frankford arsenal wet tumbler?

[peterthefish]

My FA wet tumbler arrived yesterday, so I am reading up on this stuff. I am not going to deprime before tumbling. I don't really care about the inside, but should I?

I just want the outside to look like new.

I do have the pins, and will be fine using them, but do they get stuck inside?

If you're not decapping, don't bother with the pins. The insides still get pretty cleaning you're using dish soap. If you do use pins, buy .047 size ones - toss the ones that came with the tumbler.

I lube with Lanolin and size / decap (because I'm already sizing) before wet tumbling because it makes loading 1-2K rounds at a go much easier on the elbow / shoulder.

If you wet tumble and then load without lube you will notice there is a bit more effort required to size cases vs vibratory tumbling.

Edited October 15, 2015 by peterthefish

[RDA]

Update:

I tried wet tumbling, one squirt Dawn dish soap, 1/8 teaspoon Lemishine, hot water, one hour tumbling. NO pins.

Unless your brass is so caked with crap - I saw very little difference than two hours tumbling with pins.

For me, now - no pins and one hour tumbling.

Did you truly compare the inside of the cases and the primer pockets for both methods?

With or without pins, the outsides of the cases look perfect. Without pins, the insides of the cases and the primer pockets don't get as clean. I'd still consider them acceptable for most all loading purposes, but they are not as clean compared to using pins.

Before I bought a vibratory tumbler using walnut shell media, I washed (let soak for several hours) my brass with hot water, dawn dish soap and a little white vinegar. The basic washing method did enough to clean so I could reload the brass with out damaging the dies.

The wet tumbler with pins get the brass as close to "new brass" clean as you can get (IMHO). IMHO with out scientific testing, research, or any higher math - using the FA tumbler with out pins turning for one hour will get the brass clean enough to reload. I do not de-cap or really care how clean the inside of the case is. I will say the one hour tumbling will get the inside not quite as clean as "new" brass or tumbling with pins for two hours.

You are all free to tumble or test any way you want to try. Whatever floats your boat. I am happy with hot water, soap, lemi-shine, and one hour tumbling. YMMV.

Happy brass cleaning.

I am pretty flexible so a number of options float my boat, I have tried numerous methods and wet tumbling with and without pins serves my purposes pretty well depending on what I want to achieve.

[Mush from PA.]

Semper Gumby - always flexible..... :-) How clean is clean enough? What ever works for you.

[zhunter]

Just finished the first batch of 9mm, I used the pins supplied with the tumbler, the cleaner too, but added a bit of lemishine.

Holy crap, it is like new brass, I am amazed

[Fowlmouths]

I just got one yesterday and ran 1000 pieces of .40 brass with the pins supplied and the supplied cleaner with some lemishine as well. Not sure my gun will know what to do with the new looking brass.

[FTDMFR]

My FA wet tumbler arrived yesterday, so I am reading up on this stuff. I am not going to deprime before tumbling. I don't really care about the inside, but should I?

I just want the outside to look like new.

I do have the pins, and will be fine using them, but do they get stuck inside?

The outsides will look new even without using the pins.

I used to decap first and tumble with the pins, but once I started shooting 1000 a week during the busy season, I decided it was just too much work.

My ammo with dirty case interiors and primer pockets shoots just fine.

[Chills1994]

I also F.A.R.T.'ed

It is on its maiden run.

I grabbed 12 handfuls of dirty and yet to be deprimed.45ACP brass. I figure that is about 500 pieces. So the "tube" was between a quarter and third full with brass.

Then dumped in the 5 pound bag of pins.

Filled it up with hot water to just below the threaded "collar".

Next, I added exactly one tablespoon of Dawn Ultra dishwashing soap. Lastly, exactly one teaspoon of liquid Lemishine.

The timer is set for one hour.

I'll be back to post before and after pics.

How much brass at one time are you putting in yours: a quarter, a third, a half, or more?

Edited October 21, 2015 by Chills1994

[Absocold]

About three quarters full of brass for me, maybe a little more.

Be advised the pins that came with mine soon became the perfect size for wedging themselves sideways in small primer pockets. It took a couple days worth of tumbling but then they started giving me fits. Smashed some primers then broke a decapping pin trying to get them back out before I figured out what was going on.

[Chills1994]

I just got them out of the oven (that little rascal in my avatar or one of his siblings ran off with my oven's control knob).

Just now checking MidwayUSA's site, they say their pins are 1mm. So going to google, 1mm is the equivalent of 0.0394 inches.

I had done more googling earlier in the night looking for guidance on the amount of Dawn and Lemishine, and came across some blog called "Short Barreled Shepherd". He went through bullseye-reloading.com to get pins that are 0.047" in diameter. They call them ultra 47's. (I am not affiliated with them).

I haven't taken my calipers to the pins that came with my F.A.R.T.

[Chills1994]

Here is the before:

Here is the after (1 hour):

I am wondering if I had the right proportions of ingredients...or if I should have set the timer for longer...or if I didn't rinse them good enough???

Mine don't appear to be as bling bling as others I have seen.

FYI...the bullseye-reloading.com guy says he uses a paint strainer bag to catch the pins and when rinsing them. He says you can get the paint strainer bags at any hardware store, paint store, Lowe's, or Home Depot.

Edited October 21, 2015 by Chills1994

[mickd1]

i put my impressions of the tumbler on ipsc australia,note we dont get lemishine but this was the result after 90mins

hi all
just a up date on the wet tumbler,
ive never used one b4 so this is my first time and all i can say WOW they are so clean inside and out so clean they look new,
as for some of you saying why bother its too much of a effort i can tell you it was quick and easy,
fill the tumbler up with dirty shells,put the water in to the top add the pins etc turn it on for 90mins and walk away,
rinse the dirty water away,put every thing in a media tumbler turn it a few times and there you go, as for the pins i got 90% of them back into the tumbler with my hand and the other 10% i used my grandsons plastic dish,put the magnet on the inside of the dish pick up the pins and pull the magnet away simple,as for drying them put them in the sun or like me ive got a Food Dehydrator Dryer just put them on the trays and walk away.. easy

mine are very clean inside and out,yours seem like they need another 30mins

sorry cant load a pic

Edited October 21, 2015 by mickd1

[Absocold]

I just got them out of the oven (that little rascal in my avatar or one of his siblings ran off with my oven's control knob).

Just now checking MidwayUSA's site, they say their pins are 1mm. So going to google, 1mm is the equivalent of 0.0394 inches.

I had done more googling earlier in the night looking for guidance on the amount of Dawn and Lemishine, and came across some blog called "Short Barreled Shepherd". He went through bullseye-reloading.com to get pins that are 0.047" in diameter. They call them ultra 47's. (I am not affiliated with them).

I haven't taken my calipers to the pins that came with my F.A.R.T.

Pins aren't getting stuck in the flash hole, they're wedged sideways across the primer pocket. Length of the pin is the problem.

After searching the 'net it seems 0.047 x 0.255 is the preferred pin size.

Ninja edit: 100th post!

Edited October 21, 2015 by Absocold

[Absocold]

I am wondering if I had the right proportions of ingredients...or if I should have set the timer for longer...or if I didn't rinse them good enough???

Mine don't appear to be as bling bling as others I have seen.

FYI...the bullseye-reloading.com guy says he uses a paint strainer bag to catch the pins and when rinsing them. He says you can get the paint strainer bags at any hardware store, paint store, Lowe's, or Home Depot.

I run mine for at least 90 minutes, two hours if they're completely filthy and tarnished. A couple teaspoons of soap, a 9mm case full of Lemishine (a little goes a long way), fill to three quarters full with hot water & brass and you're good. No pre-rinse required unless they're caked in mud.

Sifter, $20. http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/00038502023/Double-Action-Rotary-Sifter- Makes separation and rinsing an easy one-step process.

Don't let the brass sit in the tumbler for too long after tumbling, overnight the Lemishine will attack the brass and do bad things.

Edited October 21, 2015 by Absocold

[slavex]

I didn't have good luck with the liquid Lemishine, but did with liquid Jet Dry, but now use powder Lemishine and get super shiny cases in 1hr. Although the range corroded ones I did (complete with brass moss growing on them lol) took quite a bit longer, and I redid them after resizing and depriming, to clean them even more. This time only dumping half in the tumbler to get a little more tumbling action going. But with regular brass I fill right to below the neck with brass, dumping the pins in about half way through filling the tumbler. But I think I am going to back that amount off a tad and maybe leave a couple inches from the neck.

[Absocold]

Dunno about liquids, I was always told to use the crystals. My package says "Lemi Shine Original" on it but looks like the new packaging says "Detergent Booster".

http://lemishine.com/system/lemi-shine-detergent-booster/

Citric acid and water softener is what you're after, Lemishine just combines the two in an easy package that's cheap and easy to measure out.

With some experimentation you could use Kool-Aid ready mix packages for the citric acid content and make your cases smell good too. Possibly even stain them pretty colors!

Edited October 21, 2015 by Absocold

[Chills1994]

Dunno about liquids, I was always told to use the crystals. My package says "Lemi Shine Original" on it but looks like the new packaging says "Detergent Booster".

http://lemishine.com/system/lemi-shine-detergent-booster/

Citric acid and water softener is what you're after, Lemishine just combines the two in an easy package that's cheap and easy to measure out.

With some experimentation you could use Kool-Aid ready mix packages for the citric acid content and make your cases smell good too. Possibly even stain them pretty colors!

Whoops! I picked up the Lemishine shine + dry rinse. It is a liquid.

I also ran it for just an hour.

I still have my rotary sifter from my crushed walnut shells/corn cob dry vibratory tumbling days. it doesn't have the lid on it like the mid south version you linked to, but it was still tall enough to keep the pins from getting flung out onto the floor.

Edited October 21, 2015 by Chills1994

[Steve RA]

You can really "spin up" the enclosed ones which will remove a lot of liquid, which you really don't want to do with the open ones. Then you can just pour the pins from the sifter directly into whatever you use to tumble with.

[bwxmas]

Here is the before:

Here is the after (1 hour):

I am wondering if I had the right proportions of ingredients...or if I should have set the timer for longer...or if I didn't rinse them good enough???

Mine don't appear to be as bling bling as others I have seen.

FYI...the bullseye-reloading.com guy says he uses a paint strainer bag to catch the pins and when rinsing them. He says you can get the paint strainer bags at any hardware store, paint store, Lowe's, or Home Depot.

You did not use enough soap. or lemishine

Soap is cheap, and will always wash off.

When cleaning that much brass, triple or quad your dose, and add 30-1hr.

People here use their own homebrew, and thats ok

I still buy the Frankfort Arsenal BRASS cleaner (Not parts cleaner)off Amazon, it has always worked well.

If I ran out, I would do what you are, just more.

Edited October 21, 2015 by bwxmas

[FTDMFR]

For every pound of brass, I use one 1-second squirt of Dawn and 2 9mm cases of powdered Lemishine, and then I fill it to the top of the brass with water. No pins. 15-30 minutes in the tumbler. The cases get super shiny. More than clean enough for my purposes.

[RDA]

For every pound of brass, I use one 1-second squirt of Dawn and 2 9mm cases of powdered Lemishine, and then I fill it to the top of the brass with water. No pins. 15-30 minutes in the tumbler. The cases get super shiny. More than clean enough for my purposes.

Wow, that is a lot of Lemishine. I use 1/2 tsp for a full load in my FA drum (which could easily be 8-12 lbs of brass) which works with the gnarliest range brass (for my well water).

[Chills1994]

I went out to WalMart and picked up a bottle of the Lemishine granules/powder.

I filled the cannister almost half way with .45ACP brass. Then added the pins, then the hot water, a tablespoon of Dawn, and then two level teaspoons of the Lemishine powder. This time I let it run for 90 minutes.

The results were so much better.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Chills1994

[Absocold]

Waaaay too much Lemishine. An empty 9mm case full is enough for a full load. Citric acid in small amounts and for a short time is good for putting a shine on brass. Too strong or too long can make it turn pink.

[Chills1994]

I was concerned that would be too much Lemishine, so I stopped halfway at the 45 minute mark to take a look.

I reached inside the tube to grab 3 or 4 cases. They all came out a nice clean bright yellow. I threw the cases back in, and set it for the remaining 45 minutes.

I probabaly could have stopped right there at the first 45 minutes, and gone on to rinse them and then dry them.

For the next batch, I will go with just one level'ed off teaspoon of Lemishine.

I think I will also with air drying them by putting them on a terry clothe towel with a fan blowing across them.

I got some water spots on this second batch from where ever the brass contacted the cookie sheet. The water spots will come off by just rubbing my finger across them. So I am assuming the sizer die will take off the spots.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Chills1994

[Absocold]

Water spots won't hurt a thing. If you want truly gorgeous ammo, just throw your loaded rounds into a vibratory with clean corncob and two caps full of NuFinish for 30 minutes. Roll them around in a towel and lookit that shine!

[bwxmas]

Glad it turned out, but really guys, does it boost your ego to see how little you can use.

Dawn is pretty cheap, you cannot oversoap brass, but you can damn sure under soap. Squirt it like you mean it.

Honestly, your brass does not care.

Nor do I measure lemishine..its cheap.. I pour about a capful in, and go.

You would have to let it sit overnight to do damage, which I have done.

I have never once had a case turn color, without forgetting about it, and letting it sit for hours.

But do your thing...