Tumbling, how do you do it?

[Slavex]

I used to be dry tumbler, 3 tumblers going pretty constantly, a big Dillon doing a pre-clean, a Frankford Arsenal doing a main clean and then another cleaning the lube off my loaded rounds. But then I got a nice lead test done and triggered a big health Canada investigation as to why my lead levels were so high, they figured had to be work related. During the investigation we tested the floor around my tumblers and bench, which of course came back with a high lead level, we then went 3 floors up to my spare bedroom and tested the dust, almost the same levels of lead in that dust. My first response was to get a RCBS enclosed media separator and then wet the media down and use dryer sheets in the tumblers and to wear a respirator when separating. This helped, but there was still dust being tracked throughout my house. I finally bought a stainless steel wet tumbler, the Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler (FART as it's known on many boards) and never looked back. Yes there is a tiny bit more time spent getting the cases dry, media separation and rinsing is a bit longer than with dry as well, but the end result is worth it. All the crap goes down the drain and not up into the air. Our city can handle the waste, so I'm not worried about that. I now have incredibly clean, shiny brass and no more lead.

[Hauptmann]

I stopped dry tumbling a while back. I had elevated lead levels, but not enough to cause red flags. I was running one Dillon 750 in a garage which was pretty well ventilated, but I guess even my best precautions didn't help. I'm guessing a major contamination operation was using the case separator which caused a lot of dust to go airborne.

I went with two Hornady ultra sonic cleaners which clean inside and out. It doesn't make the outer surface of the brass as polished, but the reduced lead is well worth it. I have several mesh bags that I put the brass in after cleaning, and then hand them up while a big fan blows them dry. I used the Frankford Arsenal case dryer for a while, but I found that even on the hottest setting water would still be inside the cases and the high heat really tarnished the brass. With my mesh bag setup I walk by and bounce the brass around in the bag every now and then to ensure all the water is drained. When I don't feel any more water dripping from the bag, after agitating, then I know it will be dry soon.

[SLG]

I have always used an ultrasound, for the reasons already mentioned. It's a pain to decap it first, but I think you really have to. Am I wrong? I'd love to be wrong.

After the water, the brass goes into a food dehydrator for drying. Works better and faster than any other drying method I have tried. Of course, the dehydrator doesn't get used for food anymore.

[Hauptmann]

I have always used an ultrasound, for the reasons already mentioned. It's a pain to decap it first, but I think you really have to. Am I wrong? I'd love to be wrong.

Well, you don't have to decap any more than you would using a tumbler...........It should make for less lead inside the brass though if you recap before hand.

[SLG]

Well, you don't have to decap any more than you would using a tumbler...........It should make for less lead inside the brass though if you recap before hand.

Well, I know you CAN use an ultrasound without decapping, but my understanding is that not only does the inside of the case get cleaner, but of course the primer pocket gets some cleaning as well. I don't really dry tumble, but I've been told that you are better off keeping the primers in, so that no media gets stuck in the pocket.

Decapping definitely makes draining the water afterwards easier.

[CCT125US]

I currently use stainless pins. Would never go back for reasons mentioned above.

ETA: I also dehydrate my brass.

[SLG]

I currently use stainless pins. Would never go back for reasons mentioned above.

Do you decap first?

[CCT125US]

Do you decap first?

No. I dry them for 4 hours and have never seen dampness in the pocket after decapping. (my one concern with wet tumbling) I have cycled brass 10+ times and never noticed excessive firing residue buildup in the primer pocket. Now this is on pistol brass, done on a D650. Precision rifle would be a different story.

[Hauptmann]

No. I dry them for 4 hours and have never seen dampness in the pocket after decapping. (my one concern with wet tumbling) I have cycled brass 10+ times and never noticed excessive firing residue buildup in the primer pocket. Now this is on pistol brass, done on a D650. Precision rifle would be a different story.

With rifle brass I clean the brass first, then resize and decap with the brass lubed. In order to remove the lube from the cases, I clean the brass again in the ultrasonic for 30min which also cleans the pockets. Quite a bit more involved, but very thorough.

[SLG]

With rifle brass I clean the brass first, then resize and decap with the brass lubed. In order to remove the lube from the cases, I clean the brass again in the ultrasonic for 30min which also cleans the pockets. Quite a bit more involved, but very thorough.

I do it similarly, just that I decap before cleaning. Rifle brass prep is time consuming.

[SLG]

No. I dry them for 4 hours and have never seen dampness in the pocket after decapping. (my one concern with wet tumbling) I have cycled brass 10+ times and never noticed excessive firing residue buildup in the primer pocket. Now this is on pistol brass, done on a D650. Precision rifle would be a different story.

Good to know, thanks. I'm not worried about the pocket being wet, as I use the dehydrator. I just like to get the pockets clean as well.

I may have to get a Thumlers Tumbler.

[drjaydvm]

I decap first, then wet tumble with stainless pins, either air dry or dry in the oven on low heat.

[Slavex]

I don't decap pistol brass first either as I run everything through the 1050 with the MK VII and don't want to have a dedicated toolhead just for decapping. I dry in my oven for 30-45 minutes. I can do two loads of brass at a time if I want. never had an issue with water in the primer pocket. 308 brass does get decapped, but that's all single stage stuff anyhow. I tried Ultrasonic, but the volume you can clean in it doesn't work for my pistol shooting.

[SLG]

Anyone using the Extreme Tumblers Rebel 17? Looks better to me than the Thumlers.

[Slavex]

the FART is the best value out there, larger capacity than almost all of the other one's and much simpler to use. Super durable too. I've cleaned nearly 500,000 brass in mine since I got it.

[Matt O]

What do you guys do with the waste water that's generated?

[CCT125US]

Anyone using the Extreme Tumblers Rebel 17? Looks better to me than the Thumlers.

That is the model I have, and would recommend it.

[SLG]

the FART is the best value out there, larger capacity than almost all of the other one's and much simpler to use. Super durable too. I've cleaned nearly 500,000 brass in mine since I got it.

That does look really good. How many cases can you do at once? Looks like quite a bit more than the 17, let alone the Thumler's.

Why does no one include a fine strainer to catch all the media?

[NETim]

Anyone using the Extreme Tumblers Rebel 17? Looks better to me than the Thumlers.

Yep. Only wet tumbler I've used but I think it's a good unit. It's more robust than the Thumler IMHO.


I only tumble 40 mins or so using the time honored Lemi-shine/Dawn dish detergent combo. I find tumbling longer than that gets the case interiors too clean. They stick to the Dillon powder funnel on the downstroke. Word on the street is using an all-in-one car wash/wax product in the mix helps with this, but the short cycle is working fine for me.

I deprime all cases first as I want to reduce the chances of wayward SS pins remaining in the cases.

That first load of water after tumbling is nasty.

[CCT125US]

I only tumble 40 mins or so using the time honored Lemi-shine/Dawn dish detergent combo. I find tumbling longer than that gets the case interiors too clean. They stick to the Dillon powder funnel on the downstroke.
Learning has occurred. This may prevent me from using aerosol case lube. Too bad I have 10k cleaned, dryed and sealed ready to load. I will remember to shorten the cycle next batch.

[Hauptmann]

What do you guys do with the waste water that's generated?

It depends on what solution you are using. Most ultrasonic cleaning solutions are biodegradable surfactants which are safe to flush down the drain as long as they are mixed with water to the correct cleaning ratios. As for the dissolved carbon and lead from the casings, almost all water treatment plants leach harmful lead and other toxins from the water before it enters outgoing pipelines. The real potential worry for lead contamination in the water supply is in the pipe material itself which can contain trace amounts of lead in the metallurgy.

[Matt O]

It depends on what solution you are using. Most ultrasonic cleaning solutions are biodegradable surfactants which are safe to flush down the drain as long as they are mixed with water to the correct cleaning ratios. As for the dissolved carbon and lead from the casings, almost all water treatment plants leach harmful lead and other toxins from the water before it enters outgoing pipelines. The real potential worry for lead contamination in the water supply is in the pipe material itself which can contain trace amounts of lead in the metallurgy.

I have to admit I've always been intrigued by the wet tumbling option, particularly in terms of cutting down on the possibility of lead dust being tracked back into the house now that we have a little one around.

My only hesitations had been that the process seemed more time consuming and I worried about how to dispose of the water safely. But if decapping prior to tumbling isn't necessary and there aren't any issues flushing the water down the drain, I think I might just join in on the FARTing.


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[Hauptmann]

I have to admit I've always been intrigued by the wet tumbling option, particularly in terms of cutting down on the possibility of lead dust being tracked back into the house now that we have a little one around.

My only hesitations had been that the process seemed more time consuming and I worried about how to dispose of the water safely. But if decapping prior to tumbling isn't necessary and there aren't any issues flushing the water down the drain, I think I might just join in on the FARTing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would be concerned with flushing it if you have a septic system though.

[Matt O]

I would be concerned with flushing it if you have a septic system though.

True, that would likely not be wise.


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[Lomshek]

I dry tumble with walnut shell media but do all my separating outside in the interest if lead abatement with an attempt made to keep myself upwind so the dust plume blows away from me.

[Slavex]

SLG, the fine mesh strainers seems like a good idea, but actually is a big pain. I use the covered RCBS media separator and the slotted caps for the FART. 1hr of tumbling then take the cap off, put the slotted one in and pour out as much water and pins into the RCBS as I can, pour off the dirty water, use the magnet to grab the pins, then pour about half the contents into the basket. Fill the separator halfway with hot water (I know some prefer cold, I like hot for both tumbling and rinsing), spin the basket for about 2 minutes going back and forth to agitate it a lot, then pour off the water and repeat. The 2nd rinse water stays in the unit and I pour in the rest of the brass into the basket and use that water as my first rinse. Then do a 2nd rinse. Grab the magnet, pull the rest of the pins out and either dump the water or use it for the next batch if I am doing more than one.
I get about 1500 cases in the FART maybe more, with 9mm. I use laundry detergent instead of Dawn as I find it foams up less and rinses off easier, but I use the Lemishiine or Jetdry like everyone else. I still lube my cases when I run them through the press, and I don't dry tumble to remove lube anymore either.
I called our waste treatment plant and asked about pouring the waste water down the pipe and the engineer I know there told me it's a non issue as they treat for heavy metals and other crap (ha). If I had a septic field I probably wouldn't pour it down the drain. Not sure what I would do actually.

[SLG]

Slavex,

Good to know, thanks. I was thinking that the fine mesh could be used after dumping the water through the main screen, then it would catch the pins as the water went through without the brass being there. Don't know if that makes sense.

So...if you have a septic, what do you do?

[Hambo]

Slavex,

Good to know, thanks. I was thinking that the fine mesh could be used after dumping the water through the main screen, then it would catch the pins as the water went through without the brass being there. Don't know if that makes sense.

So...if you have a septic, what do you do?

I think the best thing would be to take it to a hazmat drop off site. The county here maintains one and the city has several specified days each year when they will accept anything you bring in.

[Chris Rhines]

I wet-tumble my brass in a small Harbor Freight cement mixer, with the usual Dawn/Lemishine mix. I let the brass air dry in a big tray made out of 2x4s and hardware cloth.

I also dry-tumble my loaded ammo in crushed walnut, just to get the old lube off.

[NETim]

My other big wet tumbling tip is: Those big, white plastic trays that are meant to be put under a washing machine are great for drying brass.

Since I am using solar power, my method is carbon neutral and I am saving the planet. I have written the WH and informed them of my efforts to save the Earth by drying brass that has been fired out of all kinds of semi-auto guns but thus far, I have heard nothing back. No congratulatory letters, no medals, no invitations to the WH. Nothin'.

[Leroy]

I pull my cement mixer out of the garage and tumble 4,000 cases at a time outside. I do this 5 times a year. Bought it used for $100. Best case cleaner I have used. I never clean lube off pistol cases.

[Slavex]

SLG, I'd probably setup a 45 gallon drum outside to dump the waste water in, let it evaporate and scrape the crap from the bottom and put in the trash. Or drop off at a recycling center once every few months. If you let the water sit for a day the lead will have mostly settled to the bottom and pouring off the rest (if you don't want to let it evaporate, or it's monsoon season) shouldn't be an issue. But I could be wrong on that one.

[SLG]

SLG, I'd probably setup a 45 gallon drum outside to dump the waste water in, let it evaporate and scrape the crap from the bottom and put in the trash. Or drop off at a recycling center once every few months. If you let the water sit for a day the lead will have mostly settled to the bottom and pouring off the rest (if you don't want to let it evaporate, or it's monsoon season) shouldn't be an issue. But I could be wrong on that one.

Thanks. I did some looking around the net and was thinking along those lines as well. Good to hear I'm not crazy.

[FPS]

Ultrasonic cleaner, decap first, then put in an old food dehydrator for drying.

[Slavex]

Maybe even use a coffee strainer to pour the water through, that would likely get enough of the lead and crap that the rest would be safe to pour down the septic. Not sure if your garden is over the septic or not (the one at my old farm was partially over it, and man did it grow). But if it's just lawn or wild, I wouldn't expect the lead from a filtration like that to be any kind of issue. I'm not an environmental scientist though I did stay at a Holiday Inn once.

[dbateman]

I use a Tumblers Tumbler, I bought it when they first hit the scene a few years ago.

It seemed like a lot of money at the time, but I am glad I went to SS tumbling.

I do use a cement mixer from time to time as mentioned, mine has the fins removed from the inside.

I have been thinking of getting something to tumble loaded rounds to get the case lube off.

For me SS is where it's at, I don't de'prime prior to tumbling.

[GuanoLoco]

I used and occasionally still use a Thumler with 7 lbs SS media, 4 lbs brass and a 400 watt dehydrator.

Recently I got a Harbor Freight 1 1/4 Cu Ft Cement Mixer on sale. After a lot of experimentation including using 30 lbs of spent primers as media for a while, I learned that it works pretty well without media. I run up to 30 lbs at a time which is all my dehydrator, now expanded to 8 levels, can handle. I don't deprime cleaning.

The cement mixer doesn't do as good a job inside but it more than good enough. I use Costco dish soap, doled out to prevent foam overflow and no Citric Acid bought from Amazon. 5 lbs is much cheaper than an equivalent amount of Lemishine. The cement mixer makes water changes much easier, so I might do 3 x 10 minutes with a 2 gallon water change each cycle, then rinse with 3-4 water changes at the end.

Drain water, shake loose water off, towel and allow to dry overnight. 30 lbs cleaned brass in an evening in exchange for an hour+ of effort is adequate for my needs. It is also way more efficient than 7 x 4 lbs batches in the Thumler + media separation in a water-filled media separator.

Water goes from large stainless laundry tub to gray water discharge.

[ranger]

I have never understood the fascination with extremely clean brass. I tumble in an old RCBS tumbler - at least 20 years old now I guess. I use walnut shell litter from big box pet store. I tumble for a few hours until brass is "serviceable". I make sure I wash hands thoroughly after dealing with brass.

[Slavex]

I like clean brass so when I handle it I dont get dirty hands, it also goes through my dies a lot easier. As well wet tumbling means no dust ever.

[dbateman]

The main reason I tumble is to make it easier on my dies.

[dbateman]

5868
Shiny ammo is an added bonus.

[Slavex]

Did some cleaning today with a buddy, 2250 9mm cases easily fits into the tumbler with room to spare, with stainless media too.

[Matt O]

I had my first experiences FARTing last night. Dumped probably 70% of an ammo can worth of 9mm cases plus about 200-300 45acp cases in and 2 hours later, voila, shiny brass. I think I might just be converted.

[Matt O]

So to follow up on my last post, I learned the important lesson of not mixing pistol brass. The combination of 9mm and 45 cases, along with the pins, meant I spent quite a while with pliers separating stuck cases. I think I'll be sorting my pistol brass first next time.

[SLG]

So to follow up on my last post, I learned the important lesson of not mixing pistol brass. The combination of 9mm and 45 cases, along with the pins, meant I spent quite a while with pliers separating stuck cases. I think I'll be sorting my pistol brass first next time.

Good to know. I've not wet tumbled yet, and I often Ultrasonic multiple calibers at a time. Still a pain sometimes.

[ralph]

I recently started using the stainless pins, for alot of the same reasons, dust, etc, I bought a rebel 17, before I found the FART, still I'm happy with the results. One of my biggest complaints about the vibrating tumblers is that all of them will burn the motor out, largely due to the design. With the motor on the bottom of the bowl, and a peice of steel on the shaft below the motor creating the vibration, it's just a matter of time before the motors berings wear out and it's done.. So far, in 8yrs or so, I've went through 2 large Dillon tumblers, the motors are burnt out on both, Dillon offered to "rebuild" them, if I sent the whole thing out to them,along with a check for $110. You'd clearly be better off just buying a new one. Now to be fair, I got my moneys worth out of them, both lasted about 4years, but when the motors go, you're faced with a choice, buy a new one, or try something else. This time around I went with something else... At least with the rebel17, if the motor goes, I can get a replacement, they sell parts (something dillon wont do for tumblers) . As a real acid test, I had some 9mm, and .45 brass that had dried mud on it both inside and out, I had seperated this brass some time ago as I was'nt sure how to clean it, I had bought a Harvey Depriming tool and deprimed the brass and loaded it up (seperately of course) It came out beautiful... clean inside and out. Anyway, I was quite happy with the results. I'm pretty much sold on this..

[Duelist]

Interesting discussion. When I started loading, it was all .38 Special, and I didn't clean brass. Friends started getting tumblers, and eventually, we would get together and have brass cleaning parties for .38 and 9mm. I started loading for rifles, and it certainly seemed more important to have clean brass.

A friend decided to upgrade his tumbler to a SS pin tumbler, and gave me his vibrating tumbler. Seems to work fine still, but I never thought about lead dust.

Thinking is now going on here.

[Matt O]

I didn't use to worry about or think about lead dust either (though I should have), but have become quite conscious about it now that I have a kid. Of course I probably never had enough going on in the brain box for it to affect me, but my daughter takes after my wife thankfully and I'd prefer not to inhibit her mental development. ;)

Coincidentally I also have almost no time to shoot now, so that cuts down on the lead-dust-from-the-range factor. I am, however, still slowly processing brass for the occasional range trip and the hopes of getting back into training more regularly a year or so from now, so I figured I'll go with the brass cleaning method that is the "cleanest" in terms of avoiding pollution in and around zee house. So far the wet processing method seems pretty decent. Speaking of which, I think I'll get another load of brass going...

[LittleLebowski]

I'm just getting ready to try and reload some .300BLK this week and plan to clean brass using ultrasonic but completely forgot about drying the brass after decapping and cleaning. Maybe an old oven sheet (yes I know, not for food use)?

[SecondsCount]

How we(Mrs. SC and I) do it-

All brass collected at the range goes into a mesh lingerie bag. Most of the shooting we do is outdoors so lots of gravel, dirts, etc. gets mixed in. The holes in the mesh bag act like a screen and allows the crap to fall out the bottom.

We bring it all home and run it through these brass sorters (http://www.midwayusa.com/product/847836/shell-sorter-brass-sorter-9mm-luger-40-s-and-w-45-acp-3-bowl-set). This is done outdoors.

The brass that is going to get reloaded, typically 9mm, gets thrown in a bucket with a little Lemi Shine crystals and a couple drops of dish soap diluted in hot water, enough to submerse the brass. Let stand for 30 minutes, stir, then another 30 minutes. They are then dumped on a towel to air dry. Living in a dry climate makes this happen pretty quick. This gets 80% of the crud off the cases and they probably could be reloaded at this point.

After that they are run in a tumbler with corn cob media and a little polish for 30 minutes. This gets most of the remaining crud off and gives them a nice smooth finish for the sizing die. The tumbler is placed outside and is left open while it is running for the dust to escape.

Mrs. SC and I recently had our blood lead levels checked, both of us were in the normal range, and have been reloading together for nearly 25 years :cool:

[GuanoLoco]

New 2/3 HP, 3.5 cu ft cement mixer. 2 gallong (30 lbs, est. 4000 cases) 9mm disappears into it like nothing, no pins required. Got for $300 on sale, free shipping.

Replaces Harbor Fright 1.25 cu ft cement mixer with 0.25 HP uber-cheap chinese motor that burns up far far too easily.

[JAD]

LL, it's been a long time since I wet tumbled, but yes, cookie sheets, ambient heat or 170 in the stove, and lots of tossing. Sucks in my book, I do the corncob thing outside.

[GuanoLoco]

My new cement mixer is now fully operational. I used a drill and dremel to cut a couple new slots high in the indexing plate so I could run at a more vertical angle than used for cement, easy enough. I also used some heavy belted rubber to create a "wipe" of sorts and bolted it to one of the mixing blades, this gives the brass + water mix a much more satisfying action.

I have run a couple of loads now in the new mixer. Last night was the largest load so far, 2 1/3 gallons or maybe 35 lbs of maybe 4600 cases. I went heavy with water this time, maybe 4 gallons. My process is a little different - I roll it outside, use the hose to fill and let it run for maybe 10 minutes and drain. This gets most of the range dirt and whatnot off. I refill with water, 1 heavy tsp Citric Acid, 1 Tblsp Armor All Wash-and-Wax and let it spin for about an hour while I walk the dog.

Rinsing outside with the hose and dumpng water in the driveway is far easier than water changes inside using buckets. Once the water is basically clear I dran/rotate/drain a few times, quick towel the brass and dump it in the 8-tray 400 watt dehydrator. I'm experimenting with how much brass and how wet it can be but I think I could get about 3 gallons/6000 cases of quick-toweled off brass in it and have the brass dry in 4-6 hours. The mixer could handle more capacity than I can force-dry, so it is the limiting factor.

This last batch came out really nice - I think the more powerful motor, larger capacity, faster 30 RPM speed and the rubber wipe enhancement do a much better job that the Harbor Fright unit could do.

Here is a video of the first 2 gallon of 9mm batch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pByEOJV6PPE

Last night I ran 3 gallons of 223 brass in about 1.5 hours, drained well, toweled off and got all of it in a 400 watt dehydrator with a little room to spare. All of it wat hot to the touch in about 3-4 hours even though 223 cases tend to hold on to water. Looked pretty good, not as good as small batch with SS pins but more than good enough for brass processing.

[ken grant]

How we(Mrs. SC and I) do it-

All brass collected at the range goes into a mesh lingerie bag. Most of the shooting we do is outdoors so lots of gravel, dirts, etc. gets mixed in. The holes in the mesh bag act like a screen and allows the crap to fall out the bottom.

We bring it all home and run it through these brass sorters (http://www.midwayusa.com/product/847836/shell-sorter-brass-sorter-9mm-luger-40-s-and-w-45-acp-3-bowl-set). This is done outdoors.

The brass that is going to get reloaded, typically 9mm, gets thrown in a bucket with a little Lemi Shine crystals and a couple drops of dish soap diluted in hot water, enough to submerse the brass. Let stand for 30 minutes, stir, then another 30 minutes. They are then dumped on a towel to air dry. Living in a dry climate makes this happen pretty quick. This gets 80% of the crud off the cases and they probably could be reloaded at this point.

After that they are run in a tumbler with corn cob media and a little polish for 30 minutes. This gets most of the remaining crud off and gives them a nice smooth finish for the sizing die. The tumbler is placed outside and is left open while it is running for the dust to escape.

Mrs. SC and I recently had our blood lead levels checked, both of us were in the normal range, and have been reloading together for nearly 25 years :cool:

I do the same as you but with one addition , I add a handful of steel BB's to the mix.
When changing media , I use a magnet to save the BB's for re-use.
Doing this , I have recovered brass that most would not even pick up.

[SLG]

How we(Mrs. SC and I) do it-

All brass collected at the range goes into a mesh lingerie bag. Most of the shooting we do is outdoors so lots of gravel, dirts, etc. gets mixed in. The holes in the mesh bag act like a screen and allows the crap to fall out the bottom.

We bring it all home and run it through these brass sorters (http://www.midwayusa.com/product/847836/shell-sorter-brass-sorter-9mm-luger-40-s-and-w-45-acp-3-bowl-set). This is done outdoors.

The brass that is going to get reloaded, typically 9mm, gets thrown in a bucket with a little Lemi Shine crystals and a couple drops of dish soap diluted in hot water, enough to submerse the brass. Let stand for 30 minutes, stir, then another 30 minutes. They are then dumped on a towel to air dry. Living in a dry climate makes this happen pretty quick. This gets 80% of the crud off the cases and they probably could be reloaded at this point.

After that they are run in a tumbler with corn cob media and a little polish for 30 minutes. This gets most of the remaining crud off and gives them a nice smooth finish for the sizing die. The tumbler is placed outside and is left open while it is running for the dust to escape.

Mrs. SC and I recently had our blood lead levels checked, both of us were in the normal range, and have been reloading together for nearly 25 years :cool:

Mrs. SC sounds like a cool woman.

LL,

I used to use the cookie sheet, but a food dehydrator works much better and much faster. Cheap ones can be had that hold a fair number of brass.

[Desertrat]

Im old fashioned I guess......still use corn cob media from Cabela's with the polish that comes with it. Never had problems...always
works just fine.

[SeriousStudent]

GuanoLoco, if you do not mind me asking, where did you obtain the new yellow cement mixer?

Very impressive setup, thank you for the posts.

[JohnO]

My current method uses a vibratory tumbler. I moisten the media with mineral spirits & NuFinish polish. I do not get or see any dust. I use the tumbler at the opening of my garage and put an inverted plastic garbage can over it as a noise muffler.

I have been thinking about trying the steel pins in a FART. I have rinsed dirty brass that came off a muddy and grassy field after a class and had no problem drying it spread out in the sun agitating it a time or two. So the drying process doesn't phase me. What I can't get my head around is decapping first. That extra time through my press does not seam worth the cleaner insides & cleaner primer pocket for Range reloads.

Lead levels issue? Don't know never been tested. But if I was to decap everything in my basement before it sees any cleaning at all couldn't I be defeating the purpose (lead reduction) of wet tumbling? A whole lot of Schmutz accumulates in the primer bar area. Currently I have a HEPA vacuum I clean the area with after every loading session.

[GuanoLoco]

GuanoLoco, if you do not mind me asking, where did you obtain the new yellow cement mixer?

Very impressive setup, thank you for the posts.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/PRO-SERIES-3-5-cu-ft-2-3-HP-Contractor-Duty-Cement-and-Concrete-Mixer-CME35/202565557

They had a special for $300 + free shipping until the end of April IIRC, now out of stock.

[SeriousStudent]

Thank you, I will keep an eye out for them.

[martin_j001]

Doing some research on the wet tumbling myself, will have to look into the FART and see how it compares to the Rebel 17 I had been eyeing.

I'm on septic. Don't have a separate large sink or anything that isn't common use. Don't want to have to deprime before tumbling. But definitely don't want lead dust around as I have a two month old in the house now. Is wet tumbling for me, or do I need to stick to the typical corn cob media and just do it outside or something? Any advice is appreciated.

[Hauptmann]

Doing some research on the wet tumbling myself, will have to look into the FART and see how it compares to the Rebel 17 I had been eyeing.

I'm on septic. Don't have a separate large sink or anything that isn't common use. Don't want to have to deprime before tumbling. But definitely don't want lead dust around as I have a two month old in the house now. Is wet tumbling for me, or do I need to stick to the typical corn cob media and just do it outside or something? Any advice is appreciated.

Standard ultra sonic will likely be the "cleanest" in terms of minimizing lead exposure. I'm on septic too, but I have a large bucket that I dump out the waste solution, and take that to a free disposal facility. I have been rinsing off my baskets of cleaned brass in the sink for years, and it does not effect the septic system in those low quantities. Most ultra sonic cleaning solutions for brass are very environmentally safe. Dry tumbling with media is just plain lead dirty........and it gets everywhere. A water based cleaning system is much more controlled. I run two Hornady 2L ultra sonic cleaners at once and that will give me around 1600 cleaned pieces of 9mm brass in a couple of hours.

[Matthew]

Standard ultra sonic will likely be the "cleanest" in terms of minimizing lead exposure. I'm on septic too, but I have a large bucket that I dump out the waste solution, and take that to a free disposal facility. I have been rinsing off my baskets of cleaned brass in the sink for years, and it does not effect the septic system in those low quantities. Most ultra sonic cleaning solutions for brass are very environmentally safe. Dry tumbling with media is just plain lead dirty........and it gets everywhere. A water based cleaning system is much more controlled. I run two Hornady 2L ultra sonic cleaners at once and that will give me around 1600 cleaned pieces of 9mm brass in a couple of hours.

I'm stuck between moving to ultrasonic or wet tumbling with the little guy on the way, and moving to our new house in which I will be reloading in our basement.

Is the overall amount of liquid to dispose less with ultrasonic than with wet tumbling? I can live with less shiny cases, or even polish them afterward in a tymbler. I just want to reduce as much lead as possible.

[Hauptmann]

I'm stuck between moving to ultrasonic or wet tumbling with the little guy on the way, and moving to our new house in which I will be reloading in our basement.

Is the overall amount of liquid to dispose less with ultrasonic than with wet tumbling? I can live with less shiny cases, or even polish them afterward in a tymbler. I just want to reduce as much lead as possible.

Both use about the same amount of liquid. Usually I will run each batch of brass through two 30min cycles of ultra sonic, and I will use the that solution for two batches before it starts loosing a lot of its cleaning power. Wet tumbling will make the brass a little shinier, and clean out the insides of the case more thoroughly.......although, regular ultrasonic does a good job with that, and certainly better than dry tumbling. I think wet tumbling will have a tad more lead exposure, because of all the media separation in which the lead particles stick to the media, and the tumbling prevents all the lead from settling on the bottom of container.

[GuanoLoco]

I don't see the point in 'minimizing liquid' with the idea you will minimize lead exposure at all. You don't really need media though. I don't use any and any getting good results with a cement mixer. I will admit that a short pre-wash step/drain or two marketly improves performance - including inside cases - for the media-less wet tumbling process though.

Don't overcomplicate it, FART is probably just fine.

[JTPHD]

For those of you who are wet tumbling: Do you check every case for steel media? Have you ever found steel media stuck in any cases after using a rotary separator and drying? I'm only loading 9mm (not decapped) and my media separator seems to get all of it out. No problems in ~10k rounds so far. Today, I just sifted through the cases for any signs of media & called it good. Just curious to hear others' experiences.

[CGA]

Anyone using ceramic media instead of steel pins?

[Flintsky]

I started wet tumbling a couple of months ago. By far, it has been the most satisfying method of cleaning I have tried(dry tumbling, ultrasonic). Brass is cleaned inside and out, and it gets that surface polish that the dry media polish gets. The brass comes out squeaky clean, and if you use a wash/wax in part of your rinse, the brass stays shinny longer with that wax protectant. Most likely, there is very minimal lead exposure using this method too.

I will never go back to dry tumbling or ultrasonic cleaning again.

[OlongJohnson]

SLG, I'd probably setup a 45 gallon drum outside to dump the waste water in, let it evaporate and scrape the crap from the bottom and put in the trash. Or drop off at a recycling center once every few months. If you let the water sit for a day the lead will have mostly settled to the bottom and pouring off the rest (if you don't want to let it evaporate, or it's monsoon season) shouldn't be an issue. But I could be wrong on that one.

I go for the evaporation method. You could just continue dumping in the same drum until it's too full of solids for the amount of liquid you need to put in it. Then take the whole thing to a hazmat center and start over. This general method is used with industrial/automotive water-based cleaners. They sometimes even use heaters under the drums to speed evaporation.

I picked up the $28 online Lee single-stage press for decapping before FARTing, so all that mess can be done in a dirty area, away from the reloading bench, and the gritty filth doesn't end up on and around the good press.

I thought I got a good deal on my FART, but I've seen it for ~$130 lately. Pretty solid. Slickguns is your friend.

[ralph]

Since my last post, I've changed a few things, I quit using the steel pins altogether, and now just use water dish soap and a 1/4tsp of lemi-shine. The reason for not using the pins is threefold. 1. The extra step of decapping the brass before tumbling. 2. I was always worried that I'd get a pin in the brass and miss it. 3. While using the pins, there's no doubt that they come out clean, they are too clean, I started having problems with the cases sticking on my powder funnel in my 550, sometimes sticking pretty darn well.

By leaving the pins out, I was able to add 5lbs more brass into the tumbler, did'nt need to decap before tumbling, the cases came out quite clean enough, and because they're not super clean, I no longer have any sticking issues. Currently, I let the cases tumble for about 45 minutes, rinse, and then into the dehydrator for an hour to hour and half, done. The only problem with the steel pins is that they do too good of a job, I've come to believe that while the cases need to be clean, they don't need to be THAT clean. So far this has worked well.

[Matt O]

Since my last post, I've changed a few things, I quit using the steel pins altogether, and now just use water dish soap and a 1/4tsp of lemi-shine. The reason for not using the pins is threefold. 1. The extra step of decapping the brass before tumbling. 2. I was always worried that I'd get a pin in the brass and miss it. 3. While using the pins, there's no doubt that they come out clean, they are too clean, I started having problems with the cases sticking on my powder funnel in my 550, sometimes sticking pretty darn well.

By leaving the pins out, I was able to add 5lbs more brass into the tumbler, did'nt need to decap before tumbling, the cases came out quite clean enough, and because they're not super clean, I no longer have any sticking issues. Currently, I let the cases tumble for about 45 minutes, rinse, and then into the dehydrator for an hour to hour and half, done. The only problem with the steel pins is that they do too good of a job, I've come to believe that while the cases need to be clean, they don't need to be THAT clean. So far this has worked well.

Thanks for the heads up - I'm going to have to try this. I noticed some sticking as well which is pretty annoying.

[SecondsCount]

Since my last post, I've changed a few things, I quit using the steel pins altogether, and now just use water dish soap and a 1/4tsp of lemi-shine. The reason for not using the pins is threefold. 1. The extra step of decapping the brass before tumbling. 2. I was always worried that I'd get a pin in the brass and miss it. 3. While using the pins, there's no doubt that they come out clean, they are too clean, I started having problems with the cases sticking on my powder funnel in my 550, sometimes sticking pretty darn well.

By leaving the pins out, I was able to add 5lbs more brass into the tumbler, did'nt need to decap before tumbling, the cases came out quite clean enough, and because they're not super clean, I no longer have any sticking issues. Currently, I let the cases tumble for about 45 minutes, rinse, and then into the dehydrator for an hour to hour and half, done. The only problem with the steel pins is that they do too good of a job, I've come to believe that while the cases need to be clean, they don't need to be THAT clean. So far this has worked well.

Link to my post (https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?19079-Tumbling-how-do-you-do-it&p=439244&viewfull=1#post439244)

This is why I tumble the brass in corncob media with a polish before I run it through the press. Even without using pins, or even tumbling in the lemishine/soap/water mixture, they get stripped of whatever it is that gives them the slipperiness to make it easier to resize and expand.

[dbateman]

For those of you who are wet tumbling: Do you check every case for steel media? Have you ever found steel media stuck in any cases after using a rotary separator and drying? I'm only loading 9mm (not decapped) and my media separator seems to get all of it out. No problems in ~10k rounds so far. Today, I just sifted through the cases for any signs of media & called it good. Just curious to hear others' experiences.


I don't really do much of an inspection.
I just rinse my cases and media pour off most of the water and tip the lot into my separator.
After I separate my pins and brass I rinse the brass again, then place the brass in trays to dry.
Depending on the time frame I have sometimes I put them into an oven sometimes not.
Anyway the point is if there were pins left in the case I'd see them in the dying trays.

There is one time I do inspect brass for pins. That is unprimed new brass, they tend to get pins stuck in the flash hole.

I do not deprime my brass before tumbling.

[flux]

I use a stasdard Lyman turbo 1200. Don't deprime before tumbling ,rebel cleans superbly , but don't see myself changing yet.

[ralph]

Link to my post (https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?19079-Tumbling-how-do-you-do-it&p=439244&viewfull=1#post439244)

This is why I tumble the brass in corncob media with a polish before I run it through the press. Even without using pins, or even tumbling in the lemishine/soap/water mixture, they get stripped of whatever it is that gives them the slipperiness to make it easier to resize and expand.

I understand what you're saying.. I followed your link, to see how you're doing it. Myself, I'm looking at reducing the number of steps required to get decently clean brass that dosen't hang up on my powder funnel. So far, what I'm doing seems to fill that bill, and it seems to work well. I don't see the need,for example, to have the primer pockets squeaky clean, for practice ammo (if I'm loading rifle ammo for accuracy I'll take the time to clean them, but not for pistol ammo) the pins work really,really well, too well. I figure it's just unessessary to get the casesTHAT clean.

[NETim]

I am a brass whore. Nothing delights me more than to find some old, grungy brass in amongst the wooly mammoth bones at the range and making that brass all sparkly again. IMHO nothing beats wet tumbling when it comes to cleaning the interior of brass because many times my range treasure is filled with rocks, mud, sand and other debris. Wet tumbling gets rid of that stuff. Also, I've found that nothing cleans up interior corrosion like wet tumbling and SS pins.

It can be overdone though, as noted earlier and clean brass does tend to stick to the powder funnel. To lessen the frustration:

1) 25 minutes in the tumbler, tops. Lemi-shine/Armor All wash n' wax mix. SS pins. Wash n' wax makes the brass slightly slicker IMHO. Shorter tumbling time doesn't clean the interior quite as well. REALLY clean, bright interiors just beg for drag on the downstroke.

2) AA replacement powder funnel in the 650. Much shorter than the Dillon factory version. It also performs much like the classic Lyman "M" belling die.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/2670460203/double-alpha-mr-bulletfeeder-dillon-powder-funnel

[Slavex]

Interesting reading on the cleaning without pins, I'm going to assume the case sticking to the powder funnel is something you can really feel running a press manually. I can hear it happen on my press, but I've got a MKVII running it, so I don't feel anything, I just hear it. Will have to try cleaning some without pins next time.

[ralph]

Interesting reading on the cleaning without pins, I'm going to assume the case sticking to the powder funnel is something you can really feel running a press manually. I can hear it happen on my press, but I've got a MKVII running it, so I don't feel anything, I just hear it. Will have to try cleaning some without pins next time.

You sure can feel when the cases stick, it's noticable.. by leaving the pins out,, adding more brass to make up the difference in weight in the tumbler,shortening the tumbling time, the cases come out plenty clean enough, inside and out. Sticking is eliminated. And you still retain the benefits of wet tumbling....No lead dust...All I could teĺl anyone interested is to try it once, see what you think, if you don't like it, then go back to using the pins, you're not out anything by trying it once.