Tumbler Magic!

[notsorichguy]

So WWII surplus 30-06, it was linked belt ammo, un-linked and shot in a Win mod 70.

Before shooting the rounds,

After annealing, and a tumble (I have yet to re-size let alone remove the crimp etc.)

Corn cob media, Lyman tumbler lube....... 32hrs in the tumbler!

 

[Kryogen]

how did you anneal?

 

[hunter64]

Some thing only 3 hours in the tumbler. Probably could have got away with 2 hours but I let it go an extra hour for good measure.

10 Lbs. of stainless steel pins.

270 rounds of 30-06

2 gallons of water, 4 tablespoons of dish soap, 1/2 tablespoon of Lemi Shine

Drum and contents weigh 53 lbs, far cry from the 15 lbs allowed by Thumlers or Lortone.

Here is a picture of the 250 rounds in the container and the range pickups beside them. They all went into the drum together.

Here are some before pictures of the range pickups. Really nasty, scaled on dirt and green rust (not sure what it is), and I thought were basically just throw aways.

Look at how nasty the insides are.

Now 3 hours in the tumbler later.

You can still see the soap in the primer hole on this one. Still need to dry.

Now look at the insides. Much cleaner. They are the same brass as before and you can see that they are by the mouth of the brass was squished by people walking on them in the dirt.

This stuff really works and I wish I had made my own tumbler earlier. Hope this dispels once and for all people not believing that it works. As they say Pictures are worth a thousand words.

 

[hitch.bd]

Very impressive!

 

[Onagoth]

I get the same results in less than 2 hours. 1/2 corn cob, 1/2 walnut, with a few tablespoons of brasso in the mix.

I do want to look at this stainless steel pin idea though. The one thing my tumbler definitely doesn't do as well as the pins is the inside of the casing.

 

[Cummins4x4]

Nice job on the tumbler hunter64. I have a Thumler and the size can be a limitation sometimes. No more cleaning primer pockets is a biggie for me.

 

[CeeZer]

I get the same results in less than 2 hours. 1/2 corn cob, 1/2 walnut, with a few tablespoons of brasso in the mix.

I do want to look at this stainless steel pin idea though. The one thing my tumbler definitely doesn't do as well as the pins is the inside of the casing.

Use NuFinish: http://www.rrlalena.us/images/nufinish_big.jpg - 1st one that came up om-nom-nom Google.. 2 table spoons per tumbler load is all you need. 30mins with new media, add another 30 mins with every following tumble. 5-6 tumbles per media is what I do. 300-400+ cases per run. Use more corn cob than walnut shell to make it cheaper too. 1 to 3 ratio is good, 1 part of walnut shell and 3 parts of cob.

Clean flash hole, smooth and slick cases (on outside) to go thru press as well as to chamber smoothly, what else?... Hmmm, zip-nada...

I had one - ONE squib in my 40K loads, happened when I was greener than green with re-loading, before I ever had a chance to load 2K rounds.. first one to shoot a stage, in US of A too, all eyes on me... here comes a squib rod and stage re-shoot... DUH...

... now - ppl are almost begging me to let them have my reloads

 

[notsorichguy]

how did you anneal?

Sorry, missed this post somehow......

I read an article in hand loader magazine that turned me on to this method of annealing brass. Before I read the article I had always thought annealing brass was to much of a chore to brother.

The author said the easiest way to anneal brass was to hold the brass case with your fingers halfway between the shoulder and the base of the case. Then simply rotate it in the flame of a propane torch. When the neck and shoulder changed color or your finger tips got warm drop the case into a bucket of water.

It seemed almost too simple to me so I gave it a try. It works, there are no fancy rigs to make, no fuss and almost no mess. It also works! The bass pictured above was easy to resize, almost no effort involved.

Cheers!

 

[Lyallpeder]

Anyone ever put them in the washing machine? I have never done this but saw it on a different forum.


"I clean my brass, 50 to 100 at a time, in the K.I.S.S. tumbler/cleaner - I toss them in an old pillowcase, tie the neck in a knot & throw it in the clothes washing machine, to clean/cycle with a towel load and regular detergent."
*

 

[Antoine22]

32h in a tumbler? Really?

 

[Antoine22]

I get the same results in less than 2 hours. 1/2 corn cob, 1/2 walnut, with a few tablespoons of brasso in the mix.

I do want to look at this stainless steel pin idea though. The one thing my tumbler definitely doesn't do as well as the pins is the inside of the casing.

They still look dirty to me. Here's what I call clean.

 

[tootall]

Just underexposed. Likely he popped it with a flash and the camera overcompensated.

 

[Zeb]

Where does one get Stainless Steel pins? Is there a specific size? (dia & length)

 

[2Bad4u]

Just underexposed. Likely he popped it with a flash and the camera overcompensated.

I agree that the picture is underexposed but I can still see the crud inside the casings.

I'm also willing to bet that the flash holes are not as clean.

 

[667]

Where does one get Stainless Steel pins? Is there a specific size? (dia & length)

http://www.pelletsllc.com/PelletNews

 

[Kryogen]

how did you make that tumbler?

 

[Antoine22]

Just underexposed. Likely he popped it with a flash and the camera overcompensated.

Not sure if serious.

 

[Suputin]

The stainless pin method is superior cause it cleans all surfaces of the brass where vibratory tumbling doesn't. Most importantly there is no lead dust generated which is IMO the single most important factor.

Cleaning brass in a clothes washer is just asking for lead poisoning. You will end up wih lead dust in everything you wear which is def NOT a good idea

As to the annealing. I bought an annealing machine wih a friend to cut down on the cost. The machine is simple to use, it gives each case the exact same treatment and it is fast because there are 10 or 12 cases in the machine at all times.

 

[notsorichguy]

32h in a tumbler? Really?

Well in my defense I put them in the tumbler and then forgot about them till I returned from a day trip that involved an over night stay

I was only planning on tumbling them for a couple of hours to get most of the tarnish and oxidization off of them....

Honestly I was impressed with the result, I figgured that brass would always be brown! I was just wanting to clean it up a bit before I re-sized etc. I am planning a little experiment wiht mil-surp, Win & FC 1xf brass........ But that will be a different thread in the months to come.

Cheers!