mdi
05-18-2013, 11:56 AM
Well, I've read about the stainless steel pins and solution for tumbling brass, and I've seen bunches of pic of newly tumbled, virgin shiny brass, but walnut/corn cob has worked quite well for me, and I didn't want to get into the extra cost, so I didn't bother. Well I have a Harbor Freight rotary unit and I was fiddling around the shop and wondered, hmmm (I have a Lyman wobbler for my case cleaning and no need to go ss). I have a bunch of stainless hardware from my boating days (cotter pins, small nuts, small screws, washers, etc.) and dumped a 1/4 cup in the rubber barrel. Also dumped in about 75 mixed range pick-ups (from .30 Carbine to .223 .44 Mag. and 30-30). About 1 cup of water and some 409 to bring up the level to 3/4 full and tumbled for about an hour. Yep, I got some very shiny, clean brass, but the cases without primers, and the case interiors didn't get cleaned 'cause the ss pieces are too big (but, that don't bother me in the least). Well now I'm thinking about how to keep these from tarnishing without too much extra work. If I have to dry them and re-tumble w/media and polish, I prolly won't tumble twice. I wonder if some Murphy's Oil Soap will leave a bit of wax on the cases, to keep from tarnishing? More experimenting. About the only reason I have for shiny brass is to spot my .45 ACP cases in the dirt/grass, so I don't lose any!