Started Wet Tumbling

[Adamj]

I started wet tumbling recently after years of using ground walnut as media and I'm not sure what took me so long to convert. Even though I know there isn't any performance difference I love my like new shiny brass. Giving my old friends a new look. No more dust or walnut pieces everywhere. Now I'm just chasing metal pins all over the house. 

 

Walnut on the left wet tumbled on the right. 

[Mcfoto]

Welcome to the dark side. I never got the "joy" of dry tumbling as my reloading mentors steered me to wet out of the gate. A magnet does wonders in helping corral the pins:

 

[usmc1974]

28 minutes ago, Adamj said:

I started wet tumbling recently after years of using ground walnut as media and I'm not sure what took me so long to convert. Even though I know there isn't any performance difference I love my like new shiny brass. Giving my old friends a new look. No more dust or walnut pieces everywhere. Now I'm just chasing metal pins all over the house. 

 

Walnut on the left wet tumbled on the right. 

My dry walnut hulls like like your wet tumbled brass. Of course I tumble it over night with just a touch of brasso. I want to go to wet. If I get a 9 pound rotory wet tumbler how many SS pins do I need.

[dthomas1003]

33 minutes ago, usmc1974 said:

My dry walnut hulls like like your wet tumbled brass. Of course I tumble it over night with just a touch of brasso. I want to go to wet. If I get a 9 pound rotory wet tumbler how many SS pins do I need.

The Frankford Arsenal 7L wet tumbler can process 1,000 .223 cases and uses 5lbs of pins. It would just be a matter of doing the math in your application. 

[Adamj]

1 hour ago, Mcfoto said:

Welcome to the dark side. I never got the "joy" of dry tumbling as my reloading mentors steered me to wet out of the gate. A magnet does wonders in helping corral the pins:

 

I bought this and tried to use it,  but it doesn't seem strong enough to pick up many pins. I usually wind up just scraping them out of the frankford arsenal separator. 

[Adamj]

31 minutes ago, dthomas1003 said:

The Frankford Arsenal 7L wet tumbler can process 1,000 .223 cases and uses 5lbs of pins. It would just be a matter of doing the math in your application. 

This has been my experience too. I found that if I kept the number of cases down at around 750 that they cleaned faster. With dawn dish soap and a small amount of lemishine I was cleaning batches in 45 minutes to an hour. Then letting them dry over night. Rifle cases dry slower for obvious reasons so those went in the oven on its lowest temperature setting without any discolorization. 

[Jammer1911]

I have suspended the use of the SS pins. I use an ounce of Armor-all Wash/Wax, a 45 ACP case of Lemishine and water. tumble for 2 hours and looks the same as with the pins.

[Mcfoto]

9 minutes ago, Adamj said:

... Then letting them dry over night. Rifle cases dry slower for obvious reasons so those went in the oven on its lowest temperature setting without any discolorization. 

 

I found a food dehydrator at Goodwill for $20. Run them at low setting for an hour or two, they're at bone dry. If I'm not in a hurry, just put them in the racks and let them dry overnight.

[Adamj]

6 minutes ago, Jammer1911 said:

I have suspended the use of the SS pins. I use an ounce of Armor-all Wash/Wax, a 45 ACP case of Lemishine and water. tumble for 2 hours and looks the same as with the pins.

I think I'm going to try this. It would be nice if I can get the same result without pins. Does the Wash/Wax leave any type of residue on the cases?

[Adamj]

4 minutes ago, Mcfoto said:

 

I found a food dehydrator at Goodwill for $20. Run them at low setting for an hour or two, they're at bone dry. If I'm not in a hurry, just put them in the racks and let them dry overnight.

You might have a better dehydrator than I do because mine never seemed to do the trick even when I lowered the number of cases. Now I can slam a cookie sheet full and in thirty minutes I have dry,  if a little warm,  cases. 

Edited June 29, 2018 by Adamj

[SCTaylor]

8 minutes ago, Adamj said:

I think I'm going to try this. It would be nice if I can get the same result without pins. Does the Wash/Wax leave any type of residue on the cases?

 

It hasn't for me. I still use OneShot lube on all my 9mm cases.

 

6 minutes ago, Adamj said:

You might have a better dehydrator than I do because mine never seemed to do the trick even when I lowered the number of cases. Now I can slam a cookie sheet full and in thirty minutes I have dry,  if a little warm,  cases. 

 

I bought the Frankford Arsenal dehydrator. I just put it on max heat for ~90min, same amount of time the tumbler runs. Do it in batches, everything comes out dry.

[Steve RA]

Tumbling without pins can get the outside almost as good as with pins, won't do a thing for the inside of the case or the primer pocket.

 

If the case has mud on the inside it will get most of that out - I'll give it that.

[camaross400]

I have suspended the use of the SS pins. I use an ounce of Armor-all Wash/Wax, a 45 ACP case of Lemishine and water. tumble for 2 hours and looks the same as with the pins.

I think I will try that.


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[usmc1974]

This is my brass in ground walnuts over night with a little brasso.

[Steve RA]

Here are my stainless pinned ones:

[usmc1974]

1 hour ago, Steve RA said:

Here are my stainless pinned ones:

they look nice plus you don't have to get dust out of them. The worst thing about dry tumbling. I have to drop mine in hot water.

Edited June 30, 2018 by usmc1974

[camaross400]

I did the side by side comparison of wet tumbling vs. dry tumbling about a year ago and there is no comparison when you compare time and how it cleans the inside and primer pockets. Here is my brass after 2 hrs of wet tumbling. However, I do wish I could cut the SS pins. Then there would be no need for discussion between the two for me. I use a food dehydrator to dry my brass for an 1 hr and a 1/2. I have the dehydrator on a timed socket so it cuts off when it is done.

 

 

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[Paulie]

I have the FART and FA brass dryer. 

 

Both work really well. As others have stated, wet tumbling makes the brass shine like no other....

[Jammer1911]

Yes the suspension of SS pins does not make the inside as shiny as the outside. The insides are very clean. The outside is as good as with the pins and the primer pockets are shiny also. I don't have to screw around with magnets and separating the pins from the brass and I don't have any stuck in the primer pockets. JMHO

[slavex]

yeah I stopped using pins ages ago. The only time I might use them is with my match rifle rounds, maybe. 

[muncie21]

Another wet tumbler that foregoes pins.  Brass isn't spotless, however outside is clean and the bit of synthetic was I add to the rinse makes resizing a breeze; no additional lube (for pistol) needed.

[Steve RA]

"was"   ???

[Service Desk]

Was it wax ? 

[bishop414]

For those wet tumbling without pins, do you still de-prime before or just dump brass in and go?

[slavex]

depends on the brass honestly, rifle yes, pistol no. Unless I'm bored, in which case I'm washing the brass twice, once before decapping and once after.