Advice For A Brass Tumbler

Cabelas in US runs a black Friday sale on FA wet tumblers every year. I paid $120 USD for mine a few years ago. I picked it up during a trip to US, but im sure that you can get one shipped here and still come out WAY ahead in terms of price compared to buying one in Canada.
 
Is peening of the case mouths a thing or not when using ss pins to clean?

Also - primer pockets definitely come out 100% clean?

I currently ultrasonic clean, dry then tumble in Lyman red walnut media. De-prime after then clean primer pockets one at a time.
 
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NaviDave said:
Is peening of the case mouths a thing or not when using ss pins to clean?

Also - primer pockets definitely come out 100% clean?

I currently ultrasonic clean, dry then tumble in Lyman red walnut media. De-prime after then clean primer pockets one at a time.
Click to expand...

No to ? 1
Yes to ? 2
 
Found an article - peening on case mouths is caused by brass hitting brass.

Next question - what if I want to go big on the tumbler? More water/more pins...

Any recommendations or is the FA 7L unit sufficient for say 100 pieces of .308?

Edit: $156 US with pins. Says it does 1000 .223 cases - it must be large enough.
 
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NaviDave said:
Is peening of the case mouths a thing or not when using ss pins to clean?

Also - primer pockets definitely come out 100% clean?

I currently ultrasonic clean, dry then tumble in Lyman red walnut media. De-prime after then clean primer pockets one at a time.
Click to expand...

penning isn't a thing imho.

Primer pockets come out mostly clean, but not like new brass unless you let the tumbler run for a very long time.

I'm not sure why you do both ultrasonic and dry tumbling. Only one operation should be good enough.
 
Keeps my tumbling media clean. I have been using the same media for 3 years (just a top up once in a while).

Old walnut media is also not dusty.
 
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VinnyQC said:
penning isn't a thing imho.

Primer pockets come out mostly clean, but not like new brass unless you let the tumbler run for a very long time.

I'm not sure why you do both ultrasonic and dry tumbling. Only one operation should be good enough.
Click to expand...

I let mine run the full 3 hour cycle, my pockets are just like new :)
 
Brianma65 said:
I let mine run the full 3 hour cycle, my pockets are just like new :)
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It really depends on the brass/pins ratio. If I put too much brass in mine I have to let it run longer to get the PP clean. So with 9mm I put a truckload of brass every load cause I don't care about PP that much (and they don't come out like new but they come out mostly clean), but with rifle brass I don't make such large batches.

My only regret with my tumbler is that I didn't buy a larger one. Mine is slightly smaller than the FA 7L, I'd prefer something larger. I might build my own tumbler, and if I do, I'll build a very large one, like 18L or more, with 10-15lbs of pins.
 
NaviDave said:
Keeps my tumbling media clean. I have been using the same media for 3 years (just a top up once in a while).

Old walnut media is also not dusty.
Click to expand...

Yeah but, at the end of the day, you have to clean your PP by hand (that must be quite a pita for large amount of 9mm and 223) and you have to wait for the brass to dry anyway. It seems like the worst of both world. If you wet tumbled with SS pins, you'd be done after the brass is dry, and brass dries much faster when the primers are removed because air flows through the cases.

If you at least deprime before the sonic cleaning, wouldn't it clean the PP?
 
Sonic does not clean primer pockets. Perhaps 1 out of 5 end up with clean pockets after running through five 8-minute cycles.

I was going to buy a Lyman case prep centre. That is $122 US - the FA tumbler is $161 US including $5 parcel fee. Just over $200 CAD plus 13% sales tax (if the border guards feel like charging me that day).

It seems to me that the tumbler makes much more sense as I have a lot of brass to process and it would take me years to clean the pockets one at a time.

I did read that leaving a pin in the case, then charging a case is a bad thing. You have to shake out bottleneck cases when you walnut tumble anyways...
 
Thank you all for the information. This has got to be a first that every (count em-34) reply's were in agreement. I ordered the Frankford today. I have a shooting buddy in the US. Boy are we getting hammered with pricing in Canada. It's still quite a bit cheaper even with the exchange.
 
Thanks to everyone from me as well. It changed my mind for sure.

I wonder what a used Hornady dry tumbler and ultrasonic cleaner goes for on the used market... (;{}
 
bigedp51 said:
OLD_FART.jpg


Don't pay attention to young morons, this old fart wet tumbles.

P.S. I prefer to be called chronologically gifted.
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^^^ this

(do i get any more points?)

:nest:
 
Interesting- is there any concern that the s/s medium breaks down the brass to a degree shortening the case life? I'm new to reloading and don't have a brass cleaner system yet.
 
Jimi g said:
Interesting- is there any concern that the s/s medium breaks down the brass to a degree shortening the case life? I'm new to reloading and don't have a brass cleaner system yet.
Click to expand...

Haven't noticed anything and I have tumbled some of it a lot. Primer pockets will stretch before the ss pins does any damage.
 
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