What some people go through for cleaning 100 pices of brass!

Rule3 said:

I wonder how many folks here on his forum have a C&M Topline Tumbler?? One of the many models.

I mean when you want the very best equipment.

https://cmtopline.com/collections/r...s/minimax-2-bar-variable-speed-rotary-tumbler


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Is that the crème de la crème of tumblers?

Rule3 said:

C&M Topline Tumbler?

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Oh! That’s so cute! Look at that little guy!
9 inch long rollers? Aww, that will fit even a medium sized peanut butter jar, maybe.

These rollers are 22” long and one inch thick.
I can sit on them, and if I would fit in the can, it could spin me.


Way less than a thousand dollars, too. Less than $200 actually…

The Glockodile said:

Is that the crème de la crème of tumblers?

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Um, no.

Never under estimate the psych factor. If you feel good about your brass, you shoot better.

I started out hand cleaning cases. Next was an ultrasonic cleaner.

I finally got a vibrating tumbler and dry tumbled for the next 20 years or so. I added a wet tumbler and really like the results but prcessing the cases and pins is a pain.

For wet tumbling, I have enough cases that I can process and dry cases and still have other clean cases ready to reload.

I still do mostly dry tumbling. Shiny enough to keep me happy and makes me feel good about my reloads.

So, use the case cleaning method that floats your boat.

Like was said he several times before what ever floats your boat.

Thanks for the video. I think its fine and if that is part of the reloading process one enjoys, cool. My cases don't look nearly that fancy. I stick my brass in some old jars on a tumbler I slopped together in the barn in an hour with some walnut shells in the jars. Usually run 2 or 3 jars of different sizes and go to bed. But I still have to dump the walnut shells out of the cases (sometime) the next day! I dont get much bling, but they are clean and I can get to reloading pretty quickly without pouring that stuff in to my septic tank. I enjoy seeing how others accomplish the same tasks. His tumbler is much nicer than mine (which is made of old swap cooler parts). My primer pockets aren't that clean either.

Wet tumbling is awesome for getting the primer pockets and inside of cases shiny clean. I have need for a wet system occasionally for doing especially heinous brass, but it's not often enough to justify. I just need to make friends with someone who does

Demi-human said:

Oh! That’s so cute! Look at that little guy!
9 inch long rollers? Aww, that will fit even a medium sized peanut butter jar, maybe.

These rollers are 22” long and one inch thick.
I can sit on them, and if I would fit in the can, it could spin me.

Way less than a thousand dollars, too. Less than $200 actually…



Um, no.

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20 years ago I borrowed a small cement mixer designed for small patches of plaster. The drum/container would hold about 10 gallons of product. At the time I got ground walnut in 40 pound bags for industrial use. I put a 5 gallon bucket of walnut in the drum and 2.5 gallons of brass after 2 hours the brass was spotless.
Since then I moved and no longer have access to the mixer but I've considered buying my own.
But instead I've gotten two additional vibratory cleaners for a total of 4! One, the bottom bearing is worn out and noisy! I usually only clean brass a couple of times a year but 3 cleaners will run 3-4 hours at a time. I'll end up with 2@ 5 gallon buckets of clean brass, .223, 30-06, 9mm, 45acp, 44 mag, 357mag and 38 spl.

Due to arthritis I've retired from competition and shoot way less than a few years ago!

Shoot more clean less!

Smiles,

I simply refuse to spend more time cleaning brass than I spend in the shower cleaning my butt.

I'm on the same batch of media I bought in 1996, granted it was a 40# bag of ground corn cobs and I just keep adding new stuff to the tumbler. Also have a 4 year old batch of Lizard Bedding from WalMart. Used drier sheet removes the trash while tumbling brass.

M-14 said:

Wet tumbling is awesome for getting the primer pockets and inside of cases shiny clean. I have need for a wet system occasionally for doing especially heinous brass, but it's not often enough to justify. I just need to make friends with someone who does

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Something I've always wondered, but didn't ask is "what purpose does pristine, glossy primer pocket or case interiors serve?". I understand the satasfaction (ego) factor but having been reloading fo 40 years, about 18 different calibers and rarely even cleaning a primer pocket and never cleaned a case interior, what's the reasoning? I like all aspects of reloading so a bit of extra work/fuss wouldn't bother me if there is an authentic reason for a process...

I find that looking for culls in a large lot of purchased range brass / once-fired brass much easier after a wet pin tumble with citric acid and Simple Green. Defects show up much better, headstamps are also easier to read for sorting, with bright shiny cases.

mdi said:

Something I've always wondered, but didn't ask is "what purpose does pristine, glossy primer pocket or case interiors serve?". I understand the satasfaction (ego) factor but having been reloading fo 40 years, about 18 different calibers and rarely even cleaning a primer pocket and never cleaned a case interior, what's the reasoning? I like all aspects of reloading so a bit of extra work/fuss wouldn't bother me if there is an authentic reason for a process...

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For me I’m pretty sure it’s not ego but it might be pride (not to be confused with prideful). Polishing shoes comes to mind as being similar. Neither are necessary but both look sharp and you know the old saying: look sharp, act sharp, be sharp.

mdi said:

what purpose does pristine, glossy primer pocket or case interiors serve?

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Clean primer pockets are easier to get primers to seat below flush in.
It gives finer feedback back and saves finger knuckle strain while using a hand primer more than anything else.

Hmmm. Even before I I started tumbling (1980 or so) and reloading without cleaning primer pockets, I have have had no primer seating problems with a Lee Loader, a ram prime, 3 different hand primers, a Lee Bench prime, a few stock press priming tools, and an RCBS Auto prime. I took apart a primer in 1969 to see how they work and have had zero FTFs due to improper primer seating. A great many were pre-tumbling as I just wiped each case with a solvent dampened rag.

Not condemning those that wet tumble, just my experience and gathering info...

mdi said:

just my experience and gathering info...

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So you’ve never heard of this in the last 41 years?

Pardon my disbelief. I can’t possibly be the first to not have potato farmer hands.


Despite its perceived necessity or not, I clean my belly button too!

I don't care a whit what anybody thinks of my reloads, or how they look to you. My eyes are dimmer now and shiny brass stands out and improves my attitude. It looks good to tired eyes.....everyone is welcome to look at what they want to, or spend their reloading time doing what they want to. I don't think what I do is OCD, but you're free to think and do what you want, hope you agree that I'm allowed do that too.

My Thumblers Tumbler was one of the most worthwhile purchases to me, right up there with my presses and my 3D printer. No more poisonous dust to breath, 1/3 of the time needed to polish as my dry tumblers, and 5 minutes of cleanup work....sure beats what I used to have to do to make pickup or military brass look presentable. You think that's OCD, keep breathing the dust, still somewhat a free country.

And water spots? Never seen one......maybe it's the old eyes.....

Shiny brass doesn't just look nicer, it's easier to read headstamps, see flaws, and is just cleaner to handle. I prefer to wet tumble in my Frankford Arsenal deal, but I don't go crazy. I use tap water, a shot of Dawn, and a dash of Lemi-shine I measure in the palm of my hand. I usually omit the brass pins unless the brass is filthy, as those are a headache to completely remove and gather up.

In nice weather, I'll dry them outside. In winter, by the fireplace. When I'm in a rush, I'll dry them in the toaster oven that I use to powder coat cast bullets.

My dry tumbler doesn't do nearly the job, even with walnut media. It's also a pain to sift and tap out all the tumbling media, doubly so to pick it out of the flash holes. I also only dump the media outside so I'm not breathing or spreading all that fine airborne media and residual lead dust through the house. I still use it though when I want clean and load brass immediately.

JMHO- I've never understood the reluctance
to take the 3 + - seconds it takes to run
a cheap tool like a Lee primer pocket
cleaner in a case, or to closely visually
inspect the flash hole and interior of each
case. Of course, there's no hard and fast
rules about case preparation, or we wouldn't
even be commenting on the topic because
it would have never been posted

I spray mine with a garden hose and lay out on a towel to dry...and that's probably overkill.

There are so many ways, and I've done most of them in the nearly 50 years I've played this game. If I dry tumble I clean pockets....many years using a hand tool, and more lately using a Trim Mate. More steps became necessary for me when I bought my progressives.....at least if I want to prime on one without stoppages.

My progressives have an adjustable depth stop on the primer seat rod. That means if you want smooth sailing you want to use that Trim Mate to also uniform primer pocket depth, so the stop will seat every case the same depth. That said, I don't at all mind not having to clean the pockets too. For me wet tumbling is worthwhile for that alone.

I like the eye candy to be sure, but it's not without other merits. Probably the only drawback to wet is it can be too clean and require the best lube you can find.....not imperial in my experience....which I used to prefer. (really referring to sizing hard brass like MG LC 7.62)

I've been meaning to try a 10 minute dry tumble in clean corncob on a wet tumbled batch in a vibrator just to add the corncob's dry lube effect to the batch....but probably doesn't make sense if you are loading rifle.....pistol might benefit if you are used to sizing that without lube in carbide dies.

I still thing my idea of a car hub cap tumbler would work great! come home to shine brass after your commute

Mark_Mark said:

I still thing my idea of a car hub cap tumbler would work great! come home to shine brass after your commute

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Your velocity is too high. All of the brass will be thrown out to the outer edge and stay there, till you stop. Once you start off again the process repeats.

Blue68f100 said:

Your velocity is too high. All of the brass will be thrown out to the outer edge and stay there, till you stop. Once you start off again the process repeats.

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not if you live in stop go traffic cities

I’m a relatively new reloader, and I got started reading the hard bound Lee book. Richard Lee opines therein that cleaning brass is pretty much pointless, and that if you want a box of pretty brass the way to go is chucking them up in a drill and shining them up by hand. He also suggested that using the dry tumbling methods is likely to expose you to a lot more lead residue than you might otherwise get from your involvement in the shooting sports. I thought this was interesting because Lee is a big company in the loading world but I have never really heard this opinion anywhere else.

As I mostly load black powder I pretty much restrain myself to throwing the empties in a mason jar with water and some dish soap.

Shiny brass does serve one very good purpose at least though. It’s somewhat easier to find it in grass compared to dull, tarnished brass that tends to blend in.