Rotary/wet tumbler users...

[Captain*Kirk]

I'm looking at getting wet tumbler to use with the stainless steel pins. I've been reading rave reviews about them but have a few questions:

1) Once you've separated the media (pins) from the cases, how do you dry them?

2) What do you guys use for cleaning solution? I've seen some say only use special cleaner, some say Dawn dish soap, and still others say use different products. What works best, and where do you get it?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[JimB..]

I dump the brass on a towel, roll it around a bit, then dump it on a second towel, spread it out, and leave it overnight.

I have a dehydrator that I use when I need to force stuff to dry quickly.

I use a little lemi-shine powder and some wash-n-wax, but have also used lemi-shine and dawn, others use citric acid and dawn, it all works.

BTW, some folks leave out the pins and just tumble the brass in their preferred cleaning solution, the primer pockets and inside the cases aren’t as pretty but the cases are plenty clean for reloading and it saves time.

[wv109323]

I use the two towels also. Spread them out on one towel and get most of the water out. Then put them on a second towel to eliminate water marks. I use good ole sunshine to dry. It's free.
To clean I use a squirt of dishwashing detergent and some citric acid but I think several things work well.

[popper]

Lemishine and liquid laundry detergent that dosn't contain ammonia. Don't have a pin separator yet but not a real problem doing it by hand. Dump on a large towel to dry in the sun - I've been using a metal pan on the hotplate (set low) for a final dry when the could are out. STM is a really good rig. Watch what you tumble, 9mm fit in other cases, etc.

[oldhenry]

Captain,
I don't use the SS pins yet, but can help you on the solution & drying. I've been using a formula that another member suggested sometime ago (I wish I could recall who to give them full credit).

Solution:1 gal. water, add 1/4 ts. of Lemishine & a cap full of Armor-All. Drying: I use an old Midway media colander (it's big) & bend a goose neck lamp down to produce the heat: they're dry in 1.5 hrs.

[Conditor22]

2 Gal DIY system: Wash with 1/2 tsp lemishine 2 tsp dawn 7# pins.

when done rinse well remove pins in dry media separator

dunk in of water -w- carwash/wax -- lightly rinse

dry media separator al excess water

dump on a towel, make "hammock and shake them back and forth to dry outside

put in cheap food dehydrator from a thrift store

[NyFirefighter357]

Get the media magnet from Frankford Arsenal it's $14. I use a F.A.R.T. After tumbling I drain the water with the screen on into a bucket. With a few shakes all the water & most of the pins are removed. I add clean warm/hot water to rinse the brass & let it tumble for a few minutes. I then drain off the water in the 2nd bucket and remove the media pins with the media magnet while the brass is rinsing. I use the second bucket again to drain the water/pins out of the tumbler. I add a $0.99 HF ceramic magnet and 2 pieces of car chamois to the tumbler. I run it for a couple minutes to dry off the brass and catch any of the stray pins. This dries the brass to about 98%. A roll in a heavy towel under a ceiling fan does the rest quickly. 2-3 drops of Dawn and only if you have hard water do you need Lemi-Shine original/Lemi-Shine Booster or critic acid.

[Stewbaby]

Homemade tumbler, cheap dish soap, pinch of lemon shine. Pour out into a colander on top of a bucket, shake to remove remaining pins. Dry with blow dryer in homemade hot box.

[rondog]

Some of these guys are a bit more OCD than me obviously. I tumble with a F/A wet tumbler, separate with a F/A media separator, dry with a F/A Brass Dryer. All works great!

[rcslotcar]

I always start with hot water in my tumbler. I add citric powder and a squirt of Dawn some times I add 99cent store lemon juice concentrate. I use sunshine to dry the empty cases. I have different deep fryer baskets to submerge into a plastic bin with water and shake to separate the pins.

[jmorris]

I set them in the sun to dry.

Dawn, water and lemishine is what I use wet with pins. A different solution for wet without pins and yet another with ultrasonic.

None of them make any more accurate ammunition than my dry tumbled cases with corncob or walnut and the most accurate groups I have shot were with cases that have never been tumbled since they were prepared or even touched against another case. I wipe them off with a rag and brush the neck out with a nylon brush and they give me one hole groups, sometimes a really small one. Depends on what I am doing with the cases. Plinkers, machinegun, 3 gun, USPSA/IDPA stuff doesn’t require much to win, benchrest stuff is a different animal and in much smaller numbers.

[Budzilla 19]

F.A.R.T., Lemishine, Wash and Wax car wash, 5 lbs of pins, run them till they are clean enough for you!!! Dillon case media separator, filled the tub with water, rotate it a dozen times, pins in tub. Drain water remove pins, repeat till all brass is clean to your liking. Works for me.

[Captain*Kirk]

Thanks to everyone, this is a ton of great ideas to get me on the right path!

[Walter Laich]

Another item to consider: SS chips

they don't get stuck in the cases or primer pockets

seem to clean quicker than pins

just a satisfied customer--not part of the operation: https://www.facebook.com/southernshinetumblers/

[nccaster77]

Dump out tumbled brass on a towel in a row. Put a hair dryer at one end of the towel. Fold the towel over to make a “tunnel” and turn on the dryer. Hot dry brass in minutes. Oh and I too am a Dawn citric acid guy. Or Lemishine works too.

[tankgunner59]

I started with a single tub Harbor Freight rock tumbler and not too long ago I bought a double tub unit. I fill it 3/4 with very hot tap water and add 1/8 t-spoon of lemishine and a few drops of dawn dish soap. I tumble dirty brass for 30 minutes and dump it in a colander and dump it onto a towel to let it dry. After it dries I run it in a vibratory tumbler with walnut shell media, a cap of mineral spirits or paint thinner and a cap of Nu-Finish car polish. I get my walnut shell media at the pet shop. (Reptile bedding) It's less expensive than the stuff at the LGS.

[Kevins750]

I recently switched to wet tumbling as my FA vibratory tumbler is getting old and too much dust.
I don't use pins(I don't use range pick up brass) i use liquid ajax with citrus and vinegar and turtle wash and wax
Bought at the dollar store. Cleans and shines good enough for me in about an hour. I dump the drums into my FA
Media tumbler and the water goes into a bucket, I just let the brass air dry.

[Chad5005]

my wife does the brass cleaning.frankford arsenal tumbler,45acp case of lemishine and cap full of dawn with pins.rinse and dump on towel to air dry overnight and remove pins.if needed in a hurry she removes pins and bakes them in the oven at 200 for 30 minutes

[Mal Paso]

I have the STM kit. I use Dawn to clean and rinse in Armor All to reduce tarnish and spotting. Dawn and Armor All will fight each other if combined.

Running the media separator full of water gets the pins out faster.

[bmortell]

for the drying question. i cleaned out my corn cob dry tumbler added new media and half cap of nu finish per run, let that run it for a bit while im doing steps with wet tumbling so theres not wet globs of wax. then i take the cases out of wet tumbler, roll them around on a towel then just dump them in the dry tumbler with the car wax even though the inside is wet still. the media can take the bit of water just fine. less dusty if anything, and to me that seems the best combo of wet tumbling cleaning plus corn cob polish plus protective coating and theres no down time of a waiting for drying step.