Dry tumbling vs SS wet...

jakfrost

jakfrost

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Been using my trusty Hornady Dry Media vibration case tumbler for some time now, with good results, but a guy at the range today was extolling the virtues of SS wet tumblers. Got me thinking maybe I need one...

What do you all think? Is it that important to have my 9mm/45 brass shiny on the inside as well as the outside? Who sees that anyway??? What else does it do better? I put a used dryer sheet in every time I run the corn cob tumbler so no dust that I can notice, if that is a possible reason to switch.
 
Tumbling media goes inside whether its dry or wet. I've used dry media for ten years now, its never had a problem and I spend a lot of time reloading so who cares if its on longer or shorter times?
 
I prefer the ss tumbler to clean brass because it's wet and I don't breathe the dust. it does a better job, faster, with more brass (I built a large one).
I use corncob with vib tumbler to remove the lube on sized cases overnight, it works well.

rifle gets a decap, ss clean, oven dry, lube, size, corncob, trim, prime, load.

I use the 650 to deprime so its not that much longer to do a depriming run.

The frankford kit looks nice for the cost, if I had to do it again, I would just get that. It did not exist when I built mine.
 
I'm new to reloading so I don't have "the final answer" by any means, but here is my experience (with sonic, not SS wet--maybe doesn't apply?)

I decided to go with the Hornady Sonic Cleaner because it was rated better than other sonic cleaners, and because I work in the medical field and am familiar with this type of cleaner. I also heard that the sonic cleaner gets primer pockets cleaner than a tumbler would. I'm very happy with the sonic cleaner. I don't think I have the patience to do multi-stage tumbling with walnut, corn cob and/or stainless steel.

One problem people report is that their brass dries with water stains. This can be easily remedied by adding a drop of Jet Dry to your (tap water) rinse. (Using DI water is a PITA!) Works like a charm.

Another thing people don't like about the sonic cleaner is waiting a couple days for your brass to dry. This is also easily remedied by drying your brass in a food dehydrator (like this one I got for $44 at Canadian Tire). When I'm processing batches of brass, I clean the brass in the sonic cleaner for 30 minutes (with heat) while the dehydrator takes 30 minutes to dry the batch I just cleaned. It's a system that works well for me.

I wish I could take credit for the Jet Dry and the food dehydrator trick but alas, they are ideas from a brilliant reloading friend!
 
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The cost complaint doesn't hold much merit as your media for SS doesn't wear, it lasts until you loose it all.
The "drying" time and need to have brass ready to go ASAP I also find as an invalid point as 99% of us have so much brass on the go that we can just cycle the process , I have brass ready to load in all my chamberings, and when I have a full tumbler worth of uncleaned brass I clean it then prep it and add it to the pile.

Primer pockets are cleaned in the tumbling process.I decap then SS tumble.

Cleaning time , 1/8th to 1/10 the time for better results, remember , insides are cleaned and primer pockets, I also find the inside necks need no prep work after.

It is quieter and cleaner.

It will clean extremely dirty and/or corroded cases that were typically discarded as not usable.

The vibratory does give a finer polish if that is desired and they can be loaded immediately after cleaning.

I set my brass on a towel , cover with another towel, roll cases back and forth a few times, this eliminates the staining.

A tip for vibratory users, go to your local industrial supplier for a bag of crushed walnut, it is a fraction of the cost.

As well some of us have OCD and those cases will never be bright enough. :)
 
Interesting that many like myself have switched from years of dry to wet SS.

Few that don't see the mentioned advantages seem to have no practical experience with wet SS and are going by hearsay.

Had 44 Mag that after many hours of dry walnut/corncob still took lots of force to size with LEE carbide die, finally had to lube. After 2 hrs wet SS size like new brass.
 
Wet Tumbling

Pros

-Its fast and cleans very dirty cases, inside and out, primer pockets and all
-The media never has to be replaced unless you loose it
-Parts for the tumbler are dirt cheap and available
-You don't have to pull bits of media out of the primer pockets
-Shiny.... oh Shiny...
-If you don't overload it its quite and doesn't piss off your neighbours

Cons

-Its wet... you need to let it dry a couple hours (blow the primer pockets out then roll them, eliminates 80% of the dry time
-Very high start up cost
-Everyone else want to uses it because ...shiny....

Media vibrator

Pros

-Cheap startup
-Media is affordable
-Effecive at getting case clean

Cons

-LOUD
-Media stuck in flash holes
-does a poor job cleaning primer pockets
-Dusty
-Leaves residue on cases
-MEdia needs to be replaced often
-To get the cases realy shiny requires wet aditive
-Does not do a good job with the "green" cases


Sonic Cleaners

Pros

-Um.... easy to clean up?

Cons

-Doesn't clean dirty cases very well unless you baby sit it and change the cleaner 5 times and run it 10 times
-Most annoying ear piercing sound in the world that you can hear from anywhere in the house
-Cleaner is expensive
-You have to change the cleaner almost every time
-Its wet, you have to let the cases dry
-limited capacity
 
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