Hello everyone, I currently get around 4-6 full five gallon buckets of brass every week from work. I just purchased a used 3.5 cubic foot concrete mixer off of letgo. I'm trying to figure out which media would suit me best. I have around 150 gallons of brass accumulated right now. If I go the wet tumbling way, I have to decap all the brass beforehand and then I would have to dry it all afterwards. But the ss pins never go bad. If I dry tumble, how long does the walnut or concob media last for?
Walnut will last quite a while. Just keep adding Nu-Finish to it.
Semper Fi!
Currently casting for .223, .308, .30-06, .30-40 Krag, 9mm, .38/.357, 10mm, 44 Mag and 45 ACP.
I like strange looking boolits!
NRA Patriot Life Endowment member.
Would walnut be the best way to go with that much brass?
I've used a 50/50 mix of walnut and corncob combined with Berry's polishing compound.
If you're able to pre-wash your brass with a mixture of hot water, Dawn, and acid of your choice (I prefer apple cider vinegar) your media will stay much cleaner, and last probably 8-10+ cleanings. I've pre-washed 3 or more gallons of brass in 5 gallons buckets on many occasions. Just be sure to rinse well, and get them dry fairly quick, or you can get some minor corrosion in the primer pockets.
How do you dry your brass quickly?
Also, what would be the quickest way to separate all the brass? Using the midway tray sorters is nice, but it takes a long time to separate multiple buckets.
Wet tumble no pinsOriginally Posted by mjkonopka
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...3C&FORM=VRDGAR
Last edited by Kenstone; 03-13-2017 at 08:26 PM.
If you are selling it, sell it dirty.
The trend is to tumble everything for sale but I much prefer it not tumbled. As is makes sorting much easier.
I am actually not selling it. I figure I might as well get as much as I can while I can get it.
Just how much do you shoot? 150 gallons of brass. That's quite a bit. You know it's reusable.
Semper Fi!
Currently casting for .223, .308, .30-06, .30-40 Krag, 9mm, .38/.357, 10mm, 44 Mag and 45 ACP.
I like strange looking boolits!
NRA Patriot Life Endowment member.
I usually shoot 2-3 times a week, about 200 rounds each time. That's just pistol, when I go shooting outdoors I usually go through around 1000 rounds of 223.
I dump it into the middle of a large towel, then grab both ends and make a hammock. Tumble the brass by lifting the sides of the towel alternately, and follow it up with a good blast of air from the compressor. At that point, I get into the media. The corncob does a great job of absorbing and expelling any residual moisture, if present.
This means you are needing to clean around 600 to 1,600 pieces of brass each week if I am understanding you correctly. This is easy doable using a normal vibratory tumbler and blast media. You can get acceptable results tumbling for about 2 hours per batch. There really doesn't seem to be a need for a cement mixer operation since you can store the brass dirty and clean it as necessary. But of course it's your time and resources and I know you didn't ask for my input.
He doesn't shoot that much, but he gets that much.
I get what you're saying, I originally thought about just cleaning what I shoot weekly, but I don't like to leave things unfinished. With the amount of brass I get on a weekly basis, I will accumulate about 120 gallons every month. I like to stay organized with everything I do. I spend roughly 20 hours each week right now just sorting and cleaning the brass that I get, and I'm still behind. Just looking for ideas to make this process faster so I can have more time to reload and shoot. Any and all ideas are good, I'm still new to all this. I like to have many different opinions from all walks of like.
Here's a thought, sort it, keep what you will need and sell the rest. You can use the profits to buy components. Heck, 120 gallons of brass each month might just buy factory ammunition in the quantities you shoot.
Seriously, how much brass can you possible store? Are you ever going to move?
How much brass can you possibly go through in your life? Figure that out and sell what you don't need.
I have never thought about selling it. How much does brass sell for if it's sorted?
TBH, I don't like shooting factory ammunition, there's just something about making my own ammo and shooting it. It's a sense of satisfaction for me.
It depends on what the brass is. Take a look at the various websites that sell once fired brass for an idea of what people are getting.
I don't know if you can see the "Swapping and Selling" area of this forum, but people do sell here. Sellers with ongoing sales become vendors and post in that area (I am not sure the process for that).
I suggest not being a slave to your windfall, but putting it to work for you.
I say keep it. Warehouse it. Visit in on the weekends!
But I'm a brass hoarder, so take my advice for what it's worth.
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