Damn right it is. Some guys are completely anal about their tumbling process.
Caddman, if you've not stumbled across it, check out Accurateshooter.com. Very dedicated to precision reloading, shooting, and rifles. Also a very good classifieds section. I've bought lots of components, some dies, and some optics from other members there. I feel you will gather lots of good, specific info from there, as I have.That yellow plastic colander makes the brass reflect a lot of yellow light.
The photo looks like I boosted the luminance but I did not.
Anyhow I've been shining and prepping more brass and reading more about the process and art.
My relative early success is a real motivating factor. I like things to get off the ground.
anyhow I picked up the new Hornaday 10th edition, so I now have Speer, Lyman, Lee, Hodgdon, & Hornaday to compare, and it turns out the Hornaday was the one I needed to see all along.
The 5.56 Nato and .223 Service sections had formulas very close to what I'm shooting. Frankly, I was feeling like a bit of a wildcat, shooting rounds for which I'd extrapolated a formula from good data, but which was not documented exactly, anywhere I had found online or in print.
Now even the Hornaday, is not exact to what I've done, as their test rifle was different and COAL different, and max loads shown are still 1grain less than I am shooting. Still, seeing the data gives me even more to extrapolate from, because it is closer than anything I have found.
I also bought some more Match 75 gn BTHP and some Nosler Comp BTHP 77grn bullets, which is nearly the exact bullet from the formula.
I picked up some more BR4s, a little 3031 powder, and have H322 to try as well. I bought a Lyman .357/.36 die set, and a Hornaday American die set for .45 ACP.
I'm so glad I picked up the Hornaday 10th ed.
Gee I hope I didn't scare you off with all my profligate spending.
It's a fun business for me Meanie. It's a hobby and like all Hobbies you toss money at it for fun. Now because I have a little money that I intend to enjoy before I die, I have spent it freely (but purposefuly) on this business for my own enjoyment.
But I wasn't a careful Shopper either!
Look up some of the things the other guys are doing and you will see that often they are reloading great ammo & much cheaper than I am, and they're probably having just as much fun.
I'm buying the most expensive powder, the most expensive bullets, and the most expensive primers. ( I haven't actually started buying the brass yet but that will raise the cost another. $0.05 a round over the life of the brass if I reload each one 5 or 6 times. ( If you're not shooting hot loads you can reload them even more.)
But that's not necessary at all. You can have a whole lot of fun with used equipment and more common componants. All of the brass that I am loading is from ammunition that I have bought and shot myself, or brass that was shot once by friends and which I recovered.
For the loads I made last night I spent:
$0.30 per bullet (Nozler)
$0.06 primer (CCI BR4)
$0.14 powder (varget)
$0.02 incidentals
$0.04 tax
__________
$0.56 per load.
Not including the cost of any equipment or labor.
I've been buying new .223 ammunition for $0.30~$0.50 each.
So in that respect that makes absolutely no Financial sense whatsoever, unless you know that you are paying more for better ammo.