DRY TUMBLING VERSES WET TUMBLING

Everything that can be said, has been said. Nonetheless, I want to participate, especially on Page 5. I started with dry tumbling. Hated picking media out of my primer pockets. Knew nothing about wet tumbling. Bought cases of corn cob and walnut media, as well as a shipment of Jeweler's Rouge. You want shiny brass? Shave some of that into your dry media. Sadly...it does nothing for keeping the primer pockets clean. I love the posts of folks that threw their brass into a media tumbler for a few hours. I had to run mine for 3-4 DAYS to get anything close to shiny brass...and yes, still dirty...and still picking bits out with a toothpick.
Discovered wet tumbling videos. Picked up a Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler and assorted strainers. Still got pins everywhere. Continued dry tumbling when I was lazy, until my tumbler burned out (tiny power to transformer wire broke off, and I couldn't pick out the end to resolder it. Bought a new Hornady dry tumbler. It's never been used.

Picked up a Bald Eagle ultrasonic cleaner on clearance. Should've bought two for as cheap as it was. It's the same unit sold as the RCBS 6qt Ultrasonic cleaner. It's fast...very fast. But it still doesn't clean as well as wet with pins. I haven't used it in 2 years. I recently bought the metal tray that ships with the RCBS unit which is supposed to improve cleaning over the plastic tray that shipped with the BE, just in case I need a quick run. Pins do take a while to get the insides and primer pockets clean.

One advantage of the Ultrasonic cleaning is that the solution can be easily captured and reused until it's effectiveness drops. That's right...the solution is reusable.

I've tried to get rid of my dry media in the past. I won't ship it, as it isn't cost effective. I live south of Dayton, 4 miles up I675 off the I75S connection. I'll still gladly give it - yes - genuinely free of charge - to anyone willing to come get it.

Gratuitous photo of clean 9mm brass.
 

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I used to have three dry tumblers, never satisfied with the results. I started wet tumbling about 5 years ago, fantastic results.
I shot some 1917 head stamped .45 about 40 years ago and wet tumbled them with pins about 5 years ago. They came out looking like like new.
Some will be happy with dry tumbling, but I prefer wet.
I am not saying Wet is the way to go, I just prefer wet. I do have a food dehydrator for the drying process.
Being retired I have time to waste.
 
hk940 said:
I used to have three dry tumblers, never satisfied with the results. I started wet tumbling about 5 years ago, fantastic results.
I shot some 1917 head stamped .45 about 40 years ago and wet tumbled them with pins about 5 years ago. They came out looking like like new.
Some will be happy with dry tumbling, but I prefer wet.
I am not saying Wet is the way to go, I just prefer wet. I do have a food dehydrator for the drying process.
Being retired I have time to waste.
Click to expand...
Sounds like an endorsement from the guys at the Wuhan lab—wet, wet, wet.
 
Wet is kind of a PITA for small batch's, but once I'm set up/rolling multiple batch's, I can tumble and fully dry a skinny gallon-sized batch of brass every 90 minutes. One really needs 4-5 batch's to make it worth the set up/tear down/put away, but you do end up with a good-sized pile of shiny brass.
Dumping some cases in a ready-and-waiting dry tumbler for 90 minutes sounds great for smaller batch's, but it seems like I don't have that many small batch's.
 
I start by depriming the brass. This allows the primer pocket to be cleaned and prevents air from being trapped in some cases thus preventing the liquid solution from cleaning the inside of the case.

Put the cases in an ultra sonic cleaner for 45 min. Solution is 1/4 teaspoon of Lemishine to 1 pt of water. Hot water works better but is not necessary. Add 2-3 drops of Armor All Wash & Wax.

NOTE: Don't keep brass in solution more than 1 hr or increase the amount of Lemishine. Your brass will turn pink.

The solution will contain the primer and carbon residue that would have contaminated your tumbler's dry media. Therefore, your dry media will last a longer as it is only used for polishing and not cleaning. This method also keeps primer & carbon residue in a solution and not in a tumbler where it can become airborne.

Dry in a Lyman Cyclone brass dryer until the inside is dry. In the summer I place the brass on cookie sheets and let them sit in the sun.

Tumble for 60-90 minutes in walnut shell media (Zilla Ground English Walnut Shells Desert Blend from Amazon) with some Nu-Finish car polish. This media will not get stuck in flash holes. Throw in a used dryer sheet to keep the dust down.

I don't use the pin method for several reasons. I have seen evidence of damage to case necks and I don't like the idea of brass being work hardened, even slightly. I have several shooter friends who have had pins stick in the cases. Just for that reason I won't use this method. Just watching a demo on YouTube of the SS pin method looks way too complicated, not hard, just more work than what I want to do.

I know I'll get replies countering this last paragraph but that's my view.
 
Skgreen said:
Wet is kind of a PITA for small batch's, but once I'm set up/rolling multiple batch's, I can tumble and fully dry a skinny gallon-sized batch of brass every 90 minutes. One really needs 4-5 batch's to make it worth the set up/tear down/put away, but you do end up with a good-sized pile of shiny brass.
Dumping some cases in a ready-and-waiting dry tumbler for 90 minutes sounds great for smaller batch's, but it seems like I don't have that many small batch's.
Click to expand...
That's the thing: I'm one of those folks who have almost exclusively small batches (50 cases or less). I don't buy or collect old range brass, I don't sweep up the leavings at an Army base, I don't collect barrels of brass from outdoor ranges around the country... I shoot mostly revolvers and bolt action rifles, keep my own brass from those firearms and leave lay whatever exits the port of my self-loading pistols. 9mm, 40S&W and .45ACP are cheap enough to buy and leave behind. I let somebody else do the cleaning of my semi-auto brass and I really don't care what they use.
Some folks think because you don't do things their way, you must have never tried or don't know how. This assumption is typically wrong. Fact is, I have wet-cleaned brass - WAYYYYY long ago before I bought my first corn cob tumbler - when I worked at an aerospace machine shop with parts tumblers that ran a few thousand $$$'s each, using aerospace-grade detergents. I'm actually newer to dry tumbling than wet cleaning. Using soap and water (and I used Delrin pellets, not stainless pins, because that's how the shop tumbled brass and bronze parts) is too time-consuming and messy for me to bother with. I know what I'm doing and how to do all of the above and have chosen the most appropriate measures suitable to my needs. I highly recommend everyone else do the same.
 
I DO like having my ultrasonic cleaner on hand for small batches of rifle brass, or moderate batches of small brass. I don’t like tumbling with pins if I don’t have to, but cleaning 20-50 cases alone in a big tumbler doesn’t work as well as using 200+, so I do often just fire up the ultrasonic when I have little batches to run.

*I absolutely abhor sorting brass, so I won’t mix sorted brass just for cleaning.
 
Skgreen said:
Today, If I saw someone in the next lane shooting brown ammo, I'd assume it was old mil-surp,,, :).

My Dad reloaded in the 60-70's. When asked about case cleaning, he mentioned just manual cleaning with a rag.

I'm glad we have several option to chose from today.
Click to expand...
My first case cleaner was a mason jar full of Birchwood Casey ...liquid case cleaner ... light blue color , sorta smelled like Windex with a dash of Dawn !
You put the cases in the jar and shook it gently with the top on ... My Mom donated one of her Ball Mason canning jars for me to use (strong tempered glass) and a new lid for me to use ... she was a good Momma ...just shake , soak and shake ...fish them out and dry ... it sorta worked ... they got clean but NO polish on them .
Man ... things have have come a long way since mid 1960's ...
Gary
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
FIVE PAGES!! :D
Click to expand...

Our 3D collator thread on CastBoolits is on page 158 today! Walkalong's not there to say enough!......it's a new religion...the converts keep coming. :) Yup we're new crazies.....wet tumbler crazies started quite a while ago, and I still remember first becoming a "dry" tumbler crazy, and being ridiculed for that too.....today, I would not want to be stuck with just a rag and polish....nor with just a dry tumbler either.

If you got to use your old socks, wipe finished rounds from the bins as you load them in boxes.....or run them in your obsolete dry tumbler for 5 minutes in some fresh corncob.

There IS also the "old" factor........the older you are the less patience you have for brown brass, the more respect you have for bling, and the less tolerance you have for health killing things to breathe in. Not only that, when you retire you are going to be looking for things to do.....and you are not going to be wearing yourself out with a rag and polish. I didn't buy a progressive when I was 24. More like 65 and now I have 3 of them and a special one just to deprime. ;) Wet priming came late in the game too. It is cleaner and faster.....not counting the drying time.....so plan ahead. Load what you tumbled last week, and there ARE lots of other things to do in the hobby while one waits for the drying.
 
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So this is a little bit of wet tumbling but not much. I wet clean with Dawn and Lemishine in a glass bowl agitated for about 15 minutes by hand. I can do about 400 mixed pistol cases at a time. This includes 9mm, 38 Special, and 357 Magnum, which are the only pistol calibers I reload. This amount will last me about a season of shooting. I shoot frequently but with relatively low volume, and supplement with a break action air pistol.

My aversion to dust in general and specifically dust with lead in it steered me toward wet cleaning. I’m considering switching to a small FART Lite with pins, which should handle all my needs and keep my hands out of the bowl. Additionally, it should clean primer pockets and case interiors better than current methods.

Am I overestimating the dust issue with dry tumbling? I tend to do large batches fairly infrequently, or I hand clean a couple dozen for load testing. I also use range brass exclusively for 9mm, and would for 38 and 357 if such a thing existed.
 
The Frankford Arsenal Lite tumbler would work out fine for you.
I have two of the larger Frankford Arsenal Platinum tumbler for doing larger volumes of brass

I don't think the Lite model comes with stainless steel pins.
Someone can chime in and tell if the lite tumbler do come with pins.

They sell magnets for handling the pins which is well worth buying.
 
My brass cleaning regimen is so simple that I hold it TOP SECRET. It is based on rapid results: I clean brass to reload, reload so I can shoot cheaper, shoot often so I can clean brass. I have explored all the options: small base sizer die, case annealing, Lee Carbide Factory Crimp die, uncrimped rifle ammo, Dillon vs. Lee loading presses, optimal brass prep methods, and it is all based on productivity. Load evaluation, group size, chronograph studies, 6-Sigma standard deviation, and case length are charted to extreme precision -- let's all shout "CLOSE ENOUGH" and good Afternoon to all.
 
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