bradandash925 Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 I do not want to be stepping on peoples toes here but. I am always willing to try something new to prep my brass especially my .223 brass. I went out and bought a Harbor Freight 3lb tumbler. I had a 25% off coupon so I was eager to use it. I did not have any stainless steel media so I tried it with 50 pcs of .223 brass dish soap and Lemishine. 1 hour later...The brass is shiny and looks like it was in a tumbler with corn cob media for 3 or 4 hours. I only did 50 pieces but it was easy and only took an hour. If anyone else has tried this what was the max number of .223 you tried to fit in the tumbler at once? I recommend everyone at least try this before they go out and spend more money on the media than the tumbler. YMMV those are just my 2 cents. I attached a before and after pic. I wont label them but guess which one is the after pic (If the pics are not up to par my bad I had to resize them down from 6MB a piece to less than 250kb each) bmp1.bmp bmp2.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradandash925 Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 ************ UPDATE ************ Works after 30 Min!! Just tried same results after 30 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman2733 Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Pics are not showing up :/ <br /><br />Sent From Mobile Land<br /><br /> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Pics do work, but, rather small. Results do look better, hate to disappoint, but don't hold a candle to doing them with the pins. For the prices involved, worthwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Here is an example of stages: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Run an ad and see if you can pick up two lbs of pins from someone who has a large quantity and try with them, won't increase your investment too badly and will give you a fair comparison if you decide to go bigger. If not bigger, then you'll be able to turn out high quality results on a small scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighCountryStalker Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 I agree on the 30 minute timeframe. I do use the SS pins as well but all the recommendations I saw were for the 2 hr range but I have been getting excellent results in less than 1 hr. A 5lb bag of pins might seem a little costly but they never wear out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradandash925 Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 I would love to try it with some stainless steel media. If anyone has some I wouldn't mind buying 2 pounds off of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckaroo45 Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Try this .... http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/stainless-tumbling-media-refresh.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradandash925 Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 I just purchased a one pound spool if stainless steel wire in .041 diameter and got a pair of wire cutters and went to town. This was only 6 dollars for that pound. It took a little bit of time but if you want the media same day and have some time to kill this is an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 With that diameter of "pin", watch out for this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradandash925 Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 .041 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyK Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 (edited) You can also run corn cob in a tumbler without the water, manages to do just fine with my 45 brass after just an hour. As for how much you can load, most rock tumblers are made to run 75 to 80% full or more. Load up the brass and media to that amount and you should be fine. As for count, that's about 250 45 rounds and corn cob in each of my 6 lb tumblers. My tumbler holds two drums so I can run about 500 rounds at a time. Just remember that rocks weigh a lot more than our brass but you need some room for the brass to tumble.... I have even thought about using a different media (maybe some walnut shells) in one of the tumblers to make it a two stage process It's a lot simpler to not have to dry out the brass.... But no, it doesn't come out as pretty as the stainless media and water trick. Edited November 3, 2013 by TonyK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Generally, most of the water will come out while seperating. I like this as you can't sling pins all over (or whatever you use to tumble in). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 With that diameter of "pin", watch out for this: Hey Steve, I thought you were the small, primer 45 guru. That there looks like an old fashioned, large primer case. For shame. It is, however, real shiney . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 You are correct !!! Pic was taken by my shooting partner before I saw the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 For shame Youngone - shiny has no E ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradandash925 Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 My brass is amazing when I take it out of the tumbler. Then after a while I get weird discoloration spots on them. Why does this happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Rinse a little more and after you get it seperated put in old bathtowel (not one of wife's favorites) and shake back and forth for 30 seconds or so. This will remove the water from the outside and do away with the spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 For shame Youngone - shiny has no E ! pre-coffee vowel blooper. (say that 10 times fast) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 You win - only made it to eight !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradandash925 Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 I will try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1sickPuppy Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Using harbor freight dual drum tumbler... Rifle brass took me about 3 hours to get these results... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliez Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I am wondering if coarse glass media (or fine sand) would make a good media for web tumbling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradandash925 Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 you should try and tell us about your results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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