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Do you wet tumble your pistol brass?


nikdanja

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On 12/20/2016 at 6:42 AM, TDA said:

I have found absolutely no difference in performance between de-capped spotlessly shiny wet tumbled cases using SS pins, and cases dry tumbled with the primers in that are dark inside.

For pistol only, if I knew that there was any difference I would be willing to change to or add wet tumbling. 

A 45 revolver shooting friend insists that there is no reason, besides cosmetics,  to tumble period. At a match he sort of reminds you of a spaghetti western character due to all the dirty brass hanging on his belt. 

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On 12/17/2016 at 0:25 PM, nikdanja said:

Thinking about wet tumbling my pistol brass that I use for matches.. I'm talking about going the extra mile and popping out primers before, the whole 9 yards. I figure it couldn't hurt to give the brass a little more "slick" feeling for feeding along with consistent primer depths because all the garbage is out before hand. 

 

Does anyone do this? 

I did with a couple thousand to see if it mattered any vs. depriming after tumbling.  Other than shinier pockets, nope.

On 1/15/2017 at 0:16 AM, RiggerJJ said:

After a wet tumble, what do you do with the hazardous waste water?

Drink it to absorb the essence of all the blown out 9 mjr brass I accidentally left in, for more explosive movement and speed. 

Edited by BBQRibs
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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes, to wet tumbler with no depriming for pistol brass.

I use Franklin Arsenal steel pin wet tumbler.  Used to deprime pistol before tumbling as I do for my anal long range brass, but found it does no good for pistol, other than decreasing some of the dirt in resizing.  Not worth depriming for high-volume pistol reloading.  Never have primer insert problems, unless CCI (hard primers) with mixed range brass, and that is more likely related to the brass type and primer than anything in the pocket.  I lube a big batch with One Shot after cleaning before sizing.  Used to use a towel to wipe off brass particles after various dies with 550 (Lee dies), but haven't needed this due to less debris with Dillion 9mm dies, or just more conservative die setup.  With no lube, you will get some sizing and powder bell expansion resistance, but light lube gets rid of that and does not seem to impact round performance leaving it on.

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First, IF you're going to wet tumble, you need to use case lube afterward FOR SURE.  Wet tumbled, perfectly clean brass feels slick, but it will gall. Dry tumbled brass has a very fine dust on it that acts as a lubricant and prevents that galling, or at least mitigates it.  That said, you should always use case lube, even with carbide/nitride dies, but if you're wet tumbling, it's even more important than with dry tumbling.  

Myself, I bought a Franklin Arsenal wet tumbler.  Unless you don't care about the cleanliness of the receptacle you're pouring it down, it is a bit of a mess.  And you have to deal with the stainless steel pins, as well.  I have stopped wet tumbling.  I still use the Franklin Arsenal wet tumbler, but I use it dry -- with walnut.  Works beautifully, and the Franklin wet tumbler barrel is huge, so I can do a lot of brass at once.  Wet was interesting for a little while, but dry tumbling is actually less effort.  And because I'm doing it in a regular tumbler and not a vibratory, I don't have media dust floating all around the garage.  Best of both worlds.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Drop in ultrasonic with primers in. Stand the cases up by gently pushing the brass tray down in the solution. Run for 1 hr. Rinse. Toss in oven at 230°F for an hour. Reload when cooled. No dust whatsoever, quiet, quick, anything else is a waste of time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For matches, I wet tumble all my brass rifle and pistol. Does it need to be, "no". Wet tumbling with stainless steel pins is great, you can take the dirtiest old brass and when done it looks like new. However, after reloading for over 35 years, I don't think it makes a difference other than appearance. The one thing that is really great about wet tumbling is no dust, walnut dust and my allergies never got along well. 

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27 minutes ago, postalpainmaker said:

So those of you that wet tumble and lube when loading, what lube do you use and what process do you use to remove it? I was considering using Hornady one shot and leaving it on.(very small amount). Thoughts?

I use One Shot.  Just a very light coat, and I don't worry about removing it.

Edited by BobT
typo
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6 minutes ago, BobT said:

I use One Shot.  Just a very light coat, and I don't worry about removing it.

Same here.   Since I wet tumble with steel pins, need some lube for easier sizing.  I've sprayed on hands and picked up brass, works well but slow.  Spraying directly on brass helps lube case flare step, but causes powder to stick to inside walls.  I just don't like the aesthetics of that.    Now I spray sides of lg ziplock and roll brass around inside.   I don't remove lube after usually, but sometimes throw batch of finished cartridges on towel on cookie sheet and briefly rub off tiny brass chips and some of the lube to cut down on brass chips in pistol for match loads.  

 

Anybody know if any difference between Hornady One-Shot Case Lube vs Gun Lube?  

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11 minutes ago, postalpainmaker said:

I just worry about leaving it on the loaded ammo and causing it to attract grit of dust. One shot won't effect primers or powder will it?


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OS is harmless if you follow instructions. I think the can says to make sure it has time to dry before loading.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I decap and then do a 4 hour tumble. I run it over night and then dry it out the next day.

Really about 2 hours is good for pistol brass but I also load precision 6.5 creedmoor and 3.5-4 hours gets those primer pockets spotless.

My timer is junk and a paint to adjust so I just leave it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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One shot says to let it dry for one minute.  Its just a dry lube in an alcohol suspension.  It says it will not contaminate primer or powder.  I lube the crap out of my .40 cases inside and out.  get a 1 gallon ziplock half full of brass, give it a good spray and mix.  I do that 3 or so times.  Let it dry and dump it in the feeder.  The press runs so much better.

 

I wet tumble in the FART.  I was using the pins but they are a pain to deal with after.  I stopped using the pins and the brass comes out just as clean it seems.  To me wet tumbling is better because I dont have to deal with the dust.  Its so much easier to dump the water down the drain then to run the brass through a media separator and create a bunch of dust.  All of you that dry tumble should have your blood lead checked.  I have a separate wash basin in my garage that I use, I dont use the kitchen sink.  

 

I have found no noticeable difference in performance and press operation of brass that is cleaned after being decapped.  If I had a separate automated press just to process brass I probably would, but I am not going to setup a dedicated tool head for the 1050 just to decap.

Edited by CrashDodson
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I have tried dried, ultra sonic and wet with stainless steal pins.  While no difference in reliability between the 3 methods, I find wet tumbling the best for me. I do de-prime on a separate single stage press prior to cleaning (can do 400 pieces in about 15 minutes)  Overall wet tumbling makes the brass look like new.  I can clean  300 pieces of 45 ACP or 450  pieces of 9 mm in 60 minutes.  The brass is dried in a refurbish Black and Decker convention oven at 130 degrees for 60 minutes that I purchased for $25 at  Ollies.   Brass is then ready to reload.

 

I agree with prior comment about lead exposure with dry tumbling.  There is risk of lead exposure that occurs with the inhaling the microscopic particles that occur with separation of the dry media from the brass.  As far as the die sticking on station #2 of a Dillon 650, if you look at the flaring die you can fine tiny linear brass streaks that build up on the die.  I polish the die with red compound and a dremel which takes about 2 minutes and can load 2000 pieces before any residual build up reoccurs.

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After a wet tumble, what do you do with the hazardous waste water? Pour it down the drain? Isn't that contaminating the waste water system with lead? Whatever is down stream is out of sight out of mind?

 

I dry tumble in a separate room outside, old green house room... I live in a very dry climate and see no dust when i seperate the media from the brass because i use a lot of polish, and a dryer sheet. The media comes out slightly damp. No dust. No pia wet tumbling... I do not get wrapped around the ocd axle making my brass shiny new. If its clean its good. Primer pocket cleaning is a waste of time as well. I tumble clean, load with lube, and tumble the lube off. No muss no fuss. More time to shoot, less screwing around with loading prep...

 

 

Edited by RiggerJJ
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On 1/4/2017 at 10:53 PM, inkballedtarget said:

I run my brass through a cement mixer I bought at harbor freight. I run my brass with the primers still in. I can do a five gallon bucket of 40 brass per run

it comes out pretty good!

Are you running wet or dry? What media are you using? 

 

Thanks

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Just now, David.Hylton said:

Are you running wet or dry? What media are you using? 

 

Thanks

Hi Sir,

 

I run 5 gallons of brass with 5 gallons of water, add dawn dish soap and lemi shine. I let that run for 45 min, and then drain the water and add another 5 gallons of water to rinse for 5 minutes. After the rinse, I drain the water and dump the brass into mesh bag and lay it out to air dry for about an hour giving it a roll every no and then to move the brass around. At the end of the hour, the brass is certainly not completely dry, but a little moisture on the brass helps cut down on the dust. Once the brass is semi dry, it goes back in the cement mixer with a 5 gallon bucket of harbor freight walnut media. I will tumble it for 45 minutes or so. I use the media separator that goes inside a 5 gallon bucket. 


I did wrap the fins that are inside of the cement mixer with some gorilla tape or thick duck tape to give them some padding. When I first started using the mixer, i noticed some dings in the brass. 

 

 

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