Tumbling cases in the dryer? :-)

[BigBlock]

I'm going to start reloading for my .44 Magnum, but I don't want to spend anymore than I otherwise would have on loaded ammo for the first 1000 rounds. I'll buy better equipment as I save money on ammo.

Anyway, I seem to remember reading a post here about tumbling brass in a bag, in a clothes dryer on the tumble cycle. Does anybody have a link to that thread or can better explain the process?

Can I just put a bag (pillow case?) full of walnut shells and brass in the dryer for a while?

 

[jmorris]

You can save enough money on just a few boxes of 44mag to pay for a cheap tumbler.

I wouldn't try what you suggest; however, if you do I want photos and your wifes reaction.

 

[Navy joe]

I personally don't want lead residue and who knows what else in where I dry my baby's clothes. Tumblers are cheap. Hand wipe with a cloth and a little metal polish if you don't want to tumble.

 

[depoloni]

The netting bags work great IN A TUMBLER if you've got a big one and want to run several pre-sorted calibers. Just bag them, toss the bags in (which the media can freely flow between) and voila, you pull them back out sorted rather than doing it all over. I can not, literally, imagine how painfully my wife would end me if I ruined our dryer like that lol

 

[rcmodel]

Tumbling cases in a dryer would do nothing at all unless you dumped about 50 pounds of treated media in with them.
And that would stop up the filter scree in no time flat!

What you may have remembered reading was washing & drying plastic shotgun hulls in a mesh bag.

rcmodel

 

[Otto]

Try cleaning them in a washing machine...
No media to mess with, no noise, no dust and they're done in 45 minutes.

 

[Oldcoyote]

Anyone for the dishwasher? Blender? Divorce?

 

[rcmodel]

How about:
1. De-priming them all.
2. Stringing them on a big wire loop.
3. Taking them to the Car Wash.
4. Hang them on the radio antenna to dry on the way home.



rcmodel

 

[oneounceload]

you could always buy a dedicated used dryer; however, the noise is deafening....there are several good tumblers and vibratory cleaners that won't make your wife divorce-prone...

 

[scrat]

if you do I want photos and your wifes reaction.
__________________

Dibbs on second photos. CALLED IT

 

[BADUNAME37]

Hey, I can tumble my cases in the dryer and my wife can use my tumbler for a mini-washing machine!

 

[cliffy]

How to alienate a wife:

Use HER equipment to tumble brass? She would'nt even let me touch the washer/dryer for any normal reason. My Lyman tumbler has saved my marriage continually. Plus adding a few pounds of corncob media into HER dryer, I couldn't even imagine the repercutions that would inevitably follow. I imagine I'd deserve whatever followed. Think straight: save your butt. cliffy

 

[WNTFW]

BigBlock,
I would let a friend tumble them if they have a tumbler. I have tumbled for new guys near me that have not gotten their tumbler yet.

another option:
http://www.iosso.com/MivaStore/merc...&Product_Code=00016&Category_Code=GunCleaning

Available at:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?type=pod&id=0003071

 

[evan price]

I have heard of the mesh bag IN THE DISHWASHER but not in the dryer! I know people who tumble bulk large rifle cases in sacks of media in a cheapy plastic cement mixer from harbor freight.

The clothes dryer? Dear god, no! THink ofthe flammability of that media powder in the heating element!

 

[thunderstorm]

When I first got into reloading I made a homemade tumbler out of some 10 or 12 inch PVC, a couple of casters, a belt and a older motor , it worked but it also beat up my brass, not bad but it did round off the edges somewhat. I bought a regular vibrating tumbler about 2 years later.

I would imagine in a Dwyer it would do the same plus the noise would be intense not only from the Dwyer but from the wife also!

 

[theotherwaldo]

I actually tried something like that back in Alabama, just to see if it would work.

It didn't at first, although I did eventually find a way.

I had an old dryer with a bad heating element. I took a five-gallon drywall mud bucket, poured it one-third full of media, added a few hundred .223 cases from the ROTC range, pressed the bucket lid back on and fastened it down with drywall screws, tossed the bucket in the dryer, turned it on, and got away from the noise.

Came back when the noise stopped. The side of the bucket had cracked and the media was all through the dryer.

Bought a tumbler from Midway.

About six months later my sister wanted me to tumble some rocks for her. Not in MY tumbler! Pulled the dryer back off the scrap pile. Got another bucket, put in tumbling grit, rocks, water. Screwed the lid down like before.

This time I packed the bucket in place using blocks of foam rubber to keep it centered in the dryer. Turned it on. Minimal noise this time. Came back two hours later. No mess, but little change in the condition of the rocks. Turned the bucket sideways in the dryer and re-packed the foam. Noisier this time. Checked again after two hours. No mess, better tumbling action.

OK. Jammed the timer and left it for a day and a half. Came back and opened the bulging bucket - BURP! - and poured out the contents. Good- pretty well started on the tumbling!

Turned it over to my sister at that point. She showed me the results a few days later. Very nice!

-So it can work, if you think it through and don't mind making some messes along the way.

 

[Okiecruffler]

If you want a cheap tumbler look for an ice cream maker at your local thrift store, Paid $2.50 for mine.

I remember I was using the oven to remove cosmoline from some small parts once when the wife caught me. I think I would have been OK, but I just had to say, "Smells better than anything you've ever put in there." I sure miss that kidney sometimes.

 

[cpttango30]

I wouldn't try what you suggest; however, if you do I want photos and your wife's reaction.

HA I want pictures of your face after she finds out you were tumbling brass in her brand new dryer. She is going to beat you into next week. I would not want to be in the house while I was doing that either that is going to be so noise it would be unbearable.

 

[Navy joe]

Eye the used market. A buddy told me someone at work was selling a tumbler, I got it the next day still full of media and .45 brass for $30. It is a large Dillon from before they called it a CV-2001. It is old. I've run it for 7 years and brass into the six figures.

 

[Seafarer12]

Don't be so cheap. Just spend 35 bucks and buy you a cheap tumbler. I personally wouldnt want all of that crap in the same place I clean my clothes. Lead and powder residue arent the best things to be wearing with your laundry. Until I bought a tumbler I just cleaned my cases by hand.

 

[Der Verge]

"I have heard of the mesh bag IN THE DISHWASHER but not in the dryer!"

So, you do not want lead particles nesting in the crotch of your jeans, but it is ok for them to make a home in your soup bowl?

If you guys want to do either, and in doing so, indirectly add some "bleach to the gene pool", I say, go ahead!

 

[BADUNAME37]

Sheesh, I believe you can even get a good tumbler (new) for around 80 bucks.

Think of it this way:
It'll probably last you a lifetime, if you get one somewhat decent.