Brass Cleaning steel pins overated?

[Buzzsaw]

I'm starting to see some of the folks using the wet tumbling with the SS steel pins going back to traditional media tumbling. I think mainly because of the time and mess.

What say ya'll still using "pins"?

also see some using ultra sonic

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

I mostly use media tumbling. I've tried the SS pins and the ultrasonic cleaning as well.

The brass looks better with the SS pins compared to the media. I think the ultrasonic also looks better than the media. I've not seen ANY difference in the accuracy of the rounds I load from the 3 methods.

 

[jb1023]

I switched about a year ago to the SS method from walnut media. I plan to stick with the SS method. While it is a pain sometimes to have to wait for the brass to dry, I just can't deal with the dust that was created by the walnut media I was using. I also have not had to go through and clean media out of the flash holes since I switched, for me that was a huge time killer.

 

[fiftybmg]

...I just can't deal with the dust that was created by the walnut media I was using.

Take a few wet wipes, cut them into 1" strips, and put them in the tumbler with the brass and the media.

They catch almost all the dust.

With repeated application, the media stays clean.

 

[Dosh]

I have used the SS pin wet tumbler for a year and it is far superior to the other procedures. The pins render all parts of the brass like new, especially inside the case and primer pockets where the other methods do not do a complete job of it. Yes it takes more time, but it's like having new brass every reload. I decap, resize and trim brass before going into the pin tumbler. I still have my walnut media tumbler and use it occasionally if I need it. The dust can be controlled with strips of used dryer sheets quite effectively.

 

[bigedp51]

I switched from vibratory tumbling with walnut media to wet tumbling with SS media several years ago and would not go back.

If you over wet tumble you can peen the case mouth and cause yourself more work deburring the case mouth.

Also many shooters don't like wet tumbling because it removes the carbon from inside the case neck. This carbon can be replaced by dipping the case neck in powdered graphite during sizing. Graphite is noting more than powdered carbon and the expander does a good job of re-coating the inside of the neck.

And as a side note I buy a lot of once fired Lake City 5.56 brass and wet tumbling does a great job cleaning up the brass. Any time you have firearms that throw perfectly good brass away the cases will have dirt embedded in the brass. And the wet tumbling scrubs the cases and prevents scratched dies and brass.

 

[Mikecr]

Vibratory media.
There is no benefit to wetting cases for internal shine.

 

[Wachsmann]

Take a few wet wipes, cut them into 1" strips, and put them in the tumbler with the brass and the media.

They catch almost all the dust.

With repeated application, the media stays clean.

First +1 on the wet wipes or if you don't want a wet wipe just grab a used dryer sheet and cut into a few strips. This works very well and removes a lot of the dust...
The wet tumbling is nice and it get the brass very clean but for me I noticed my necks seemed like the tension changed and my loads changed and got some what erratic. It's like the brass has become to clean and grabby on the bullet. I know I should of probably got some graphite to take care of this and it probably would of settled down but I done a test with wet and dry cleaning. The dry cleaning produced better over all down range results. So about every 4th to 5th reload I do a long clean process. I punch primers, clean in wet, dry, resize, clean in dry tumbling media, trim, dry clean again and load. Seem to be working and I can have shiny new looking brass inside and out. Its really more to allow me to look inside the case and inspect the inside better. I generally punch primers, clean, resize, clean, trim, deburr, clean for maybe 20 to 30 minutes and load. I know this seem long but its a process that seem to produce the best results. I cant say that the last clean does anything but gets out any small copper shavings that may had went into the case during trimming. I done it without and it has not really changed anything. I would say the most important thing to produce good down range results is being consistence in every thing you do but if I was wet cleaning only I would get some graphite for the necks hands down.

 

[bigedp51]

Vibratory media.
There is no benefit to wetting cases for internal shine.

How about scrubbing the outside of the case free of dirt and grit and not scratching your dies.

I alway liked bolt actions and revolvers and none of my brass at the range hit the ground. Then my two sons said dad needed to "get modern" and the new semi-auto brass had to be picked off the ground. I got tired of polishing the inside of my dies and wet tumbling with SS media stopped the scratched dies.

This is the very reason I went to wet tumbling with SS media, walnut or corn cob media did not remove the embedded dirt and grit from the brass. If you don't have semi-autos it might be a different story but wet tumbling with SS media does a fantastic job of cleaning the brass.

 

[kyron]

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/play-your-food-clean-brass-rice-173898/

 

[bigedp51]

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/play-your-food-clean-brass-rice-173898/

I tried that but the wet rice stuck to the cases.

Now the real funny part, consumers report put a list of rice brands that had high arsenic content. Most of it came from the south where pesticides contaminated the soil.

The vast majority of the arsenic is in the outer shell and they tell you to rinse the rice well in a wire screen strainer and agitate.

Just a warning, the rice dust from tumbling "may" be harmful. And stainless steel media is harmless and everything gets pored down the drain.

Sorry about that, I had chili with rice tonight and I was the one rinsing the rice and shaking the strainer and then read your post.

 

[maninthemaze]

I'll 2nd the fact that neck tension changes with pins. I had to start dipping my case necks in graphite prior to loading powder charges. Now the bullet slides in with the same "felt" tension as it did when I cleaned with walnut media.

 

[trueblue]

If you SS clean your brass, it will give you more neck tension and bigger es on your loads because the clean inside of the neck grips the Bullets more and the release of the bullet is more sporadic.
So, I have been wiping the inside of my necks with imperial sizing wax. This gives a better release of the bullet, lowering your es.

 

[kyron]

Can't say I have noticed any dust at all from the rice.

Arsenic huh. I guess when my hair and teeth start falling out I'll know why