Nickle Plated Cases and SS Pin Tumbling

[davep]

So I'm getting toward the bottom of my old brass I need to clean. Been using my Thumlers Tumbler Model B, doing a great job on brass (4 hours, standard recipe). I've heard it said that you aren't supposed to tumble the nickle stuff over two hours. Looking at some of the stowaways that didn't get separated from the brass stuff, many look "scraped down" with brass showing under the nickle. Not entirely sure they didn't start that way, but doubt it.

Not that I don't love the method, but I've got several hundred bright pretty cases that I'd rather not see uglified, and I'm wondering if even doing two hours in a few cycles will ruin the finish. Am I being paranoid? Since I don't own a vibratory tumbler (read between lines: Too cheap to buy another part I don't have room for, but will if I have too)...

Thanks!
Dave

[Bayou52]

Hi, Dave -

I've tumbled nickel plated cases for two hours with no noticeable wear on the finish. But that was just one tumble. What I don't know is how many tumbles can the cases sustain without wearing the finish.

I haven't been able to get out and shoot much these days to do any repeat tumbles of the nickel cases.

All the Best....

PS - I suppose the worse that would happen if the nickel plating wears off is that you now have a brass case......

[zuke]

For nickel brass I just tumble for 20-30 minute's.
There's no tarnish to remove, just carbon in the primer pocket's.

[davep]

Huh. Good point Zuke. Any idea how many times some of those have been run through? I agree with what Bayou said, I don't think it would hurt anything, but I just hate the idea of going around with half-naked casings.

[Bayou52]

For nickel brass I just tumble for 20-30 minute's.
There's no tarnish to remove, just carbon in the primer pocket's.

That's a pretty good idea, that is, just go with a short tumble session and see how you like the results. If not satisfactory, the cases can always be retumbled, and then simply go a little longer for the next batch. A bit of trial and error, as most things are......

Just a consideration.........

[davep]

Yeah, I've been googling a bit, and it seems that others have concluded that wearing the nickel off is inevitable. I'm starting to wonder about just letting them tumble in the water and soap without the pins. I wonder if that would touch the carbon.

[mdi]

Normally, I don't tumble (wobbler or rotary) nickel plated brass. If I feel they are dirty, a quick wipe with a rag is all they need. I don't fret over primer pockets betting clean and shiny, so a wipe is all that's needed. I was checking my .38 Special inventory and came up with 900+ nickel cases (and mebbe 150 nickel 357 Mags.). Can't remember tumbling any, but I have worn the nickel thin on a few cases...

[Beesdad]

Normally, I don't tumble (wobbler or rotary) nickel plated brass. If I feel they are dirty, a quick wipe with a rag is all they need. I don't fret over primer pockets betting clean and shiny, so a wipe is all that's needed. I was checking my .38 Special inventory and came up with 900+ nickel cases (and mebbe 150 nickel 357 Mags.). Can't remember tumbling any, but I have worn the nickel thin on a few cases...

I tumble them with the regular brass cases for two hours and never have a problem...

[mdi]

I tumble them with the regular brass cases for two hours and never have a problem...

Umm, I have no need to tumble nickel plated cases because nickel is hard and slick, easily cleaned/wiped while inspection and does not need tumbling. If you choose to, ok...

[Outch]

I've tumbled mine with the SS pins for 2 hrs and regretted it, looked more brass color that nickle.
So now i just tumble for 30 min without the SS pins just to clean them.

[davep]

I've tumbled mine with the SS pins for 2 hrs and regretted it, looked more brass color that nickle.
So now i just tumble for 30 min without the SS pins just to clean them.

I was thinking about that. So when you do the 30 minutes, do the primer pockets get clean at all? (I know, like everybody says, they really don't need much cleaning, but now I'm used to pin-tumbling clean, and my OCD is in full effect.)

[JASON4X4]

I run mine for about 1-1.5 hrs with my regular brass and have never had an issue

[sargenv]

I have nickel plated brass 38's that I've been reloading for so many years that some of the nickel is starting to wear off.. all those years of shooting and tumbling I guess... I wouldn't worry about it..

[zuke]

Huh. Good point Zuke. Any idea how many times some of those have been run through? I agree with what Bayou said, I don't think it would hurt anything, but I just hate the idea of going around with half-naked casings.

Like the old saying goes,"measure twice,cut once." Try it and if you don't like it add 15 minute interval's to the tumble length.

[bobthenailer]

I personaly dont tumble any of my brass longer than 1 hour and allways have bright shiny cases if there are some that are still tarnished ? i just tumble them again with another dirty batch of cases.

[davep]

Wrapping up my 2c, after some time away from tumbling, I dumped all of my nickle-plated into the tumbler with no pins this Saturday, and ran it for two hours. I'm happy. Shiny, nothing to complain about. I had gone ahead and hit the primer pockets with a Lee cleaning tool first though. Not sure if I'd have been as happy otherwise, but can't say for sure.

[Bayou52]

Wrapping up my 2c, after some time away from tumbling, I dumped all of my nickle-plated into the tumbler with no pins this Saturday, and ran it for two hours. I'm happy. Shiny, nothing to complain about. I had gone ahead and hit the primer pockets with a Lee cleaning tool first though. Not sure if I'd have been as happy otherwise, but can't say for sure.

Good idea. Along those same lines, what about drastically reducing the number of pins for nickel cases? Say, for example, 1/5th the ordinary amount of pins. This might clean the pockets without rubbing off the finish. Just an idea, as I haven't tried it........

Bayou42

[davep]

Based on some other comments here and elsewhere, and on my own results, I've about decided that the crud just doesn't stick to the nickle the same way, even the insides didn't look bad. I figure as I handle each piece, and notice ones that have the nickle wearing off, I'll just toss those into the brass pile, and let the pins turn them in to regular old brass again over a few cycles. So I guess I'm thinking that as long as the nickle is still good, the pins aren't really necessary. I had wondered about some other kind of media just for the pockets, but it doesn't take long at all to hit those by hand, and since those seem to be the last thing to get clean in a normal brass wash, I'm not sure cutting back on the media would do much overall. Somebody else may set me straight on that though.

[Bayou52]

Good approach, davep......