Wet tumbling

[Hotshot10]

I've done some reading on wet tumbling, and it seems superior to my vibratory cleaner. The cases that I've seen are really shiny, and there's not the hassle of dealing with the mess that the media and media dust makes.

Does anyone on here tumble wet? Would you recommend it (if it matters, I reload .38 specials and .357 magnums)? And, while I'm on the topic, how do you dispose of the dirty water afterward?

 

[zxcvbob]

I wet tumble steel .223 cases, and also nasty range-pickup brass (i don't mix brass and steel in the same batch.) Phosphoric acid for steel, citric acid and detergent for brass. I just pour the dirty solution down the drain.

I'm still using a vibratory cleaner with corncob media and rouge for clean brass.

 

[jmorris]

I tumble wet with stainless but I built a tumbler large enough to do 5000 cases at a time. I wouldn't bother with it using one of the little thumblers tumbler.

 

[fol4321]

could try this

http://www.harborfreight.com/18-lb-vibratory-bowl-with-liquid-drain-hose-96923.html

 

[FROGO207]

Yes Your brass gets cleaner faster. It will take dirty tarnished range brass and make it look like new both inside and out, even the primer pockets. If the brass is corroded or etched it will clean it but it would still be unusable when cleaned. I can clean brass in 1/2 HR that would take overnight or longer in walnut to get clean on the outside. The pins seem to last forever if you don't loose them first.

On the down side you have to get the pins separated from the brass. This can be a pain, I take each one out by hand and use this time to inspect them for defects so no big deal to me. You also need to rinse them several times and remove the water from the outside or you will get stains on the surface. Then I let them air dry. It is more labor intensive and the equipment costs a bunch more and the loads cleaned are smaller. Still if I am going to bother to clean my brass at all I will wet tumble them.

I just dump the water down the sink as there is nothing that will hurt the plumbing in the strengths used there. There are you tube videos of the process so go watch them I think you will be impressed indeed.

 

[jmorris]

On the down side you have to get the pins separated from the brass. This can be a pain, I take each one out by hand and use this time to inspect them for defects so no big deal to me. You also need to rinse them several times and remove the water from the outside or you will get stains on the surface.

I use the same media separator I use for dry media. It works just as fast and you can rinse the cases off at the same time.



They dry plenty fast here in Texas just set out side right now but when its cold or raining I used a small heated blower to dry them off.

 

[dbarnhart]

A couple of months ago, I did some side-by-side comparison tests using corncob, walnut, ultrasonic, and stainless steel cleaning/polishing methods:

http://www.shootandreload.com/2012/03/26/definitive-guide-to-case-cleaning-and-polishing/

For brass that's a 'normal' level of dirtiness, I found that corn cob does a pretty good job. It doesn't do anything for the insides of the cases or the primer pockets but the outside is just as shiny.

Wet tumbling with SS media will get the insides and primer pockets clean if that's important to you. It will also do a better job on really dirty grungy brass.

Even though I have a wet tumbler and SS media, right now my 'buzz bucket' is running, cleaning the lube off a bunch of brass I've sized and decapped. The point being that there is a place for both.