Should I buy an SS PIN tumbler = YES!

[Demi-human]

You anneal the cases after every cleaning?

Yup. I use the same process. For rifle brass. Pistol brass just gets convection baked in the oven at one hundred seventy degrees for twenty minutes. Then I make cookies!

 

[Skgreen]

That annealing gizmo look interesting!!!
If 223 LC wasn't so cheap/plentiful, and/or I was contemplating getting ~serious~ (?) about reloading, I could see one of those following me home!!!

 

[Skgreen]

change my regimine, and short tumble with the corn cob, deprime then (get a FART) wet tumble?

Just my opinion, but most folks who go 'wet' seldom use their Vibe much if any after that.

With that being said, the vibe will polish/wax loaded ammo... (Not recommended in the FART!)

Many will consider using a universal decapping die before the FART to open the P-pockets for the pins, but I never decap pistol and seldom decap rifle. Straight from the range to the FART.

The solution does work it's way into the pockets during wet tumbling. I personally have never seen any 'serious' accumulations in any P-pocket (rifle or pistol) after decapping 'post-FART'.

Last go-round I decided to run some of my 2 , perhaps 3 times fired 223 through my FA brass processor. (Previously wet tumbled without decapping. P-Pockets were cleaned before those 2-3 reloading's, but not since,,)

Out of close to 1,000 cases, I got probably half to 3/4 of a thimble full of 'dust' out of the P-pockets... Maybe....

Of course, to a Purist, anything less than a spotless p pocket simply won't do, but at my level of reloading,,, the phrase 'tinkers damn' comes to mind,,,

 

[Dudedog]

ong time corn cob tumbler(Lyman) here - what I like about my way is the easy dump into an RCBS separator after tumbling. Quick, easy, done.
Now, I do tumble 10+hours with older media (before depriming) , shorter with fresher media. I am not too concerned with how long I tumble(got enuf brass )

I dry tumbled for a long time and it works and can get the outside of the brass really shiny but it never did get the primer pockets and the inside clean like wet tumbling does.
Maybe a little more work than tumble dump and done but really not that much.
In the summer when it's 100+ my cases dry really quick, never timed it but maybe an hour in the direct sun.
Inside I just give them a day or so since I have plenty of brass.

I'm sure there are people who tried it and don't like it but most people are really happy with the process. (other than spending the money for the stuff to do it)

I would say try it, I think you will be happy with the results.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After I remove my brass from my fart,

That sounds painful

(ok, tough day at work needed a little humor)

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I'm pretty content dry tumbling all my pistol brass, but I may buy another drum for my Thumlers and give it a try. For plinking ammo I don't care it the inside of the case and primer pocket are perfectly clean. If I get into longer range shooting I may become more meticulous.

 

[Stew0576]

I like as clean as possible if only because i want my hands and press to stay clean

 

[Stew0576]

Like i posted earlier, i boil my cases with lemi shine citric acid and dawn, then i rinse in hot water shake them in my media separator and dump into my dry tumbler with polish, when i do this all loading work afterwords my hands and equipment stays clean, i just finished prepping 100 cases that were only dry tumbled, my hands and press were covered in black, so I'm sold on cleaner is better

 

[Schwing]

I have used a vibratory tumbler, an ultrasonic cleaner and SS tumbling. Since trying SS tumbling for the first time, I haven't done a single load any other way.

I don't ever remember tossing out the sentence "This is the only way to do this", since there are almost always many great ways to accomplish the same task but, I gotta say, SS tumbling really is the only way to go for getting the cleanest brass possible.

 

[Hondo 60]

Bought a HF dual drum tumbler.
I like bright & shiny.

They honestly look almost brand new.
Even the ones that've been scorched 10+ times.

But be careful, don't over fill the drums

 

[ACES&8S]

I believe ACES&8S said his wife liked the nice clean shiny brass. Some women just like nice clean stuff. (or at least they always seem to want something cleaned)

ACS, glad you are liking the wet tumbler, .
I thought well that's kind of a lot of money to clean cases and sounds like hassle,
but it took only one batch and I decided it was money well spent.
Also nice that there is no lead contaminated dust floating around like when dealing with dry media.

Like I mentioned before the brass may not shoot any better but it makes me

Edit
PS: I'm sure our female members will maintain if us guys were not always making a mess they would not need stuff cleaned. (and they might be right)

Sorry I haven't been on here so much lately, besides having remodeling done here I have been
under the contractors feet doing the tumbling thing over & over. Like Derek said it is louder so I had it closed in &
a fan on it, the contractors could hear it the hole time thru an outside vent but they were shooters also
& understood the purpose over ruled silence.
I finished my last -full- load today, that makes 19 loads.

 

[ACES&8S]

My wife went to college after I retired from the military and one of her professors convinced her that the ice cap were melting and it was her fault because we didn't have energy saving appliances. Well, I had a refrigerator that I had dragged all over the world that I had to sell it so she could get her energy-saving refrigerator. One month after the warranty was up, it gave up the ghost. So off to the landfill. "you know to save the planet" So now, I have to buy another one of them damn energy-saving refrigerators. To my surprise, this one lasted 8 months after the warranty expired. But I keep this one. I knocked out the switch that turns the light bulb out and wires in a small personal fan and built 7 trays to hold brass. If I don't need the brass until the next day it is perfect. Now if I want to see a good running 40-year-old refrigerator I just go to my sister's house. And I laugh at them damn ice caps. "They are still there."

edit: I forgot FU professor and your buddy Al Gordo.

I did the same thing with my old one but it is for gas cans.

 

[ACES&8S]

so... I love my Franklin Wet Tumber / SS pins! As you guys know the cases come out looking like brand new Starline brass. I like to do large batches ata time and then store them for reloading later. However, I noticed that. although they would stay shiny for years, the color would change from the light champagne yellow to a golden as they began to oxidize again. I decided I would kill 2 birds with one stone.

Now, when I remove the cases from the tumbler and rinse with cold water, I spin them in a media separator to remove the water, roll them in a dry towel to dry them a bit mpre berfore throwing them in a vibrator tumbler with corn cob media and a couple of squirts of FLITZ case polish. Not only does the corn cob dry the cases and primer pockets completely in about 30 minutes, but it puts a coat of polish on the cases that keeps them that "just out of the tumbler" color for at least a year.

That Flitz stuff is good for a lot of stuff isn't it?

 

[ACES&8S]

OK - so you guys have piqued my interest.
Long time corn cob tumbler(Lyman) here - what I like about my way is the easy dump into an RCBS separator after tumbling. Quick, easy, done.
Now, I do tumble 10+hours with older media (before depriming) , shorter with fresher media. I am not too concerned with how long I tumble(got enuf brass )

So do I try wet? Or, do I change my regimine, and short tumble with the corn cob, deprime then (get a FART) wet tumble? And, dry in the oven?

Edit: spelling

I don't Dry Tumble any more it will just deposit residue inside the cases that will remain after storage.
That is most of the reason for my doing 19 loads so far, to remove walnut & cob residue from inside
the cases. The water comes out filthy from all that is removed, can't think of using the solution twice.
But to each his own.
I had -several- vibrating tumblers when I got this Fart 3 weeks ago, I gave them all away but one.

 

[ACES&8S]

I have used a vibratory tumbler, an ultrasonic cleaner and SS tumbling. Since trying SS tumbling for the first time, I haven't done a single load any other way.

I don't ever remember tossing out the sentence "This is the only way to do this", since there are almost always many great ways to accomplish the same task but, I gotta say, SS tumbling really is the only way to go for getting the cleanest brass possible.

True.

 

[ACES&8S]

Bought a HF dual drum tumbler.
I like bright & shiny.

They honestly look almost brand new.
Even the ones that've been scorched 10+ times.

But be careful, don't over fill the drums

You are so right.
The only way is shiny inside & out, because if a job is worth doing it's worth doing right.
What good is a clean cup on the outside while the inside is filthy!

 

[lightman]

I've been wet tumbling for 10 years or more. 2 hours in stainless media will equal or beat 12 hours in a vibrator unit with corncob and polish. It will clean cases that are so far gone that they should be scrapped where corncob or walnut media would never get them clean. It will also clean the insides and primer pockets. I won't post pictures, there are plenty on the internet!

I usually set my timer for 2 hours. I use ArmorAll Wash and Wax and Lemishine and deprime the cases before tumbling. If the cases are fairly clean I will resize them first. I dry them either by putting them on a baking tray in the oven for 30-45 minutes on bake and the lowest setting or on the same baking tray out in the summer sun. I've used the air condition unit but the unit in my current residence is at the opposite end of the house.

My Wife bought me a nice fluffy towel and sewed it into a bag, like a pillow case. I'll dump the drum into a tub and shake out the pins, dumping the cases into another tub of clean water. Then I'll drain them and dump them into the "pillow case" and give them a vigorous shake, rattle and roll. Then onto the bake tray. Oh yeah, this is a tray dedicated to the loading room, not Moma's!