Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

Brass tumbling recommendations


vgdvc

Recommended Posts

When I stopped shooting / reloading a decade ago, wet tumbling wasn't around.  I used a tumbler with corn cob media and some polish to clean the cases before reloading them.  In order to remove the case lube, after loading, I had a second tumbler with media that I'd dump a couple of teaspoons of mineral spirits into; tumble for 15 minutes and you're good to go.  That process worked great and I'm using the same setup, now that I'm shooting / reloading again.

 

Forgive me if I'm beginning to sound like an old, set in my ways, codger, but wet tumbling sounds like a lot of effort to fix a problem I didn't know I had.

 

Can someone enlighten me, please?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a 40/60 mix of Lyman Treated Corn Cob (green) and corn blast in a Lyman 2500 Magnum Pro tumbler (I have 2 of these) with 4 used Bounce Drier sheets and a Lyman 2200 with 2 used  Bounce Drier sheets.

 

I run them for 2 hours and the brass is  good.  When the time goes to 4 hours to get the same 2 hour result, I change the media.

 

I did mix 25/75 Nu Finish paste wax and mineral spirits and added to 1 tumbler to try.  The verdict isn't in yet because all of my brass is clean.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, RacerX1166 said:

When I stopped shooting / reloading a decade ago, wet tumbling wasn't around.  I used a tumbler with corn cob media and some polish to clean the cases before reloading them.  In order to remove the case lube, after loading, I had a second tumbler with media that I'd dump a couple of teaspoons of mineral spirits into; tumble for 15 minutes and you're good to go.  That process worked great and I'm using the same setup, now that I'm shooting / reloading again.

 

Forgive me if I'm beginning to sound like an old, set in my ways, codger, but wet tumbling sounds like a lot of effort to fix a problem I didn't know I had.

 

Can someone enlighten me, please?

You are fine Racer.

The "wet guys" seem to think that the case needs to be super shiney including the primer pocket and the inside of the case. Which means the cases need to have primers removed before tumbling, which adds an extra big step...

 

But as you and I know, none of that really matters for accuracy or consistency or reliability. Tumble em, load em, tumble again, and shoot em!

:)

 

Edited by RiggerJJ
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You gotta love another tumbling thread 👍

I'm still searching for the unicorn additive for wet tumbling WITHOUT PINS...

that will clean primer pockets 🌈

I have tried most common around the house/garage cleaners without success.

Post up anything that works for you.

thanks,

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, RiggerJJ said:

You are fine Racer.

The "wet guys" seem to think that the case needs to be super shiney including the primer pocket and the inside of the case. Which means the cases need to have primers removed before tumbling, which adds an extra big step...

 

But as you and I know, none of that really matters for accuracy or consistency or reliability. Tumble em, load em, tumble again, and shoot em!

:)

 

But what about the children dust, LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, RePete said:

Clean primer pockets mean absolutely nothing, unless you are a great Bullseye shooter, or a Precision rifle shooter.

 

For the Action shooting sports, clean brass is all you need.

Wow

How profound

I never knew that

Never seen that posted before

thanks for posting

😀

anyone else want to pile on here?

Edited by Kenstone
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Kenstone said:

Wow

How profound

I never knew that

Never seen that posted before

thanks for posting

😀

anyone else want to pile on here?

Some of us just like cleaner brass than others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, electricjet said:

@ Kenstone ... try “Brass Juice” or “Bore Tech Case Cleaner” 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks

The reviews for both of those products I've read seem to indicate neither work very well cleaning primer pockets.

That, and their not cheap considering the results in the reviews posted here and elsewhere.

Anyone try Woolite, I'm out of dirty brass to test it.

I need to get to the range and make some more.

😕

 

Edited by Kenstone
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, RiggerJJ said:

You are fine Racer.

The "wet guys" seem to think that the case needs to be super shiney including the primer pocket and the inside of the case. Which means the cases need to have primers removed before tumbling, which adds an extra big step...

 

But as you and I know, none of that really matters for accuracy or consistency or reliability. Tumble em, load em, tumble again, and shoot em!

:)

 

Nice to know I'm not missing anything, Rigger.  I was genuinely interested to learn what I'd missed in the last decade. 

 

Happy I won't have to yell at someone to get off my lawn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, RiggerJJ said:

You are fine Racer.

The "wet guys" seem to think that the case needs to be super shiney including the primer pocket and the inside of the case. Which means the cases need to have primers removed before tumbling, which adds an extra big step...

 

But as you and I know, none of that really matters for accuracy or consistency or reliability. Tumble em, load em, tumble again, and shoot em!

:)

 

Woah! Us wet guys know they don't need to be super shiny. It just makes us randy to have the shiniest brass on the range :D

 

That said, it also adds drying to the brass prep and most have to run smaller batches for longer than in a vibrating tumbler. I just like keeping all the dirty/dusty stuff in the garage and having brand-new looking brass stored in the house with the reloading press.

 

Also want to add, a lot of people choose not to remove the primers and/or run without the pins. The brass doesn't get quite as sparkly but no need for media separation or depriming before tumbling. Nothing wrong with dry though.

Edited by jmtyndall
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/8/2019 at 7:43 AM, vgdvc said:

I just tried for the first time wet tumble using Frankford Arsenal tumbler and "Brass juice". I used distilled water to tumble & tap water to rinse. No pins and tumbled for 3 hours.  Inside of the cases are very clean and outside of cases are shinier than new brass. Pretty amazing

Do the instructions for Brass Juice say you need to use distilled water for the tumbling process? I looked on there site and could not find any detailed instructions. If yes, that's a non started for me as if would add cost to the process. Not that I'm cheap....but I use range brass for a reason! Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello gents ... experimented with several products for wet-tumbling and found that approx 30-35’ produced the same outcome compared to longer times.
 
I tumble de-capped brass.
 
I started using the commonly used Dawn/Lemi-shine mix with good cleaning results.
 
I moved on to use Boreteck’s case cleaner at a ratio of 1oz/gal. The results are spectacular. Primer pockets are spotless.
 
I have ordered some “Brass Juice” to experiment without the Pins.
 
After a final rinse I lightly dry the brass with a towel and then place them on an old cookie sheet on top of the “Shoe drying rack” in the clothes dryer for about 15’.
 
 
 
b803fd51e10f7a06cb981915ae8187b1.jpg
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
 


What Bore tech case cleaner?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...