Stainless pins

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Caplock

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Finally got to go get some shooting in yesterday. After shooting my gp100 I eject all the empty cases in my hand. Surprisingly I felt something besides fired brass in my hand. I look down expecting some unburnt powder. It's a stainless steel pin blackened with burnt gun powder! Howlly s&÷/ where did that come from? I know it didn't go down the barrel. Maybe stuck in a case and stayed there while being fired?
I'm so paranoid about this to begin with. I used a powerful flash light and check every case before loading. This one slipped by somehow.
Be warned to double check cases for pins while loading.
Oh the things I go through to have shinny reloads!!!
 
How do you separate the SS pins from the brass?

I have the RCBS media separator.
I fill it with warm water and spin 5 times in each direction.
This even removes the pins out of bottleneck cases.
You do get 2 pins stuck in a flash hole every once in a while.
Those are easy to catch.
 
This is just one of the reasons I don't use pins for case cleaning. Just too many things to go wrong. Soaking in Lemishine and then an hour or so in a walnut media tumbler gets the brass more than clean enough.
 
Caplock said:
Finally got to go get some shooting in yesterday. After shooting my gp100 I eject all the empty cases in my hand. Surprisingly I felt something besides fired brass in my hand. I look down expecting some unburnt powder. It's a stainless steel pin blackened with burnt gun powder! Howlly s&÷/ where did that come from? I know it didn't go down the barrel. Maybe stuck in a case and stayed there while being fired?
I'm so paranoid about this to begin with. I used a powerful flash light and check every case before loading. This one slipped by somehow.
Be warned to double check cases for pins while loading.
Oh the things I go through to have shinny reloads!!!
Click to expand...
Good reminder. Thanks.

While I understand how it could happen to have a pin in a loaded case, I don’t understand how it would still be there after it was shot.
 
A friend told my about the shorter, thicker SS pins. SS, magnetic, tend to not get stuck.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0187PJ59G

I use a "separator" for pistol brass - an empty Costco Mixed Nut jug, with 1/4" holes drilled around the perimeter. Rotate brass/pins under water until pins stop falling out. Then, I dry on a towel and blow compressed air. Even then, a pin occasionally flies across the bench.
 
To prevent stainless steel pins from getting stuck side-by-side in flash holes, I use pins with a diameter of 0.047 inch rather than a diameter of 0.041 inch. The larger diameter pins do not get stuck side-by-side in flash holes. The smaller diameter pins can, and often do, get stuck side-by-side and flash holes.

Just FYI…

Bayou52
 
I move them several times before loading hopefully eliminating this issue. They are cleaned separated, dried then sized then tossed into an old sandwich meet container until I'm ready to use them. Expanded put into the loading tray mouth down then primed by hand then put in the tray mouth up. Powder after taking a final peak and bullet put on top before moving to the next case. I find pins everywhere, but I don't believe my process will ever result in one going down range. I believe in handling the brass a lot and inspecting every step along the way. I do find issues all the time. Today I rejected this bullet. Looked like a misplaced crimp grove. 20220814_205931.jpg
 
After emptying the pins out in a wet separator, then pouring the brass out into a large towel to remove water spots, I take a 52N 2”, watch-your-fingers strong, magnet and pass it over the case to listen for the tinkle of an errant pin in the brass. But I hardly get any after the separator. A loose pin will be picked up, most times moving the case. A 32 Auto case is light enough to come with it.
I don’t find pins anywhere.:thumbup:

The steel pin has more inertia than the combustion gas and is denser than the powder, maybe it settled it’s way to the bottom. When the charge went off the pressure wouldn’t try to take it down the barrel if it were in the back.
Still, not a comforting thing to discover.:eek:
 
I single stage reload so the brass does get handled...A LOT. Before charging a case I look inside with a flash light. Tap case mouth a couple times on my desk before charging with powder. Just in case I can't trust my lying eyes.
How I dumped brass into my hand and came up with a pin I'll never know.
It was covered in burnt powder residue. Had to wipe it down to see it was stainless.
 
I must have the thicker pins because I've never had them stick in flash holes.
I have noticed the pins must be around .284 long. They do like getting stuck sideways in the necks of my 7mm08 brass.
 
It's something you have to watch for. After tumbling and separating, I lay the brass out on a towel in long box and run a magnet over them. The magnet is powerful enough that it will pick up any brass with pins in them. I always find a few I missed when separating them and handling. I think I may try my dillion media separator to tumble them for a while just to make sure.
 
Thanks for the heads up, yet to have any make it past the rinse off using the media Seperator and clean water. There is a member here that dries his on nail racks. That seems pretty cool.
 
The chips work well, but my biggest complaint is how small they are, and the likelyhood of getting them everywhere.

Ive been using STM stainless pins since I started. https://stainlesstumblingmedia.com/shop/reloading-products/media.html
They are .047 pins. Ive never seen one get caught in a flash hole in over a 100k pieces run.
I use a Dillon media separator and tumble the pins out in water. This will remove 99.9% of the pins from the brass. From there I just pour the brass onto a rack with an old towel on it, give it a quick shake and wipe down to get the majority of the water off it, and let it dry with a fan pointed at it. I handle all my brass a couple of times, and honestly the only cases Ive ever seen pins in are 223 cases due to the small necks. I stopped using pins when doing pistol brass, just do not need the brass to be perfect, I just want it clean. I still run pins with rifle brass as I want the case mouths deburred.
 
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