Wet tumbler resolutions

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KY DAN

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I made the resolutions to quit wet tumbling due to stickey brass in carbide dies and bullets refusing to seat and not be deformed from pressure.

I took my wet tumbler and made a dry tumbler with it. I filled it to the brim with new walnut and nu finish car wax, about half a bottle and tumbled for 4 hours. With the media settled I add 1000 38special cases first then fill up with my media and run for 4 hours. My cases are clean around the 2 hour mark yet I just go for 4 hours.

They are shinny enough to load as is but I have been letting the 1000 piece lots tumble in a vibratory tumbler with ni finish treated corn cob for around 8 hours while I sleep.

Since I made this resolution I no longer experience sticky cases in my dies, deformed bullets, any issues.
 
That is a problem with wet tumbling. I'm actually thinking about buying another dry tumbler, just to toss them back into for about 15 minutes lol. Wet tumbled cases really hang up on my dillon 550 expanders. Makes the whole thing pretty rough, but I do like those nice, clean primer pockets when wet tumbling.
 
That is a problem with wet tumbling. I'm actually thinking about buying another dry tumbler, just to toss them back into for about 15 minutes lol. Wet tumbled cases really hang up on my dillon 550 expanders. Makes the whole thing pretty rough, but I do like those nice, clean primer pockets when wet tumbling.

I like those primer pockets and clean interiors as well. I just can't make it work , everyone has shortcomings lol
 
I made the resolutions to quit wet tumbling due to stickey brass in carbide dies and bullets refusing to seat and not be deformed from pressure.

I took my wet tumbler and made a dry tumbler with it. I filled it to the brim with new walnut and nu finish car wax, about half a bottle and tumbled for 4 hours. With the media settled I add 1000 38special cases first then fill up with my media and run for 4 hours. My cases are clean around the 2 hour mark yet I just go for 4 hours.

They are shinny enough to load as is but I have been letting the 1000 piece lots tumble in a vibratory tumbler with ni finish treated corn cob for around 8 hours while I sleep.

Since I made this resolution I no longer experience sticky cases in my dies, deformed bullets, any issues.


Glad to see someone cross over to the dark side of the force!:rofl:

Washing, draining and drying brass is a PITA for no real actual gain!
 
Dawn dish detergent cleans the cases very, very clean down to the bare metal. The bare, dry metal tends to be 'sticky' in dies.

I use Armor All Wash & Wax (also used ZIP car wash & wax too) instead of Dawn. It leaves a wax coating on the brass. I also spritz the cases with a little lube before sizing. Works great and smooth running.
 
Yep, brass can be too clean. Bare brass with no coatings or corrosion/tarnish is hard to form (sizing, bullet seating) as it has a tendency to "grab" not sliding easily on metal tools and galling is common...
 
My truck needs oil.
My gate squeaked, so I oiled it too.
My kitchen drawer was stiff, so I waxed it.
The oven door screamed like a dog was being killed, so that got high temperature silicon spray.
The windows in the RV were terrible to open so they got some silicone too.
The chainsaw has cabin lube, and my bikes do too.
The trailer hitch takes grease, just like all the tractor joints so they don’t bind.
(Redacted.:oops:)
Chicks dig tractors.;)

But, my brass was sticking, so I rolled it in corn dirt…:confused:


And away we go!!
I’d be delighted! Thank you! :D
 
I made the resolutions to quit wet tumbling due to stickey brass in carbide dies and bullets refusing to seat and not be deformed from pressure.

Just as a suggestion, you still might want to wet tumble them, but dry tumble the cleaned cases for like 5 minutes with nufinish afterwards. While yes, wet tumbling makes the cases look like new, more importantly it removes all the lead dust in a more containable manner than dry tumbling. Personally, I wouldn't handle dry tumbled only cases without gloves on nor emptying the cases out of one without a ventilator on.
 
I don't think it has to do with getting the brass too clean when using the stainless steel pin type cleaning process.
I think it's more about roughing up the surface with all the impacts and abrasions from the pins and that's causing the cases to stick in the dies.
I use an ultrasonic cleaner and a solution that is many times stronger then you pin cleaners use and my brass comes out bright and shiney clean, like new looking brass and primer pockets are also clean.
They don't stick in my dies.
Pin cleaned brass does stick in my dies.
Mine do start to tarnish almost immediately when they are dry. Dry tumbling with New Finish fixes that for a long time.
But anyways, I never bought into the "Too Clean" theory with brass sticking in dies when pin cleaned or mine brass would be doing it also.
You can only clean it so clean.
cleaned brass.jpg
And after that if they are sticking in the resizing dies then something else is impacting the problem, (pun intended).
 
I use several methods dry, wet with pins and ultrasonic. I have been using dry the longest though and also cleaned the most cases using that method.

If you think dry makes them feel better while loading, you should also, at least once, try lubing yourself cases. I know you don’t need case lube for 38 spl but the process is slicker if they are.
 
As the others have said, the solution to your brass sticking in the sizing and powder drop die is to substitute an automotive wash and wax for the dish soap. It also retards the tarnishing that you see from squeaky clean brass. I've been wet tumbling for 10 years or more and there are things to learn when using that method. But the main thing is to use the method that works for you or that you are comfortable with.

I run my wet tumbler for 2 hours and my dry tumblers for 10 to 12 hours. The wet tumbler gets the brass cleaner than the dry tumbler does. And it will clean extremely dirty brass that a dry tumbler would never get clean. On extremely tarnished brass I might have to run them another 2 hours but that brass will usually go to the recycle bucket.
 
Like about 5 other people have said, use some form of wash and wax, or consider sizing before tumbling and using a case lube. I lube every single case I process, why add extra strain on the machine just because the dies are carbide? They get tumbled afterwards anyway, so it doesn’t make much of a difference either way.
 
What is in Dawn that causes cases to stick?
Up to 5% Ethanol. Removes any oil or grease.

Zinc acts as a lube. When zinc is removed from the surface, you have plain copper.
Zinc is a bluish gray metal. If you want nice shiny brass, got to get rid of the surface zinc.

Cartridge Brass-
Material is 70 copper/30 zinc with trace amounts of lead & iron , called C26000.
 
Goodness, KY DAN! :)

All of that work when simply substituting something like ArmorAll Wash&Wax for your "detergent" would almost certainly have eliminated your straight-wall case stickiness issue.

Some folks will keep a bit of case lube on their fingers even when dealing with straight-wall cases & carbide-ring sizing dies, but I have been using AAW&W (replacing Dawn) since shortly after acquiring my F.A.R.T. (Franklin Arsenal Rotary Tumbler) in 2014 and it smooths the passage of cases in my carbide-ring dies so that I have never found myself reaching for my little tub of Hornady Unique case lube.
 
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All of that work when simply substituting something like ArmorAll Wash&Wax for your "detergent" would almost certainly have eliminated your straight-wall case stickiness issue.
:)

I have found using Auto Wash and Wax instead of dish washing soap helps a lot.
Wash and Wax also helps prevent tarnishing.

My cases get what the car gets wash and wax flavor wise, car gets what's on sale which is usually Turtle.
Be aware that there is wash and wax and just wash, you want the wash and wax.


I lube all my pistol cases, regardless of how I clean them. They just run so much easier through the press.

Yep, a little bit of lube never hurts.:D
 
As the others have said, the solution to your brass sticking in the sizing and powder drop die is to substitute an automotive wash and wax for the dish soap. It also retards the tarnishing that you see from squeaky clean brass. I've been wet tumbling for 10 years or more and there are things to learn when using that method. But the main thing is to use the method that works for you or that you are comfortable with.

I run my wet tumbler for 2 hours and my dry tumblers for 10 to 12 hours. The wet tumbler gets the brass cleaner than the dry tumbler does. And it will clean extremely dirty brass that a dry tumbler would never get clean. On extremely tarnished brass I might have to run them another 2 hours but that brass will usually go to the recycle bucket.

On the flip side of my post, I don't believe the Wash and Wax gets the cases quite as clean as the Dawn dish soap does. But at some point, clean is clean! :)
 
That is a problem with wet tumbling. I'm actually thinking about buying another dry tumbler, just to toss them back into for about 15 minutes lol. Wet tumbled cases really hang up on my dillon 550 expanders. Makes the whole thing pretty rough, but I do like those nice, clean primer pockets when wet tumbling.
This is exactly what I have evolved to do. 15 minutes with CC media and NuFinish after brass prep does the trick for me.
 
Cleaning brass-

Small batches of rifle brass, 50 or less, get carbon on necks removed with fine steel wool, then wiped with a rag. Done.

Handgun gets wiped & sized. When i do 45acp , 500 case lot, 100 at a time is placed in a nice fluffy towel, rolled around for a minute or two. Done.

When i wash, 3 tablespoons of citrus in 1 pint water, 2 drops Dawn Ultra, in tupper wear quart container. Shake 1 minute, sit 1 hour, shake 1 minute. Rinse 2 times. Last rinse, in boiling water for quick drying.

Citrus ordered from http://www.dudadiesel.com/search.php?query=citric&affiliate_pro_tracking_id=17:36:

Clean primer pockets, if you want.
 
In my 1953 edition of the Complete Guide to Handloading by Philip Sharpe, I could only find one vague reference to cleaning brass and it was using Dreft laundry detergent. There was certainly no mention of tumblers. I'm assuming all they used back then were rags to wipe the dirt off.
 
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