Do the pros use stainless steel pin/wet tumble or Dry Tumble?

[CK1.0]

Do what works for you, and allows you to get the best consistency.

If you are wet tumbling and getting peened necks, sticky necks, or shooting pins through your rifle YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. But if doing it right is too much thought, time or trouble for you, don't do it.

My brass lasts a long time, I easily get 10+ cycles/firings out of Hornady brass before the primer pockets quit on me and am on my way to 20+ cycles/firings out of a batch of Lapua cases I'm running currently... I honestly don't know how one can get as many firings/cycles as I do without getting peened case mouths from wet-tumbling..?

I've tried everything under the sun to avoid getting peened necks to no avail... what's the secret?

I anneal with an AMP every firing and chamfer my case mouths every load cycle and the peened case mouths always appeared no matter what I tried when wet-tumbling.

 

[FNG1001]

With all this concerning stick necks, etc, isn't Imperial Dry Neck Lube (graphite) meant to lube the interior of the case necks, without interfering with combustion?

 

[MarinePMI]

With all this concerning stick necks, etc, isn't Imperial Dry Neck Lube (graphite) meant to lube the interior of the case necks, without interfering with combustion?

It is, and I guess it can be used. I've used it, and it seemed to help a bit, but it was messy to apply, and the graphite got all over everything. Finally just shelved it as another "good idea fairy" concept that just wasn't very practical or consistent.

The thing that kept popping in my head was "if the big ammo makers aren't using it, does it really make sense?". But, I suspect when the ammo makers are producing brass, during the final wash, they're adding a surface coating (wax based or something) to prevent oxidation/corrosion, that also give consistent neck lubricity.

 

[Herb Stoner]

Best change I made was to stop using pins for wet tumbling. The pins are a pain and i‘m happy with the brass after tumbling with just a little dawn and some citric acid for maybe 30 minutes.

Leaves a little carbon in the neck.

 

[straightshooter1]

My brass lasts a long time, I easily get 10+ cycles/firings out of Hornady brass before the primer pockets quit on me and am on my way to 20+ cycles/firings out of a batch of Lapua cases I'm running currently... I honestly don't know how one can get as many firings/cycles as I do without getting peened case mouths from wet-tumbling..?

I've tried everything under the sun to avoid getting peened necks to no avail... what's the secret?

I anneal with an AMP every firing and chamfer my case mouths every load cycle and the peened case mouths always appeared no matter what I tried when wet-tumbling.

Some of the issue can be how thin the edge of the mouth is due to chamfering and deburring. The thinner it is, the easier it is for the edge to get damage from being peened.

You might try this: Use hot water and simply let the cases soak for 20-30 minutes before turning the tumbler on. Then just run the tumbler for a short time, like maybe 10 minutes. Reducing the time the cases are smacking into each other helps a lot. Also, reducing the impact from the other cases helps and can be accomplished by either a slower tumble or something added to the tumbling mix to reduce the impact of the other cases (like, more media). Or, try all the above.

 

[CK1.0]

Some of the issue can be how thin the edge of the mouth is due to chamfering and deburring. The thinner it is, the easier it is for the edge to get damage from being peened.

You might try this: Use hot water and simply let the cases soak for 20-30 minutes before turning the tumbler on. Then just run the tumbler for a short time, like maybe 10 minutes. Reducing the time the cases are smacking into each other helps a lot. Also, reducing the impact from the other cases helps and can be accomplished by either a slower tumble or something added to the tumbling mix to reduce the impact of the other cases (like, more media). Or, try all the above.

Thanks, but I've already tried all that and about 20 other things lol.... lots of water, lots of media, no media, tennis balls, cut up pieces of foam, variac to slow down the tumbler, all kinds of shit lol! I finally gave up.

Now I only dry-tumble in walnut media if the brass is dirty and/or has more than a few firings on it since the last time (if it's not dirty and has less than a few firings on it, then I don't even do that).

That said, I dry-tumble in 20-40 grit corn cob blasting media for 2-4 hours to get my lanolin/IPA lube off after sizing, and that cleans it up and it still comes out pretty.

FWIW, single-digit SD's became a regular thing for me ever since switching to dry-tumbling instead of wet-tumbling, and I don't think it's a coincidence.

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

That's why I tell people to not use pins...let the chemical cleaner do the work and do not tumble for more than 20-30 minutes max. After sizing, hit the Henderson to clean up the Case mouth then back to wet tumble for 10 minutes to clean lanolin off.

It's so simple, saves time, is cleaner and results in more consistent case prep.

 

[straightshooter1]

Thanks, but I've already tried all that and about 20 other things lol.... lots of water, lots of media, no media, tennis balls, cut up pieces of foam, variac to slow down the tumbler, all kinds of shit lol! I finally gave up.

Now I only dry-tumble in walnut media if the brass is dirty and/or has more than a few firings on it since the last time (if it's not dirty and has less than a few firings on it, then I don't even do that).

That said, I dry-tumble in 20-40 grit corn cob blasting media for 2-4 hours to get my lanolin/IPA lube off after sizing, and that cleans it up and it still comes out pretty.

FWIW, single-digit SD's became a regular thing for me ever since switching to dry-tumbling instead of wet-tumbling, and I don't think it's a coincidence.

I dry-tumble as well, with rice and get regular single digit SD's as well. I find it just more convenient than wet tumbling, which when I do it's because I've got some really dirty brass and do it as I mentioned with the soaking then a short tumble. And whenever I do wet tumble to clean the brass, I wind up dry tumbling with rice anyway, to remove sizing lube and it's this last cleanup method that I find makes the difference.

For about a year now, since I process only about 100 at a time, I use steel wool to clean up the necks and shoulders after annealing and before I size. So, I'm really only using my dry tumbler to clean off the lube (and it takes care the inside of the necks just right, giving me nice even seating pressures).

 

[Devildog]

Lot of ways to skin a cat. Do what makes sense to you and enjoy the process of reloading.

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

Annealing is the biggest cause of dry sticky necks in my experience. I was all about annealing every firing until I experienced the burnt necks. It cooks the carbon off.

No it doesn't. I use an amp every firing and there is still carbon in the necks after annealing and 2 rounds of wet tumbling.

 

[straightshooter1]

Annealing is the biggest cause of dry sticky necks in my experience. I was all about annealing every firing until I experienced the burnt necks. It cooks the carbon off.

Yes, annealing does indeed cause sticky necks. But the annealing does not "cook the carbon off". The annealing leaves an oxide coating behind and this oxide coating is rather abrasive. Even when annealing clean brass with no carbon on them, this same oxide coating if left behind, which some reloaders mitigate by using some sort of lube on the inside.

 

[Maxduty]

What people tumble with is (largely) personal preference. Each method has their own pros and cons.

Just pick a method and learn the best ways to use it, and deal with the cons of each.

Personally, I wet tumble. Unless the cases are extremely dirty, I don't even use pins anymore. Just some lemishine and some Maguir's carwash with synthetic wax. 30-45mins and I'm done. Toss them on an old clean cookie sheet and into the oven for 10-20 mins on "warm". Much easier (for me) than the loud, noisy, time consuming vibratory tumbler. Plus, without pins, I can cram 200 cases in my Thumler B with no problem, so processing a lot of bulk brass isn't so much of a chore.

As an old crusty Gunner CWO told me once..."You gotta be smarter than the gear you're working on". Pick your method, and understand it.

That's the 2 percent rule. Be 2 percent smarter that the shit you're working on.

 

[Haney]

I put my freshly annealed brass in a acidic pickle for a bit , most reliable way I have found to remove the oxide scale inside the neck .

 

[FOHA1]

OK, I'll play.

As with most of this stuff...it depends.

Unsupressed or bolt I'll anneal then lube/size/decap/mandrel then in the Chicom ultrasonic cleaner with distilled water and Creedmoor Sports Brass Cleaning Solution, rinse with distilled water and air dry, (I'm in AZ, it don't take long). Then they're ready for primer/powder/bullet.

Suppressed 6ARC come out filthy, so wet tumble with pins/dawn/lemishine, rinse with distilled water, air dry, anneal then lube/size/decap/mandrel and then ultrasonic, or if I have a lot of cases I'll use the vibratory and compressed air afterwards.

Before and after;

 

[Haney]

OK, I'll play.

As with most of this stuff...it depends.

Unsupressed or bolt I'll anneal then lube/size/decap/mandrel then in the Chicom ultrasonic cleaner with distilled water and Creedmoor Sports Brass Cleaning Solution, rinse with distilled water and air dry, (I'm in AZ, it don't take long). Then they're ready for primer/powder/bullet.

Suppressed 6ARC come out filthy, so wet tumble with pins/dawn/lemishine, rinse with distilled water, air dry, anneal then lube/size/decap/mandrel and then ultrasonic, or if I have a lot of cases I'll use the vibratory and compressed air afterwards.

View attachment 8128612Before and after;View attachment 8128611

Perfect example of , "whatever works for you" . Sometimes the cleaning process needs a boost .

 

[TylerN]

I've been wet tumbling without pins. Water, lemonishine and dish soap. 20 mins in the tumbler gets the brass clean enough for me.

However, it does bother me that even 20 minutes peens the edge of the case neck inward. Trimming that off removes more material than would be needed if not for the peening. Also it becomes critical to make sure you have a very good chamfer on the inside of the brass or seating problems will occur. And that's happened to me when I wore out my trimmer blade and didn't catch it quickly.

Im considering trying an ultrasonic next or even cutting back cleaning to only wiping off the outside of cases and hold off on tumbling until a few firings.

Heres a case after 20 min in the tumbler.

And this is after trimming.

 

[FOHA1]

Perfect example of , "whatever works for you" . Sometimes the cleaning process needs a boost .

There's a saying in the Equine community;

"Get three horse people together, two of 'em will be telling the other one he's doing it wrong."

 

[DavidAR10]

Are you annealing every reload? Because pins and ceramic media work harden brass like sizing it.

RFA. That's wRong Frakin' Answer for those in Rio Linda. SS pins only WH brass on the surface "skin". AMP had SS pin cleaned brass sent out for hardness measurements and microscopic evaluations. It's online for review.