Stainless steel, Im sold

[Muskyjerk]

If you needed another reason to switch listen up.

my Dad left me around 1k worth of 1970's 300wm brass. I tried vibratory and ultra sonic but was never pleased. (they have there place just not here)

so when Midway USA was selling just the stainless pins, I looked at my kids 5lb rock tumbler and said I would give it a try.

I picked the 20 worst cases I could find. through in a cup of pins, two cups of water, a couple squirts of dish soap and 2 teaspoons of lemonshine.

and 4 hours later BAM, I mean BLING.....

Happy camper tonight.

MJ

 

[MS204]

Nice.

I still use my vibratory tumbler for brass that is straight from the range. After the initial cleaning in some lizard litter media I will lube, decap, and resize. Then I'll throw it into my wet tumbler with ss media. Can't beat that looks brand new shine.

 

[Paulyr450]

I use my vibratory tumbler for handgun brass and the stainless tumbler for rifle brass. There is no comparison between the two for cleaning. As everyone knows they are the only way to go.

 

[Iamironman]

(they have there place just not here)

This is how I feel about SS tumbling. When I install a sink and some method of drying all that wet brass, I'll switch, but until then, I'll stick with corn cob

 

[midmoguy]

This is how I feel about SS tumbling. When I install a sink and some method of drying all that wet brass, I'll switch, but until then, I'll stick with corn cob

You don't have a sink? Man some people really do live in the stone age

 

[Iamironman]

You don't have a sink? Man some people really do live in the stone age

Not in the near vicinity of my reloading room. Condo life sucks. My old house we had one in the garage (yes, along with the kitchen and bathroom, LOL).

The results with SS are amazing, but I honestly don't have that much brass, that is that dirty, that would justify the time, effort and expense of going to SS.

 

[bodywerks]

This is how I feel about SS tumbling. When I install a sink and some method of drying all that wet brass, I'll switch, but until then, I'll stick with corn cob

Now, i haven't tried ss media cleaning, but i do have ultra sonic cleaners and a tumbler.
My question to you is, don't you have residue left over from the media? I sure do. Sure, i could just wipe it off, but what about the inside? Or do you just not worry about it?
My method is decap, resize, trim, wipe off lube, throw in tumbler, remove from tumbler and ensure no corn cob stuck in primer pockets, ultrasonic clean with a commercial cleaning solution and then again with distilled water, then dry in oven at 220 for about 30 minutes.
I'm starting to think ss media would eliminate 4-5 steps in my process. Time to look into it...

 

[Iamironman]

I stopped using walnut media because it was too dusty (no matter how many dryer sheets I used). I have been using corn cob for over 20 years, and there is no residue to speak of. My method is tumble for 6-8 hrs, resize/deprime, back in the tumbler for a couple hours to take the lube off, trim if necessary, reload. If I'm relaoding on the progressive, I put a universal decap die in the first station which knocks out any cc in the flash hole, if I'm relaoding single stage, I visually inspect each primer pocket.

 

[afate45]

This is how I feel about SS tumbling. When I install a sink and some method of drying all that wet brass, I'll switch, but until then, I'll stick with corn cob

I don't do anything to dry my brass. Unless you are looking to tumble and load on the same day, no need for anything fancy. I just have an old screen from a window that is about 6 inches off the ground and I spread the brass across it to let it dry. Cases are completely dry within 24 hours. Also, unless your significant other is opposed, just use the kitchen sink and a 5 gallon bucket. Frankford Arsenal sells a good setup with a separator and bucket.

Also, I'll still run the SS media cleaned cases through a vibratory for 15 minutes to add some polish. It's more of an aesthetics thing, but I have noticed that the brass won't tarnish after a year or so if I add a little polish. If I'm going for 100% clean brass with SS media, might as well have it stay shiny for years to come

 

[Dogtown]

It is pretty amazing how well SSM works; kind of all the pros of ultrasonic and vibratory tumbling with none of the cons. And I find that I rarely have to tumble for more than 2 hours in most cases, which makes doing a complete session in an afternoon pretty easy. We moved into a smaller place a while back to help pad the home purchase fund and the big sacrifice for me is my work area is tiny, as in I have barely enough room to run a cleaning rod through my rifle. I use the kitchen sink to fill up and drain the tumbler, quick and easy. Draining is the one process that everyone seems to come up with their own method.

With so little space I just keep it simple:

1. Carefully pour out most of the dirty water into the sink

2. Turn the tap on and rinse the contents of the tumbler, running my hand through it to break things up

3. Place one of my wife's large mixing bowls in the sink and a plastic colander inside that (I drilled larger holes in it to help drain water and media but not brass)

4. Pour the tumbler's contents into the colander, then shake the colander a bit so the media passes through to the bowl and all you're left with is brass.

5. With the brass is in the colander, under water, I pull each piece out and toss it in a towel. Sometimes pins are still in the brass and shaking them underwater removes them much easier than out of the water. This is also a good time to quickly inspect the brass for pins stuck in the case mouths or flash holes, which I pop loose before I toss them in the towel.

6. Once they're all in the towel, I fold it over and give them a good rub down to dry off the outside. If it's sunny outside, I lay the open towel outside for the brass to thoroughly dry, but since we're heading into winter down here, I tend to lay the towel next to the dehumidifier we have in our bedroom. You can also toss them in a baking tin and put them in the oven at low heat for a short time to dry but I'm a little paranoid and stick to the towel method now.

 

[X-fan]

This is how I feel about SS tumbling. When I install a sink and some method of drying all that wet brass, I'll switch, but until then, I'll stick with corn cob

It doesn't make a big mess and I just do it in the kitchen sink. If I'm in a hurry to load the rounds I spead them out on a couple of cokkie sheets and throw them in the oven for a while at 150-200 degrees.
If you fking stupid dont use the oven!

 

[redhooker]

One thing that pushed me over the SS edge was a youtube video I saw that brought up lead dust. All the dry methods generate alot of lead dust, and I have young children in the house. Maybe I am being a little too nervous but I like the idea of all the lead being contained and washed down the sink, and not sucked into my AC return to be dispersed throughout my home.

 

[jmtgsx]

OP, you're wasting Lemishine. I use a 9mm case full per batch. Carry on.

 

[Muskyjerk]

OP, you're wasting Lemishine. I use a 9mm case full per batch. Carry on.

caught that on a you tube video last night, doing a 1/4 teaspoon now