hdultra Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Lot's of good info here, and a lot of opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersonj55126 Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 I wet tumble without the pins. Speeds up the process and still works great. I use one shot lube after drying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdultra Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 I just splurged this past weekend and bought a wet tumbler. I used dawn, lemi-shine and the stainless pins.....WOW, what a difference!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgmcdougall Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 My process: - deprime - wet tumble (Rebel 17 Tumbler, stainless pins & dawn): http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/reloading-products/tumblers/extreme-tumblers-rebel-17.html - rinse and separate pins a a bucket (thinking about acquiring a media separator) - air dry after shaking in a towel and retrieving any loose pins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashDodson Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 On 3/13/2017 at 10:04 AM, andersonj55126 said: I wet tumble without the pins. Speeds up the process and still works great. I use one shot lube after drying. I stopped using the pins as well and they come out just as clean. I think for rifle brass where you want the primer pockets cleaned the pins are more beneficial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregJ Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 I started wet tumbling a little over a year ago. Like others, main reason was to cut down on the dust and the media left over in the brass, etc. This winter I made the jump from a LNL to a Dillon 1050 with an Ammo Bot. This jump was pretty significant for a lot of reasons. Relative to this thread, I was having a LOT of issues loading 9mm Minor. At the suggestion of others, I started prepping my wet tumbled/dried brass first (decapping and resizing), which resulted in having waaaaay too many primer pull-back issues. I tried everything, different dies, pins, pins with 45* angles, polishing, vacuum attached to primer tube, etc, etc, etc. Again, at the suggestion of others that had run into similar issue, I went from wet tumbling back to dry tumbling, and my primer pull-backs went to near zero during processing. Apparently, the residue from the primer tends to glue the primer to the case. If I was still loading by hand I doubt I would have experienced this issue, at least I did not loading 45ACP on my LNL. But it manifested itself when I automated the loading process. I have since sold my wet tumbling equipment, and will only go back if for some reason I find it better to dry tumble, decap, wet tumble, dry, size/load. But since that means hauling buckets of brass from the garage to the basement, back up, then back down again, I doubt that will happen. YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashDodson Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Interesting info about the primer pull back. I have a buddy with an Forcht that has similar issues at times. I have yet to see this problem but I will watch out for it. I have two little ones at home so lead/dust is a concern for me. I just head my two year olds blood lead checked and she is fine. I will continue wet tumbling for this reason alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealsack Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 (edited) My dry tumbler died, so I decided to try a Franklin Arsenal wet tumbler. It works amazing. Inside and out the cases are spotless. Yeah I know, the shine is not required, but it does look great. I don't decap anymore since I bought the brass dryer (relabeled food dehydrator I'm sure) after two hours the brass is really dry and ready to go. I dump the brass from the dryer into a plastic tote and give the top layer a quick blast of one shot and into the redding pass through it goes. I use Lemishine and Armor all wash and wax with SS pins, though after reading the above, I'll give it a try without the pins to see how that works. You can fit a LOT of .40 and .45 brass into the FART! It might take a little bit more time, but I'm really happy with the results. @CrashDodson How full do you fill the drum with brass? What is your recipe without the pins? Do you change it up if the brass is really dirty/muddy? Thanks! Edited April 10, 2017 by Stealsack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czechnology Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 (edited) I don't decap prior but love my Franklin arsenal wet tumbler. Edited April 12, 2017 by Czechnology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmaniac Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 On 3/22/2017 at 11:18 AM, CrashDodson said: I stopped using the pins as well and they come out just as clean. I think for rifle brass where you want the primer pockets cleaned the pins are more beneficial. OK, you all have me converted. No more steel pins for pistol brass and a lot less mess in the reloading room. Agree, just as clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcazes Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) I much prefer using steel puns to get clean primer pockets even on pistol brass. With an enclosed media seperator it takes all of 2 minutes to separate them then I bake my brass in the over at 212 for 30 minutes. I can do 3k pieces of 40 In 64 minutes start to finish. And I decap/resize before I tumble Edited July 25, 2017 by tcazes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R1_Demon Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 I swear that if my wife saw me put brass in the oven that a ) she would think I've finally lost my mind and b ) I would probably get beat with a stick or hit with a cast iron frying pan for putting brass in her nice clean oven. LOL!!!! So, if I end up going to wet tumbling, I'm going to need a dryer. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 If you really "spin it up" in a separator after the pins have all fallen out it will remove most of the water. Then dump in an old bathtowel and shake back and forth a few times to remove water spots. Then just lay out the bathtowel and spread the brass out and it will be dry pretty rapidly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmaniac Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 21 hours ago, Steve RA said: If you really "spin it up" in a separator after the pins have all fallen out it will remove most of the water. Then dump in an old bathtowel and shake back and forth a few times to remove water spots. Then just lay out the bathtowel and spread the brass out and it will be dry pretty rapidly. I do this also, leave them on towel for 2-3 days. I leave old primers in, and they take longer to dry out. Have plenty of brass, don't feel the need for a dryer. Caution using your oven with lead primer residue. No difference noted in reloading or shooting leaving pistol primers in, saves a time-consuming step. Skipping the steel pins creates much less mess of little pins all over the floor and jams in the press from decapping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaques Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 I usually wait till I have about 35 pounds of brass of any specific caliber then I bring it to work and throw it all in our industrial dry tumbler for about 8 hours and they come out looking beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlightMedic376 Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 I have run the decap then Wet tumble with SS pins then load. But that is taking too much time as I am ramping up my shooting. Going to just wet tumble with Pins/armor all wash/lemishine mix then load. Guess it shouldn't be any different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
858 Posted July 29, 2017 Share Posted July 29, 2017 I wet tumble pistol brass with primers, no pins, w/ Armourall wash and wax plus lemishine. Dry in the oven on warm. Punch primers when I size. This significantly reduces my tumbling time over dry media and the brass comes out cleaner. For rifle brass I decap first and use SS pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austings Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I do an initial wet tumble to remove the crud before sizing and depriming, so that dirt and crap doesn’t get in/on my press. And then I tumble again for a longer period to get the rest of the crud off and clean the primer pockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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