rustybayonet Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Yes, I know this info is in the forum but it is spread out so I thought this would make a good thread. So, do you prefer wet or dry tumble for your brass. I have always gone with dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave33 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I'm not trying to win any blue ribbons for super shiny brass so I go with dry tumbling in walnut lizard bedding. I do put a little nu finish car polish in every so often, helps with the dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safeactionjackson Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I don't get any ribbons either for shiny brass, but it keeps my presses clean and running smoothly. Wet tumbling for me. ~g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Wet ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennJeep1618 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Dry tumble. 2/3 corn cob and 1/3 walnut media plus a cap-ful of Nufinish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttolliver Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I started out dry and converted to wet. Even if you ignore the much cleaner brass (which is sexy as hell, but not really necessary), I think wet still wins hands down. The cleaning inputs are much cheaper (dawn, lemishine, and water) and you don't have any lead dust going into the air or to handle super carefully. Yeah, it'll take a good while for the cheaper inputs to offset the investment, but getting rid of the lead dust issue is a huge win day 1. And the sexy brass is the icing on the cake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igolfat8 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Once you go wet you'll never go back. I tumbled dry for 35 years then tried wet this year and I don't foresee using my dry tumbler anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwall64 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I do both! Wet tumbling is just extra work to me, so range pickup brass gets wet tumbled and inspected when depriming prior to tumbling. After that it just depends on how dirty it gets, normally it gets dry tumbled for a couple of loads... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garmil Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Wet tumbled Dehydrator dried Lubed Loaded Dry tumbled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glynnm45 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I started out dry and converted to wet. Even if you ignore the much cleaner brass (which is sexy as hell, but not really necessary), I think wet still wins hands down. The cleaning inputs are much cheaper (dawn, lemishine, and water) and you don't have any lead dust going into the air or to handle super carefully. Yeah, it'll take a good while for the cheaper inputs to offset the investment, but getting rid of the lead dust issue is a huge win day 1. And the sexy brass is the icing on the cake. This↑↑↑ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolton916 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I load in my basement shop, So going to wet tumbling was way to go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missed it by that much Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Used to dry tumble but do the wet now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balakay Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Dry. Corncob with a little rapid polish. Don't care enough to wet tumble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slavex Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 yup the lead dust is enough of a reason for me to be happy with my change to wet tumbling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safeactionjackson Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 For clarification, I actually do both. Dry tumble in corn cob/walnut media before resizing/depriming, then wet tumble after. A friend of mine who is considering a new press swung by two weeks ago to compare the xl650 to the s1050 (get a little hands on). After talking for a bit, he noticed some brass that I had processed stored on a shelf in a plastic bin. He couldn't believe that I was buying new brass, I explained that it wasn't new and was simply the results of wet tumbling. Spoke with him yesterday, he went out and purchased everything needed and is using my process to do his brass now ~g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaldor Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Wet - Probably a little more expensive on the front and back end, but the results are worth it. I dry tumbled with my grandfather when I was a kid. Always hated it. Dusty, dirty, whatever. The first thing I did when I got back into reloading last spring was build a wet tumbler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC27 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) I'm new to reloading but I chose to wet tumble. It's the dust that I want to avoid. I think it's going to be cheaper in the long run because I shouldn't have to replace the media and I like how the brass looks new. I've processed all the brass I've been collecting (about 3k cases) and it is very easy with the right equipment. I use the Frankford Armory wet tumbler and I bought a cheap Lee press for $28 and a universal depriming die to remove the primers, then tumble for 2 hours. I pour the brass into an RCBS media separator with the bucket full of water so the brass and media are submerged. This releases the surface tension allowing the stainless media to just fall out with just a few turns of the tumbler. The brass gets dumped on a towel for a quick pat down and left to try while I pick up the media with a Frankford Armory media magnet for the next batch. Super easy. Edited August 27, 2015 by BC27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNshooter Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 What dust? I tumble outside with corn cob. It's good to go and doesn't require a half days work to process 1,000 pieces. I do envy the clean insides of wet tumbled brass though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accu9 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Wet tumble as I have to clean my 650 about half as often. Happy press, happy gun, happy life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safeactionjackson Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 (edited) Wet tumble as I have to clean my 650 about half as often. Happy press, happy gun, happy life. Main reason for doing it, really helps with keeping things clean and well running. What dust? I tumble outside with corn cob. It's good to go and doesn't require a half days work to process 1,000 pieces. Yeah, what dust. It takes me two hours to wet tumble, and an hour or so in the dehydrator. I usually do it while depriming/resizing cases, or other reloading tasks, or while doing some BS around the house. While it is some additional work, it doesn't feel that bad when combined with other reloading tasks. Cleaned 4500 pieces last weekend (.380/9mm/10mm/.45/.454 ) ~g Edited August 28, 2015 by safeactionjackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slavex Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 I load up 22lbs of 9mm brass in my FA wet tumbler, run it for 45 minutes, then take 10 minutes to rinse it. Then it goes in the oven for 20 minutes, or sits in front of the fireplace in the winter, or gets put out in the sun if it's hot out. Much quicker than dry tumbling ever was, with significantly more brass done, in less time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfalcon00 Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Yeah I too load out of my basement. Wet tumble keeps the dust down inside. I would disagree with the high up front cost. I found it much cheaper to build my 5 gal tumbler than it would have been to build some kind of vibrator tumbler. Not to mention, the 5 gal tumbler was easier to build. Wet tumble gets the primer pockets real nice and clean too and I seem to have a lot less primer issues than some folk, and I think this is one of the reasons why (nothing really to back up that statement though just a guess). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman16 Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 WET for sure, eliminates the lead dust in the area. Wet is better if you have children or grandchildren around the area. P.S. GET YOUR BLOOD LEAD LEVEL CHECKED. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaskillo Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Wet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRM83 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Wet tumbled Dehydrator dried Lubed Loaded Dry tumbled My process exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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