Case processing is the foundation of all reloading. Whether you do it one at a time, or all at once, this is where both accuracy and safety start. First, a little review.
Cleaning brass can be broken down into a few different types generally, washing and tumbling are the two main ways. Since I've already touched on the nuances of how to clean, lets talk about when to clean.
When I get some fired brass, before I can turn it into ammunition, I have to process it. Processing involves a few different steps, which vary depending on type and caliber. Regardless of what it is, the first step I always take is washing the brass. The main reason for this, is dirty brass is full of dirt (yea, a little tautological) which will translate into dirt in my reloading machine, which means either cleaning the machine, or making crappy ammo. Since crappy ammo is not an option, either clean the brass, or clean the machine. Cleaning the machine is a pain, so I clean the brass. Typically, I do this by washing the brass. As it removes dirt and oils, but doesn't require the time of tumbling.
After the brass has been washed, if it's rifle brass I lube it up usually using lanolin spray lube. There are many varieties, Dillon sells the most common version, but you can make it at home (more on that later). Since I mostly use progressive presses, I will set the head up usually in the following order:
* Decapping die
* Sizing die (small base)
* Expanding die
* Trim Die (Dillon RT1200 case trimmer)
The reason I separate out the steps this way, is many progressive presses (the Dillon 1050 especially) have very little mechanical advantage except near the bottom of the stroke. So the typical expander configuration will make for very jerky handling which will slow you down. Frequently I will use a full length sizing die for my decapping die, and have it backed off a bit so it doesn't engage the case. This helps center the case and reduces crushed cases.
For pistol case processing, this is substantially simpler. Size and decap all the brass with a carbide sizing die. For brass that's cleaner, I will skip the initial washing step, for dirty brass, it gets washed.
So now you have sized and decapped brass. Time for cleaning again! Wash it (especially the rifle brass to remove case lube) and dry. Followed by tumbling (if you wet tumble, be sure to dry it).
After this, your reloading should be just like running new brass through your machine. If you are running a progressive, this will greatly improve reliability of the machine and through put. One of the chief benefits to processing brass this way, is a higher quality product when done. You don't have to tumble live ammo trying to get lube off the brass (this always makes things dirtier), in most cases brass processed this way will look as good as new ammo if you do it right.
