Question

[lightman]

When you guys trade brass do you want it to be polished or do you prefer it as it was collected with the primer still intact? I recently made a trade with a member and he had tumbled his brass and I feel kind of bad because I did not tumble mine. Thanks for your thoughts.

[Mbaker78]

If it’s a caliber I already have, or something I can tumble with something I have, I’ll tumble it before trading (assuming I’m planning on running a batch through the tumbler before trading). And if I tumble, I’ll always decap first.

I’m never bothered if I receive brass that’s still as fired though. I don’t mind the prep work.

[WarEagleEd]

I typically process my brass before trading (remove primers and wet tumble), but if I haven't had the chance then I will state that it is as I found it at the range, or that it is unprocessed, etc. When I trade I don't really care what state it is in and I will trade clean brass for dirty, but I do want the person I am trading with to accurately tell me the condition/state of his brass because it may effect my trade ratio.

[lightman]

Thanks for the replys. It looks like this just needs to be discussed as part of the trade.

[Happyguy]

I wet polish everything that comes that I receive or find, even if I don't reload it. The only thing is that with the calibers that I don't reload I just decap only. I am retired and I have time on my hands. What did you say honey, oh I forgot to do what? Gotta go.

[gandog56]

I always clean and deprime my trading brass in a wet rotary tumbler in stainless steel pin media. I want to remove ALL carbon traces.. If it's a caliber I have dies for, it is also sized, trimmed to length, and chamfered inside and outside.

I like to send people pretty brass that is ready to be reloaded.

[lightman]

Thanks for the replys. I was of the opinion that most reloaders would want to see the brass before it got tumbled. I'm set up to decap and wet tumble so thats not a problem. I'm also retired and I go from being really busy to bored from day to day. Thanks again, and my apologies to anyone that I've traded with for sending dirty brass.

[gandog56]

I don't really care which way they come into me. They decapped, that's fine. They have been tumbled but not decapped, that's fine. They not cleaned or decapped, that's fine too. When I make trades I always tell them first in the PM that the brass I will be sending is already decapped, polished in a wet rotary tumbler with stainless steel media, sized, trimmed to length, chamferred inside and out, and final polished in corncob with a half and half mix of Flitz media additive and NuFinish car wax. A couple of times that almost killed the deal, but that is my standard procedure when I come back from the range with a bag of empties.

[LEP]

I decap (except handgun brass) and quick tumble to allow a visual inspection. Otherwise, most guys repeat the whole procedure, anyway. Everyone has their own processing methods.

[gandog56]

Thanks for the replys. I was of the opinion that most reloaders would want to see the brass before it got tumbled. I'm set up to decap and wet tumble so thats not a problem. I'm also retired and I go from being really busy to bored from day to day. Thanks again, and my apologies to anyone that I've traded with for sending dirty brass.
The problem with that is I get the brass home from the range, and I immediately tumble it. I don't necessarily do it for trade brass, I do it because I may use it and I like it to be shiny and ready for reloading. I can also see any defects much easier on the brass if it is cleaned and shined, so any brass I do send won't be defective and you don't feel ripped off. I mean I have had brass that the tops of the primers pop off when I decap it , but the sides are still wedged in the flashhole. Splits are easier to see if it's shiny. It helps me to make sure I am sending you good brass.

[lightman]

Thats a good point. I had a couple today that left the shell of the primer in the primer pocket. You can get them out, sometimes, but its often not worth the effort. I would hate to send someone a bunch of those.

[gandog56]

I wet polish everything that comes that I receive or find, even if I don't reload it. The only thing is that with the calibers that I don't reload I just decap only. I am retired and I have time on my hands. What did you say honey, oh I forgot to do what? Gotta go.

Yeah, I do that too, even with the cases I pick up off the ground at the range I don't shoot. I likes to send cleaned brass when I trade them off for something I do shoot. I bought a Lee Universal decapper just for that reason.