Grizzly Dave Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 How long is too long to tumble cases? 3 hours? 6 hours? Got busy and left some cases tumbling for about 3 hours, they look a bit strange compared to those I tumble for an hour, then again, maybe I'm just not used to clean cases. Is it possible to tumble cases too long? Grizz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Is it possible to tumble cases too long? No. I will only qualify that statement by saying that if you tumble nickel plated cases long enough, you will start to wear off the nickel plating and they will start looking like plain brass. But it really is not enough to hurt them. I don't remember how thick plating is, but it is really, really thin. So wearing it off just means they are not as shiny anymore. How long does it take? It depends on how dirty they were and what kind of media you use. If you use some kind of polish it will take less time. I just use Lizzard Litter with no additives. My Black Powder brass is often really black because it sometimes sits in my rinse solution a real long time. Three hours seems to clean them up pretty good. My Smokeless brass gets clean in an hour or two. But most of us have forgotten to turn off the tumbler at some point, maybe even over night and it doesn't damage the brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pack Saddle Slim, SASS #73122 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I've had some go for five hours. The only major difference I could see between them and the ones that were tumbled less is that these were a lot cleaner. But, to answer your original question, "How long is too long?"...if all you have left in the tumbler after tumbling your cases is a bunch of spent primers, then I'd say you left them in too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlin Buckhorn,SASS 51727 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 My experience has been that if you can still find them in the tumbler then it hasn't been to long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubious Don #56333 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Nope. but I suppose it depends on what type of media you're using. If its just standard walnut/cob and some polishing compound, I don't think there is a too long. (if you use those ceramic stones, I bet too long means you wear holes in the cases) If they're sort of dull looking but clean, thats no biggie, thats what happens when you use just cob/walnut and no polish stuff. THey're clean, thats all that matters unless you need'em shiny for a parade or something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anvil Al #59168 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I use corn-cob A little polish. And leave them 4-5 hours all the time. But then. I like shiney brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jake1001 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I use ground up walnut shell to clean really dirty cases in one tumbler 3-4 hours. I use ground up corn cob to polish them in another tumbler.2-3 hours. I have left the tumbler going 24 hours sometimes and get really clean or polished cases. Ya ain't gonna hurt them. Big Jake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Rebel, SASS# 58412 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I use walnut shells with a little Brasso. Usually 6 hours or so does a nice job. However, I did leave a batch in a running tumbler for 6 days once. I forgot it when we went on a trip. The folks taking care of the cats thought I wanted it on. Brass was very clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Frank Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Wow! You guys tumble brass for a long time. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I tumble it for about 1 hour. No polish; just a little mineral spirits. Maybe I'll try my next batch a little longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Bullweed Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Modern cartridges (.38 specials, .357s) .44 specials and .45 colts are much thicker than the .32/.38/.44 WCF cases. I would be leary of loading heavy charges into over-tumbled cases of the WCF family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Modern cartridges (.38 specials, .357s) .44 specials and .45 colts are much thicker than the .32/.38/.44 WCF cases. I would be leary of loading heavy charges into over-tumbled cases of the WCF family. Howdy Again Complete non-issue. In fact, I have never heard this concern before. It is only the case mouth on .32/.38/.44 WCF cartridges that are especially thin. About .007 vs about .012 for 44-40 vs 45 Colt. The rest of the case body is plenty thick, not really any different than 45 Colt. But you ain't gonna polish away enough brass to make any significant difference. Like I said earlier, Nickel Plating is extremely thin, much less than .001. Polishing for hours and hours may remove most of any Nickel Plating present. You have still removed far less than .001. Probably more on the order of .00001 or so. You ain't gonna remove enough brass metal from a 44-40 or any other WCF case to significantly weaken it by tumbling for a long time. I have 100s of 44-40 cases that I shoot with full charges of Black Powder. Some of them have been reloaded enough times that they have been tumbled for zillions of hours. I have not blown up one yet because of over polishing. When they do split, they get teeny splits at the case mouth. I have loaded literally hundreds of 44-40 cases with teeny splits at the case mouth. When the split reaches more than 1/16" long I discard them. Over polishing WCF cases is no more of a concern than with any straight walled case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuetzum Phast Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I use one of those $3.00 security timers... (like you would use on a lamp to turn "off" and "on" when you are away from home), plug my tumbler into it, plug the timer into the wall, set the timer for an hour or so, forget about it, and check it when I get around to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oklahomabound Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 ...walnut media, no additives... ...for my Frontier Cartridge brass, which I like clean, not shiny.... 3 hours. ...for Ms. Mary Matilda's brass, heathen smokeless powder & she likes her brass shiny...4 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowhand Bob, 24229 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 First let me say thet I m not Pawl Saygun or some other newclear physist, just another ordinary guy like you all, cept reeeal smart. I shoot bp almost exclusively and have collected up some pretty shabby brass over the years, nothing qualifies fer discard unless I can see light through it. Shux, I even keep a well tapered punch on the bench fer straightening out those 44-40 case mouths thet got stepped on and if the punch dawnt snap it of it is good to go.. With this said, most brass that gets discarded is simply due to age cracks and I would say thaey are few and far between. With all this said I generally put my brass in at night and take it out sometimes the next day. Even then it is not very bright and actually still kinda splotchy but loads and shoots ok. I do plan to try something other than my pet store walnut hulls soon because, though this batch is only fifteen years old, I am down to only a few tablespoons left in my ole red shaker (but I have enjoyed the extra case capacity though). HMMM anyone ever consider mixen a little sand blaster sand in fer thet extra bit of slick shine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Stevens SASS#55996 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 left mine on for 3 days by accident when we went away for the weekend. Didn't seem to hurt anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Trampas, SASS # 55781 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Are we supposed to tumble brass, go figure, I just check brass and then load, just kidding, I usually do 2 hours, I use Lizard litter from Petsmart, add polish and the last time I did this I added a spritz of mineral spirts, seem to make them shiner anyway, will try that again this summer when I have brass to do, right now all done All for now JD Trampas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Shux, I even keep a well tapered punch on the bench fer straightening out those 44-40 case mouths thet got stepped on and if the punch dawnt snap it of it is good to go.. Howdy Again I use a dummy .50 BMG round to straighten out 44-40 necks that have gotten squashed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I use whatever media is available in the store when I go to buy new stuff. I never use any kind of polish. I lso shoot smokless, not black. That will make a differnce. For straight wall cases that require no lube, I find that within an hour or so, the cases are nice and shiny clean. For bottlenecks that require lubing, it takes longer for them to get clean, but 2 or 3 hours is usually enough. The only modifier to this is that when the media gets older, it starts to take it longer to clean stuff. That's how I know it's time to replace with fresh. Sometimes, I have forgotten, and left cases in over night. When that happens, they get REALLY shiny! I have also discovered that if for some reason you have a couple of green cases, leaving them in for a couple of days will polish them clean. It also cleans up old pennies, if you are so inclined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anvil Al #59168 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 left mine on for 3 days by accident when we went away for the weekend. Didn't seem to hurt anything. Now I don't feel so bad. Put some .45s in yesterday. Figured it would be about 4 hours till time to feed the horses and I would take them out then. But when time to feed. Wife jumps up and says she will do it. I had forgot about the brass. Went to feed this mourning and it was still going. tumbled about 16 hours. But it sure is shiney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fannie Kicker Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 As others have said here, no issue with the brass itself. The one thing to consider is the fact that your tumbler has a finite number of hours that it will last. An hour or two for most brass, longer for some of the really dirty stuff should sufficiently clean your brass so as not to damage your loading dies(the main reason for cleaning your brass). Any longer is really just for aesthetics. Is a tumbler all that expensive? Not really, all things considered. Just something to consider. I personally try to do most of my tumbling in cold weather in an unheated garage. This helps keep the motor of the tumbler cooler. Heat is a major enemy of electric motors. Always make sure that your tumbler is not obstructed by anything so it can get sufficient air flow around the base to allowing for cooling. This should help the longevity of your tumbler. Again, probably not a big deal in the overall scheme of thing, just something to consider. Titus here, guess I shoulda paid attention to who was logged in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Canyon Kid #43974 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I use Pet Smart lizzard bedding. Once I forgot to turn off the tumbler on Friday night and came back Sunday and had really dusty but really clean brass. No harm. Just added a few drier static cloths and dust disappeared after a few minutes running. Normally I run the tumbler for about 3 hours depending on how new or old the media is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Dastardly SASS #45219 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Just because I sell the stuff, I had to run an endurance test to see if it would ruin brass. I tumbled some stained brass in Big Lube®LLC Ceramic Porcelain media for 24 hours. I was unable to measure any difference in case neck thickness with a tubing micrometer. The brass was very clean outside and inside and the primer pockets were well cleaned also. Even though Big Lube®LLC Ceramic Porcelain media has a minimum cycle time of three hours to clean brass, tumbling longer has no detrimental effect. I do recommend the eight hour break in period to reduce the crisp edges of the CP media. DD-DLoS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother King, SASS #69031 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I use one of those $3.00 security timers... (like you would use on a lamp to turn "off" and "on" when you are away from home), plug my tumbler into it, plug the timer into the wall, set the timer for an hour or so, forget about it, and check it when I get around to it. DANG! That there's a good idear....thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Canyon Kid #43974 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Hey why wouldn't one of those Christmas decoration timers work? One less thing to put away til next winter. Great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yusta B. Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Don't listen to 'em Dave ---- ifn ya run them 38's tooooo long in tha tumbler, yer gonna have to buy some 32 mag pistolas 'cause them worn down shells will fall right thru yer 38's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greeenriver SASS #38681 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I often suffer from CRS and have put my BP 45 cases in the tumbler on the back pourch and forgotten them for several daya using ground walnut media. Never harmed them yet. Normaly, when I get home from a shoot, I rince and let the brass dry, then toss it into the walnut media overnite. Next morning, I switch to corncob media till afternoon. Brass ends up getting tumbled for about 20 to 24 hours after each shoot. Been doing it that way for years and never polished any holes in the brass yet. Got some 45 colt brass I've been using for over 10 years now. Greeenriver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Tooth Zach Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I use one of those $3.00 security timers... (like you would use on a lamp to turn "off" and "on" when you are away from home), plug my tumbler into it, plug the timer into the wall, set the timer for an hour or so, forget about it, and check it when I get around to it. Great idea. I'm going to try it tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shenny Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I know being 50% deaf has some advantage, I just put the brass in when I go to bed, turn the tumbler on & remove hearing aids. Cut the tumbler off when I get up in morning. shenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assassin Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Do I use red or white corn cobs? My grandad always carried them in the front of his bib overalls. I have forgotten to turn off the tumbler and they got really shiny after 24+ hours. Media is not as hard as brass, probably no extra wear by leaving them in for several extra hours. LL' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 When the cases become transparent, it's usually time to discard them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noz Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 As others have said here, no issue with the brass itself. The one thing to consider is the fact that your tumbler has a finite number of hours that it will last. An hour or two for most brass, longer for some of the really dirty stuff should sufficiently clean your brass so as not to damage your loading dies(the main reason for cleaning your brass). Any longer is really just for aesthetics. Is a tumbler all that expensive? Not really, all things considered. Just something to consider. I personally try to do most of my tumbling in cold weather in an unheated garage. This helps keep the motor of the tumbler cooler. Heat is a major enemy of electric motors. Always make sure that your tumbler is not obstructed by anything so it can get sufficient air flow around the base to allowing for cooling. This should help the longevity of your tumbler. Again, probably not a big deal in the overall scheme of thing, just something to consider. Titus here, guess I shoulda paid attention to who was logged in! Boy I read through this before the edit and thought that Fanny is really losing it. It didn't sound near smart enough for her. Now I know that it was titus speaking it all makes sense. I too have forgotten my tumbler and allowed it to run all weekend. That's with ceramic media. No problems but they were really shiny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I've left brass in for many many hours and I am yet to open the tumbler to find nothing but brass dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sawyer#34250 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I agree that most of won't live longer enough to harm brass by tumbling too long. A tip from "Sawyer's Shooting School"--take your used frabric softener sheets from the dryer and cut them up into four pieces and drop them into the tumbler with your brass. When you are done take them out and you will be amazed at how much fine dust and dirt they have collected. I have found that this makes my tumbler media last about three times longer. I hope everybody has a good tumble today!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Wow! You guys tumble brass for a long time. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I tumble it for about 1 hour. No polish; just a little mineral spirits. Maybe I'll try my next batch a little longer. Frank, I guess we are the only guys. The only place I have to tumble is indoors so I get plenty of noise complaints from the fam. esp. my wife. I kept cutting back my time until I found that 1/2 hour did just fine. After all before the tumbler, my BP once fired (at a shoot) 45 LC brass gets a fairly good treatment. I run the brass through a media separator to get all the range dirt out, then I deprime all the cases. Next they go into a Dawn detergent bath and soak probably for about 1/2 an hour. Then they are dried and put into the tumbler. Not sparkling, but look as good as a brand new case after it has been subjected to the loading/lube operations so I'm very happy with the results. Smithy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grayrock, SASS #64093 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Here is a related question- how do you know when it is time to change your tumbling media? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.