PistolPete Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 I'm just curious as to how long you tumble your spent cases for. I've heard people say as little as 20 minutes and I've heard people who say for 8-10 hours. I'm somewhere in the middle at around 1.5-2 hours. Do you think this is excessive? I like my brass to be nice and shiny. I've also heard of people adding auto wax with their media to wax the cases? Has anyone tried this? Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George D Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 Pete, Effective times would depend on the number of cases and the age of the media. I like the Lyman red media and tumble 300-400 cases at a time and I leave them tumbling overnight. If you are acheiving clean shiny cases in 2 hours then your doing well. Stick with it. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 I use a Dillon CV-500 and plain corn cob media. After adding Ioso case polish (around 20 drops) and a splash of mineral spirits, I tumble my brass for five hours. I have a timer set up in the garage. It starts when I go to bed. The next morning it's done. The brass comes out looking like new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 It depends on how clean the media is, 20 minutes usually does the trick for me, but sometimes I have left them in for a couple of days . I don't need my cases to have a mirror finish. I don't tumble my practice brass at all unless it is super dirty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 Who's trying to get their brass shiny? WHY! I tumble for 20min to 1hr depending on how much time I have. All I want to do is get the twigs and loose particles out of the cases. The gun doesn't care how shiney they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 No, but it does make it a lot easier to see things like split casings. And it stops your fingertips from looking black after you've loaded a few magazines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus The Bum Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 I tumble my spent brass for about 90 minutes, anything more than that your just wasting time. Why tumble brass for hours (or days) when your going to turn right back around and shoot it again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry Cazes Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 I tumble my brass for 4 - 6 hours usually. I use coarse corn cob media and a little dillon polish. Call me anal but I like my loaded rounds to look new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38supPat Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 Usually set it to run over night. Then there was the guy I know who accidentally left his to run for 3 days....whooooeeee, were they BRIGHT!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolPete Posted June 21, 2003 Author Share Posted June 21, 2003 Well looks like I'm going to up the tumbling time. People at the range told me to tumble for about 1/2 hour. My last batch I did for about an hour and when reloading my hands were black. Looks like those cases are going back into the tumbler. I'll leave them in for a few hours and see how they are. It is a good point that you are just going to shoot them and redo it again so it is kind of a waste but it isn't like tumbling is any work. Just plug it in and forget about it. Only prob. with tumbling is the fiance. She hates the noise but what can you do? Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intel6 Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 I put mine on a timer so it comes on in the middle of the night so the noise doesn't bother anyone. I set the timer so it runs 2 hours or so and then shuts off for a while to cool down the motors and then it comes back on for another 2 hours or so. I am sure I am overdoing it but this way I know it will be clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 It all depends how dirty and corroded the brass is and how old the media is. I've tumbled anywhere from an hour or two to overnight. I'm doing the frenchie-inspired rice bit with a little walnut sprinkled in to get in the nooks and crannies. Surprisingly enough, the rice seems to be as fast or faster than the walnut. If your tumbler is noisy, try filling it up more. The brass isn't supposed to rattle, it's supposed to flow around in kind of a toroidal pattern. If you don't have enough stuff in there, that doesn't happen and you end up with a noise box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 As Duane pointed out, a shiny aspect is not only appealing, but solves a lot of problems. 1. You don't get hands like a coal mine worker when reloading or just loading magazines. 2. Your gun will cycle better with polished rounds than with dirty ones. 3. You can easily spot your brass in the gravel or even in the grass if it reflects the sun. I too tumble mine overnight with a timer (usually 6 hours). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolPete Posted June 21, 2003 Author Share Posted June 21, 2003 I just put the brass I was tumbling and decided to keep it in longer. I tumbled it for about 7 hours. I can not believe the difference. The brass came out looking better than new. Talk about shining brass.... Looks like the tumbler will now be working overtime. 8 hours is a long time but then again it isn't like it takes any work to tumble. Just fill it up and forget about it. How often do you change the media? I've been using the same media all along. It was a light brown and now it is dark black. People at my range say they've been using the same media for 5 years. I wouldn't go that far but should I change it fairly often? Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Larry Cazes Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Pete, Change the media when the brass no longer comes out clean after a reasonable amount of tumbling. I buy mine at a local gun show for $12.50 for a 25 pound bag of coarse corncob. You can also get walnut shell and corncob at any Petco/Petclub as well. One thing noone has mentioned is to be careful about handling the media while seperating it from the brass. The black residue on fired cases has a high lead content and so will your dirty media. Never handle the media without ventillation. I learned this the hard way! I've put together a media/brass seperator that is sealed while the media and brass are being sifted. Get 2 5 gallon plastic buckets and drill holes in the bottom of one. Put these together and pour the brass/media into the top one with the holes and close it before shaking to seperate. Have fun! Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 It is a good point that you are just going to shoot them and redo it again so it is kind of a waste Yeah! Like, why make your bed in the morning? You're just going to mess it up again that night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 ...Or don't bother ever washing your clothes because you're just going to get them dirty. And dirtier. And dirtier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Yeah! What SHE said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intel6 Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 That is how I feel about cleaning my guns and washing my truck. I shoot a couple of times a week and if I clean my guns or my truck I am just going to get it dirty again in a few days. Neal in AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Call it anal (or whatever you want) but cleaning the Kimber regularly is sort of a personal ritual, also giving me time to conduct a fairly thorough exam of it, looking for scritches, dents, wear, tear and whatever changes might've happened since the last cleaning, if any. It also gives me time to re-assess my shooting goals, skills and things I might've learned in the last shoot. Besides, it's just fun to handle. PS--I asked my reloader just the other day how long he tumbled the brass... He said about a half hour. The final product comes back to me looking virtually brand new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyaboutguns Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Split brass is audible when handled. No one has improved their performance with shiny brass. Problems are avoidable with clean, not necessarily shiny brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Sig Lady, It is nice that you have embraced the dark side (1911's) so completely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDaddy Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 I tried the auto wax thing. It didn't seem to do anything for me. I apparently have very caustic skin causing the brass to deteriorate at an accelerated pace. I can't really load an excess and store it. That is why I tried the wax to begin with. I guess water would bead up nicely though . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 I vibratory clean mine 1x fire brass for about 2 hours or so with fine corn cob and Dillon (b/c thats what I have on hand) polish. Before I take them out, I wash and dry my hands so that whatever oil or perspiration is on them doesn't end up tarnishing the brass. I wash them after handling the brass also. Most cases don't get 100% shiney, but I figure the less gunk on them, the more easily (1) I'll see split cases, dents (kinda like a car, if you want to see an imperfection, shine it up), etc. and (2) it might make the press run a bit smoother. Then, after loading, the now loaded brass goes back into the vibratory cleaner for another 10-15 to get the case lube off. Thats when I really notice the shine. I tried the Duane T. method of putting my brass in a zip plastic bag with some polish in it and then massaging the mess to coat the brass with polish. It indeed got the stuff shiny, but the other thing that I noticed is that if any of the polish got inside of the brass, the media wanted to cake inside. Perhaps I used a bit too much polish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 L2S-- Yes, it's a deep, dark unconditional love at this point. Want more!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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