stainless steel polishing media
- Thread starter big bear
- Start date
All the postings say it has to be used wet. Vibratory case cleaners can't be used wet as they're not water tight (at least mine doesn't look like it would be). If you could find/buy/make one that is water tight, perhaps you could make it work.
The cheap ones made by the reloading companies aren't water tight, but higher end ones are. The vibratory ones Thumler's makes can be used with water.
That being said, the vibratory tumbler will pack the SS media into the cases so tightly that you will never get it out. If you want to do a wet process with a vibratory tumbler, you need to use spherical media.
And some videos:
Yes, ceramic balls. I don't recall where I got them. Some lapidary supplier on the web. These are old vids. This was several years ago, before SS media showed up on the scene. I was using this stuff and angle cut ceramic cylinders in the rotary tumbler at the time.
Now I either use the US machine or tumble in the rotary tumbler without any media whatsoever. Just water and Hornady US solution...
Now I either use the US machine or tumble in the rotary tumbler without any media whatsoever. Just water and Hornady US solution...
Cool, thanks for the quick answer kombayotch. I have now redirected my shopping to the rotary tumbler and the SS pins. I am just so tired of pricking out corn media out of my cases and then having to wash the brass to completely get rid of all the crap the regular media leaves on them.
How do the SS pins work on .223 cases out of a rotary tumbler, is it easy to shake it all out of the brass?
How do the SS pins work on .223 cases out of a rotary tumbler, is it easy to shake it all out of the brass?
Honestly, the only thing SS media gives you over tumbling without it is clean primer pockets. The outsides of the cases get just a shiny and polished from rubbing against each other without any media. I only use the rotary tumbler for applications where peening of the case mouths isn't an issue. Stuff like pistol cases and rifle cases that go in loose factory chambers. In those applications, dirty primer pockets don't matter and the time spend de-priming the brass prior to tumbling and separating the media afterwards is a waste, IMO.
