Wet stainless pin tumbling

[skeet1]

I am amazed at the Thumblers Tumbler and stainless pins I am now using, they clean brass like nothing I have ever tried before.
I got my tumbler about two weeks ago from STM and have since tumbled rifle and handgun brass and I can tell you that no amount of tumbling in a vibrating tumbler with any kind of media I have ever used comes even close to the stainless steel pins. With my old tumbler the outside of the case looked petty good but the inside of the case and the primer pocket were never clean.

I just got done tumbling some .45 ACP cases that I had all ready tumbled in my old RCBS vibrating tumbler and that looked OK and now they look brand new. What a difference!

Ken

[John Boy]

Ken, using pins in a rotary with burnishing solution peens the ends of your brass - more so with thin wall cases. To test, take the hook of a fish hook inserted in the case. Pull it out. If it catches? Peened brass.

[skeet1]

Ken, using pins in a rotary with burnishing solution peens the ends of your brass - more so with thin wall cases. To test, take the hook of a fish hook inserted in the case. Pull it out. If it catches? Peened brass.

Well I don't know about peened brass but these cases are shiny smooth as they were when they were new and I expect that they will work a lot better that those that still have the dirt left in them. I would also be very surprised if a fish hook did not catch on the inside of a brass case as the hook is a lot harder than the brass not to mention sharp.

Ken

[alha]

I've been using mine for a couple months, and not sure what the burnishing solution is, I use a small amount of Dawn and some Lemi-shine, which I agree does a fabulous job on them inside and out. I started out using too much soap, and have been dialing it back to about a tbsp, seems to still clean them, but I have soft water here which makes a big difference.

[beefie]

I have a friend who has a cement mixer. Cleans 5000 rds of .45 brass at a time. He's a commercial loader. Does a batch for me for $10. when I have small batches of some other caliber, I put it in socks, tie them off, toss them into the washer with the other laundry. Then put them in the sun, under rat wire,so the birds don't steal them, or put them on cookie sheets and in the oven, with it set on lowest heat and the door left open a few inches.

[gofastman]

agreed, ss pins are great!

[John Boy]

Then put them in the sun, under rat wire,so the birds don't steal them, or put them on cookie sheets and in the oven, with it set on lowest heat and the door left open a few inches.

Ever consider the fast and easy way to dry brass? A hair dryer!
How to Dry Wet Brass in Under 2 Minutes!

[montana_charlie]

I would also be very surprised if a fish hook did not catch on the inside of a brass case as the hook is a lot harder than the brass not to mention sharp.

If you know for a fact that John Boy is full of beans, it would make sense to poo-poo his advice about fish hooks.
But, if you even suspect that he might be speaking from experience, it would pay to resist disparaging his 'help' until you have a chance to get some experience of your own.

You've been using your pins for two weeks.
What he described is a commonly discussed topic among people who have been using rotary tumblers and wet media for years.

CM

[chsparkman]

I've been rotary tumbling with ss pins for two years now, and I have not noticed any problems. What am I looking for? If the ends are peened, what does this mean for the reloader?

[VHoward]

I would like to know what to look for also. I've also been using stainless pins in a rotory tumbler for a couple of years and have not had any problems. Any pics of these "peened" edges?

[beefie]

I aint got a hair dryer, and wouldnt waste my time on such a thing. The oven thing works great, if the sun aint bright.

[elginrunner]

I found a old dehydrator at the flea market for $5. It drys a full load of brass in no time flat......

My only grip about the SS pins, is when I use lanolin to size my cases, the dawn just does not cut it. I have to let them tumble for a few minutes in cheap Iso alcohol.....before I shines em' up with the pins.

[skeet1]

I wasn't saying that John Boy was full of beans If I had I'd have made it plain.

If you know for a fact that John Boy is full of beans, it would make sense to poo-poo his advice about fish hooks.
But, if you even suspect that he might be speaking from experience, it would pay to resist disparaging his 'help' until you have a chance to get some experience of your own.

You've been using your pins for two weeks.
What he described is a commonly discussed topic among people who have been using rotary tumblers and wet media for years.

CM

[clodhopper]

Peening can be a problem if you champher/deburr the case mouth before cleaning.
Belling of case mouths after cleaning makes peening a non issue in my pistol reloading.

[gunoil]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_FpiTzVYP8

Use lemi-shine from walmart and dawn.

Dry rack with 5$ floor fan, boolits and brass. Stucco wire.

[montana_charlie]

I wasn't saying that John Boy was full of beans If I had I'd have made it plain.

No, you did not say that.
What you said was that his 'fish hook test' would not tell you anything valuable.

That is the 'disparaging' which I mentioned ...

For those who came along later with questions concerning the peening of case mouths ...

If you run your brass through the normal two-die or three-die reloading set, you will never be troubled by mouths rolled by tumbling in ceramic or steel media. The reason being that your cases are totally 'uniformed' in those dies, so any peening gets removed.

Those who reload cases that are NOT sized (or resized) in reloading dies often DO detect peened mouths.
The amount of 'roll' on the edge of the mouth is invisible, but it can be detected is several ways ... a sharp point being one of them. For myself, I have an expander plug that is exactly .460" in diameter. That is the expected size of my cases are after firing.
If that plug won't slip into a freshly prepped case, I know the mouth needs to be 'ironed out' so there is no damage when I thumb-seat a paper patched bullet. I see it on something less than 10% of my brass.

A series of discussions about the peening effect has some convinced that it comes from wet tumbling in hard media.
Another theory is that the Thumler's Model B with the high-speed motor is the culprit, and that the slower tumblers do not 'abuse' the brass so badly.

Now you know what the deal is, and you can decide if it matters to you ...

CM

[VHoward]

Thank you for the explanation. I don't do paper patch bullet loading and do use a three die set up so I haven't seen this problem.

[Silverboolit]

AI have been experimenting with a different detergent, trying to keep the tarnishing away. I have had good luck with ArmorAll car Wash and Wax. Available at Wallyworld in the auto section. It seems to give a 'waxy' coating on the brass. I haven't seen any disscoloration in 3 weeks on my test sample that I did.

[armexman]

I'm confused.
How can those little SS pins roll a case mouth. I too have been using the SS pins, Dawn dishwashing liquid and Lemi-shine for 3 years and I have never seen "rolled" case mouths. Perchance, MC is talking about bigger sized media?
For those whom use SS pins; de-prime in a Lee Universal de-prime die and then size when clean and shiny. Your sizing dies will love you for it.
I do not paper-patch yet, but when I do, worrying about rolled edges will be least of my worries.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I will never go back to dry media tumbling after I have been using a Thumbler's Tumbler with SSM, lemi shine, dawn and hot water. I deprime with a lee universal deprimer first. This is done whilst watching TV on a wooden TV tray table on which I have an old Lee Challenger press. Then they go into the tumbler for about two hours. I take the container to the kitchen sink and run hot water into it and thereby rinse out most of the nasty black water and then I reload more dawn and lemi shine and they go back in for another hour.

They come out looking better than when they were new from the factory. I load up my 9 mm's in a Dillon XL 650 and after the boolits have been lubed by my Star they have a mite extra lube on them. After a run thru the Dillon I have an excellent round except that they usually have extra lube on them. The Dillon dies are easy to clean as you only have to remove a pin and the guts drop out for cleaning in mineral oil. I do this every couple of thousand rounds or so. If I did not then I might start to have issues with seating dies so loaded with lube that the boolits are seated too deep and that is a major no no with 9's.

Now they go into a vibratory tumbler with corn cob for an hour or two with some nu finish car wax. Emerging from the last process they are just gorgeous. Super clean and they have a nice thin wax coating that is slicker than goose snot. The lead boolits are all a uniform dark grey in color and they feed in my 5 9MM's perfectly.

I never said it was an easy or fast process but I enjoy any time I spend in the shooting/reloading/casting/prepping skills as it calms me down and allows me to immerse myself in a pleasurable activity and lets me think I am saving money. Besides there is something special in knowing that the round you are shooting maybe the 20th reloading of a brass case, maybe the third or fourth time that lead in your boolit has journeyed down inside a gun barrel and that you did everything in your power to produce a very shootable, accurate and consistent round and you did it yourself.

Besides where can you obtain a 9 MM round for about four cents today. I brought out a decent Sig Sauer 9 MM for my good buddy to Waterloo, Iowa in June and it was fortunate that I brought along a few tobacco cans of reloads to practice with as there was not any 9MM ammo available at any price in the area during the two weeks I was there. I left the ammo with him and advised him to save the brass and to gather any other brass he can find before he comes out to visit in October. I told him that I would be more than happy to refill his cases if he would help me with the procedure. As a bonus he works for a metal recycler as a 18 wheel driver and he promised to bring out 500 lbs of lead when he comes. That makes me a very happy camper.