Question for you wet tumblers.

[Eyesa Horg]

Just recently started wet tumbling with a FART. I've only run one full load of 45c.

I have a BP match coming up the end of the month. Can I run say 60-45c, 60- C45S, and 25 -45-70 as a small batch? How much water with that small amount? Will need to run a couple hundred 9mm soon as well. What's your experience with small loads? Thanks for your input.

EH

[Texas Red]

Small loads are fine..I use same water and ingredients for all loads...Bears to mention same size brass mouth, to avoid telescoping small brass into larger.

TR

[pachaug kid]

Morning Eyesa: I have a Lyman wet tumbler, the drum inside lenght is 9",and all though they say you can fill half the tumbler, I never have.  I usually run small batches of 9's, 44-40's, etc. which take up about 2-3", I use enough water/deterent to cover the brass. Have always had good results. Hope this helps. Pachaug Kid

[Yul Lose]

I always run the same amount of water regardless of the amount of brass being cleaned and the same amount of Dawn and Stratosheen.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

What media are you using?

I wet tumble every cartridge I load from .32 S&W to .45-90 using ceramic. 

[Ya Big Tree]

I use a Franklin tumbler and really the smaller the batch the better they come out. About 100-200 44/40 cases. With a full tank of water. If I load more than that they come out kind of an orangish color.
Note: don't mix case mouth sizes. A 44-40 stuck in a 45 Colt is annoying. but a .38 spl. gets stuck.

[Eyesa Horg]

2 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

What media are you using?

I wet tumble every cartridge I load from .32 S&W to .45-90 using ceramic. 

I have the pins, but was gonna try just depriming and running with the soap, lemi shine and strato sheen.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Just now, Eyesa Horg said:

I have the pins, but was gonna try just depriming and running with the soap, lemi shine and strato sheen.

Do it!

[Eyesa Horg]

1 hour ago, Ya Big Tree said:

I use a Franklin tumbler and really the smaller the batch the better they come out. About 100-200 44/40 cases. With a full tank of water. If I load more than that they come out kind of an orangish color.
Note: don't mix case mouth sizes. A 44-40 stuck in a 45 Colt is annoying. but a .38 spl. gets stuck.

Maybe that's where I went wrong on my first batch with pins, I had the tank half to two thirds full of brass. And although clean, they came out looking like they had been sitting around for a year. Not shiny like my dry tumbling.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Wet tumbling gets everything squeaky clean.  It helps if you have an assitant.

 

[Sedalia Dave]

If there are any nickel cases and use Lemi-Shine they will come out dull. The next two or three batches will also be dull.

 

I quite using lemi shine anytime I have nickel cases in a batch.

 

When separating the media from the cases only put a couple hundred cases in the media separator at a time. Since I started doing this I haven't found a single case with a pin or ceramic media inside it.

[Griff]

Don't take my experience as any sorta "gospel"... but I use the pins in everything, and run the same amount of water will all the pins, regardless of the amount of brass I have to do.  I like to keep it no less than 100... but... sometimes they just beg to get done... smallest batch I did was 40 rounds of .32-40.  

[BenW]

I switched over to Southern Shine media early on (several years ago) and love the stuff!  Never have found a single piece stuck in a case or primer pocket/flash hole.  I have no connection with Southern Shine media besides being a very satisfied customer.

 

When I have enough cases to use the Franklin Arsenal Rotary Tumbler (FART), I normally fill the tumbler half full, and use hot tap water to just cover the brass.  This way has always worked for me.

 

I also have one of the Harbor Freight rock tumblers that I used before I got my BIG drum... I use the Harbor Freight for small batches.  It works well for that.

[Texas Red]

BenW,

Is the Southern Shine media magnetic like the SS pins?

TR

[Rip Snorter]

Tumbling dry is safer, you are more likely to slip if wet.

[Eyesa Horg]

2 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

If there are any nickel cases and use Lemi-Shine they will come out dull. The next two or three batches will also be dull.

 

I quite using lemi shine anytime I have nickel cases in a batch.

 

When separating the media from the cases only put a couple hundred cases in the media separator at a time. Since I started doing this I haven't found a single case with a pin or ceramic media inside it.

That may have been part of the issue too. I had 2 nickel 45c cases in the batch. Amazing that would do it, but chemical reactions can be amazing!

[Chancy Shot, SASS #67163]

1 hour ago, Texas Red said:

BenW,

Is the Southern Shine media magnetic like the SS pins?

TR

I use pins and Southern Shine together.  A magnet picks them both up.

 

Chancy

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

another happy customer of Southern Shine media

 

https://www.facebook.com/southernshinemedia/

 

https://tbbullets.com/southern-shine-media-2/

 

[Eyesa Horg]

Doe's Southern Shine come out of the brass easier than pins?

[BenW]

I use the Franklin Arsenal media separator, never had any problem getting the media out.  Here's a link, not necessarily recommending this vendor:  https://www.tacticalwholesalers.com/Frankford-Plat-Wetdry-Media-Sep_p_267944.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwr82iBhCuARIsAO0EAZxk6gApOqn1ktUK2kh60Pp0-XpOliuhHhAzjk4nGdSz50fV_ciIzHcaAkBoEALw_wcB

[DeaconKC]

If you do get a 38 stuck in a 45 case, use a kinetic bullet puller [the hammer type] to pop the offender right out.

[Tequila Shooter]

14 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

That may have been part of the issue too. I had 2 nickel 45c cases in the batch. Amazing that would do it, but chemical reactions can be amazing!

 

I learned that lesson already, now I make sure there’s no nickel cases in with the brass.  Also, earlier you mentioned de-priming before tumbling, I definitely recommend that.  When I first started I didn’t bother and I had some FTF, finally figured out that it was caused by the primer pocket still being damp, and that was after the brass sitting for a week before reloading.  Now I always de-prime before washing, no more FTF, clean primer pockets and the cases dry quick since air can circulate through them. 

[The Surgeon]

If the brass I'm using was clean when I bought it I only tumble with hot water and dawn. I don't even bother with media. the brass comes out almost as clean and I don't have to worry about separating the media and cases. if the cases are in rough shape or I just feel like having some shinny brass I add the pins but I only ever use dawn and nothing else and it comes out fine. 

[Grass Range]

Wet tumbling is too messy. Use dry media

[Shooting Bull]

17 hours ago, BenW said:

Franklin Arsenal Rotary Tumbler (FART)

 

 

THANK YOU!!!  Before you spelled it out I thought the OP was using some sort of new witch's brew as a cleaning agent. 

 

P.S.  Unless you have particularly hard water Lemi-Shine is unnecessary.  Just liquid soap and Strat-O-Sheen works perfectly well. I started using an automotive combo wash/wax soap years ago and love it. 

[BenW]

Shooting Bull, I also switched to Armor-All Wash-N-Wax years ago.  Works well for me, and I do use some Lemi-Shine just to make the brass pretty!

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

There is also a FART wrench.  It works very well.

 

https://www.fgsengineering.com/product/fart-wrench-frankford-arsenal-rotary-tumbler-lid-wrench/

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

18 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Doe's Southern Shine come out of the brass easier than pins?

sure does--though I'm cleaning straight-walled cases.  

 

they are so small that I wouldn't think they'd be a problem in bottlenecked ones either

 

[Sedalia Dave]

2 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

There is also a FART wrench.  It works very well.

 

https://www.fgsengineering.com/product/fart-wrench-frankford-arsenal-rotary-tumbler-lid-wrench/

 

Thanks I'll get me one just in case.

 

Since I started wetting the lid gasket with a little soapy water before screwing it on, the leaking issue has went away.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

3 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Thanks I'll get me one just in case.

 

Since I started wetting the lid gasket with a little soapy water before screwing it on, the leaking issue has went away.

Silicone spray works well too. 

[Earl Brasse, SASS #3562]

One thing to keep in mind, per FART instructions, 30 lbs. maximum weight of drum & contents total (drum, water, brass, pins).

 

I use an old bathroom scale to check the total weight before tumbling. 

[Captain Bill Burt]

I use a Rebel. That’s overkill for small batches. I usually do 400 and up at a time, no media.

[Dusty Devil Dale]

On 5/4/2023 at 11:02 AM, Eyesa Horg said:

I have the pins, but was gonna try just depriming and running with the soap, lemi shine and strato sheen.

(Others here will disagree)

 

FWIW, I do not deprime before wet tumbling with either ceramic or steel media.  Both media types are much harder than brass and when washed or rubbed together (as occurs when the media  cleans the cup), they will remove very small amounts of metal from the insides and bottom of the primer cup.  After a number of cleanings, the cups are going to loosen and deepen.  The change will be very slight, but the altered  dimensions will be slightly beyond their original specs. 

 

The slightly acid solutions used in tumbling (like Lemishine or Stratasheen) also don't do any favors to the inside of the precision-made primer cup.  

 

There really is no need to remove the deposits in the cup.  The presence of the primer body during firing prevents very much deposition, and depriming itself removes most of what little is there (take a look in the cup after depriming).   I have never had a case where primers could not be fully seated due to residue build-up.  However; loose or too- deep primer seating can cause ftf problems in guns with reduced hammer springs. 

---- And for me, the extra deprime step was always a PITB.  

 

[Hillbilly Cat]

I usually clean 5lbs of brass in a batch. I noticed on the last batch everything came out orange. Found one nickel case in the mix. Maybe that was it. I usually fill the water to the top. 

[Tequila Shooter]

5 hours ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

(Others here will disagree)

 

FWIW, I do not deprime before wet tumbling with either ceramic or steel media.  Both media types are much harder than brass and when washed or rubbed together (as occurs when the media  cleans the cup), they will remove very small amounts of metal from the insides and bottom of the primer cup.  After a number of cleanings, the cups are going to loosen and deepen.  The change will be very slight, but the altered  dimensions will be slightly beyond their original specs. 

 

The slightly acid solutions used in tumbling (like Lemishine or Stratasheen) also don't do any favors to the inside of the precision-made primer cup.  

 

There really is no need to remove the deposits in the cup.  The presence of the primer body during firing prevents very much deposition, and depriming itself removes most of what little is there (take a look in the cup after depriming).   I have never had a case where primers could not be fully seated due to residue build-up.  However; loose or too- deep primer seating can cause ftf problems in guns with reduced hammer springs. 

---- And for me, the extra deprime step was always a PITB.  

 

 

Ok, I’ll say it….I disagree