Stainless Pin Tumbling "too clean"?

[GREATSCOTT!]

If you're going to SS wet tumble, purchase the STM Media Seperator for $30 and buy a Nesco food dehydrator from Target for $40. Makes the process fast, flawless and clean. The media separator will remove every last pin from the brass in 10 seconds. I've never had one pin stuck in a primer pocket in 5 years of tumbling.

 

[parshal]

I started using the SS media and loved how clean everything was. I had to use an air compressor to make sure every case was free of pins. There was usually one or two with a pin stuck in the neck ever after a running through a media separator. It's also pretty tough cleaning up after that in the winter.

I've since moved to using rice in the tumbler. No water to mess with, leaves carbon in the neck and cleans up well.

 

[Ted C]

I apologize because I am sure this has been covered before, however after two days of searching the the forums I thought I would just ask .....
Have any of you had issue with the wet stainless pin tumbling causing problems with consistent ES or SD, "cold welding", etc.
Looking at previous posts, I saw a number of theories but no definitive conclusions. I am not really interested in pretty brass, mostly just accurate/consistent loads.
My theory is that clean cases would have a more consistent grip on the bullet than a dirty case. Clean is clean, but there are various degrees of dirty.
Thanks for any input.

I use SS but I stopped using the pins. I use the chips now. Its called southern shine and it does a good job at getting them clean and not sticking in the necks of some larger calibers. It does a nice job on the primer pockets as well, which is my pet peeve.

 

[knapper]

Thank you for the info! So far it looks like I will be switching to stainless pin tumbling.
Any more info anyone?
Thanks, Larry

Larry;
I have been using the stainless pins for as long they have been around, with the only problem that I had was with the short pins, when they first came out, they would hang up sideways in the neck of the 300 caliber brass but as soon as I got the 1/4 inch ones, no problems and I love them.. I let the tumbler run for about 3 to 4 hours..
Dallas

 

[6.5-300 BEE]

Carbon in the necks ? I could be wrong but I don't think factory made Match ammo has any carbon in the necks.

Better tell Federal so they can "improve" their GMM ammo. (chuckle)

 

[Nitrosteel]

I wet tumble mine with stainless pins - usually only after several firings. I have noticed they are too clean and bullets are harder to seat. The best solution I've found is, after I oven dry, throw them into the corncob media for a little while. It makes them not so "sticky".

I love the perfectly clean brass too much to not use once in a while.

 

[parshal]

Another thing that I've done that does help with the squeaky clean brass. Mica. It's more consistent seating and, supposedly, helps with cold welding.

 

[thwatson2]

I use SS pins with wet tumbling for my black powder stuff 45-110 and 45-70. Stuff is ruthless. I also wet tumble range brass when I'm making 308 and 223 plinkers. The end result is awesome, looks like new brass. Although I have seen pics of neck damage, I've never had it myself. Wet tumbling is little messy and time consuming but brass looks great. I also found little dawn, few drops of lanolin and tbl spoon woolite makes for a non sticky, non tarnishing result. There are plenty of recipes on forums. You will find one that works.

 

[SteelBanger]

I once chased the shiny brass craze but have all but switched back to dry tumbling after sending several batches of brass through my Frankford wet tumbler with SS pins. Man do they look good coming out of the wash and I never really had a problem with getting the cases dried (used a food dehydrator) and media separated, but it's a much more involved process than dry tumbling ... both in everything you need to get the job done as well as your time.

My biggest gripe however was how many stuck cases I got after the wet wash. I had to be way more diligent with my lube in order to not stick that squeaky clean brass in the sizing die. I don't know if you'd call it cold welding, but I also had some weird issues with brass being deposited inside the sizing die (probably from poor lube application) which made some bad markings on brass that I was running through it, I ended up having to polish out the inside of that die real good.

I loved the shiny brass but a quick hour in the dry tumbler is so much quicker and easier and ultimately gets the job done just fine.

 

[atblis]

Carbon in the necks ? I could be wrong but I don't think factory made Match ammo has any carbon in the necks.

Better tell Federal so they can "improve" their GMM ammo. (chuckle)

That doesn't prove it wouldn't improve the loads. I don't know how one would conduct that comparison decoupling the other differences between reloads and factory ammo from the carbon coated necks.

 

[NeedForSpeed]

I shoot 1000 yard compatition and went through the whole clean brass deal. Let me tell you it made my guns suck. I tried adding lube back in the necks. Still sucked. Used hbn on bullets. Still sucked. Now I'm back to where I started. Wipe my brass off with rag and load them. I clean primer pockets but that is it. I dry brush my necks real quick and I leave all the carbon in there. Bullets seat easier and loads are much lower es/sd. Guns started shooting great again. I will never clean my brass ever again. Do I want shiny pretty brass or small groups. I will take the small groups every day. Listen to Alex he is one of the 1000 yard gurus. Leave that carbon alone.
Shep

if you leave the carbon in the necks, doesnt it burn off when you anneal your brass?

 

[Greyfox]

My best results in terms of consistent seating pressure, accuracy, and ES have been achieved tumbling with straight Lyman corn cob media. The thin film of carbon "always" remaining inside the neck seems provide very consistent lubricity for the bullet. Tumbling time, tested from 2 hours to 12 hours makes no difference in the results. I would add that I use Lapua and Norma brass almost exclusively for precision shooting.

 

[Rex Tharp]

That doesn't prove it wouldn't improve the loads. I don't know how one would conduct that comparison decoupling the other differences between reloads and factory ammo from the carbon coated necks.

this got me thinking, once the carbon starts to build up when is there too much? I guess every powder would be different, the conditions at the shot, I see a rabbit hole.

 

[5gauss]

I apologize because I am sure this has been covered before, however after two days of searching the the forums I thought I would just ask .....
Have any of you had issue with the wet stainless pin tumbling causing problems with consistent ES or SD, "cold welding", etc.
Looking at previous posts, I saw a number of theories but no definitive conclusions. I am not really interested in pretty brass, mostly just accurate/consistent loads.
My theory is that clean cases would have a more consistent grip on the bullet than a dirty case. Clean is clean, but there are various degrees of dirty.
Thanks for any input.

I SS tumble every 3rd firing or so, use the dry media in between and then only tumble the SS for a minimum of time. Just don't need to go that long with SS. If you do let it go you will over clean in my opinion. To each there own. No accuracy variations I have found so far after 3 years of SS.