I bought my first wet tumbler and was wondering how to ensure I get all the stainless media out of the cases? How do you guys do it?
Question about steel media. Please help
- Thread starter Lead Heads
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First I rinse them in a basin ,tub or bucket with warm water. I drop a magnet into the tub beforehand to collect the midly magnetic pins.
I then drop the shells onto a towel and let them dry.
Lastly I do this....you'll find a few extra pins on the towel...collect them with the magnet.
The Big Lebowski cleaning balls - YouTube
I then drop the shells onto a towel and let them dry.
Lastly I do this....you'll find a few extra pins on the towel...collect them with the magnet.
The Big Lebowski cleaning balls - YouTube
I use a normal media separator, fill it will water, dump in brass and media, tumble, separated!
Ask me on Sunday and Ill go over my whole routine if you want.
Ask me on Sunday and Ill go over my whole routine if you want.
Yep, turn them upside down while pulling them out of the water, pins fall right out.
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I started using SS media several years ago while reloading for pistol. I would just dump the contents of the tumbler into a separator, rinse and hand crank the squirrel cage a couple of times and all the media would fall out. With rifle cases, I do like J-ROD. After they're tumbled clean, I rinse them a couple of times in the tumbler barrel and then retrieve them by hand while holding them upside down and pulling them out of the water. Takes a little longer but no problems with media sticking inside the cases.
Semper Fi...Sig Marine
Semper Fi...Sig Marine
While still in the tumbler drum I rinse with hot water to wash off the soap and dirty water. I then fill the drum about 3/4 full with clean warm water and pull the cases out a couple at a time, case mouth down with a quick swish in the water to get any pins still inside to fall out. I stack them case mouth down in my reloading block to drip drain. When all done retrieving the brass from the drum and stacking in the reloading block, I then lay them out on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels and stick them into a pre-heated oven at 200*; bake for 20 minutes to make sure they are completely dry.
One thing to look for are pins that get jammed side by side in the primer flash hole. I usually find 1 or 2 cases per batch in which this has happened. A little pressure applied with a knife or small screwdriver and they pop right out.
One thing to look for are pins that get jammed side by side in the primer flash hole. I usually find 1 or 2 cases per batch in which this has happened. A little pressure applied with a knife or small screwdriver and they pop right out.
Same, it gives you a chance to inspect the cases individually while you shake out the pins. I still have yet to open the separator that comes with the deluxe kit.
Ditto on this, but I only tumble about 100 pieces of 308 at a time. A picture is worth 1000 words
First things first, I thrown on a trusty pair of nitrile gloves (dont like fingerprints on my ammo or brass). I remove cases from tumbler, with as little media as possible and place into white bowl with strainer. This serves two purposes, first rinses the brass once in the clean water, and secondly removes most loose media. Give the strainer a little shake to allow most of the media to fall to bowl, then I pick up my brass 3-4 pieces at a time, neck down and shake out any remaining media. Then place brass into sink filled with cold water. Once all brass has been transferred to sink, I slosh it around a bit to complete the rinse cycle.
That should cover what you are asking for.
I'll take it a step further... Once I have transferred all of my now clean and media free brass back to the plastic strainer and drained most of the water out, I dump on a towel on the floor and roll around to remove any water from the outside of the case. Power on my 1 gallon wet/dry vac with a micro attachment and pop each case neck into the mouth of the hose then flip over to suck water out of the primer pocket before tossing them onto a new, dry towel. roll them around once more to ensure the outside of the cases are dry. Let sit for 24 hours, or bake for an hour at 175 degrees if I'm in a hurry.
Squirrel cage with tub. Fill tub with water, insert squirrel cage, fill with brass, close squirrel cage, rotate at a moderate pace for about 30 seconds, remove squirrel cage full of brass, shake over tub of water, dump on blanket, CC tumble the next day with NU-Finish to keep brass shiny for a long time.
It's a simple process. Don't over think or complicate it.
It's a simple process. Don't over think or complicate it.
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