SS Pin Diameter for 22LR Brass

[Guardian]

I built a rotary tumbler this weekend to clean my 22LR brass before derimming and after annealing. In retrospect, it would have been cheaper to buy one, but I wanted lighter and easier to handle drums. The one in the photo is 4-in PVC.



My question is what size pins work well on the 22LR? I've seen 0.041-in, 0.047-in, and 0.062-in diameters. It seems some have issues with the 0.041-in pins hanging in flash holes, but obviously isn't a concern with 22LR brass.

I intend to buy the 0.062-in for general brass prep (and support a site vendor), but thought something else may be better for the 22.

[MOcaster]

I don't have any input on media (I use .1875" stainless ball bearings) but that tumbler looks great!

[algunjunkie]

I use .041x.250 on all of my cleaning all polishing. They do stick in the flash holes from time to time but easy to pop out.

[Guardian]

MOcaster, Thanks for the compliment.

[257]

I first tried .062 had lots of problems with sticking pins then went to .047 no more problems that's what worked out for me

[Guardian]

257, for clarity, you had issues with the 0.062-in diameter pins sticking in 22 brass or other cases?

[257]

i'v never tumbled 22 brass yet, but will soon. I had trouble with the .062 pins getting wedged togerther in the primer pocket they were easy to pop out but then the primer pocket was not fully cleaned when I went to the next smaller size that problem went away I don't think it will be a problem with 22's but I won't know till I try them

[fredj338]

Smaller the better, you want to get all the crud out of the inside of the cases when using them for swaging.

[Guardian]

I ended up getting the 0.047 pins from STM. They work well for both uses.

[DukeInFlorida]

The "trick" for getting any sized pins out of the .22 LR cases is to fill the Dillon Media separator bucket (that's the one I use... it has the perfect sized openings to hold onto the brass, but allow the pins to fall out) with water, and rotate the brass/pins in that. The water seems to assist with washing the pins out of the brass.

[Sitzme]

+1 on using water to flush the pins. I use a $7 salad spinner to sift the pins and dipping while shaking it (I don't spin it much) does a pretty good job. For larger brass I pick the brass out of the water, give it a shake, and put them into 50 rnd ammo trays inverted to dry. I really love those SS pins. I also use the .047 pins.

[Guardian]

I'm using lab sieves. A No. 4 keeps the brass and a No. 20 catches the pins. The water and grit go through both. I use a sprayer on the sink to get flush the pins and cases apart.

Duke, how do you separate the pins and water?

[257]

my friend just bought one of the new frankford arsnel rotory tumblers. it came with 5 lbs of pins they miced out at .039 dia they and the tumbler worked really well the drum holds 7 quarts. of course they brought this out after I made my own. but alass why buy something you can make for yourself for twice the money

[DukeInFlorida]

Ummmmmmmmmm..........

Pour out the water, and the pins remain in the rectangular bin that the media normally falls into. I scoop em up, and re-use them. Any stragglers are picked up with a magnet. The stainless steel pins are 400 series SS, which is austenitic (attracted to a magnet).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Dillon media tumbler was the only one made that I could find that had the slots the right width to retain the brass, while allowing the pins to fall through. All of the other tumblers I tried had slots too wide, and they allowed the brass to also fall through the slots.

I'm using lab sieves. A No. 4 keeps the brass and a No. 20 catches the pins. The water and grit go through both. I use a sprayer on the sink to get flush the pins and cases apart.

Duke, how do you separate the pins and water?

[DukeInFlorida]

Just looked that new model up.....
http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/713...ProductFinding

If you look at the "sifting ends", you will notice that the slots are too big for retaining .22 LR brass. These rotary tumblers are made for larger brass. Yes, you can clean/polish the .22 LR brass with them, but they will fail to do the pin separation properly with .22 LR brass. And, they are $200, plus shipping.

When I made mine, I was lucky and got most of the parts free (already had them), and the rest were cheap.

The one I made:

my friend just bought one of the new frankford arsnel rotory tumblers. it came with 5 lbs of pins they miced out at .039 dia they and the tumbler worked really well the drum holds 7 quarts. of course they brought this out after I made my own. but alass why buy something you can make for yourself for twice the money

[Guardian]

Ummmmmmmmmm..........

Pour out the water, and the pins remain in the rectangular bin that the media normally falls into.

Well, it seems straightforward, but assumptions.......

Based on your description it sounds like you decant the water, not just pour it out. That was what I was getting at. With the sieves, you just dump it out and flush the remaining pins out, or use a magnet as you suggested.

I'll need the media separator for batches of centerfire brass.

[DukeInFlorida]

No.... not quite right.

The rotary tumbler is filled (while tumbling) with some dish detergent and some Lemishine. When I empty the rotary tumbler, I pour out the entire contents into the media separator, and then pour out the detergent/Lemishine solution (I never re-use it) from the rectangular media separator bucket, and fill with clean, fresh water.

Only then do I rotate the media separator to get the pins to fall out. I replace the water a few times to get the brass fairly well rinsed of the detergent and Lemishine. Even after 15 minutes of "media separation" I am still getting an occasional pin to fall. However, the brass is very well rinsed and clean, and I have recovered virtually all of the pins. I dry the brass, on a cookie sheet in the oven (250 degrees F seems to work well for me), and then send them through the media separator again. The remaining pins seem to give up at that step.

[257]

I felt the sloted caps that came with the frankford arsnel tumbler were pretty much useless we just poured the whole load into a large strainer