Best for the $ liquid/SS pins case cleaner system?

[Big Boomer]

Have made the decision to leave the dry walnut tumbling system with an old RCBS vibratory tumbler and move to a liquid cleaning system. Have SS pins and plenty of citric acid on hand … now I have to decide on the water tight tumbler. Which one is the best for the $ involved. My needs will not be high volume and in some cases I like to clean single boxes of .30 Carbine, .357 Mag, .41 Mag. and .45 Colt separately so as to keep them unmixed. I record on the box the number of times the cases have been fired, trimmed, etc. 9mm and .45 ACP are kept in larger quantities in ammo cans so are cleaned in higher volume. What are you using and what is the cost of your system? Big Boomer

[CraigOK]

Someday I'd like to get the Frankford Arsenal one I've heard great things about it.

[mdi]

FWIW, I've used a Harbor Freight dual drum tumbler for wet tumbling (when I was experimenting with it). The drums are water tight and will hold 100, 38 Special, 9mm or 45 ACP with a bit fewer 357 Magnum or 44 Magnum cases with pins and solution in each drum. I found my trial worked quite well with fewer cases at a time, but the 100 did work well...

[scotner]

I have the Frankford Arsenal and it is great but it is not really suitable for small batches. It is a more complicated process than dry tumbling and much more time consuming.

I have seen all kinds of opinions on what you have to do to clean brass with this system but my best results have come from simply using the liquid cleaner that comes with it and the hottest water you can get from the sink. I run for two hours, rinse and separate the pins (the hardest part of this process). Then I use my Dillon media separator to spin dry most of the water from the brass and spread it out on a large towel to finish drying. Not quick or simple but even range pickup brass comes out looking like new.

I bought mine from jet.com. They had a coupon good for 15% off for first time buyers and free shiping. Best price I could find. If you decide to buy a stainless pin cleaning system be sure to order the magnetic pickup tool for it. It is not terribly expensive and makes the process much easier.

[Grmps]

My DIY wet tumbler ( I built my first one out of wood with the metal strap holding the wiper motor)
computer power supply (yellow is 12 V Black is ground green is off/on. use 1 group of yellow and black with the green and a black)
heavy duty wiper motor(as heavy as you can find, (I use a small fan to keep the motor cool)
scrap metal and casters
2 gal bucket and Leaktite lid (at first year I used a regular lid)
4 pcs 3/4 nylon/plastic cut at a bevel with silicone and screwed into the bucket (you can use aluminum angle with silicone and short bolts)

https://i.imgur.com/R7q3cHq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DDIREUS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KhXzfoQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Sc61MTt.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PHfrLXf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xfSbWY7.jpg

The 223 brass keeps the buket handle out of the rollers
https://i.imgur.com/F3j8qo8.jpg


7# stainless pins
https://i.imgur.com/ugaDJMv.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/U9EG2SJ.jpg
Leaktite lid/ Gamma Seal Lid for 2 Gallon Plastic Pail (I got at Uline.com, still looking for better bucket/lid combo)

You can use this setup with different containers inside for tumbling in
▼▼▼

[Grmps]

For small batches I put spacers in the buclet

https://i.imgur.com/df8FjES.jpg

and used a 2# square peanut jar to tumble in

https://i.imgur.com/IKUyuLT.jpg

[dkonrai]

I got my FART on sale on Amazon last year for 99.00 shipped plus tax. It was a black Friday sale. Hold on bf is almost here.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

[GregLaROCHE]

I wash my brass by hand with dish washing detergent and ammonia. Five minutes swishing with an old dish brush. It really gets them clean. I then rinse and put them in a solution of citric acid. Then rinse thoroughly and let dry.

I don’t think the citric actually really makes a big difference and may stop using it because, if not well rinsed, it will leave streaks.

The ammonia really cleans fast and well. I often think if one day I get a liquid tumbler I would use the dish soap and ammonia in it.

I see people using citric acid with detergents. To me that makes no sense. Soaps and detergents are basic and of course acids are acidic. The two will want to neutralize each other.

My system by hand works pretty well and doesn’t take more than fifteen minutes. The only drawback I see with it, is the primer pockets don’t get clean enough for me and I have to do them by hand. Do the stainless pins get the primer pockets really clean?

[lightman]

Do the stainless pins get the primer pockets really clean?

Two hours in my tumbler gets all but the worst primer pockets clean. I'm not sure if its the stainless media or the citric acid.

[wv109323]

I just got a flyer from Midsouth and the FACTORY was on sale for $159 with pins included.

[HangFireW8]

I wash my brass by hand with dish washing detergent and ammonia. Five minutes swishing with an old dish brush. It really gets them clean. I then rinse and put them in a solution of citric acid. Then rinse thoroughly and let dry.

I don’t think the citric actually really makes a big difference and may stop using it because, if not well rinsed, it will leave streaks.

The ammonia really cleans fast and well. I often think if one day I get a liquid tumbler I would use the dish soap and ammonia in it.

I see people using citric acid with detergents. To me that makes no sense. Soaps and detergents are basic and of course acids are acidic. The two will want to neutralize each other.

My system by hand works pretty well and doesn’t take more than fifteen minutes. The only drawback I see with it, is the primer pockets don’t get clean enough for me and I have to do them by hand. Do the stainless pins get the primer pockets really clean?Ammonia dissolves the zinc out of the brass and leaves it weaker. Using ammonia has therefore never been recommended for cleaning ammo brass. Yet every year someone on some forum comes forward with this great new idea.

[PowPow]

I just got the Lyman model, since I saw it's on Amazon for $139.39. Wow, turned my well loved .45acp brass into looking brand new including the primer pockets, clean primer pockets being my reason for wanting this. Some of them were pretty well gunked up. At this point, I don't think I'm going to completely stop dry tumbling my brass every week, but I might take it all and reset primer pockets to spanky new every so often. I know I could use one of the case prep tools to clean them, but this way fed my gadget curiosity.

[jmort]

The FART is rightly held in high regard

[RedlegEd]

Hi. I've got the FA Platinum wet tumbler and I love it, but if I saw the Lyman version that PowPow got for ~$140, I would have bought that one. In any event, wet tumbling with SS pins is a great way to get your brass unbelievably clean. Ed

[Chad5005]

ive got the lyman cyclone and it works great,weve done from small 50 count loads to 1000 count loads

[Omega]

I have the Harbor Freight and Frankford Arsenal versions, I like the FA version, I only run mine for 30-45 minutes with dawn and lemisine and they come out as new, including primer pockets. Much easier, IMHO, than dry tumblers, I seem to get a bunch of dust, even with a bit of wax or drier sheet tossed in. With the media separator and magnet it's a super simple process.

[GregLaROCHE]

One of the biggest benifits of wet tumbling is it keeps the dust down. Cases are full of fine lead from the primers and can easily be inhaled with dry tumbling. With wet tumbling, your risks of lead contamination are brought way down.

[GregLaROCHE]

Ammonia dissolves the zinc out of the brass and leaves it weaker. Using ammonia has therefore never been recommended for cleaning ammo brass. Yet every year someone on some forum comes forward with this great new idea.

You are right, ammonia can attack the zinc in brass. However, that depends on how strong it is and how long the exposure is. A table spoon of ammonia in hot water with dish detergent for five minutes has little effect on the structural strength of the brass. Maybe running brass in a tumbler for two hours in a solution of it, would not be a good idea. Thanks for pointing that out

[PowPow]

ive got the lyman cyclone and it works great,weve done from small 50 count loads to 1000 count loads

My first load was ~650 .45acp cases. Every one of them came out looking brand new. (Dawn & Lemi-shine, 2 hours) Some have 12-14 loads. After drying in a food dehydrator for ~3 hours, I ran them through the media separator that I use for my dry tumbling. I thought I had gotten all of the pins out before putting them in to dry, but behold there were 5 more pins that came out. So, the moral of the story is to be extra sure the pins are out. If you think there's a chance, take the time to verify. Then, since I'm new to wet tumbling, I checked every case as I was loading it. No pins. We don't want those pins in the loaded cartridges!

[dkonrai]

Anyone else wash theirs twice? I wet tumble for 30 or 40 minutes with dawn, no pins, dump dirty water, run it again. Then rinse.
Process brass, I use lube, then final tumble with pins to clean the pockets.
Rinse, i use a strainer then a magnetic separator. Final rinse in a bucket, dump in car wash, rinse again. My ocd kills me.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

[pertnear]

I got my FART on sale on Amazon last year for 99.00 shipped plus tax. It was a black Friday sale. Hold on bf is almost here.


The FART is rightly held in high regard

Don't frustrate yourself thinking about it. Wait for a sale & get a FART. It works great & it designed for the task.

[Bama]

I just got the Lyman model, since I saw it's on Amazon for $139.39. Wow, turned my well loved .45acp brass into looking brand new including the primer pockets, clean primer pockets being my reason for wanting this. Some of them were pretty well gunked up. At this point, I don't think I'm going to completely stop dry tumbling my brass every week, but I might take it all and reset primer pockets to spanky new every so often. I know I could use one of the case prep tools to clean them, but this way fed my gadget curiosity.

If you have to reload fairly quick after wet tumbling with ss pins, use plain corn cob media in vibratory to make sure cases are dry. Also if you are looking for replacement drums for rotary tumblers, look in some of the lapidary supply cat. They have been doing wet tumbling for a long time and are usually very heavy duty. sometimes it pays to check out if there is a local rock club in your area. I picked up two of mine that way at VERY good prices!

[StuBach]

I’ve done fine with the harbor freight double drum one. With coupons and a sale I got it for less than $30 so for the price it can’t be beat. Some day maybe I’ll buy one of the big custom rigs but for now this one does all I need and I only run for 10-30 minutes but I also use SS chips rather than pins (plus lemishine, dawn, and a spritz of armorall)

[JimB..]

Had a FART, got a large STM, sold the FART, regretted not having the FART for smaller batches, bought another FART.

I very much prefer the STM, it is larger, slower, heavier, and much much quieter. Alas it is also much more expensive and not the right tool for small batches.

[Hogan]

Anyone else wash theirs twice? I wet tumble for 30 or 40 minutes with dawn, no pins, dump dirty water, run it again. Then rinse.
Process brass, I use lube, then final tumble with pins to clean the pockets.
Rinse, i use a strainer then a magnetic separator. Final rinse in a bucket, dump in car wash, rinse again. My ocd kills me.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

I have the HF two drum tumbler and the FA tumbler. Before I got the FA I would be happy using the HF after a good range day. It might take me 4-5 cycles to process all the brass but it was fine. I would rinse and then air dry on a towel overnight. After I picked up the FA I also bought a food dehydrator. I can now clean enough brass to fill all of the dehydrator trays, making things much more efficient. Unless I shoot less than 300 rounds I don't even use the HF anymore.

Like dkonrai, I tend to clean my brass twice. I wash (with pins), prep all the brass, and then rewash just to get the case lube off. I know it's more than needed but I enjoy it. Every round I fire reminds me of my attention to detail (insert OCD and shrink jokes as needed) and makes me smile. If I just wanted to blast rounds I'd simply go buy the store ammo. This is a hobby that I enjoy spending the extra time with.

Rick

[Stephen Cohen]

I saw a cement mixer on u tube being used as a tumbler by fitting a plastic drum inside for wet media and pins, seems an idea I will have to try as my mixer sits idle year after year. Regards Stephen

[Big Boomer]

Can't thank you all enough for the responses. I looked over the FA offerings and believe that is the way I should go. Will also need the magnet and the device to get the SS pins separated from the cases. Thanks. Big Boomer

[WheelgunConvert]

I like clean brass, inside and out. Wet FA with SS pins works well for me. I deprive prior to tumbling and the pockets are cleaner as well. Probably a bit more time, but I like the no residual crud.

The only downside is that you have to pay attention to what you tumble together. Everything wants to get stuck in a 45.

[waco]

I have both Lortone and Thumblers. Great products. I'm sure others work well too.

[NyFirefighter357]

I have a F.A.R.T, a HF double & a DIY wiper tumbler, they all work well. The DIY only cost me about $20 to build. I have found the trick to cleaning very dirty brass is to run it for 20-30 min. then drain off as much water as possible & add new solution. The Lemi-shine 1/4tsp is just to soften your water, the soap is to put the dirt "in solution". It only takes 2-3 drops of concentrated Dawn in a F.A.R.T. to clean a tub of brass. With the F.A.R.T. after I'm done tumbling I put the screen on one side & dump the excess water out into the sink and remaining water & pins out into a 2.5gal bucket. I shake the tumbler into the bucket to get as much of the pins as I can out. I then fill the tumbler with clean (sometimes hot) water to rinse and run the tumbler for a minute or two. I then dump the excess water into the sink and remaining water into the bucket and shake to get as much water and any loose pins out. I then add a strong magnet & chamois strips & tumble for a few minutes. The magnet gets most of the remaining pins & the chamois dries the brass about 99%. I then dump the brass on a towel and spread out to air dry or placed under ceiling fan. I never get spots with this method. BTW don't let your brass sit long after it stops tumbling it will get dirty as the grime settles out of solution, best to leave it running then let it sit.

[John Boy]

https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html
229873 Only: $54.99

[Drew P]

The most economical is to buy a bills tumbler on eBay (thumbler clone) and don’t use any pins at all. The pins are expensive, but I found that they don’t really help my cleaning process, I don’t care about primer pockets or inside cases. I only clean so the brass looks clean and won’t hurt my dies etc.

[Omega]

The most economical is to buy a bills tumbler on eBay (thumbler clone) and don’t use any pins at all. The pins are expensive, but I found that they don’t really help my cleaning process, I don’t care about primer pockets or inside cases. I only clean so the brass looks clean and won’t hurt my dies etc.They get clean with just lemishine and dish soap, but if the insides don't get cleaned enough, you will still have build up on your dies when you size, maybe just a little at a time but it builds up. The FART kit comes with pins, which is a good value since the pins go for around $40ish.

[jmort]

I have pins and chips. Like the chips better, but agree with Omega, you want clean brass, use some sort of media.

[gwpercle]

My old Thumbler's Tumbler , the red , rubber lined drum, model B has been in service since 1973 with only a few belts replaced. 45 years service cleaning cases and polishing rocks...can't complain .
Gary

[Walter Laich]

I have pins and chips. Like the chips better, but agree with Omega, you want clean brass, use some sort of media.

+1 on chips. They seem to work in half the time compaired to pins

[wendyj]

I went with the Franklin tumbler last year. Don't like cleaning primer pockets. Bought a gallon of wash and wax from Walmart. One cap full and a tad of Lemishine. Never any spots and brass is spotless. Like wheelgun convert stated make sure all neck sizes are the same or you will be pulling ss pins and stuck cases out and recleaning.

[trixter]

A friend gave me a (very old) dual tumbler. The barrels are the same as the Thumlers full size. It is ugly but works perfectly. I have not used pins or chips, just Dawn and Lemi-shine. I like the results.

[500Linebaughbuck]

i've bought a HF and i love it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtTxBqOwtnA

[John Boy]

The best burnishing solution there is ... Strat-O-Sheen Powder Burnishing Compound, 5-lbs.
https://www.riogrande.com/Product/strat-o-sheen-powder-burnishing-compound-5-lbs/3390175

It's concentrated powder: mix 3 oz powder to 1 gallon of water ( I use distilled water - pH 7)
That yields 26.7 gallons of burnishing solution :popcorn: :holysheep

[kevin c]

I don't wash twice, but I do rinse several times to reduce residue inside the case (I don't decap and don't use pins).

I use the FART, but my volume of brass justifies its capacity. I've read a lot of folks use the HF Rock tumblers for smaller amounts of brass.

[PJEagle]

I use the Frankford Arsenal and highly recommend it. I wash twice; once with dawn and lemishine and once with car wash & wax and lemishine. That way the outside, inside and the primer pocket are really clean. The car wash & wax keeps the brass from tarnishing and gives it a little case lube for resizing. Clean is more important to me than polish. The wet tumbler with steel pins will not polish, but it gets things super clean.

[thraxx]

I have the HF dual drum and it works great for small batches. I got my ss pins off of amazon.

My process starts w/ decapping the brass with a lee hand press and universal decapper. Then I run it for 2h w/ 1/8 tsp. lemishine and a .40S&W case of standard strength dawn. I then dump the drum contents into a ice cream bucket and rinse the whole lot until the water is clear, then put the batch back into the drum with 1/8th tsp lemishine and just a swirl of dawn. and run another 2h. I rinse after that and pour the pins/brass into a salad dryer and separate the pins that way (about four spins back and fourth) Then onto a towel and swish the brass like you were polishing a bowling ball, and then into a dehydrator for about 15 min.

edit:
nickle brass gets half the time in the tumbler. I use cold water for everything.

[RogerDat]

Another happy FART owner. I still have the USA made dry tumbler from Cabela's that I use with lizard bedding (crushed walnut hulls) a dash of mineral spirits and dollop of NuFinish run for 5 minutes before adding brass really helps keep the dust down.

FART cleans brass, does that very well. Dry tumbler polishes brass, which removes less crud but protects the brass and does clean it somewhat. Choices are a good thing. I may just want to throw some brass in for a dry tumble if it isn't too dirty. Or use the dry tumbler to lay down some polish to seal and protect FART cleaned brass that I expect may sit for a while.

I work with someone that does small batches in a HF rock tumbler. Is entirely satisfied. Tends to do 20 to 50 rifle cases in a batch. Better bet is an inexpensive improvement some have reported. Spare belt sounds like a good idea.

[thraxx]

I use a dry tumbler to remove sizing lube and to put polish on as well (different batches of media for each process)

[Ring3]

I use a Thumblers B, pins, hot water, Dawn, and Lemi-Shine. Two hours, rinse, separate, and dry. Usually I dry in toaster oven (low heat w/door cracked) or on top of wood stove in the winter. Results are excellent.

Before loading I’ve found the brass needs a bit of lube. Struggled with this on the Dillon 550 till realizing the issue. A quick tumble in the corn or walnut with a few drops of car wax is one fix,some sizing wax or One Shot is another I use. Interesting the mention of using car wash/wax in the tumbler. May have to try that next batch and see if it provides enough lube for sizing/expanding when loading.