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Wet tumbled brass, drying issues


GregJ

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I recently joined the wet tumbling band wagon, and have noticed a lot more duds, rounds that take 2 or 3 strikes before they light off, and weak loads, than I ever have had.

Loading 45ACP, mixed headstamp, Hornady LNL, 4.5gr WST, 230gr Zero bullets.

I had dried my first couple of batches of brass by putting them in a 5 gal bucket, with a tray in the middle of the bucket, two large holes on the bottom to let air out, and setting a fan on top of the bucket for an hour or so. Even after several weeks of storing them in the (finished) basement where my bench is, I noticed powder sticking to the inside of the case when checking weight of powder drops. Either the brass was still wet, or there was some residue left in the case.

I used 1/2 Tsp of Dawn, 1/2 Tsp of Lemishine, and 1/2 Tsp of Turtle wash and wax in a Frankford Arsenal tumbler. Brass is tumbled with the Primers in.

I would have thought certainly they would have dried over a period of several weeks time.

I loaded a batch with brass from the walnut shell tumbler, as a comparison. I will see how they shoot tomorrow.

I suppose I will need to find some other way (besides wife's stove) to make sure the brass is dry. :ph34r:

Anyone run into a similar issue with potential wet brass?

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Greg,

I towel dry out of the separator, then put them on a cookie sheet and pop them in the over at 140 for about an hour (sometimes longer if I forget) this gets all the water out of the pocket and inside of the brass. I was having the same issues when I first moved to wet media. The other thing I do is never use the brass you just cleaned, I keep about 4-5K clean and when I load a 1000 I clean some to back fill the used brass.

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I don't think your setup is going to get it done, especially with the brass piled up in a bucket. Not enough airflow or heat.

I dry mine in a $30 Nesco food dehydrator. I can dry 1000 9mm cases in an hour. They're bone dry, even though I no longer decap before wet tumbling.

Hope this helps.

Edited by FTDMFR
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Get a larger plastic bin at Walmart,(12" x 18" or so)

Get a cheap grill grate at Dollar Store

Get a small Box Fan at Walmart

Put wet brass inside bin

Grate on top

Fan laying on grate blowing onto brass

Go have a few beers

Tomorrow look at brass, run a magnet

through the brass a bunch to collect any pins leftover.

If you need your brass right away

GET MORE BRASS, YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH!

Edited by moonman16
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I don't deprime before washing either. I use a Sonic cleaner (I believe I got it at Northern Tool and Equipment) with Lyman turbo sonic cleaner, rinse them well, then put them in a dehydrator (from Walmart) for a few hours.

I used to let them air dry for at least a day, but I had too many primers that wouldn't fire...guess water was still in the pockets when I loaded them.

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I ALWAYS deprime before washing, gives the brass an additional way to drain and gets all the crud out of the primer pocket. I have a Toaster Oven I got from Goodwill for $10 and a short run in there and all the water is gone.

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Thumler B - 6 lbs brass cases + 7 lbs SS pins, rinse/separate, then towel dry and Food Dehydrator = a clean and dry batch with primers in every 2 hours.

I just finished running through 2 5 gallon buckets, or maybe 160 lbs of mixed brass (Mostly 9, but also 45, 40, 30 Carbine, 223, etc).

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I tumble brass just wet just some Dawn and Limshine, no pins. Rinse then spread them out on an old beach towel or two outside in the summer. In winter on an old cookie sheet in the oven at 170 for a few hours. No problems with water then. Brass comes out as clean as my dry tumbler, I then size, trim and ream primer pockets. Then gets tumbled with pins.

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Question: Does all this bright, shiny wet tumbled brass shoot better than dry tumbled with corn cob or walnut? To me, it just sounds like s bunch of extra steps for no investment return, especially if you have to wait for it to dry and/or are getting bad primers because of water. Just my opinion, YMMV.

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Question: Does all this bright, shiny wet tumbled brass shoot better than dry tumbled with corn cob or walnut? To me, it just sounds like s bunch of extra steps for no investment return, especially if you have to wait for it to dry and/or are getting bad primers because of water. Just my opinion, YMMV.

I wet tumble mostly because I live in an apartment and don't have a place to dry tumble outdoors.

My wet tumbling process is pretty quick. I don't decap first anymore because I don't care about clean primer pockets, and I'm starting to not even use pins anymore, since they're a PITA to separate. I can tumble 1800 9mm cases in 15 minutes, and then dry them in 45-60 mins. The food dehydrator dries out the primer area, even with the dirty primer still in there.

Edited by FTDMFR
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Make no mistake about it, wet tumbling is a PITA. I tried it because I was tired of the dust and the media everywhere. The cleaner brass is a benefit, not my prime goal.

As much as I try and shoot and reload, there is no way I am going to handle the brass more than I have to, so no way I will deprime before tumbling. If I was retired, and had too much time on my hand, maybe.

Brass in the oven for an hour at 170* seems to work nicely for now. I will be ordering a food dehydrator. Thanks all. :cheers:

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I tumbled around 5000 rounds of 5.56 this weekend. I have not even a half hour into running 5 batches. They were all dry the next day. Cleaner than dry tumbling and clean. No breath junk, no coat of powder on brass like dry tumbling.

I tumble with just water, Dawn and Limshine. No pins to pick out, that is the real time saver.

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Pour off nasty water, then use a plastic media separator full of water. Pour in brass and pins. 20+ cycles to separate, pour off dirty water, refilll, 15 spins to rinse, pour off water, spin then towel dry. Not hard to separate....

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Question: Does all this bright, shiny wet tumbled brass shoot better than dry tumbled with corn cob or walnut? To me, it just sounds like s bunch of extra steps for no investment return, especially if you have to wait for it to dry and/or are getting bad primers because of water. Just my opinion, YMMV.

I deprime/resize with case lube, then wet tumble (1 table spoon Dawn Ultra, 1/2 tea spoon of Lemishine, Franklin Arsenal tumbler ). Once the SS media has been removed, it's tossed in a food dehydrator (10 shelf Cabelas model), takes 1 hour and the brass look new.

Nope, does't shoot better.... but it seems to let the progressive presses run very smoothly, and they require very little cleaning.

~g

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I decap first as it seems to help the drying process. I went to the dollar store and picked up deep cheap cookie pans and those mesh bags for drying clothes. Put the brass in the bags and turn a couple times as you walk by. Gives me perfectly dry brass.

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