Tried steel pins in the tumbler for cleaning brass

[Wambli Ska]

Having been told that they were a PIA by some folks I had avoided them but decided since I had them I’d give them a try to see how much more work they are.

So the sequence was dump a bunch of REALLY dirty, some of it seriously stained, brass into the tumbler after removing the primers (de-primed all the 45-60 but not the .45 Colt to see the difference and it was night and day!), fill with hot water + a squirt of Dawn Dishwashing soap + a flew grains of Lemi Shine Dish Detergent Booster( literally just a few grains) and the steel pins. Tumble for 3 hours (max on auto timer on tumbler). Drain dirty water, quick rinse and second tumble with hot water and a capful of Armor All Ultra Wash Wash and Wax car soap + steel pins. This second wash with the Armor All leaves a nice coating on the brass that prevents tarnishing and avoids any water spotting.

The result is brass that looks brand new, actually better than factory brass and clean inside and out including primer pockets. Even the toughest stained brass was spotless and I couldn’t tell new brass from the once fired cases

To separate the pins a quick whirl through the media separator and the pins all go to the bottom pan which has a thin mesh screen that allows the dirty water to drain leaving the pins. Pick up the pins with a magnet and dump then in a plastic container, allow to dry and reuse. Added just seconds to the overall process.

I’m sold on wet tumbling because it’s CHEAP!!!, pretty fast, and unlike dry media the dirt goes down the drain with the water instead of accumulating in the media.

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[sakodude]

Looks like a good result. Can't really complain about my vibratory tumbler with walnut media though. Brass comes out probably just as shiny. As for economy, I don't think I've changed the media in over 10 years. I add a couple capfuls of Lyman turbo polish every now and then and keep on going.

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A batch of 35 Remington I recently polished.

[mitdr774]

I wonder how well the steel media works with bottle neck cases, especially ones 6.5mm and under. I have one, but have not tried it yet. I have been using crushed walnut in the vibratory tumbler for years.

[CPJ 2.0]

The pins with liquid adds a few steps to the process.
And I’ll gladly accept it. Beats the piss out of walnut media any day.

[fisheadgib]

So from the time you start, how long before you can load the cases? I use corn cob and I can have them cleaned and reloaded in three hours.

[Zee]

Cob media and a couple drops of polish in the tub. Pour the brass in and walk away. Come back, sift the media out and brand new.

Much easier. Fraction of the time.

[Wambli Ska]

Looks like a good result. Can't really complain about my vibratory tumbler with walnut media though. Brass comes out probably just as shiny. As for economy, I don't think I've changed the media in over 10 years. I add a couple capfuls of Lyman turbo polish every now and then and keep on going.81C5E798-EA63-4595-AED3-1593C4092D69.jpeg

A batch of 35 Remington I recently polished.

I agree that dry media can last a long time but I did it for years and hated dealing with the dust and grime that continues to accumulate into the media, and it seemed to me that every time I cleaned it would take longer and longer to get the brass cleaned to new looking, and in time my vibratory cleaner would be running all night. My cases came out clean but they had a dusting of old carbon and crap all over them that got on everything and came out as a cloud of dust every time I dumped the tumbler. I also couldn’t take the primers out of the cases or I’d end up picking pieces of walnut or corn cob out of the flash holes for hours and I like clean primer pockets. last, range pickup brass never came out quite as clean as my stuff.

With wet tumbling all I get is just dirty dish water that I can just dump down the drain with no wife complains. No dust, no residues, and range pickup brass, even the grungiest stuff comes out looking like new. And every time I run the process it’s e actually the same running time, two cycles, and only one if all I’m doing is bulk reloads of pistol cartridges. I skip the second wash/wax. Primer pockets come out clean too!.

Also dry is good for most handloaders because batches are usually relatively small, but the wet tumbling is more suitable to large volumes. Just about every commercial reloaded uses wet and my SIL actually uses a small cement mixer to run .223, .45 and 9mm by the thousands at a cycle. It would be impossible for those guys to do dry media. I have right now about six 5 gallon buckets of once fired and sorted range pickup brass to go through. Some I’m only going to de-prime, clean and sell locally or on GB in bulk. That’s about a weekend if I stick to my schedule and not very hard work.

[Wambli Ska]

I wonder how well the steel media works with bottle neck cases, especially ones 6.5mm and under. I have one, but have not tried it yet. I have been using crushed walnut in the vibratory tumbler for years.

Works fine. The steel pins are little and those suckers crawl into everything and case prep time is almost non-existent since primer pockets are clean.

[Wambli Ska]

The pins with liquid adds a few steps to the process.
And I’ll gladly accept it. Beats the piss out of walnut media any day.

I think so. Especially when you do large numbers of cases.

[Wambli Ska]

So from the time you start, how long before you can load the cases? I use corn cob and I can have them cleaned and reloaded in three hours.

Depends on how grimy the cases are, just like dry media, and how pretty you want your cases. I’ve had good results on relatively clean once fired brass in less than a hour of tumbling.

But right now I don’t have anything that I need loaded in 3 hours. I have tons of brass resized, primed and ready to go if I want a lever pulling session right now. Like I said above for cleaning a small batch of cases a vibratory tumbler is still best. But I just ran a HUGE batch of once fired 45-70 brass to be converted to 45-60. I set the tumbler the night before to run to run 3 hours, rinsed and went for round 2 in the morning with the wash/wax and by noon I was done cleaning, trimming and resizing.

[Wambli Ska]

Cob media and a couple drops of polish in the tub. Pour the brass in and walk away. Come back, sift the media out and brand new.

Much easier. Fraction of the time.

[Diver43]

Cob media and a couple drops of polish in the tub. Pour the brass in and walk away. Come back, sift the media out and brand new.

Much easier. Fraction of the time.

I read an article about cleaning brass once and laughed. Gave it a try and it actually works.

Put dry media in a container, put brass in container and close. Throw container in trunk of car and forget it for a while. Next time you reload, get container from car and brass is shiny. For S&Gs I tried it. Shiny brass was had.

[Wambli Ska]

Cob media and a couple drops of polish in the tub. Pour the brass in and walk away. Come back, sift the media out and brand new.

Much easier. Fraction of the time.

I read an article about cleaning brass once and laughed. Gave it a try and it actually works.

Put dry media in a container, put brass in container and close. Throw container in trunk of car and forget it for a while. Next time you reload, get container from car and brass is shiny. For S&Gs I tried it. Shiny brass was had.

Fun, but a lose container full of brass rolling around in my trunk would make me suck start my pistol…

[Diver43]

I read an article about cleaning brass once and laughed. Gave it a try and it actually works.

Put dry media in a container, put brass in container and close. Throw container in trunk of car and forget it for a while. Next time you reload, get container from car and brass is shiny. For S&Gs I tried it. Shiny brass was had.

Fun, but a lose container full of brass rolling around in my trunk would make me suck start my pistol…

Can't hear it in the trunk

[mitdr774]

I wonder how well the steel media works with bottle neck cases, especially ones 6.5mm and under. I have one, but have not tried it yet. I have been using crushed walnut in the vibratory tumbler for years.

Works fine. The steel pins are little and those suckers crawl into everything and case prep time is almost non-existent since primer pockets are clean.

Thats good to know. How did you dry the brass? I have a small food dehydrator that I use for drying parts from powder actuated tools after running through a sonic cleaner. Im assuming that would work just fine for brass.

[jkp]

Cob media and a couple drops of polish in the tub. Pour the brass in and walk away. Come back, sift the media out and brand new.

Much easier. Fraction of the time.

That's what I was thinking. But I only clean brass that I shoot in a bolt action rifle or catch from a semi-auto with brass catcher. Very rarely do I deal with something that's been rolling around on the ground for more than a minute.

[Zee]

Cob media and a couple drops of polish in the tub. Pour the brass in and walk away. Come back, sift the media out and brand new.

Much easier. Fraction of the time.

That's what I was thinking. But I only clean brass that I shoot in a bolt action rifle or catch from a semi-auto with brass catcher. Very rarely do I deal with something that's been rolling around on the ground for more than a minute.

Cleaned 91 cases of 6mm ARC brass last weekend that was picked up off our range after testing the cartridge. It was shot out of a suppressed gas gun and was darn near black as coal!! Ran it through a vibratory tumbler with old cob media and ignored it for 3 hours at my French Models place……..voila! Darn near spic and span.
No additional additives or steps, no drying. Just dropped them in and forgot them for 3 hours. Pulled them out by hand and threw them in a ziplock bag for future use.
Easy Peasy.

[Zee]

I’m not saying that the stainless steel method doesn’t work. Not at all. Just that it’s not worth a change for me.

[Wambli Ska]

I read an article about cleaning brass once and laughed. Gave it a try and it actually works.

Put dry media in a container, put brass in container and close. Throw container in trunk of car and forget it for a while. Next time you reload, get container from car and brass is shiny. For S&Gs I tried it. Shiny brass was had.

Fun, but a lose container full of brass rolling around in my trunk would make me suck start my pistol…

Can't hear it in the trunk

Neither one of my cars have trunks

[Wambli Ska]

I wonder how well the steel media works with bottle neck cases, especially ones 6.5mm and under. I have one, but have not tried it yet. I have been using crushed walnut in the vibratory tumbler for years.

Works fine. The steel pins are little and those suckers crawl into everything and case prep time is almost non-existent since primer pockets are clean.

Thats good to know. How did you dry the brass? I have a small food dehydrator that I use for drying parts from powder actuated tools after running through a sonic cleaner. Im assuming that would work just fine for brass.

That would work just fine but I bought a thick fleece CHEAP twin size blanket at Walmart and I just lay it in the sun ( God bless desert climate) throw the brass on it and just spread it out with my hands and roll it around. The polyester fleece doesn’t really absorb any water but it allows it to drain out if the cases and the cases and blanket dry in a jiff. It can dry a few hundred cases in a few minutes that way. The Armor All prevents any water spots from forming.

[Wambli Ska]

Cob media and a couple drops of polish in the tub. Pour the brass in and walk away. Come back, sift the media out and brand new.

Much easier. Fraction of the time.

That's what I was thinking. But I only clean brass that I shoot in a bolt action rifle or catch from a semi-auto with brass catcher. Very rarely do I deal with something that's been rolling around on the ground for more than a minute.

And that’s a big difference too. Light cleaning of my own cases doesn’t take long at all but as an example, I had a pile of cases that were gifted to me and they looked like this below.

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It was brand new brass that sat in someone’s basement in cardboard boxes for a loooooong time. Nothing wrong with it, just stained. They were part of the run I showed above. Can’t tell old from new.

I also can’t leave a range without scrounging anything good. I’ve found piles of .35 Remington, .444 Marlin, 38-55 and other currently unobtanium brass at the range and many folks don’t pick them up because they don’t need them so they might sit for a bit. I won’t let them stay behind. I can use them or some friend might need them, so home they come.

[Wambli Ska]

I’m not saying that the stainless steel method doesn’t work. Not at all. Just that it’s not worth a change for me.

I understand. It’s just an alternative that works for me and I wanted to share for anyone that can find the info useful to their needs

[Japhy]

A couple of my range buds use a tablespoon of cascade and hot distilled water. Their range reloads look like new factory brass.
Dishwasher detergent is much more aggressive and will significantly reduce the cycle time.

[Wambli Ska]

A couple of my range buds use a tablespoon of cascade and hot distilled water. Their range reloads look like new factory brass.
Dishwasher detergent is much more aggressive and will significantly reduce the cycle time.

I’ve heard about that….. but I’m getting… frugal… in my old age and a big bottle of Dawn dishwashing soap should last me about 50 years and it’s like $4? The Lemi Shine stuff is cheap and literally you use less than 1/8 tsp. Only a few grains. And the Armor All is also really cheap and lasts forever. And I just use tap water.

[Elk Creek]

I really like the steel pin results. I’ve used walnut lizzard bedding for some years now it works well and cheap……