STUCK - ultrasonic or SS. tumbling

Kelly Timoffee

Kelly Timoffee

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I am moving on from the typical tumbler for brass cleaning.

Just when I am about to click on an ultrasonic cleaner my brain stops me and says go with stainless steel type cleaning.

Then I say yeah I am going to get stainless my brain gives me another reason to go back to ultrasonic.

What are the majority of loaders using and why?
 
I have never tried the ultrasonic, but I love the results from the stainless steel cleaning.
It does a great job, doesn't take terribly long. I can get excellent results in just a few hours.
 
I have all 3.
I don't ultrasonic clean cases because it doesnt make cases shiny. I use US cleaning to clean semi auto gun parts in simple green.
Or dirty dies, or whatever. Mostly parts.

SS tumbling is great for large batches of super dirty cases. I dislike it for smaller batches because you still have to mess with the water, pins, rinsing, drying.... all that crap.
I end up doing mostly corncob.... let tumble all night.... just toss in the media separator, done.
It doesnt clean inside and primer pocket as well as SS, but why do you need spotless inside cases or primer pockets anyway.... I dont.

Anything wet is a hassle to me honestly. Corncob is so much easier for routine cleaning.

If you have like 1000 cases that are dirty and tarnished, ss is nice to have. But really, for regular cleaning, I dont use it.
 
I love SS tumbling for brass. As mentioned, its best in large batches as you are messing around with water etc, but the results can't be beat. Primer pockets and inside the cases are spotless.
 
I ultrasonic and then tumble. What can I say, I have a thing for shiny brass. The ultrasound gets the cases really clean, primer pockets and inside. However, every recipe/cleaner I have tried ends up with some unsightly tarnish developing. So I tumble for 30mins after they are dry. Ohhhhhh.... shiny.
 
If you go to http://www.accurateshooter.com/ you will see many of the competitive shooter do not like to clean the inside of the neck of the case. They claim it effects bullet release and a ultra clean case neck can bond and weld itself to the bullet over time. These people may use a soft brush inside the case to remove loose carbon and hate ultrasonic cleaners and SS media tumbling.

If you have semi-automatics that throw your perfectly good brass away the wet SS media does a very good job of cleaning your brass and "removing" any dirt or grit that can get embedded in the brass and scratch your dies.

I do not shoot in competition, I tumble with wet SS media and wouldn't do it any other way. I also have Gollum brass OCD and love to run my hands through "my precious" cases. ;)

halfdone.jpg


gollum_plotting_zpse0bd956a.jpg
 
I too get at least .3 MOA from shinny brass. ;) Just makes me feel better knowing it is as clean as it can be.

My rebuttal to the inside neck cases would be what about new brass and factory match ammo?

I am about 60/40 right now towards the SS media. I just like how it can get the primer pockets and insides so clean.

bigedp51 said:
If you go to http://www.accurateshooter.com/ you will see many of the competitive shooter do not like to clean the inside of the neck of the case. They claim it effects bullet release and a ultra clean case neck can bond and weld itself to the bullet over time. These people may use a soft brush inside the case to remove loose carbon and hate ultrasonic cleaners and SS media tumbling.

If you have semi-automatics that throw your perfectly good brass away the wet SS media does a very good job of cleaning your brass and "removing" any dirt or grit that can get embedded in the brass and scratch your dies.

I do not shoot in competition, I tumble with wet SS media and wouldn't do it any other way. I also have Gollum brass OCD and love to run my hands through "my precious" cases. ;)

halfdone.jpg


gollum_plotting_zpse0bd956a.jpg
Click to expand...
 
I honestly care less about brass than I did before.
who cares if your brass insides or primer pocket isnt spotless.

What I found is that spotless brass is harder to resize and needs more lube.

Just corncob for me now mostly really.... it works.
 
bigedp51 said:
If you go to http://www.accurateshooter.com/ you will see many of the competitive shooter do not like to clean the inside of the neck of the case. They claim it effects bullet release and a ultra clean case neck can bond and weld itself to the bullet over time. These people may use a soft brush inside the case to remove loose carbon and hate ultrasonic cleaners and SS media tumbling.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing those are the same guys who weigh their primers.... ;-)
 
Alpheus said:
I'm guessing those are the same guys who weigh their primers.... ;-)
Click to expand...

Actually its competitive shooters with high dollar custom rifles and equipment. ;)

Read below about cold welding and ultra clean case necks and you might learn something. In fact if you want to learn and improve your accuracy what better place than accurateshooter.com

Topic: Have you had any experience with "cold welding" of bullets
(with 165 Replies and 10131 Views) and they don't weigh their primers.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3785592.0
 
I currently use ultrasonic to clean my brass. I get annoyed about jow many batches I can do but then j don't have to spend the 300 to get started on stainless steel.

I don't mind the drying and I won't mind the work involved. I already ultra sonic through about 4-6 cycles of 480 second ultrasonic.

Eventually I will invest in the stainless equipment. For now. I'm okay
 
If you do go with wet tumbling and SS media be for warned, "READ" the instructions. The cases you see below are mine and the first time I tumbled, and I did NOT pre-tumble the pins to knock off the sharp ends of the pins as per the instructions. In fact I just skimmed over the instructions and ended up tumbling the cases far too long and peened the case mouths and scratching the hell out of the cases. The amount of soap and Lemishine depend on water hardness, the soap holds the dirt in suspension. So if you use too little soap the "dirt" will end up pounded into and sticking to the brass. Too much Lemishine will turn the brass pink and discolored.

The dents in the case mouth below are caused by the cases hitting the case mouth, drum speed, the amount of cases in the tumbler and how far the cases fall when they hit each other. So just remember to not over tumble your cases.


peen-a.jpg


peen-b.jpg


RTFM, the times depend on how dirty the cases are, water hardness and how many cases you put in the tumbler. Check your cases every half hour until you get the feel of tumbling under "YOUR" conditions, the instructions below are "guidlines" and not written in stone. And read the "NOTICE" and pre-clean your pins, to be on the safe side I would let them tumble overnight and get rid of the sharp cut ends on the pins.

STM_zps8f74c07a.jpg
 
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Wet stainless is the way to go...

All other methods including ultrasonic are for communists.
 
I made a 300$ ss tumbler and i have 2 drums and i also have a 300$ us cleaner and guess what corncob rocks...... No friggin water or mess or trouble. Tumble, reload, done
 
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