Does anyone here use their Frankford Arsenal SS Wet tumbler for dry media

Munkey1973

Munkey1973

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I always use it at the start of reloading process.
I am NOT a fan of re-sizing brass before it has been thoroughly wet SS cleaned - as I do not like having carbon scratching up my dies.

I am sick of manually wiping off Imperial sizing wax or lanolin/alcohol solution. I switch between the two depending on what I am reloading on any given day.

I have read various posts of guys SS wet cleaning a second time after re-sizing and then having to deal with their brass and/or SS pins turning all black due to some kind of contamination or reaction.

Seems the general consensus is to remove most types of case lube by using a dry (treated or un-treat) cob or walnut media in a vibratory cleaner.

I want to try the dry media method to remove the greasiness, however, I don't to want to have more equipment sitting on my shelves.

Has anyone here had reasonable success using cob or walnut media in wet SS cleaner (i.e, in a rotary drum) ?
 
Will work, but will take a long time. I have a RCBS Sidewinder which is(was) a rotary DRY media machine I used for wet media, until it started leaking. Larger drum diameter increases efficiency IMHO.
 
I've never had issues with the pins or cases turning any colours. I clean the cases, lube and resize, then clean again. I know it's an extra step, but makes my life easier and I typically only do it in large batches so time isn't my biggest concern. Lemi shine and dish soap is all I use also. Lanolin and alcohol for lube.

Going to Ss wet tumbling was life changing compared to Dry tumbling.
 
Thanks for all the info everyone!

I bought two packs of 3 lb crushed walnut media from Princess Auto today.

I have 150 cases ready to be lubed and resized for a match next weekend.

I will try removing the lube with both packs of media in the rotary tumbler.

Hoping this $20 experiment pans out.... I just really don't care for wiping lube off of each individual case now a days. Want to make the most of my time at the reloading bench.
 
Munkey1973 said:
That is how I do it as well.

Its just that I am looking to degrease my brass efficiently after the resize.
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I use Lee lube for a couple reasons. 1. It's a better lube than alcohol-lanolin and 2. being water based it's so much easier to clean off brass and it doesn't creep.

I can clean lube off 100 45acp cartridges with a damp towel in less time than it would take to drop them in a tumbler and turn it on.
 
jethunter said:
I use Lee lube for a couple reasons. 1. It's a better lube than alcohol-lanolin and 2. being water based it's so much easier to clean off brass and it doesn't creep.

I can clean lube off 100 45acp cartridges with a damp towel in less time than it would take to drop them in a tumbler and turn it on.
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I've read that a lot of guys like that Lee Lube..... maybe someday I will give it a whirl. Kind of had a bad experience with a RCBS water based lube in my early days of rifle reloading. Back then I didn't think I was over-lubing, but I ended up denting a lot of shoulders. Sort of turned me off from water based lubes and lube pads.

I switched to Imperial Sizing Wax and was happy with the end results. Just now I find it takes longer to apply. Happy with Alcohol & Lanolin because it applies fast.
 
bibatoad said:
Lortone rock tumbler, made to run for days on end, very well built. Best brass cleaning machine on the planet.
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Just tried un-treaded walnut media in the FA tumber last night.

Filled it to 3/4 of the drum and ran for an hour and a half. Took the greasiness right off the cases.
 
Munkey1973 said:
I've read that a lot of guys like that Lee Lube..... maybe someday I will give it a whirl. Kind of had a bad experience with a RCBS water based lube in my early days of rifle reloading. Back then I didn't think I was over-lubing, but I ended up denting a lot of shoulders. Sort of turned me off from water based lubes and lube pads.

I switched to Imperial Sizing Wax and was happy with the end results. Just now I find it takes longer to apply. Happy with Alcohol & Lanolin because it applies fast.
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The time you save applying alcohol and lanolin is lost when you have to clean it off afterwards.
 
This may be a dumb question and it's not meant to hijack the thread, but what happens if you don't clean off the Lanolin from inside and outside of the case? My pistol cases ( 9mm/40/.45 ) were sticking to the dies during reloading,after wet tumbling with steel pins so I went to Youtube to investigate the alcohol/lanolin recepies. Some just showed spraying it on in a Zip Lock baggie and swishing it around and it's ready to reload. I'm fairly new to reloading so I didn't know it had to be cleaned off.
 
I don't see a point in using a wet tumbler for dry media , the idea of a dry media tumbler is the vibration action, compared to a wet tumbler where its the constant rotation of the media.

First off , I have both tumblers wet -s/s & dry walnut
I use them for reloading different cases.
I don't care too much about the look of the brass.
As for lube, I swear buy a spray bottle mix of mineral oil and 90% alcohol. a light mist over a baking sheet of cases and they're ok.

I tried everything else and found I was getting too many dented / damaged shoulders in my press work.

my 38/357 , 9mm etc. - I don't worry too much about primer pockets and only dry tumble them for 3 hours. rinse in hot water , then dry in a dehydrator for 15 minutes good to go.

my precision rifle loads- first dry tumble for 4 hours then run them through wet s/s tumbler for 1 hour, rinse in hot water dry them in a dehydrator for 15 minutes , I hand clean the primer pockets with a Dremel & an s/s brush. then inspect each case, spray with my lube mix , de-prime and re size, measure , length , neck dia. size sort & measure each for consistency.
I ALWAYS clean and oil my dies after each use .
 
road.ripper said:
I don't see a point in using a wet tumbler for dry media , the idea of a dry media tumbler is the vibration action, compared to a wet tumbler where its the constant rotation of the media.
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I used a rotary dry tumbler with walnut shells for years. Works as good or better than vibratory dry tumbling.
 
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