Originally Posted By: TURBO6046In the future I may look into the stainless media, it looks interesting but I'm curious about how long it takes....I've heard estimates ranging from 1 hr to 6 hrs.
The .223 range pickup rounds I posted were tumbled for 12 hours in Stainless Steel Media, hot tap water with "Dawn" dish washing liquid detergent, and a product called "Lemi-Shine" that is avaliable in grocery stores in the dishwasher detergent section. What determines the amount of time is the RPM of the motor you have in the Thumlers Tumbler. Mine is an older model that has a 1,500 RPM motor. The newer models now have a 3,000 RPM motor that cuts the necessary tumbling time in half.
The range pick up brass I tumbled was horrible. Most of it was filthy, and exposed to the elements to the point of being black. So I gave it the maximum time to perform it's job. I probably could have gotten away with less time. I'll experiment with that as I go. If I get a small mixer with a greater agitation capability I will perhaps be able to reduce the time further.
I'm a bit anal about having nice looking brass so for me it's worth it. The thing is you have to tumble to remove the resizing lubricant anyway if you reload in large amounts, because it would take forever to hand wipe each case individually. So it really doesn't take much more time and effort to make really nice looking brass. I don't like reloads that look like reloads. As always your mileage may vary. Bill T.