Gun brass cleaner upgrade

[338 dude]

Just curious, but what is the most common way to ensure the brass is dry completely after the steel pin in water, etc cleaning cycle? Also, about how long do you leave them tumbling? Is the above mentioned 3 hours pretty common for a good cleaning?

I also tumble for three hours but use a heat gun to dry the brass about 3 or 4 minutes everything is dry

 

[crystalgayleguy]

I too use the frankford stainless pin tumbler with great success just don't put pennies in it then I dry the brass in vibrating tumbler with corn cob media

 

[kevinmorgan]

I've been using the Frankfort tumbler for a couple of years now, stainless pins and LSD (Lemishine and Dawn). Dry in a food dehydrator. I need to put it on a timer, I've left them drying overnight waste of power.

 

[Sod Farmer]

Just curious, but what is the most common way to ensure the brass is dry completely after the steel pin in water, etc cleaning cycle? Also, about how long do you leave them tumbling? Is the above mentioned 3 hours pretty common for a good cleaning?

I dump my cleaned wet cases on a bath towel. Grab two corners of the towel with each hand so you form a hammock like form and roll the cases back and forth by lifting alternate ends of the towel. Wait a day or put them in the oven to dry the insides.

 

[Vol1975]

Frankford is nice looking.
As far as drying brass I stole a wife's cookie sheet and place in oven around 200 degrees for an hour or so.

 

[jimwest]

I started out using pins but hated that they got stuck in the primer pocket and case neck with annoying regularity. I switched to Southern Shine stainless tumbling media and have been 100% happy with it. I think it cleans better than pins and I've never had it get stuck in a case.

I also used to use Dawn detergent and a pinch of Lemishine and the brass gets really clean...TOO clean. I started noticing that my powder funnel on my Dillon was really sticky on the super clean brass. I switched to automotive wash-n-wax...still gets the cases clean but leaves just a trace of wax to make loading easier. As a bonus, I notice that my prepped brass stays shiny longer. The other option that I've heard is to dry tumble it before loading...the coating of dust serves the same purpose.

I'm using the same set up with the pins and experience the same issues. Thinking about trying the Southern Shine media. Where's the best place to purchase, and how do you separate media from your brass when finished? Do you use a magnet?

 

[crystalgayleguy]

I'm using the same set up with the pins and experience the same issues. Thinking about trying the Southern Shine media. Where's the best place to purchase, and how do you separate media from your brass when finished? Do you use a magnet?

I stand the tumbler up in a bath tub drain water off pick brass out put it in a coffee can and water shake it around drain water put more water in and pick brass out put in another coffee can then put in vibrating tumbler to dry

 

[Vol1975]

Thanks fellas. Been wanting to upgrade for along time and have a system down that can do the job right the first time.

 

[misterc01]

I use a Franklin Arsenal tumbler with pet snake walnut media and a "little" Nu Finish. All clean with maybe a little primer pcoket residue. After resizing, ultra sonic clean them with warm to hot water, drop of dish soap and teaspoon of Lemi Shine. Takes care of any primer pocket residue, and leaves them clean, bight and shiny.

 

[Glenn Tullius]

Frankford tumbler, steel pins, small scoop of Powdered Oxy Clean, 2 table spoons of Lemon shine. Run 2-3 hours, depending on how much brass is in. Shinier than new inside out and pockets. I spread out on a old towel 2 days. Dehydrator or oven would be faster.

 

[Pointman]

I use a food dehydrator to finish drying brass if I'm in a hurry, With brass placed in plastic shellholders with necks down.

I also use a dehydrator. ou can pick them up at thrift shops for a song and they work well. I do suggest the ones that you can tailor the heat settings.

 

[marchboom]

I start by depriming the brass. This allows the primer pocket to be cleaned and prevents air from being trapped in some cases thus keeping the liquid solution from cleaning the inside of the case.

Put the cases in an ultra sonic cleaner for 1 hr. Solution is 1/4 teaspoon of Lemishine to 1 pt of water. Add 2-3 drops of Dawn soap. NOTE: Don't keep brass in solution more than 1 hr or increase the amount of Lemishine. Your brass will turn pink.

Dry in a Lyman Cyclone brass dryer for 1 hr. This is a great dryer. You can dry a LOT of brass using the 5 trays provided.

Tumble for 60-90 minutes in walnut shell media (Zilla Ground English Walnut Shells Desert Blend from Amazon) with some Nu-Finish car polish. This media will not get stuck in flash holes. Throw in a used dryer sheet to keep down the dust.

I don't use the pin method for several reasons. I have seen evidence of damage to case necks and I don't like the idea of brass being work hardened, even slightly. I have several shooter friends who have had pins stick in the cases. Just for that reason I won't use this method. Just watching a demo on YouTube of the process looks way too complicated, not hard, just more work than what I want to do.

I know I'll get replies countering this last paragraph but that's my view.

 

[cynjon]

I'm using the same set up with the pins and experience the same issues. Thinking about trying the Southern Shine media. Where's the best place to purchase, and how do you separate media from your brass when finished? Do you use a magnet?

The easiest way to buy Southern Shine is through their Facebook page. They have sales periodically as well. https://www.facebook.com/southernshinetumblers/

To separate, I use an RCBS rotary media separator that is designed for separating dry tumbling media from your brass. I fill it with water to the point where the basket is partially submerged and slowly turn the handle until all the stainless chips are out of the brass. I used the same method when I was using pins. It does a good job of rinsing the brass really well also. After that, I drain the water from the media and dump the media back into the tumbler for the next batch. I have a magnet but in my experience it works poorly at best. I dump the basket of brass into an old towel to get most of the water off of them, and then into the dehydrator.

 

[Sod Farmer]

I have used stainless steel pins in a wet tumbler to clean well over 10,000 pieces of brass (both pistol and rifle) and have never never never had any problems with pins sticking in flash holes. When I used a vibratory cleaner with the usual walnut or corn cob media, there were always problems with plugged flash holes. My only guess for those of you who are having pins plug your flash holes, is that the pins you are using are a different than what I am using. The machine and media that I purchased are found on the following link.

https://accubrass.com/products/relo...m_term=4583314223477623&utm_content=Catch All

This is the only media I have used (it lasts forever), so I can't speak to how well other brands work.