stainless steel pin users, did this ever hapenned ?

[canuck4570]

I want to buy one but read somewhere (can find the article no more) that a shooter forgot one in the case and when shooting the round the pin scratch the bore badly…..

what do you do you who use this method make certain that no pins remain inside the case?

[Grasslander]

I prime off press, so I just glance inside of each case to make sure there is nothing inside.

I use a rotary media sperator and haven't had one get stuck in the case yet. (knock on wood)

[canuck4570]

same here I deprime, but when you precess a lot of brass checking them one by one your bound to make a error one day

do the pin tend to stick inside the case when wet?

[dudel]

Before you buy one, give the citric acid cleaning method a try. No pins to worry about. It'll cost you $3.00 to try (for a jar of Balls Citric Acid powder in the canning section of Walmart). I had considered pins; but after using citric acid, pins are no longer in my plan.

There's a sticky in the Cast Boolits section: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?83572-Citric-acid-brass-cleaner

[tred1956]

Hi,
Not trying to start an argument but, how did shooter know he left a pin in a case. Was there an incident that lead to this conclusion or just an unexplained scratch and an assumption. I have heard of people finding pins stuck during the reloading process. I bought bigger pins just for that reason. I use ss pins and am just wondering for my personal safety.
Tanks
Doug

[Dutchninja]

I had a pin in a loaded round once. 223 I think, was still in the fired case and didn't make it down the barrel. How it didn't go down, i have no idea. When I prime by hand, I check them with a good light background before i set it in the holder. If i'm getting them run through the progressive, I can feel them hit the decapping pin or i run a universal decapper on the first stage to clear the pocket and / or find problem cases. even with this issue, i still like it so much better than walnut or corn cob.

[noylj]

Run a magnet over the cases while they are drying.
Never found one yet, but I don't SS pin clean much.

[Gillie Dog]

Run a magnet over the cases while they are drying.
Never found one yet, but I don't SS pin clean much.

+1

I tested by putting a single 0.047 pin in each of several cases and the magnet will definitely find them.

I have yet to catch one after running through a separator filled with water but I still check when drying just for Murphy. That is after several thousand cases tumbled in SS pins.

GD

[canuck4570]

looks good,
does it clean the primer pocket also if yes certanly will try it
would it be good if using a tumbler to clean them with the citric acid

[canuck4570]

Hi,
Not trying to start an argument but, how did shooter know he left a pin in a case. Was there an incident that lead to this conclusion or just an unexplained scratch and an assumption. I have heard of people finding pins stuck during the reloading process. I bought bigger pins just for that reason. I use ss pins and am just wondering for my personal safety.
Tanks
Doug
yes they inspected the barrel with a bore scope and found the pin incrusted in the barrel
to me the pin had to be in the barrel when this append in order to the bullet fires crushed this pin in the barrel…...

[Bayou52]

I use a rotary media separator to make sure the pins are removed from the brass. Having said that, I've learned that pins will sometimes get stuck in the inside bottom of 30 carbine brass. Not in the primer flash hole but pins sometimes get stuck laterally inside the case at the head side rather than the mouth side. These stuck pins are stuck hard. I have to use an ice pick to dislodge them.

So, with 30 carbine brass, I visually inspect the insides of each case and manually remove any stuck pins.

Bayou52

[JMax]

I use Bounce anti static sheets cut into quarters with each tumble session with shinny brass except those that are sun browned and they are polished as well. No stainless pins for me and they may be non magnetic depending on the alloy.

[sparky45]

Short answer, no. However, the smaller pins will on occasion plug the primer flash hole. I hand prime and they've never been a problem.



same here I deprime, but when you precess a lot of brass checking them one by one your bound to make a error one day

do the pin tend to stick inside the case when wet?

[slim1836]

I've seen pins stuck sideways in bottleneck casings and inspect each one prior to loading. Also, when wet, they can stay inside the casings.

I put one pin in a 7.62x54R casing and put the Frankfort Arsenal magnet to it in order to see if the magnet picks up the casing and it did not. I check each casing now for stuck pins visually and by running a magnetic Allen wrench down it just to make sure. Perhaps someone will chime in with a better method.

Slim

[M-Tecs]

The gas pressure from the powder around the pin inside a case would be equal but the primer gas could push a pin out of the case into the bore. I can believe that a SS pin in the bore as the next bullet hits it would not be a good thing.

[Good Cheer]

Been wondering about going with the pins. Thanks for all the stuff to wonder about.

[zuke]

When dry the pin's will fall out. I handle them a couple time's after drying, bagging, loading bin, hand priming, so there's plenty of time for them to fall loose.
I also dry with the towel method and I put a rare earth magnet in with the brass to catch any stray's

[bzajdek]

when removing brass i pour off the almost all of the dirty liquid, then I have a white 2 galloon bucket filled with distilled water. I remove brass with nitrile gloves and drop into the white bucket. 90% of the pins stay in the tumbler, then i remove one at a time with the mouth down in a fast motion to the top of the distilled water. I then turn the case and look inside every case and place on dry towel. It is probably more work then it is worth, they are extremely shinny and the primer pockets are super clean. I don't bother cleaning 9mm brass this way i just shoot too much of it. for 9mm i just use citric acid then corn cob and nu-finish auto polish.

[Vann]

I always throw mine into a vibratory polisher to dry anyways, never had a problem. I do throw a magnet in and let it run through the corn cob media every once in awhile just to get any stray pins out of it.

I Can see how pins could get left in small bottle neck cases but I seriously doubt they would make it out of the case. I'm not a rocket scientist but I don't see how a heavy inert object that is much smaller than bore diameter could get up enough speed to travel down a bore and do any damage. I can see one making its way into a bore and the next shot gouging a groove but that would be the only way.

[opos]

I'm wondering how a stainless pin can be picked up by a magnet? Isn't the property that makes "stainless ...stainless" the fact there is no iron to rust and therefore it's not magnetic...that's why boat hardware and fasteners are stainless..I wouldn't think pins can stick to a magnet if they are truly stainless.

Just curious...maybe the pins are some formulation of stainless that has magnetic properties...just seemed a little odd but then "I'm a little odd".

[M-Tecs]

300 series is generally non-magnetic. 400 series is heat treatable and magnetic.

https://www.fastenal.com/en/75/magnetism-in-stainless-steel-fasteners

[canuck4570]

I'm wondering how a stainless pin can be picked up by a magnet? Isn't the property that makes "stainless ...stainless" the fact there is no iron to rust and therefore it's not magnetic...that's why boat hardware and fasteners are stainless..I wouldn't think pins can stick to a magnet if they are truly stainless.

Just curious...maybe the pins are some formulation of stainless that has magnetic properties...just seemed a little odd but then "I'm a little odd".

stainless steel rifle if you put a magnet to the barrel it stick….. they are many kind of stainless…..

[L Erie Caster]

If it did not have any iron in it then it would not be steel, it would be a chrome nickel alloy. How much iron depends on the type of stainless steel it is.

[tenx]

when checking cases for pins with a magnet get a rare earth type of magnet, they are several times stronger than a regular magnet and works better, one small pin in a brass case isn't much attraction for a magnet, especially if the magnet is weak. the only time i use ss pins is initially cleaning grungy range pick up brass and brass that has been annealed when used for swaging into boolits.

[jmorris]

Just curious...maybe the pins are some formulation of stainless that has magnetic properties...just seemed a little odd but then "I'm a little odd".

Yes, the pins I use are magnetic stainless steel. If you have a stainless steel firearm or stainless steel magazines for firearms they will be magnetic as well.

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/IMAG0462.jpg

[RP]

Some of my brass like 7 mag are a real pain to get the pins out they hang up in the neck bad. Worse then the 223 and 243 which one would think would be just as bad. I run my SS pin in a tumble tumbler then dump into a rotor style basket. Then I dump them into a buck of clean water to rinse. The next step is to pour into a strainer to get the water of and give them a good shaking and flipping. Last thing I do is drop them into my vib tumblers to dry the brass then in a brass separator pan to remove the walnut media so more shaking and shifting.
This may seem like a lot of work but I run a lot of brass when I am cleaning so as a batch is running one is drying and I am sizing getting ready to load it all up again. The end result is clean primer pockets and cleaner brass stored in mil ammo boxes waiting to be reborn as a clean good looking round.
I also do not change my water acid mix I may add some soap or critic acid and keep running it when I do change it out I rinse everything. The water can be black but it still cleans as well as fresh water but heck I am not one to waste lol I even wash my walnut media and keep using it until its gone.
So the chance of it getting in a loaded round for me I think is slim but now I will be wary about the brass that is problematic for not letting the pins fall out freely.

[Dolton916]

Everyone asks about pins being magnetic, I'm more curious how a copper jacketed lead projectile caused a stainless steel pin to be "incrusted" into a steel barrel...

I find it hard to believe the gas blow by before the bullet enters the barrel deep enough to seal it wouldn't blow a tiny pin out.

[lefty o]

I'm wondering how a stainless pin can be picked up by a magnet? Isn't the property that makes "stainless ...stainless" the fact there is no iron to rust and therefore it's not magnetic...that's why boat hardware and fasteners are stainless..I wouldn't think pins can stick to a magnet if they are truly stainless.

Just curious...maybe the pins are some formulation of stainless that has magnetic properties...just seemed a little odd but then "I'm a little odd".

its stainless, not rustless. many alloys of SS do in fact have carbon in them.

[noylj]

It's a technical metallurgical thing.
"Due to this difference, ferritic stainless steels are generally magnetic while austenitic stainless steels usually are not. A ferritic stainless steel owes its magnetism to two factors: its high concentration of iron and its fundamental structure."
They ALL have iron in them, it is the crystal/grain structure. I have purchased stainless steel to the same MIL spec, and about half the parts were magnetic and the rest weren't. Both still met the MIL spec.
I'm not sure about the whole of the industry, but they were all simply called corrosion-resistant and NEVER stainless steel in the aerospace industry.
PS: it isn't hard to test with a magnet to learn something.

[Gremlin460]

I have cleaned thousands of 9mm cases with SSP and occasionally a pin will lodge laterally across the case, but it need another vertically to do so. This was before I had a tumbler separator.
Also running a case feeder collator I have yet to find a pin in the bottom of the collator, even if one did remain, the deprime die would knock it loose.

Then add to that the chance of it remaining in the bore after being fired....

Odds are way too low for me to worry about.

[mold maker]

Maybe I'm just lucky, although that's doubtful. I've never found a SSP left in a case. I had some small diameter pins that doubled in the flash holes, and were a pain, but never one in a case.
The rotary separators does a fantastic job if tumbled under water, as part of the rinse process. I've never found a pin beyond this point.

[dudel]

I have cleaned thousands of 9mm cases with SSP and occasionally a pin will lodge laterally across the case, but it need another vertically to do so. This was before I had a tumbler separator.

I think the problems are a function of what you clean. If you are cleaning short stubby straight wall cases, you shouldn't see much if any problem. If you are working .22 bottleneck cases I can see spending more time getting the pins out, and a higher possibility of leaving one in (probably increases the probability of the pin staying in the case when fired as well).

I remember trying lizard litter ONCE. Having to pick that stuff out of .223 cases made me throw the rest of it away. I had considered pins; but a recent try with citric acid cleaning has caused me to put the pin method on hold indefinitely. I was starting to look at alternative cleaning methods because my trusty Midway tumbler is approaching it's 30th year. I was pleased with the way citric acid cleaned the cases (inside and out) and primer pockets. Very easy, and no issue with peening or pin separation.

[kryogen]

I use a powerful magnet sweeper over the cases once dry to make sure I get all of the pins.