cleaning brass

Originally Posted By: woodster_yoteI too use the Stainless Tumbling Media process and it's blows me away everytime that I am done tumbling.

What blows me away is how many people refuse to try it, while touting their methods as superior.
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Originally Posted By: mark shubertWho makes the best tumbler? My old Midway tumbler only made it 18 years!
Mark

Let me edit this post. I meant a vibratory media unit.

Check Harbor Freight Tools for a unit.

Tumbler

That's the only place other than say a Bass or Cabela's that would have one in stock.

I got one when I was waiting on a replacement from Frankford Arsenal.
 
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I must be cheap. I bought a bottle of Birchwood Casey brass cleaner concentrate. Mix it up and let the brass sit in the solution for a few minutes, rinse it off, put the cases on a super shammy to soak up the water and let it sit overnite. Next day I have dry clean cases. KISS principal.
 
I'll try to give you a run down mark.

1) I knock out the primers with a lee universal decapping die.

2) I will put 50-80 deprimed 308win cases into the thumlers with 5 lbs of stainless media. The media stays in the tumbler, so I just dump the brass in.

3) Then I put 1 gallon of hot water right out of the tap in the tumbler.

4) I put in 2 teaspoons of Ivory dish soap.

5) I put in 1 9mm case of lemishine. (this isn't needed if you have a good water softener)

6) Screw the lid on the tumbler, put on the tumbler, and start it up.

7) After 1-2 hours, stop tumbler and remove lid.

8) Dump nasty soot filled water down the drain. Be careful to not let your brass or stainless media run away. Then fill the tumbler back up right there at the sink, and swish the brass and media around to wash it a bit. Then dump it out again.

9) Fill the tumbler about 3/4 of the way with hot/warm water. Then fill a small bucket or something with hot/warm water as well.

10) Get comfortable, and pull each individual piece of brass out of the stainless media, washing as much of it out in the tumbler as you can. Then do a secondary rinse in the other bucket of water. Be sure to get all the pins out and ensure none are stuck in the primer pocket. This is pretty simple. Just dunk the case upside down a couple times in the tumbler then again in the bucket.

11) Toss the brass onto a towel. Repeat.

12) Once all your brass is out of the tumbler and onto the towel. Close the towel around it and "tumble" it back and forth to get excess water off.

13) Lay a separate towel on the floor and spread the brass around on it. Aim a fan at it and let it dry overnight.

14) Enjoy the cleanest brass you've ever had.
 
Originally Posted By: Yukon21Hey Heretic,
At harbor freight sales are you talking about their rock tumblers? Cause they show two on their website.

Maybe my link is bad. The item I refer to is "5 Lb. Metal Vibrator/Tumbler"
 
Originally Posted By: YotecallrI must be cheap. I bought a bottle of Birchwood Casey brass cleaner concentrate. Mix it up and let the brass sit in the solution for a few minutes, rinse it off, put the cases on a super shammy to soak up the water and let it sit overnite. Next day I have dry clean cases. KISS principal.

I do this during the summer when it gets REAL hot in Las Vegas. Brass dries in about 15 minutes...
 
I jumped up and bought a thumlers with the Stainless media after reading this thread, I tried it out on some 243 brass yesterday and all I can say is WOW!! The hulls look like brand new inside and out. Primer pockets were near perfect and would have been if I had let it run another hour or so. They say that as the media gets "broke in" it just gets better. I love this tumbler so far and the fact that the media is supposed to last a lifetime.

I dont think anyone would be dissapointed with this setup at all.
 
Originally Posted By: bustem19I'm looking on Cabela's right now and wondering if this is the Thumer's you guys are talking about?


Yes, that's it. That is where I got mine even.

All I can say is that you may want to find someone that is willing to buy your old walnut/corncob polisher lined up. Once you clean with stainless media and soapy water you will wonder why you ever thought your brass was clean any other way.
 
I've been using the SS media method about 8 months and it is by far superior to Ultrasonic which I also have as well as the old vibratory.

The brass looks better than new every time. I mostly work with 100 cases at the time. One thing I have learned that speeds up the end process is to the dump the brass, water, and pins out of the Thumblers right into my RCBS media separator after I dump out about half the water. I close the cage, close the lid on the RCBS separator and give it a half dozen spins in each direction.

Almost all the pins will come out of the cases probably because of the centrifugal force. Then I just dump the brass out of the cage into a container of clean water and rinse them good. As I take the cases out of the water I check them to be sure no pins are left in the cases or primer flash hole and put them on a towel about 25 at the time and roll them good in the towel. That gets them dry on the outside.

I happen to have an ice machine in my shop where I can turn the ice machine on and let the heat from the machine blow on the cases as it makes ice. Dries them completely in a couple of hours.

In the summer I just put them neck down in a cat litter box with a mesh grate which is just right to fit the necs of anything below 30 cal and place them in the back of my pickup truck in the sun. They will be dry in less than an hour. Some of the guys on Snipershide where I picked up the method and the media have made dryers out of small trashcans and give detailed instructions on how to build a dryer.

It is more expensive to get started, but the results are almost unbelieveable and the media never has to be replaced. The only consumables are dish soap and lemishine.
 
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RRA223,I think calling cases HULLS, must be an Okie thing. My Dad always called them that so I grew up calling them that. Now when I do only older gents from around here know what I'm talking about.Just like at the convenience store the other morning , I purchased a couple of items and asked the girl working there if she could put them in a POKE for me.She looked at me puzzled and asked, what's a poke?An old man sitting there having his morning coffee snickered and said ,boy these youngins are ignorant now days.Ironic thing was the store was called, Tote a Poke! LOL!!
 
I had someone ask the other day if it is loader then a vibratory system. The SS media setup is quieter and the more water you can get in the drum the quieter it is.

It's an awesome setup and by far the best brass cleaning system out there.
Media Source
 
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