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Ultimate Wet Tumbler Recipe


louu

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I'm always trying different combinations in my tumbler to find a mix that works best.

I'm looking for a mix that wont tarnish after some time and of course clean the brass as best as possible. A mix that will wax the cases to aid in resizing and not snag in the flare/charge die.

Well I think I found it and here it is...

I used about two inches of Armorall ultra shine wash and wax.

A quick little squirt of dishwasher rinse agent, Probably about a table spoon.

Two 9mm casings worth of Lemishine.

Ten pounds of SS pins to nine pounds of brass.

I recently made some cahnges to my tumbler and this was the first load since the changes.

I changed the motor and pulley and now It only turns 48 RPM, little on the slow side compared to 60 RPM with the old motor. I ran this load for three hours and its the cleanest brass I had ever done.

It resizes really nice and does not hang up in the flare/charge die at all. Its been about a week and there is no sines of tarnish at all.

I think I'm going to drop down to a 5" drive pulley and get it up to 60 RPM again and try the next load two and a half hours.

PICTURE TIME!!!

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Disclaimer time, I know there is gona be people that say your wasting your time cleaning pistol brass like that. well, I don't care. I like doing it this way for lots of reasons, some safety, some just because this is my hobby that I enjoy and take pride in. Pleas, lets not turn this in to that debate again.

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This really has a huge pull for a neat freak like me :)

Did you build you own tumbler? Looks very cool. I have a spare treadmill with a working motor, and been thinking how to turn it into a tumbler like yours. Do you mind sharing some of your design ideas?

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Sure bud. There is a few people that used tredmill motors but its really not worth it. You need to still use the speed controller from the unit and it ends up being a mess of wires and unessassarry parts and weight.

I started out with a drill press motor and it worked great, I just wanted my drill press back together so I got this motor from Amazon for about $65.

Here is a link about the building of my tumbler.

http://njgunforums.com/forum/index.php/topic/66045-getting-started-in-reloading/?hl=tumbler

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I dry tumble, but that is incredible! I am now interested in wet tumbling... And I will have the time for that since I am retireing soon. What is your drying process?

Best I ever did dry, sucks compared to your deal. Although I know it makes no difference in accuracy, I must have this new wet recipe!!!

image35956.jpg

Edited by 9x45
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"2 inches of armorall"

Any other measurement for this? How many ounces tablespoons etc. Thanks

I currently wet tumble in a frankford rotary with 2 tablespoons dish soap, and 1/2 teaspoon lemishine, 5 pounds of pins, gallon of water. Then dry in a food dehydrator.

Edited by Garmil
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Nice job Lou -- I also have to ask --"2 inches of armorall" -- do you mean 2 inches out of the bottle? -- I might just give your formula a try

I just built another tumbler -- going to a guy here on Enos from Louisiana -- this one is with an 8" drum being able to run 20 pounds of pins and 18 pounds of brass -- total drum weight of 80+ pounds

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Looks great! Do you do a rinse cycle on your brass or dump the dirty water and let dry? Also, what kind of water...tap, filtered, distilled?

I run warm tap water to start -- we're in NJ with city water so whatever chemicals they add

You have to rinse a few times -- the dirty water looks like black coffee on the initial dump after a run --

also can't let the cleaned brass sit undisturbed in a dirty drum -- if you can't rinse it right away thats fine just run it for 30 minutes before you dump it -- just to shake the crap up so it pours out

Then rinse, rinse, rinse

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I dry tumble, but that is incredible! I am now interested in wet tumbling... And I will have the time for that since I am retireing soon. What is your drying process?

Best I ever did dry, sucks compared to your deal. Although I know it makes no difference in accuracy, I must have this new wet recipe!!!

image35956.jpg

To dry I just dump the 9 pounds of brass onto a towel, grab the short ends in each hand and raise and lower opposite hands. (dont really know hot to explain it) Kinda roll it back and forth about ten times. Then I have another towel on the reloading desk, just dump them on there, spread them out and pretty much overnight they are dry. I usually give them two days though because there is always something else to reload or guns to clean in the mean time.

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"2 inches of armorall"

Any other measurement for this? How many ounces tablespoons etc. Thanks

I currently wet tumble in a frankford rotary with 2 tablespoons dish soap, and 1/2 teaspoon lemishine, 5 pounds of pins, gallon of water. Then dry in a food dehydrator.

I tried the dish soap thing for a while and .45 brass hung up really bad in my flare/charge die. Also made resizing 9mm really hard. I been experimenting with diffrent wash/waxes for a while now and it really helps with those two problems. I loaded about 900 rounds from this batch so far and its the best yet with ease of resizing and no hang up at all in the flare/charge die.

I would guess its about 5 ounces I used. When I said 2" I ment out of that bottle, its the 16 ounce size. I'm sure using a little more wouldn't hurt.

I'm not sure how much water I'm using I just fill the drum all the way up with tap water. I have a well with a water softener system (that I hate lol). My drum is a 6" about 18" long. I can probably do 19# of brass and 20# of pins but I only have 10# of pins right now.

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Looks great! Do you do a rinse cycle on your brass or dump the dirty water and let dry? Also, what kind of water...tap, filtered, distilled?

When the load is finished I have a five gallon bucket with a crack in the bottom and a hard hat with a bunch of 8mm holes drilled in it. I set the hat in the bucket and dump the drum in, in thirds. Then shake out the pins and run the hat under the faucet to rinse them off. I do this in the bath tub and just use Tilex when I'm done. I tilex the shower every week anyway so its like two birds one stone.

I know it sounds like alot but it only takes me about five minuets.

Also read Heavyopp's posts, he taught me eveything I know LOL...

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Nice job Lou -- I also have to ask --"2 inches of armorall" -- do you mean 2 inches out of the bottle? -- I might just give your formula a try

I just built another tumbler -- going to a guy here on Enos from Louisiana -- this one is with an 8" drum being able to run 20 pounds of pins and 18 pounds of brass -- total drum weight of 80+ pounds

Yup, 2" out of the bottle.

Dude is gona need a cherry picker to move that drum around.

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Any reason for using the Armor All and not just lubing the cases prior to loading? Just curious because I just bought a can of One Shot, but if this will give similar results and removing a step, I'm all in.

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Any reason for using the Armor All and not just lubing the cases prior to loading? Just curious because I just bought a can of One Shot, but if this will give similar results and removing a step, I'm all in.

I only use one shot (or any kind of lube) to resize rifle cases. Its not necessary for pistol brass.
Yes the wax in the armorall does act like a case lube but you dont have to clean it off, so it eliminates a bunch of steps.
My process for rifle cases is:
Roll the dirty cases in a towell like above.
Lube with one shot about 50 at a time shaken around in a plastic shoe bin.
Resize/deprime.
Then tumble.
Then prime, charge, seat bullet, Lee Factory Crimp die.
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Where do you guys dump the black water with all the poisonous heavy metal contaminates? We have a well and I sure don't want that crud creeping into the well water.

No issues here -- City sewer system

If I was on a septic I would probably dig a hole and dump -- Unless you have a really shallow well I can't imagine the goo doing any harm -- should be well filtered by the time it hits the water table...

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Where do you guys dump the black water with all the poisonous heavy metal contaminates? We have a well and I sure don't want that crud creeping into the well water.

I dump it in the bathtub and it goes out back in my septic. The earth is a great filter so don't worry about the lead getting into the water. We breathe way more lead at the range anyway, You should worry more about your dookie in your septic gettin in your well water...

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I've been thinking about using something like the Wash and Wax but hadn't tried anything yet. I do hit the cases with some one-shot afterwards but I like the wash-and-wax idea better,

How does the rinse aid affect things? I'm towel drying and using a food dehydrator for drying.

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I'm not really sure if the rinse agent does anything or not. I never did a load without it. I do the towell roll thing when I'm finehed too and they are pretty much totally dry after a few minuets. They are completely dry with no spots over night just sitting out on the bench on a towell, no dehydrator or oven being used here.

Walmart has the Armorall n the first post in a 2 quart bottle for $4.97.

Gogetcahsome

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I went into the garage and found a 1/2 gallon or Turtle Wax ZipWax Wash-n-Wax that the prior hemeowner left me.

Waste not want not.

I used to ziplock my cases - any residual moisture would lead to oxidation.

I'll bet you still have moisture trapped in your primer pockets. The wax may be hiding this. Put your overnight air-dried brass in a sealed plastic bag and I'll bet signs of condensation will soon be evident.

Edited by Beastly
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