I think that I'm sold on wet tumbling!

[Eyesa Horg]

Just now, Shooting Bull said:

 

No, I've stopped using Lemi-Shine but that has nothing to do with the Strat O Sheen.  If you have hard water the Lemi-Shine is definitely a benefit. But we have a whole house water filter/conditioner system so our water is already very soft.  That makes the Lemi-Shine redundant and unnecessary.  

Thanks, I do have somewhat hard water.

[Sedalia Dave]

For those that do the Strat-o-sheen with no pins.

 

Do any of  you shoot BP and what does the inside of the cases look like?

[Eyesa Horg]

On 11/19/2022 at 8:22 AM, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

The super shiny brass attracts me like a bass to a wacky worm, but I have a couple of basic questions:

 

1.  Does super shiny brass shoot straighter than the perfectly clean but less than pretty stuff that comes out of my dry media vibratory tumbler? 

2. Does anyone other than you see how nice and shiny your brass is, other than at the loading table?

 

ND

While I'm thinking about switching to wet--- what I do currently is: 

I use a 50/50 mix of Simple Green and water in a gallon jug. Add a couple hundred 45 colt brass and soak/ agitate now and then for about half an hour. Rinse and lay out in a food dehydrator for 1 1/2 hours. Then into the vibratory tumbler with corn cob and a little car polish. Tumble for another 1 1/2 hours. They come out real shiny, but the insides are still a bit dirty. I do not deprimed first. Washing first pretty much eliminates the lead issue and I do put a dryer sheet cut in quarters in with the brass. I have minimal dust when I dump into my separator. I like shiny brass, just cuz! With a 45 Marlin it makes no difference to finding brass, as they are pretty dirty upon ejection!

Oh, and I also reuse the Simple Green and media for well over a year. Just add a little more polish to the media every once in a while.

[Eyesa Horg]

Looking at the 2 FA wet tumblers. Which do you guys mostly use? I typically clean 6-800 45 colt at a time. Either one will likely cover 38 & C45S. The larger one would certainly work. Is the rubber lining and extra capacity on the big one worth the extra cost, about $40 on Amazon. $99 vs $140? Starting to give this some thought as new toys are always cool and Christmas is coming!

[Shooting Bull]

3 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

For those that do the Strat-o-sheen with no pins.

 

Do any of  you shoot BP and what does the inside of the cases look like?

 

I do not shoot black powder but I can tell you the inside of my smokeless cases are perfectly clean.  Can't say they're quite as shiny on the inside as with pins but I only care about shiny on the outside. 

12 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Looking at the 2 FA wet tumblers. Which do you guys mostly use? I typically clean 6-800 45 colt at a time. Either one will likely cover 38 & C45S. The larger one would certainly work. Is the rubber lining and extra capacity on the big one worth the extra cost, about $40 on Amazon. $99 vs $140? Starting to give this some thought as new toys are always cool and Christmas is coming!

 

Bigger is always better.  I'd rather have too much room than not enough. 

[Sedalia Dave]

1 hour ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Looking at the 2 FA wet tumblers. Which do you guys mostly use? I typically clean 6-800 45 colt at a time. Either one will likely cover 38 & C45S. The larger one would certainly work. Is the rubber lining and extra capacity on the big one worth the extra cost, about $40 on Amazon. $99 vs $140? Starting to give this some thought as new toys are always cool and Christmas is coming!

Get the bigger one. A few cases in a big one will come out clean. Too many in a smaller one and they won’t get cleaned properly. 

[Chief Rick]

2 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Is the rubber lining and extra capacity on the big one worth the extra cost, about $40 on Amazon. $99 vs $140? 

IMO - yes.  It dampens the noise.  It's still not quiet, but it's not as bad as one without the liner.

[Jack Spade]

Definitely get the bigger one.

[evil dogooder]

We used to dry tumble, with 4-6 shooters we were spending a lot of time with dry tumbling.   Then I got a good tip from Jerry miculek, bought an old used concrete mixer.   I added a few more baffles to boost up the agitation and now we do  around three thousand rounds in about half an hour and they look like new .

[Eyesa Horg]

Another Q! In researching Strato Sheen, I found an 8 yr. old thread from John Boy that had high regards for adding Scrubbing Bubbles to the burnishing mix. 

Do you still use the Bubbles and do you add car wash as well? 

OK 2 Q's! I run my loaded rounds for a minute or two in the corn cob with mineral spirits to remove case lube. wouldn't that remove the wax benefit of car wash?

[Dream Chaser, SASS #79316]

I just use Stratosheen and Dawn and am very happy with my results.

[Sedalia Dave]

1 hour ago, Eyesa Horg said:

OK 2 Q's! I run my loaded rounds for a minute or two in the corn cob with mineral spirits to remove case lube. wouldn't that remove the wax benefit of car wash?

 

Use Hornady 1 Shot and there is no need to remove case lube from pistol caliber rounds.

[Eyesa Horg]

1 minute ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Use Hornady 1 Shot and there is no need to remove case lube from pistol caliber rounds.

I haven't tried it yet, been using homemade Dillon lube which isn't real greasy after loading, but somehow seems I should clean it off. May have to try one shot, especially if I go to wet tumbling.

[Sedalia Dave]

Just now, Eyesa Horg said:

I haven't tried it yet, been using homemade Dillon lube which isn't real greasy after loading, but somehow seems I should clean it off. May have to try one shot, especially if I go to wet tumbling.

 

I use it on my 32 S&W shorts, 38 Specials,  357 mag, and 44 WCF with great success.  I have a bunch of cookie sheets that I use to inspect brass. Pour them in and lay them all flat. Inspect for .357s in my 38s, 38s in the .357s and 45s in with my 44 WCF. Once inspected I give them a light coating of 1 Shot, then move onto the next sheet. Usually have 3 or 4 sheets full of brass ready to load. After inspecting a sheet I give the brass a coating of one shot and set it aside. One all the sheets are inspected I put them into the brass hopper of my press about 125 pieces at a time starting with the sheet I inspected first. Every time I drop in another tube of primers I put another 125 or so pieces of brass in the hopper. 

[Chief Rick]

11 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Use Hornady 1 Shot and there is no need to remove case lube from pistol caliber rounds.

^^^ +1

A can of the Hornady One-Shot Case Lube will last quite a while.  I always spray my cases before reloading. 

 

While it makes a difference on the 38 Special cases, it makes a considerable difference with the 45 Colt and 44 WCF.

[Sedalia Dave]

I forgot to add that you definitely have to shake the can well before each use, otherwise the last 1/3 of the can will have no lube.

[Warden Callaway]

I use to dump a bunch in a gallon ziploc bag.   Spritz some One-shot.  Close the bag and massage it good.  Dump contents in bin and go off a do other thing until dry.   

 

Then I got to loading trays and set them up in them. Give them a Shot one direction then turn 180 and hit the other side. Oad mostly 38WCF and 44WCF on 550B.  

[Chief Rick]

1 hour ago, Warden Callaway said:

Then I got to loading trays and set them up in them. Give them a Shot one direction then turn 180 and hit the other side. Oad mostly 38WCF and 44WCF on 550B.  

This is exactly how I prep all my brass.

 

Takes a little longer but I typically find a few pieces of brass with split necks, sometimes just a nick but sometimes longer splits.  I like to find these before I put a primer and powder in them.

 

With the KMS²  UFO light mounted on the press, I get a very good view down into the case at the powder station.  Rarely does a split case make it past that point.

 

[Jack Spade]

Once I started using the car wash and wax there is no need for the case lube on pistol cases. 

[Eyesa Horg]

28 minutes ago, Jack Spade said:

Once I started using the car wash and wax there is no need for the case lube on pistol cases. 

How much car wash are you adding to the burnishing solution?

[Possum Skinner, SASS#60697]

On 11/21/2022 at 11:32 AM, Sedalia Dave said:

For those that do the Strat-o-sheen with no pins.

 

Do any of  you shoot BP and what does the inside of the cases look like?

I don’t feel like the strato-sheen gets my BP brass clean enough inside, so use the pins for that brass only.  Otherwise, the strato-sheen works great.

[Jack Spade]

I put in 2 tablespoons of the car wash and wax in the large tumbler. 

[Shooting Bull]

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the soap formula you use really doesn't make that much difference.  Whether you shower with Ivory, Irish Spring, Life Boy or whatever you still get clean.  You do shower, right? 

 

How much?  I don't think that's an overly critical measurement but here's my theory.  I want suds.  I don't really know for sure but in my mind suds indicate I've got the right amount in there.  On that note, don't fill the tumbler all the way up with water.  Leave a half inch or so of air to allow the brass to tumble around more.  That gives a better cleaning action.  Again, that's just my theory, can't prove it. 

 

So here's my step by step process:

 

1. Dump brass in tumbler
2. Fill tumbler with water leaving 1/2" - 1" of air
3. Add about a tablespoon or Strat O Sheen
4. Add a healthy glob of soap (You want to add the Strat O Sheen and soap after filling with water)
5. Tumble for 1-2 hours depending on how many cases and how dirty they are
6. Rinse however many times it takes to get rid of the suds
7. Dump onto a big beach towel
8. Grab the ends of the towel and roll the brass back and forth to get most of the water out
9. Dump onto a second beach towel and spread out as much as possible
10. Turn ceiling fan on high
11. Come back the next day to shiny dry brass
12. I then run each and every case mouth against an old towel to check for cracks
13. After they've been checked for cracks I repeat Steps 1-11
14. After the second cleaning I dump a few handfuls of brass at a time into an old plastic pretzel jug, hit it with Hornady One Shot and shake it around for a few seconds then dump it into my "Ready to reload brass" container"

[Matthew Duncan]

On 11/19/2022 at 8:22 AM, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

The super shiny brass attracts me like a bass to a wacky worm, but I have a couple of basic questions:

 

1.  Does super shiny brass shoot straighter than the perfectly clean but less than pretty stuff that comes out of my dry media vibratory tumbler? 

2. Does anyone other than you see how nice and shiny your brass is, other than at the loading table?

 

ND

1.  Has to be shooting straighter because I have less misses.  

 

2.  Yes the brass pickers, it’s easier to find.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Matthew Duncan

[Eyesa Horg]

Anybody found a better than Amazon price for the large FA tumbler @ $140 + $15 for the magnet?

[Hendo]

44 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Anybody found a better than Amazon price for the large FA tumbler @ $140 + $15 for the magnet?

Next best was Midway, but they charge for shipping. 

[Griff]

4 minutes ago, Hendo said:

Next best was Midway, but they charge for shipping. 

Since I avoid Amazon, (conflict of business thing), and I had other Midway stuff to order, it was a simple decision.

[Jack Spade]

We bought my dad a whole kit last year on black Friday, look at the sales ads.

[Griff]

Mine came today, and since I shot up some bp in .32-40 along with some 45 Colt yesterday, I figured I give it a try.  Other than a leaking seal and not wanting to rotate freely, without a helping hand, all seems good,  I'll check back in an hour... maybe a tad more to give it a fair shake.   Already taking longer than the sonic cleaner.   Yes, I decapped 1st... at over $2 per piece the likelihood of having a primer ring left in the pocket doesn't thrill me.  Been there, done that.

[Chief Rick]

19 minutes ago, Griff said:

Mine came today, and since I shot up some bp in .32-40 along with some 45 Colt yesterday, I figured I give it a try.  Other than a leaking seal and not wanting to rotate freely, without a helping hand, all seems good,  I'll check back in an hour... maybe a tad more to give it a fair shake.   Already taking longer than the sonic cleaner.   Yes, I decapped 1st... at over $2 per piece the likelihood of having a primer ring left in the pocket doesn't thrill me.  Been there, done that.

I have taken a black Sharpie and made arrows pointing towards one end.  This is the only cap I take off to fill or empty.  When filling the tumbler up with water, run your fingers on both sides of the gasket with a little soap/water.  You won't struggle to tighten the cap putting it back on and it will also come off easier.

[Matthew Duncan]

1 hour ago, Griff said:

…  not wanting to rotate freely, without a helping hand…

My Rebel tumbler does the same thing when I don’t follow the manufacturer’s on overloading the tumbler.

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

I went for the smaller one but I have a storage space limitation in my apartment.  Still, I just don't process all that much brass all that frequently, so I can't see the smaller one being any problem.  And I tried it tonight.  All of this talk of what to add to the water ... the kit comes with 24 little disintegrating packs of brass cleaner stuff that smells lemon-y and makes suds.  And it worked better than my best dry tumbling ever did, in just under two hours of watery tumbling.  So at least for the next 23 batches of brass (I filled the canister about 2/3 -3/4 full of brass, and then with water up to the neck of the canister just as the instructions say to do), I'm just using the little packs that came with the kit.  No magnet is needed if you have the FA media separator and the bucket it mounts to -- and after getting most of the pins out with the media separator with water running over it, and then dumping the very dirty water and pins into a cloth bag to catch the pins, I then filled the bucket with enough clean water to rotate the media separator basket half submerged in the water, drained off much of the water, refilled and repeated, and that was that.  I have not found a single stray pin in my brass yet.  I requisitioned one of Bullion Rose's mesh bags used for washing her delicate laundry items, filled it with the brass, and it is now suspended inside the door of the clothes dryer, which seems to be doing an excellent drying job with a shake of the bag every so often.  Very pleased with the whole kit and the process.  I did also need to wipe the o-ring (both sides) with soapy water to get the canister's cap on tight enough to seal, but as soon as I figured that out, not another drop was leaked.  And the tumbler base spun that sucker like a champ.

[Itchy Trigger]

On 11/22/2022 at 8:28 AM, evil dogooder said:

We used to dry tumble, with 4-6 shooters we were spending a lot of time with dry tumbling.   Then I got a good tip from Jerry miculek, bought an old used concrete mixer.   I added a few more baffles to boost up the agitation and now we do  around three thousand rounds in about half an hour and they look like new .

 

A new toy I NEED!

[Itchy Trigger]

On 11/22/2022 at 6:20 PM, Eyesa Horg said:

Do you still use the Bubbles and do you add car wash as well? 

 

I typically spray scrubbing bubbles on the cases and leave them 5-10 minutes before I add them to the tumbler with dawn and water. I don't believe that the small amount of scrubbing bubbles that might be left on the cases would have any adverse effect with the powder, but I rinse thoroughly to make sure.

[Griff]

I'd be more sold on it if it weren't for the pins... Aye Gawd what a mess!  Definitely needs more than one rinse.