Rock tumbler used for Brass tumbling?

bsand

bsand

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Hey guys,

I've been watching alot of youtube how to reload ammo etc. etc. One thing I always saw was CLEAN SHINEY BRASS, even after being one-fired. I had wanted to get the frankfurt arsenal rotary tumbler, but the 300$ price tag is hard to swallow. I was able to find a quality rock tumbler with 6 lb drum for under 90$ USD "Lortone 3A Single Barrel Tumbler". I would think that rocks would be much more heavy on a tumbler than some brass? I also found 5 lb bag of stainless steel shot for 40$ USD good deal or not?
 
I've been using my dad's rock tumbler for about 25 years to do brass.
He used it for probably 20 before that. It's a little beat up and has some custom mods, but it still works. I don't think it works as well as a vibrating polisher though.
 
Oh I should have mentioned I would want to do "wet tumbling". That would be possible in a that rock tumbler still right? I remember in highschool metalshop there was a similar coloured unit with 2 3lb drums that I had used to polish up my silver chain, it had been full of water and various media.
 
A rock tumbler should work it's all the same principal.
If it is the one at Amazon you are looking at the drum capacity is only 3 lbs the shipping weight is 5 lbs.
You won't get much brass in each load.
 
Spend more money for a QT-12 instead of the 3A. A 3lb (QT-6 is the 6lb version) barrel is way too small and you will never regret erring on the side of extra capacity. The high speed version of the Thumler Model B is the other popular rock tumbler for cleaning brass. If you shop around, you should be able to find either for less than $300.

Does your steel shot stick to a magnet? This will make it much easier to pick up stray pellets.
 
I have a rock tumbler that i used. But got a thumbler vibration tumbler last year. Tried walnut media in the tumbler, but the simplist and cheapest is to just use the litter that one can buy from pet stores for lizards. Maybe not what the cool kids are wearing to school this fall, but not drying or messing around.
 
I'm using the HarborFreight dual 3lb rock tumbler for my brass. Works like a charm and was $30.US on sale. Now that I'm dealing with more brass, I think I'm outgrowing it and might pick up the Frankford tumbler.
 
tjhaile said:
Spend more money for a QT-12 instead of the 3A. A 3lb (QT-6 is the 6lb version) barrel is way too small and you will never regret erring on the side of extra capacity. The high speed version of the Thumler Model B is the other popular rock tumbler for cleaning brass. If you shop around, you should be able to find either for less than $300.

Does your steel shot stick to a magnet? This will make it much easier to pick up stray pellets.
Click to expand...

Oh crap, didn't even think about magnetic shot! I bet stainless steel shot doesn't stick.. (well, stainless can be magnetic, another discussion)
 
I just went through the whole rock tumbler purchase and am glad I did. I bought the rotary Thumlers tumbler and it worked awesome!! I paid 60 dollars for 5lbs of stainless steel pins though so your price considering the Canadian peso seems about right.

I didnt buy a magnet and though it would be nice, I found it only took a couple minutes to get the media out of all the cases.

I did 100 once fired 30-06 brass, 70 243 cartridges and about 40 7-08. I did each batch separately and found the one with only 40 peices cleaned much quicker.

Good luck!

Yak
 
I use a thumblers rock polisher with walnut media for about 3-4 hours. Brass comes out really nice.

I recently did some 6.5x55 that I found in the basement, it was fairly corroded but came out not bad.
Shot it, cleaned it again and you can barely see the stains.
 
bsand said:
Hey guys,

I've been watching alot of youtube how to reload ammo etc. etc. One thing I always saw was CLEAN SHINEY BRASS, even after being one-fired. I had wanted to get the frankfurt arsenal rotary tumbler, but the 300$ price tag is hard to swallow. I was able to find a quality rock tumbler with 6 lb drum for under 90$ USD "Lortone 3A Single Barrel Tumbler". I would think that rocks would be much more heavy on a tumbler than some brass? I also found 5 lb bag of stainless steel shot for 40$ USD good deal or not?
Click to expand...

I wet tumble using the Thumler's Tumbler Model B High Speed unit, and its the same tumbler our next door neighbor (rock hound) used to polish stones when I was a kid in the late 1950s.

If you don't have the money then just wash your brass in a five gallon bucket using one of the cleaning mixtures below.

Homemade Firearm Cleaners & Lubricants
http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm

Its a great case cleaner BUT if you go to Benchrest Central or Accurate Shooter these competitive shooters do not like having the inside of their case necks "squeaky clean". Meaning removing the burnt on carbon inside the case neck effects neck tension and accuracy.

If you are not shooting thousands of rounds and just reload for hunting then just clean your cases the old fashioned way. BUT if you have firearms that throws perfectly good brass away and makes you go looking for them on the ground. Then stainless wet tumbling is great for scrubbing the brass clean of any dirt or grit that can scratch your dies.

I still have fond memories of holding a case in one hand and some 0000 steel wool in the other.......................and getting very sore hands and fingers.

And if you have AR15s and Glocks and your sons like shooting your reloads then sore fingers are out of the question.

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bucketsofbrass_zps6927af18.jpg
 
Thumbler's Tumbler model B
6 pump's of Dawn from hand dispenser and a 45 acp case of Lemmishine. 30 case's per load and a 4 hour tumble.

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My cases look like your pictures, I've already decapped (just cause I could/no power last night for 10 hours. Now I'm excited, I was thinking damn I'm going to need a bulk pack of steel wool and fresh batteries for my drill.
 
bsand said:
My cases look like your pictures, I've already decapped (just cause I could/no power last night for 10 hours. Now I'm excited, I was thinking damn I'm going to need a bulk pack of steel wool and fresh batteries for my drill.
Click to expand...

Just be mindful of anything that might get lodged in the flash hole.

My routine is to decap, tumble and inspect.

I have an old expander rod with a decap pin on the end that I push through the flash hole from the primer side while I'm inspecting my brass to make sure no media is stuck in there.

With pistol brass I leave the primer in to tumble.
 
Have used a rock tumbler for years. Because the lids seal on the drums I have it works to wet tumble. When doing range brass I mix up dawn dish soap and hot water and tumble before I size to clean the dirt, sand etc. off, saves a little wear and tear on the dies. Once sized I'll wet or dry tumble again, for a short amount of time just to clean up the primer pocket.
 
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