Wet tumbling VS vibratory brass cleaning?

[ruleyoutoo1911]

The FART looks awesome. I think I know what I'm spending some of my tax return on. I just can't resist the allure of all that blingy brass!

[EDA]

I don't bother putting mine in the oven as our humidity here is so low that overnight air-dry does the trick. Never need the brass "right away".

[billdozer]

I've tried many different methods of wet tumbling. Everytime they turn colors. Ive tried more lemishine, less lemishine,more soap less soap. Cant seem to find a good fix. The best i get is no pins at all, even then it still turns darker.

[Gooldylocks]

I've tried many different methods of wet tumbling. Everytime they turn colors. Ive tried more lemishine, less lemishine,more soap less soap. Cant seem to find a good fix. The best i get is no pins at all, even then it still turns darker.

More rinsing after you tumble them.

[billdozer]

I've tried that. Cold water? Hot water? They start out shiny, and then turn a dark copper.

[Gooldylocks]

Hmm. We lay ours out on a screen and just spray it off with the hose.

How much lemishine are you using?

[Slipperhead]

As someone else mentioned, give a quick drench with distilled before you air dry and you won't get that spotting. I'm using the FA cleaning solution with good results.

[Beastly]

Re-writing post - it was late, I was sleeping and I wrote in very strange language.

Assuming your brass is fully dry, a little One-Shot will help. It leaves a light coat of aerosolized wax which protects the finish from tarnish.

Edited January 19, 2016 by Beastly

[billdozer]

I've tried a 9mm full, I've tried a 45 full, and everything from none to a lot. You mean put the one shot one while it's wet? Because it's the drying that seems to turn it colors.

[Tom S.]

I've tried many different methods of wet tumbling. Everytime they turn colors. Ive tried more lemishine, less lemishine,more soap less soap. Cant seem to find a good fix. The best i get is no pins at all, even then it still turns darker.

How long are you tumbling? Are you using tap water?

[BaggerJoe]

Lemishine is one of those things that you can't use a lot of. More is definitely not better. I only use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon full. After tumbling with my cleaning solutions, I'll drain as much of it as possible and refill with just cold tap water and tumble that for about 10 minutes. Drain that and also rinse while sorting out the pins. It could be something in your tap water to begin with. Are you using well or municipal water?

[bradsteimel]

I just started using a wet tumbler with steel media, but I think I might scrap the media. After only loading a couple thousand that had been wet tumbled with the steel, i ran into my first problem (aside from having the steel pins everywhere in my garage)… a steel pin wedged across the inside of the bottom of a piece of brass, blocking the flash hole. Needless to say, i was loading too quickly and that bent my decapping pin.

Edited January 20, 2016 by bradsteimel

[CrashDodson]

After reading about all you guys and your shiny brass I took the plunge and FARTed. I am only loading pistol right now but tired of breathing in the dust.

[bradsteimel]

Anyone ever run into this problem using wet tumbler an steel media... Where a steel pin lodges and then bends your decapping pin?

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[RDA]

Anyone ever run into this problem using wet tumbler an steel media... Where a steel pin lodges and then bends your decapping pin?

Yep, get bigger pins.

[Beastly]

Here's a novel thought: Pour your cleaned brass into a MTM box of the next caliber up, orient the few upside down cases headstamp down and INSPECT your brass for obstructions, 380 cases, dinged case mouths, etc.

[slavex]

if I inspected the cases before loading I'd spend 3 times as long or more, looking at cases vs loading. I can deal with the odd bent pin, which I've had from rocks, buckshot, media/polish and stainless pins, although not as oriented as the above pic shows. the few times it's happened it's two pins stuck like an X in the flash hole of a non deprimed case.

[soflarick]

Has anyone noticed their wet tumbled brass having a "peened" appearance? I'm tumbling for only 1.5 hours. Compared to dry media, the wet tumbled cases appear to have a distressed appearance, and the mouths, to me, look beaten. Would this have an effect on the hardness of the brass, esp at the mouth? I understand trimming removes the edge from the case mouth, but if one doesn't have to trim every time, wet tumbling seems to require it be done nonetheless.

Has anyone experienced a change in useful life span and accuracy/consistency with wet tumbled brass as compared to dry tumbled? Some data would be useful.

Edited January 22, 2016 by soflarick

[Slipperhead]

I just broke two RCBS decapping pins by sizing brass with pins stuck in 9mm cases as pictured above. The die stem was tweaked too.

My pins are the stock pins provided with the FART. They measure .040" x .291".

I'm tumbling prior to sizing on a Dillon 550. I'd prefer to avoid having to inspect the inside of each and every piece of brass I reload. Would you recommend larger or smaller pins?

Garland in VA

[CrashDodson]

Pretty funny to be getting excited about opening a UPS box today with a fart inside.

[Beastly]

Has anyone noticed their wet tumbled brass having a "peened" appearance? I'm tumbling for only 1.5 hours. Compared to dry media, the wet tumbled cases appear to have a distressed appearance, and the mouths, to me, look beaten. Would this have an effect on the hardness of the brass, esp at the mouth? I understand trimming removes the edge from the case mouth, but if one doesn't have to trim every time, wet tumbling seems to require it be done nonetheless.

Has anyone experienced a change in useful life span and accuracy/consistency with wet tumbled brass as compared to dry tumbled? Some data would be useful.

No. Comments:

If you tumble too long I have notices that the brass goes from a shiny to a satin finish.

For Dillon RT1200/RT1500 trimmed rifle brass the sharp edges of the case mouth will be peened rounder, more or less like chamfering and deburring the case.

A similar but not quite as good an effect occurs when wet tumbling brass cases without SS media.

[Slidestop]

Harbor Freight has a rotary tumbler for $43 single, or $55 for the double. I use something similar from my lapidary days long ago.

Just say'in.

[billdozer]

I've tried many different methods of wet tumbling. Everytime they turn colors. Ive tried more lemishine, less lemishine,more soap less soap. Cant seem to find a good fix. The best i get is no pins at all, even then it still turns darker.

How long are you tumbling? Are you using tap water?

It varies. Pistol seems to come out ok after about 2 hrs. Rifle is the one that seems to be the most trouble. It will look good, then whatever is floating in the water seems to attach itself to the brass and leaves a darker film on it, after the water cools show. You can pick it out of the mixer and it'll wipe off with your hand. Its weird.

[billdozer]

Yes, I'm using tap water.

[Beastly]

I've tried many different methods of wet tumbling. Everytime they turn colors. Ive tried more lemishine, less lemishine,more soap less soap. Cant seem to find a good fix. The best i get is no pins at all, even then it still turns darker.

How long are you tumbling? Are you using tap water?

It varies. Pistol seems to come out ok after about 2 hrs. Rifle is the one that seems to be the most trouble. It will look good, then whatever is floating in the water seems to attach itself to the brass and leaves a darker film on it, after the water cools show. You can pick it out of the mixer and it'll wipe off with your hand. Its weird.

Consider much shorter durations and water change(s) for muddy, dirty or otherwise nasty brass.

One nice thing about the Harbor Freight 1 1/4 cu ft mixer is that you can watch the brass and do water changes far more easily. You would be surprised how much cleaning can occur in just 10 minutes.