Washing/Polishing Brass with Stainless steel Pins ( Lots of Pics)

Pics of Primer Pockets..

polaris said:
that looks amazing,
thanks for letting us know.
The clean freak I am, I will most certainly will give it a try.
Click to expand...


Hi again.. Here are some pics of the primer pockets..

Bad pics color is off.. but you can see the primer pockets are clean...

9mm Brass

DSC04971.jpg



40 S&W Brass

DSC04973.jpg




RDG
 
My 1st Wet Tumbling Session... (pict heavy)

Through a friend of mine, I got about 5Lb of SS shot of .040 diameter. Looks like tiny spherical pellets, but not like perfect spheres, slightly irregular shape.
IMG_1119.jpg


IMHO, works just as fine as the cylinders, and none of the pellets stick inside the primer hole. My 9mm mix is about 50% S&B cases - the ones with laquer-painted primers - and even these primer pockets were spotless after tumbling. In comparison, my ultrasonic left most of the laquer intact inside the primer pockets.
IMG_1116.jpg

IMG_1117.jpg


My tumbler was a DIY project, but it came out rather nicely:
IMG_1118.jpg


I put in just under 300 9mm cases - for a total of about 15-20Lb - and tumble for about 3Hrs. I then sort them out by hand, under standing water & inside a large strainer. Just a quick shake makes all the pellets & junk rinse out of those cases. Pellets fall down to the bottom of the strainer, and most of the junk floats.
IMG_1121.jpg


After a quick roll in a towel I dry my cases over an air vent:
IMG_1115.jpg


I wish I read the instructions more carefully. I think I dumped too much of Kirkland's dishwasher soap or Lemishine - or both! - and my cases came out discolored, some more so than others:
IMG_1113.jpg


I'm going to cut back on chemicals, but overall, I'm SOLD! It takes about 45minutes to unload the tumbler, compared to short & frequent trips to the Ultrasonic.
 
Throwing in different spin - In my understanding all of you Running dirty brass in full length resizing dies and then clean it . That scraches the inside walls of your expensive dies and stuff stuck inside and starts scraching the brass. How about clean the brass on the first thing when coming back from range and then resize and decap the cleaned brass and clean the primer pockets manually and you can check the cracks and all the stuff - Biggs
 
I clean my brass then decap/resize it, then clean it again and do the case prep then prime. It's nice clean brass with corn cob media and dryer sheets.
 
aridan said:
Through a friend of mine, I got about 5Lb of SS shot of .040 diameter. Looks like tiny spherical pellets, but not like perfect spheres, slightly irregular shape.
IMG_1119.jpg


IMHO, works just as fine as the cylinders, and none of the pellets stick inside the primer hole. My 9mm mix is about 50% S&B cases - the ones with laquer-painted primers - and even these primer pockets were spotless after tumbling. In comparison, my ultrasonic left most of the laquer intact inside the primer pockets.
IMG_1116.jpg

IMG_1117.jpg


My tumbler was a DIY project, but it came out rather nicely:
IMG_1118.jpg


I put in just under 300 9mm cases - for a total of about 15-20Lb - and tumble for about 3Hrs. I then sort them out by hand, under standing water & inside a large strainer. Just a quick shake makes all the pellets & junk rinse out of those cases. Pellets fall down to the bottom of the strainer, and most of the junk floats.
IMG_1121.jpg


After a quick roll in a towel I dry my cases over an air vent:
IMG_1115.jpg


I wish I read the instructions more carefully. I think I dumped too much of Kirkland's dishwasher soap or Lemishine - or both! - and my cases came out discolored, some more so than others:
IMG_1113.jpg


I'm going to cut back on chemicals, but overall, I'm SOLD! It takes about 45minutes to unload the tumbler, compared to short & frequent trips to the Ultrasonic.
Click to expand...

That's a cool set up you have there. Your middle name should be MacGyver.;)
 
I'm very happy with the media I got, IMO the round stainless works just as well as pins, and I don't have the stuck pin problems. I did change my setup since the original post. I no longer decap before tumbling, the results are just as good, and I don't have to spend extra time decapping on a single-stage. I also realized that NOT putting too much water was the key to quick cleaning. About 1" of water to cover 300-400 9mm brass, a drop of dishwasher liquid, and another drop of Lemishine. I tumble for 1-1.5Hrs and the brass comes out clean.

Overall, I got my time down to 10-15min to load & unload the tumbler.
 
Decapping Dirty Brass!!!

Biggunners said:
Throwing in different spin - In my understanding all of you Running dirty brass in full length resizing dies and then clean it . That scraches the inside walls of your expensive dies and stuff stuck inside and starts scraching the brass. How about clean the brass on the first thing when coming back from range and then resize and decap the cleaned brass and clean the primer pockets manually and you can check the cracks and all the stuff - Biggs
Click to expand...

I normally use a Lee universal decapping die in my Forester press and decap dirty brass.. Then i wash with Stainless steel pins...

The pins do not get stuck as i use 1/2 inch X 3/64... I have seen others that have used the 1/4 inch pins they do get wedged in some rifle cartridges... but not the 1/2 inch long pins.. They work well in both pistol and rifle cartridges... Altho.. i do have pins all over my basement and my reloading room.. in the carpet.. LOL

I have used them in 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, 223 Rem and 308 Win... works great in all..

It looks like the pins or the beads work the same.. Good to see another post with pics..

I see the price for pins have gone down substantially I had to pay $25 USD/ lb with a minimum order of 50 lbs. from Kramer industries... Good to see that another company is making things a bit more accessible for all of us reloaders..

RDG
 
I would be cautious about using steel pins if I thought there was any way one could remain in the case... A couple of months ago, a buddy put new match barrel on his BR rifle....inititial loads worked well, then things went to hell one day. It appears a primer decap pin got stuck as it exited the flash hole...he did not notice...loaded the round and fired. Inspection with a bore light revealed a gouge near the muzzle. He had the barrel shortened & recrowned...worked fine. Guess he found the steel decap pin.
 
aridan said:
I'm very happy with the media I got, IMO the round stainless works just as well as pins, and I don't have the stuck pin problems. I did change my setup since the original post. I no longer decap before tumbling, the results are just as good, and I don't have to spend extra time decapping on a single-stage. I also realized that NOT putting too much water was the key to quick cleaning. About 1" of water to cover 300-400 9mm brass, a drop of dishwasher liquid, and another drop of Lemishine. I tumble for 1-1.5Hrs and the brass comes out clean.

Overall, I got my time down to 10-15min to load & unload the tumbler.
Click to expand...

Can you get another 5lbs so I can try them out?
 
aridan said:
I'm very happy with the media I got, IMO the round stainless works just as well as pins, and I don't have the stuck pin problems. I did change my setup since the original post. I no longer decap before tumbling, the results are just as good, and I don't have to spend extra time decapping on a single-stage. I also realized that NOT putting too much water was the key to quick cleaning. About 1" of water to cover 300-400 9mm brass, a drop of dishwasher liquid, and another drop of Lemishine. I tumble for 1-1.5Hrs and the brass comes out clean.

Overall, I got my time down to 10-15min to load & unload the tumbler.
Click to expand...

Where did you get the cleaning media and how much was it for 5 pounds?
 
I ordered the deluxe reloading kit from stainlesstumblingmedia.com a couple weeks ago. Its amazing! The brass comes out looking like its never been fired. The media separator worked awesome! Shipping to canada was very expensive ($100). I live 15 miles from the US border. I had it sent to my PO box down there for $20 and just went and picked it up. Highly recommended!!!!!!!!!! i should post pictures.
 
One of the primary reasons to go to a water based tumbling system is that dry media vibratory tumblers create a cloud of fine lead dust all around them. Many of us unthinkingly run these machines in our homes with the end result being lead dust contamination in your living and eating space.

My vibratory tumbler now resides in the detached garage and I more and more rely on the wet SS system because it captures all the nasty stuff and sends it down the drain safely.
 
7mmlefty said:
The sand idea is a great one Andy.. and dirt cheap. Im going to try it.:D
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"dirt cheap" - good one. ;)

Upon reflection, I image that the sand will be too dense in a vibratory cleaner, and the brass will simply work its way up and sit on top of it. In a tumbler you might have a chance.
 
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