Stainless Pin Tumbling "too clean"?

[Savage16Hunter]

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.

Additionally I use the Frankfort Arsenal Media Transfer Magnet to aid in clean up of the pins, which seem to scatter here and there in my work area.

 

[PNWdude67]

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 have experience with both and been able to get consistent ES/SD with both. (Single digit being the best with each). IMO based on experience and what I have been trained to do, whenever two surfaces are mated together by friction or compression it is best achieved with a lubrication Medium of some sort. When seating bullets some have found the residual carbon left from dry media enough, I still add lubricant. With SS media I definitely needed to add lubricant. I use the hornady unique oil very minimal amount.

 

[Dosh]

SS tumbling results in clean primer pockets, and like new spotless inside as well. Powder residue buildup inside the cases can affect case capacity. If you have a compressor, air can be used to dry brass. Too much Lemi-Shine and too long tumbling renders brass looking like a beat up rainbow. I'm testing wet tumbled vs no tumble on some brass to see which has better performance.

 

[Starlite]

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.

In my opinion pin cleaner machines are not necessary for cleaning brass. Only shining brass. In fact with a good clean burning powder such as Vihtavuori you should only need to clean the primer pockets (even that's open to debate as most reloaders don't seat the primers deep enough), brush out the necks and resize to your method. It really depends on what shooting your doing. For "long range hunting" a consistent MOA rifle is all I look for at 600M. In my bergara B-14 HMR 6.5 I've done this without any brass prep and doing a full length resize. Just my2c

 

[manitou]

Can't say I would ever go back. I really like the way SS cleans the primer pockets and interior. I only tumble 45 minutes, which leaves the outsides nice and shiney. I just dump the pins out, give a quick peek inside, rinse, throw on a cookie tray into the oven for about 30 minutes. Pretty quick actually. They tumble while I am doing something else... they dry while I am doing something else. I do apply a little lube inside the necks with a q-tip before loading. Never had a pin stuck inside a case. Must have the ideal length for my case size.

 

[parshal]

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

It does not using my AMP annealer.

 

[gruising]

I have used ss pins for a long time and cleaned over 100,000 cases. I have a large tumbler, 20 gallons. I use 25 pounds of pins and Hornady sonic clean as the cleaner. It only takes two tablespoons. All of my cases look great except 50 BMG. They were beat to death. Figured out it was the cases full of pins falling on the other cases that beat them up. First, they are heavy but fill with pins they get really heavy. I have not had other cases up to 338 Lupua come out looking beat up. Tried putting fewer 50 cases in the tumbler but they still get beat pretty bad. As an experiment, try to clean one or two cases in your tumbler and see if it comes out peened. I don't think it will.

 

[Moose Whacker]

There seem to be different grades of stainless pins, people complaining about peening are probably using a coarse grade of pins. I found that as well then I purchased a batch of magnetized pins from Amazon and they were very thin at least a half or less than my first batch (which weren't magnetized).
No more peening just nice bright looking like new brass, even if I forget and leave em tumbling all night!

 

[JustMe2]

Bee, I've never heard of factory ammo shooting better than reloads. Maybe one of the reasons, besides fireforming, that handloads are more accurate is the carbon?

 

[SCSCHNUR]

How many of you deburr flash holes? That is ten times more time consuming than cleaning. I din't hurry at reloading it is a joy to get out there in the reloading room and spend my time doing what I love. I have SS pin cleaned for years. I have changed a few thing at first the when this first came out the pins were smaller and some would get stuck in flash hole but went to the bigger pins no further problem. After cleaning I spread them out and let fan blow on the with mouths pointing towards the fan but then I bought a dehydrator and use that now if it is smaller batch 100-200 223 or less with larger calibers. I also switched to car wash with wax and that helps against tarnishing. Sometimes the water is hard so I use distilled water cheap and no chemicals. I you are in a hurry reloading may not be for you. My two cents.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

I've always appreciated new developments that furthered a design or function, but in my experience with clean corncob/walnut shell media and some polishing compound, cleans them excellently over a day of tumbling. The carbon is still there in the neck but it's mostly been that my shot brass shoots better than fresh. The day of tumbling may be the improvement over less time with SS, but they are cleaned just fine. It's not you, it's me...

 

[Janno05]

Although I do not reload ammo to the precision of most on here, I have used stainless pins for handgun and .223 rounds extensively for years. What I am currently doing is cleaning in a Frankfort tumbler with pins and target brand dish soap (citrus scent), then rinse off the brass and throw it in a regular tumbler with walnut media and a little auto wax to dry the brass. I only run it for a couple of hours, but the media dries the brass and leaves enough coating to keep it clean and non-sticky.

 

[Wrenches]

[/Many people complain about it peening the neck. Some have even shown pictures of it. I SS clean mine after every firing. I also anneal after every firing. As far as the peening I believe that comes from tumbling them too long. As to the clean neck I use Imperial Dry Neck Lube (graphite) to seat and prevent a cold weld. They also seat a lot easier with the Imperial neck lube. You will find a lot of theories and conclusions. To me as with all do what you feel works best for you. One person will say do it another will say don't . None of the theories have been proven to me and I like clean brass. My info and opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it . QUOTE]

This is as exactly as I tumble and load. Works every time.

 

[MLN1963]

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

What brush do you use, bronze or nylon? Are you annealing?