Stainless tumbling media pitting my brass

[squeeeeze]

Got a Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler kit that came with the stainless steel media. Once the brass is complete is seems to come out with small pitting and a rough finish all over. It shouldn't affect anything just throwing me off as I've never seen brass like this before. I've followed the instructions. I haven't seen other stainless media but this media looks like it was just snipped with dykes and kinda sharp on ends.

Is this normal for wet tumbling with stainless media?

Would different media make a difference?

I've only used a vibratory tumbler and comes out smooth.

 

[skinny pedal]

Got a Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler kit that came with the stainless steel media. Once the brass is complete is seems to come out with small pitting and a rough finish all over. It shouldn't affect anything just throwing me off as I've never seen brass like this before. I've followed the instructions. I haven't seen other stainless media but this media looks like it was just snipped with dykes and kinda sharp on ends.

Is this normal for wet tumbling with stainless media?

Would different media make a difference?

I've only used a vibratory tumbler and comes out smooth.

I have the same tumbler and have never had that issue. it works great with dawn dish soap and lemi shine in small doses.

 

[bigedp51]

The marks on your cases can be caused by two things.

1. You should let new pins tumble without any brass in the tumbler overnight to wear down the sharp cut ends of the pins.

2. By the cases hitting each other and dinging the case. This depends on the rotational speed of the tumbler and how much brass is placed in the tumbler.

The case on the left was tumbled too long in my tumbler, I fell asleep and the cases tumbled for over 6 hours. As you can see the case mouth was peened and had been trimmed to length before tumbling. The case on the right is a brand new case right out of the bag and the marks on the case mouth are from factory tumbling.

 

[squeeeeze]

Skinny, I use the same recipe as well. Weird you never had issues, might just be the pins on mine?

Big ed, It has a timer and maxes at 3 hours, I did 2 cycles but don't have the peenged necks like you. just the whole body has tiny little dimples or pits to make for a rough finish on the entire case. It has a large capacity 7 liter tumbler. I used the whole bag which I believe is 5lbs and think it called for it with my cases.

When I get home I'll run a few more cycles just of the pins and see if it helps. I did a 6 hour run initially with just the pins with the Dawn and Lemi shine.

Should I run the pins only dry or wet this time to try to smooth them out?

 

[Dosh]

You shouldn't need to run brass over 2-2 1/2 hr, unless it's extremely dirty.

 

[Lonewolf74]

Yea if you did 2 cycles (6 hours) for your brass you did it way too long. I have yet to run any of mine more than 1 1/2 hours and it comes out spotless.

 

[g0rd0]

I use lemishine and dawn 2 teaspoons of dawn and 1/2 teaspoon of lemishine.
lemishine is a water softener of sorts so if you have a water softener in your plumming than you should not need it. Too much lemishine will also cause a pitting look to your brass.
The instructions that came with my tumbler (FA), read to run a batch of pins, water and detergent for 3 hours first then wash the brass. I have put some real narly range brass through it and never had to go over 3 hours to get that right out of the bag clean. As you can see there is a small amount of dings on the mouth but that is nothing that a chamfer cant clean up ( wich I always chamfer before I seat bullets)

 

[squeeeeze]

I use Dawn and about 1/2 teaspoon of lemishine, I also added a little Carnuba wax as well. I'd read that the pins do such a good job of cleaning, the brass tarnishes very fast and the Carnuba helps.

With my runs for 6 hours, I had brass that was very dirty that the tumbler couldn't take out so I probably left in longer than normal. I'll try another cycle but around the 2 hour mark on my next go around.

Good info, thank you for the responses.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I've run them overnight before, and for almost every washing I know I'll have to touch up the mouth chamfering afterwards. I do this even if I only run them a shorter time. It's just changing the order of the process in order to accommodate this.
I also tend to anneal after washing, and both of these processes take place in the garage or barn. Since loading is done in the basement, chamfering has become the step before sizing.

 

[RidgeTop]

I use lemishine and dawn 2 teaspoons of dawn and 1/2 teaspoon of lemishine.
lemishine is a water softener of sorts so if you have a water softener in your plumming than you should not need it. Too much lemishine will also cause a pitting look to your brass.
The instructions that came with my tumbler (FA), read to run a batch of pins, water and detergent for 3 hours first then wash the brass. I have put some real narly range brass through it and never had to go over 3 hours to get that right out of the bag clean. As you can see there is a small amount of dings on the mouth but that is nothing that a chamfer cant clean up ( wich I always chamfer before I seat bullets)
View attachment 91517

When I tumble with pins there is no residue in the primer pocket. Pins, Dawn, Lemonshine, Hot Water about 1 hour.

 

[skinny pedal]

couple things i do. make sure the water covers all the cases. a little squirt of dawn and about a half full 9mm shell of lemi shine. i found that they have a better shine with less lemi shine. also i only tumble for about an hour max unless its real crude brass im trying to clean. if i want them even smoother i will run them in the vibratory tumbler for an hour or so.