I'm sold on stainless media tumbling and I'm done depriming on the bench

I'm still somewhat low on the reloading experience ladder. Been at it for about four years now and reload for about 10 cartridges. Still figuring out the best way to do certain things.

Used a vibratory tumbler with walnut media since I started. I found it to do a decent job polishing up the brass but I didn't like the dust, media separation, etc. Following tumbling I would always wash my brass in a bucket with soap and water to get off any dust. I realize that's not typical and probably pretty extreme.

I decided to cut to the chase since I'm already washing my brass in water and start rotary tumbling with stainless steel pins.

The results are awesome IMO. Depriming prior to tumbling allows the pins to clean the primer pocket. I don't believe you have to have clean primer pockets or clean interiors of your brass for good reloads but I personally like the results.

I really like the idea of bringing only clean brass to the reloading bench. No more carbon and walnut media on my press. I also have carpet in my reloading room and I would lay down a towel on the floor to catch it before it got on the floor.

I bought a cheap Lee press and Lee depriming die and I have been depriming outside prior to tumbling. This way all the dirt/carbon/lead dust stays outside and I bring only clean brass inside to reload.

I realize it's not for everyone and I'm not trying to sell anything or convince anyone but if you were on the fence, I think it's a great method to get clean brass.

This is what comes out of my brass while depriming AFTER tumbling with walnut media in a vibratory tumbler:


Tumbler, media, separator:


Some 9mm with some .38 specials thrown in...after tumbling and rinsing:




Some .260 Rem Lapua brass all cleaned up:


The clean brass does make it a little easy to visually see powder:


Makes for some pretty reloads, but I know they won't shoot any better:


I know this is nothing new, but just thought I'd share my enthusiasm for this method. If you like clean brass and don't mind getting your brass wet, this is a nice method IMO.

I do realize it takes more time to deprime off the bench, etc but so far I like the process.

joneb said:

Thanks, maybe it's time to get off my stubborn lazy butt and try something new.
Dentite, how long do you tumble?

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All of the brass pictured was tumbled for four hours. I found that after four hours, most of the mixed 9mm and 45ACP brass had perfectly clean primer pockets but some had a slight ring of carbon at the deepest part of the primer pocket. I imagine another hour or two would get it all, but it's plenty clean for me after four hours.

GT1 said:

Yeah, too clean. Folks are finding they will start galling their sizing dies or brass as there is nothing between the brass and the carbide/steel now. So, folks are starting to either lube brass or dry tumble with wax/polish after SS to avoid fouling the works.

Besides the large initial investment of a tumbler, pins, the mess of separating them out after.
That knock off of a thumlers in the pic is a nice one, but at $250....no.

Passing on SS tumbling. Too much hassle and cost.

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I realize it's not for everyone. I lube all my rifle brass to varying degrees based on whether I'm FL resizing or neck sizing only. Sometimes use a lube, sometimes Imperial/Redding sizing wax.

I could see how perfectly clean brass could have more friction in a die compared to brass that was tumbled in walnut media with some slight dust residue or polish residue.

I personally use a little sizing wax on about every 10-15 pieces of brass in my Dillon 550B (no brass feeder here) and I was doing that before I starting using SS tumbling. Just to keep things running a bit smoother with less press effort.

I'll keep you guys posted on if it ends up causing any problems in dies, etc.

I do have to say that I bought the rotary tumbler pictured over the Thumbler's Tumbler because many reviewers felt it was more heavy duty than the Thumbler's Tumbler. Many see it as an improvement over the TT in more robust design and great capacity as opposed to a "knock off". I've never owned the TT so I can't give an objective comparison.

Thanks for the feedback. Thanks for the heads up. I will have to try the Armor All soap and wax solution.

I cleaned my presses off and expect them to stay much more clean in the future now that I'm not depriming on them.

Where is all this dust creation with walnut media? My tumbler has a lid that seals (I also remove pieces by hand, I dont use a media separator...). I do toss the brass around on a shop towel after I pull em all out, but I definitely dont have dust everywhere (I then go and wash my hands with d-lead soap)

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I always vibratory tumbled outside with the lid on and separated my media outside.

I would get dust through using the separator lid (the lid with perforations that allows the media to fall out but not the brass. Probably a poor way to separate the media from the brass. It would result in plenty of dust when shaking out the media. Your method of taking them out by hand is probably better. Even erred with rubber gloves I imagine. Every batch I tumbled I would include a thick paper towel that would come out nearly black with dirt and carbon, etc. just to try to extract dirt and dust from the media.

After getting my brass out of the media I would always have a thin layer of dust on them. Enough that I would wash with dish soap and rinse in a bucket and then lay out to dry.

I'm not saying you have dust problems, but I did and I found it annoying.

If what you are doing is working for you, no need to change.

9mmepiphany said:

The key to keeping your press clean when depriming on it is how the press handles the spent primers.

IMO the best spent primer handling found on presses are the Hornady LNL AP, the Bonanza Co-Ax, and the Lee Classic Cast single stage. The primer is pressed out and falls straight through the press body/ram in an enclosed tube into a container. Using any of these keeps the press pretty clean

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I can see that for sure. Most of my time has been spent with a Rockchucker which doesn't have the best primer "exit" and capture system. My Dillon seems to be a bit better in that regard but there is still some carbon and the occasional primer escapee.

Toprudder said:

Dentite,

I noticed you showed the cleaned primer pockets of the HRTRS cases. I've noticed that those, and some other headstamps, clean very well, while others (Winchester most notably) don't clean as well. They are actually clean, but stained. I just find that interesting.

I, too, noticed galling on the expander die (Dillon powder funnel, actually) when I used Dawn. I have not had the problem since switching to AA Wash-n-wax.

I see no need to move the depriming outside. I use an RCBS Summit press for all my decapping. The primers fall immediately into a small catch bin that I fabricated, no primer residue anywhere except in the bin. I used to decap on my Lee Challenger, but the primer residue would gunk up the ram and require me to clean it every 200 or so rounds. The primer residue contains lead, so I am very careful about how I handle the spent primers. I have a shopvac with a HEPA filter that I use to keep things clean.

I have not turned on my vibratory tumbler since I started wet tumbling.

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That's exactly what I noticed. All the HRTRS brass primer pockets were clean. Some others had a stained ring at the deepest part of the pocket. I wasn't sure if longer tumbling would get rid of it or not, but it was clean enough for me.

buck460XVR said:

Kinda the opposite of this statement,



Maybe just a different bench or you haven't mounted the press?

Just a observation, not a put-down, don't get excited.

As you said, what works for one might not work for another. While some folks prefer their brass to always look new, some hardly pay any attention to the shine, only how it shoots. Regardless of how shiny I get my brass, it never stays that way for long.

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Yeah, I just mounted this cheapo Lee "Reloader" press to a board and I can clamp it to a table, sawhorse, whatever. I prefer to do it off my reloading bench because I have carpet in my reloading room and prefer to not get primer/carbon/dirt on the carpet.

You can see my favorite die lock rings are the Hornady...swapped one onto the Lee Universal Decap die and over the past week I've deprimed about 1K cases here and there.



Turned my boys loose on it after some instruction:

9mmepiphany said:

I considered both of these when looking for a single stage press to supplement my LNL.

The Lee was very attractive at $25, but folks here almost talked me into the Rockchucker as the industry standard. The Lee Classic Cast SS offered much more versatility (rifles) than the cheaper Lee (even at 4x the price) and was very comparable to the RC, but with a superior spent primer handling system.

I installed the Hornady bushing systen in the Lee CC for quick die change ability

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That Lee "Reloader" press I am using for depriming is pretty cheaply constructed. I would only use it for very light duty work. Depriming, seating bullets, etc. I'm sure it would be okay for sizing handgun cases. I wouldn't want to use it to FL resize rifle brass.

The Rockchucker is a beast and I think will last as long as I need it to. My only critique would be the spent primer handling system as you mention. I don't like ball handles so I swapped mine out for an Inline Fabrication Ergo roller handle. Big improvement.

I haven't used the Lee CC but I considered buying one for depriming purposes (also considered an RCBS Jr). Ended up going with the Lee Reloader just for cost sake. The open front does also allow for great access. When depriming a bunch of brass this weekend, I found I could position a cardboard box on the floor and just flick the brass out of the shell holder into the box.

But the press is aluminum and the ram is steel. This may result in wear in the aluminum in that area and less precise alignment of shell holder to die over time (the alignment is just okay right now...acceptable but not great and has some slop). Oh well, for $25 it's kind of disposable.

palabman said:

I switched to wet tumbling about 6 months ago and haven't looked back. I use the same process as the op and use an old food dehydrater to dry them. I currently use Dawn but will have to try the ArmorAll.

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One thing I tried this weekend was rinsing with hot water to get the brass hot. Then after separating the pins from the brass using the separator pictured in my original post, I cracked open the basket and put in 3-4 paper towels and then slowly cranked the basket around for a minute or so. That seemed to get most all the water off the brass. The brass being hot results in quick evaporation of what's left.

Of course hot water might not be the best when using the Armor All wash and wax...might remove the wax residue. I too want to try the AA wash and wax and see how that works.