Pins or no pins wet tumbling?

[AJC1]

Still trying to decide if I should use pins or not. They do seem to do a good job on the hard to reach places but they can make it a pita to get them all out of the brass sometimes. So just wondering what y'all do.

Pins because it cleans primer pockets and the inside necks for better annealing.

 

[WeekendReloader]

Pins 100%
With pins, I only tumble for 45min-1hour. It takes longer without pins and the cases aren't as clean.

I use a Lyman separator tray to rinse the cases and separate the pins. Works great.

 

[Varminterror]

Pins because it cleans primer pockets and the inside necks for better annealing.

What difference in Aztec codes do you see between tumbling with pins vs. without?

 

[AJC1]

What difference in Aztec codes do you see between tumbling with pins vs. without?

I flame anneal, and I've observed varying results with carbon in the neck. The timing is different.

 

[Varminterror]

Ah, the ol' Mark I Mod 0 Eyeball test... Gotcha.

 

[lightman]

I pretty much use pins 100% of the time.

 

[AJC1]

Ah, the ol' Mark I Mod 0 Eyeball test... Gotcha.

Do the best you can with what you got....

 

[FROGO207]

Pins all the time! I believe they clean faster with the pins. I use a Dillon tub and media seperator that I fill mostly with fresh water to rinse and turn/rock the drum through a couple cleaning rinses. Eirher outdoors in warm weather or in the tub in the winter time. In 4 years I have found zero pins in my dried brass or firearms. Also still have my five pounds of pins I started with. YMMV

 

[eddiememphis]

Go to the Dollar store. The kitchen aisle has everything you need to easily separate the media from the brass.

 

[JKP]

I use Southern Shine Chips. I think they get the primer pockets clean faster and haven't had any get stuck.

 

[N555]

If I want to quickly clean cases to get the just cleaned enough to size I do no pins.

 

[Barmcd]

I use pins, I want them clean if I'm going to the trouble to tumble them.

 

[conan32120]

My wife got me that FA media seperator for my birthday, separating pins or dry media is so much easier now. I'm a bit anal about my brass, even range scrounged brass. I decap with a Lee universal decapper, and throw them in the FART with pins for a few hours and then size. After I'm done sizing I run them thru the vibratory cleaner with a bit of liquid car wax for that nice purty shine. Thanks for all the responses gentlemen.

 

[Pottimus]

I like pins, the separator works for me. I know too many pins do not work as well as the correct amount.

 

[livetoshoot82]

I use pins and remove the pins with a magnet at the case mouth. Just grab 3 or four pieces of brass and tap the mouths on the magnet and out they come. It can be a pita, but worth it

 

[Dane R. Marley]

I use SS Chips. They work well, but I am going to try washing my brass with out any Media. I spend too much time separating the Chips from the brass and tub. I do have the FA Magnet.

 

[Twisted Chemist]

As of right now I tumble with pins 100%. However, I do experience stuck pins inside 5.56, .38 and 9mm cases along with an occasional pin stuck in a random flash hole. All decapped cases are tumbled in my $40 Harbor Freight rock tumbler for a few hours then thoroughly rinsed in the sink through my grandmothers sieve and a steamer tray over a dishtowel, dumped and shaken. All stray pins are collected via magnet. The cases are then poured out on a towel, rolled back and forth in the towel and left to dry, where pins miraculously appear from nowhere. Then each case is inspected and the remaining stuck pins are fished out. Speaking of stuck pins making it to the loading cycle, I think I still have a 7.62x51 case where the decapping pin center punched a SS pin into the flash hole. That was an exciting few moments.
Now the caveat in the intro indicates my intention to move to SS media instead of pins to save all that picking and fishing time. From what I've seen, the smaller SS media cleans just as well as pins without the stuck pin headaches.

 

[LiveLife]

What difference in Aztec codes do you see between tumbling with pins vs. without?

We should remind everyone that many world records were achieved using brass that weren't wet tumbled ...

I dry tumbled for 30 years because I could toss my range brass in the walnut media treated with NuFinish and in 15-20 minutes, I was loading my USPSA match rounds as I shot several thousand rounds a month.

Now retired, I love my FART as I can take my sweet time depriming each case while listening to music and admire the shine from wet tumbling. But even for my 0.1 gr .223 powder work up loading at the range/field, I don't need the inside of cases shiny so I tumble without pins. These were tumbled without pins, just hot water, dish soap and squeeze of lemon juice.

And these deprimed 9mm/.223 cases went from grungy brass in the bowl to shiny brass without pins

 

[Varminterror]

We should remind everyone that many world records were achieved using brass that weren't wet tumbled .

Wet tumble, or dry, really doesn't matter in terms of performance. We can promote consistent neck lube with any method.

But I have to admit, when I read someone claim pin tumbling vs. simple wet tumbling makes a (measurable and repeatable) difference in annealing efficacy, I was really hoping to learn something cool.

 

[DMW1116]

I tumble without pins in a Costco milk jug by hand. It takes about 15 minutes at most. I still get some residue on my bench when I flip cases upside down in the shell holders. Would a longer time tumbling remove this or are pins needed?

 

[mm93]

I decided not to use pins because a friend told me they get stuck in the flash holes of his brass occasionally and if he doesn't see them he breaks a decapping rod. So I went with small ceramic pins that are a little larger than steel pins, and tey work great for my wet tumbler.

 

[Mike44]

When I first started wet tumbling I thought removing the pins would be a big hassle. As some others have mentioned using a media Seperator makes quick and complete work of removing the pins. Be sure to put enough water in the Seperator so that the brass in the basket gets a good rinse.