A much better way to clean brass.

[Jjed]

The Wife decided she wanted a carry pistol, so we bought a glock 43 and a bulldog carry purse. and we have been going shooting so she can get use to the new gun. but I wanted to use reloads for that, but after tumbling the brass with dry media the cases still had so much dust on them they made her hands dirty (and she didn't like that) so i decided to try wet tumbling. I don't reload a lot of cases at a time so i went the cheap route and bought a harbor freight rock tumbler for $47.00 and $15.00 worth of stainless steel pins, after tumbling I put them in a toaster oven I bought at a thrift store for $5.00 to dry them, worked much better than I thought it would. it worked so good I thought I would try it on some of the worst looking brass I had. 4 or 5 years ago at a flea market I picked up 500 rounds of 1950's 30-06 ammo that was in a canvas bag stored in a very damp place, some of the most crusty stuff I have ever seen, but I wanted them for the boolits, knocked them apart, tumbled the boolits and I am still using them in my M1. (broke 1 boolit puller in the process). a dash of lemi shine, dawn soap and hot water WOW. Sorry the pic's are not in order, still trying to figure that out, but you get the idea.
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[osteodoc08]

Welcome to the allure of STM cleaning.

[415m3]

Thats the same tumbler I started with. I ended up with a big Frankford unit that will hold 1000 pieces! Welcome to it...

[GhostHawk]

Citric Acid works! Lemishine, dollar store fruit fresh, some hot water, drop or 2 of dawn and brass comes out clean inside and out.

Also no media stuck in primer pockets.

I have not tumbled or vibratory polished brass since I first learned about Citric Acid. Perfect, maybe not, close enough. Well it is for me. YMMV

[nelsonted1]

I use a 1/2 package of lemon koolaide in a medium size rock tumbler. Lemon because of color. Works.outstanding! koolaide has a lot of citric acid

[Jjed]

thanks Guys, any help is appreciated.

[rcslotcar]

I use 99 cent store lemon juice concentrate, works great for me.

[Valornor]

Very nice!

Just be careful with that toaster oven. They tend to heat up unevenly and can create hot spots. You definitely do not want to accidentally anneal any of your case heads. A soft case head can seriously damage a rifle and shooter.

A lot of guys use a dehydrator and run it at on high. Since it’s constantly blowing hot warm air over the cases, they dry fast and there’s no chance of accidental annealing.



Check out my website www.theballisticassistant.com

[Jjed]

The 30-06 brass did not go into the toaster oven as it still had live primers, even though it had been tumbled in water for 7 hours i did not trust it killed the primers, so i let it air dry. the oven is set on a low temp for a long time, so should not effect the brass I hope. again I appreciate any advice from you guy's. don't think I am going to use the 30-06 brass as it was so corroded i don't think i can trust it not to come apart when fired, but the powder was dry, kept it, each round had 50 grains, stored it in an empty powder can and labeled it. not sure what I'm going to do with it.

[beemer]

I have the same set up, gift from a good friend. Now I need time make some more dirty brass so I can use it. It works great if you need small batches like I do.

[NyFirefighter357]

Welcome to the wet side!

[Loudenboomer]

Nels try not to drink the Kool-Aid after cleaning your brass in it! :)

[rondog]

Welcome to the addiction of wet tumbling! This is how I do it, that's a bucketful of .30-06 in there with 25lbs of SS pins, water, Dawn, and Lemishine. I usually tie a piece of plastic over the opening to contain the sloshing, it's uncovered here just to make the video.

I've actually refined my process, this is an old video. Don't have a more recent one.

https://youtu.be/dejE4iL9UK8


https://youtu.be/dejE4iL9UK8

[redhawk0]

the powder was dry, kept it, each round had 50 grains, stored it in an empty powder can and labeled it. not sure what I'm going to do with it.

I don't trust pulled powder of any sort...I use it for lawn or garden fertilizer. (high nitrogen)

redhawk

[lightman]

Wet tumbling gets the brass incredibly clean. Most of us substitute some type of automotive wash and wax in place of the Dawn. The cases get so clean that they tarnish pretty quick and the wash and wax leaves a protective coating on them.

When I first started wet tumbling, just for kicks, I dug a bunch of old brass out of the burn barrel at the range. It had been in a fire (several fires) and looked terrible. It took 2 sessions but it came out looking like new. Pretty impressive! I promptly crushed those cases so that they would not accidentally ever get used.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I made the move to wet tumbling a couple years ago and never looked back.

Citric acid from a women’s hobby store like Hobby Lobby is inexpensive. A tablespoon of that along with 1/2 a squirt of Dawn dish soap and all the brass I can fit in a tumbler with the pins for 2-hours. Rinse and dry in an oven at 250F for an hour or so. Easy-Peasy.

[rondog]

Wet tumbling get the brass incredibly clean. Most of us substitute some type of automotive wash and wax in place of the Dawn. The cases get so clean that they tarnish pretty quick and the wash and wax leaves a protective coating on them.

When I first started wet tumbling, just for kicks, I dug a bunch of old brass out of the burn barrel at the range. It had been in a fire (several fires) and looked terrible. It took 2 sessions but it came out looking like new. Pretty impressive! I promptly crushed those cases so that they would not accidentally ever get used.

Yes, I've switched from Dawn to Armor-All Wash and Wax. Works great.

[Walter Laich]

I am still fascinated when the brass comes out

had a bunch of 45-70 cases that were at the bottom of a burned out garage--fire never got to them but they were buried under the rubble and water for 3-4 weeks--green and horrible

after tearing them down ran them once through the wet tumbling = came out looking like yours--owner couldn't believe they were the same

ONE CHANGE: I use wash and wax from wally world (cheapest I can fine) in place of Dawn. Leaves a wax coating that keeps them from tarnishing. I have some that are over 3 years old that, while they have darkened a bit, are still shiny.

[phantom22]

Went wet a few months ago and relegated the dry tumbler for powder coating bullets.

[1hole]

...it worked so good I thought I would try it on some of the worst looking brass I had. 4 or 5 years ago at a flea market I picked up 500 rounds of 1950's 30-06 ammo that was in a canvas bag stored in a very damp place, some of the most crusty stuff I have ever seen,

That was some scruffy looking stuff but all brass will look that way if we remove the surface crud and polish it a little.

There are two visible types of brass (or copper) crud. The first is a dark/black surface tarnish which is ugly but harmless; those cases are normal and quite safe to use. The second is corrosion, it's a green and/or gray "rust" and is NOT harmless because corrosion eats into the metal and thins it. I would visually check those nice looking cases and search for what would be a "rusty" surface if it were steel, especially near the head, and destroy those.

I separate scruffy salvaged cases and toss any green ones before cleaning, corrosion is easy to see then. Then the dark tarnished cases get an overnight soak in my wife's common (cheep) white vinegar. The mild acid will attack and safely remove the tarnish but not the brass, it leaves a slight dull pink color to the affected surfaces. Flush the cases with fresh water a couple of times and dry before viberator tumbling normally with cob or nut. Then they will be ready to use; couldn't be easier or less expensive.

IF you have more bullets to pull save your puller some grief by running each round through your seating die with the top punch set to push each bullet back a few thou. That will break the decades old neck bond so the bullets are much easier to pull!

[RogerDat]

I bought a used Frankford Arsenal Rotating Tumbler both because I found it used at a good price and because buying and owning a FART makes me smile when I think of it.

I still tumble some brass after wet tumbling in dry media with a dash of mineral spirits and some Nu-Finish wax for long term storage. For those who don't want to take on more equipment (weird but I guess someone out there might not drool over new tools and such) A simple 5 gallon bucket and some lemi-shine or other citric acid bath before putting in the vibrating tumbler with dry media can make a big difference in how the brass comes out.

Too much citric acid or sitting in citric acid too long will turn brass pink. Removes the surface zinc I think it is and leave the copper so brass looks pink. Overnight is a big no-no. I generally stay at less than 3 hours and less citric acid than you think you need. A couple of spoons worth dumped into 3 gallons of water works fine.

The wet tumbling gives me clean cases inside and out with clean primer pockets. I presume cleaning those areas will reduce or set back tarnishing and corrosion in those areas. Having brass clean inside and out is a win as far as I'm concerned.

I have a window box fan. I set it pointed at a towel on the floor. I dump brass there. Come back later brass is dry. FART has a grill end piece that allows me to shake the pins and excess water out of the brass.

[JeepHammer]

I had a long history of confusing cleaning with polishing media...
Dump in the vibrator and run for countless hours, get media busted to dust and plugged up by the grimy range crud.

Soap & water most times, pins/chips if they are tarnished/corroded, usually clean in 20-30 minutes,
Tip the mixer down with a screen on the mouth, tumble out water,

Dump walnut shell right in on damp brass and run another 10-15 minutes, dry with no water spots,
Tip mixer down and screen out walnut.

Throw in sponges with case lube or wax, depending on storage or processing, tumble a few more minutes and dump into buckets for storage or processing.

Not confusing cleaning (soap & water), with scrubbing/scouring (pins/chips), with polishing (dry media), and coatings (wax, lube) saves a bunch of time when you do a bunch.
Cement mixer runs mouth down so you can tumble water/dry media out of the cases with a screen over the mouth.
Dry media dries without supervision if it gets too wet,
Those long, inexpensive plastic cement trays work well for catch bins and they stack to store.

Depends on the volume you do,
My first try at wet washing was a plastic 1/2 gallon thermos that leaked at the spout, so I threw some brass, soap & water in it and rolled it around the yard with my foot for about 10 minutes.
That convinced me to go bigger and spend some money on it.

[RogerDat]

.....

.....Depends on the volume you do,

My first try at wet washing was a plastic 1/2 gallon thermos that leaked at the spout, so I threw some brass, soap & water in it and rolled it around the yard with my foot for about 10 minutes.
That convinced me to go bigger and spend some money on it.First time I ever heard a guy use a leaking thermos as a reason for buying big tools at Harbor Freight. Just saying I can't even imagine getting half way through that explanation to wife as to why I came home with a cement mixer before she rolls her eyes and walks away shaking her head as she goes to Google "involuntary commitment". :p

[Bayou52]

https://preview.ibb.co/dhoTPv/IMG-20150221-182103.jpg (https://ibb.co/fcYv4v)

https://preview.ibb.co/nckExF/IMG-20150611-111556.jpg (https://ibb.co/hbqgcF)

https://preview.ibb.co/d4Lsjv/IMG-20151210-112830.jpg (https://ibb.co/iTPJPv)

https://preview.ibb.co/gHrnHF/IMG-20160401-141930.jpg (https://ibb.co/b0UJPv)

Typical results using Thumlers Tumbler, 1 ounce of auto wash and wax together with 1/4 TSP Lemi-Shine.

Bayou52

[Jjed]

All good advice. 1hole I should have tried that. it took a good bit of effort to knock 500 rounds apart with that heavy crimp. setting at my bench and banging that hammer off the concrete floor, when the puller broke and i looked at the end of the hammer and it was gone, looking around I didn't see it, seemed like 20 seconds (sure it was less) then I heard it banging off the floor and washing machine across the room. glad no one could see me, I must had a very strange look on my face as i thought how did it get all the way to the other side of the room without hitting the ceiling. thanks Guys.

[rondog]

I had a long history of confusing cleaning with polishing media...
Dump in the vibrator and run for countless hours, get media busted to dust and plugged up by the grimy range crud.

Soap & water most times, pins/chips if they are tarnished/corroded, usually clean in 20-30 minutes,
Tip the mixer down with a screen on the mouth, tumble out water,

Dump walnut shell right in on damp brass and run another 10-15 minutes, dry with no water spots,
Tip mixer down and screen out walnut.

Throw in sponges with case lube or wax, depending on storage or processing, tumble a few more minutes and dump into buckets for storage or processing.

Not confusing cleaning (soap & water), with scrubbing/scouring (pins/chips), with polishing (dry media), and coatings (wax, lube) saves a bunch of time when you do a bunch.
Cement mixer runs mouth down so you can tumble water/dry media out of the cases with a screen over the mouth.
Dry media dries without supervision if it gets too wet,
Those long, inexpensive plastic cement trays work well for catch bins and they stack to store.

Depends on the volume you do,
My first try at wet washing was a plastic 1/2 gallon thermos that leaked at the spout, so I threw some brass, soap & water in it and rolled it around the yard with my foot for about 10 minutes.
That convinced me to go bigger and spend some money on it.

I'd like to see how you attach a screen over the mouth of your mixer, please!

[LaPoint]

I've wet tumbled cases that are so dirty they leave a scum on the pins and the inside of the rock polisher and the cases have a film of grime on them. Now I clean the pins and the tumbler with a fairly mild solution of purple cleaner after several batches of cases have been run through it. The purple cleaner cuts the oil and grime and leaves the pins bright and the drum clean.

[Bmi48219]

I used citric acid with Blue Coral W & W for a while. Noticed The batches started coming out greasy, same with the tumbler barrel & pins. Liquid dish soap took care of that. It’s made to dissolve grease & oil. Now the W&W goes in the rinse water before separating pins from brass.
I dry mine in the sun, made several boards with rows of plastic pins on one slide. After rolling the brass sea-saw style in a towel to get most water off & out of brass, i invert the cases on pins & leave in the sun for 30-45 minutes.

[kevin c]

With car wash 'n wax plus citric acid, the cases get decently clean w/o the pins (hint: really hot water helps the cleaning action). While I allow it looks nice, I don't need the case interiors and primer pockets to look like factory fresh unfired brass, and it saves me the time and hassle of separating the pins.

I second a quick run through a towel hammock after tumbling out most of the water in a rotary media separator, and finishing with air drying in the sun. The first two steps eliminate water spots (if that matters to you). ;^]

[kevin c]

Forgive my ignorance, but what's purple cleaner, LaPoint?

[Gunners Mate]

Gallon of Water / 3 tbls Wash & Wax / 1/4 tbls Lemi Shine / 1 tbls Cream of Tartar brass shines like a diamond in a goats *** dry on plastic peg board from HD

[yeahbub]

Where did you get the stainless pins? The local Harbor Freight doesn't carry it.

They do have glass bead tumbling media, or so the gal on the phone said. Anyone ever used that?

[Conditor22]

Use the Pins, most deprime before wet tumbling so the primer pockets get clean and the cases dry faster. I got my pine online

With a little work, you can make your own wet tumbler for not much money.

My first - basic wood designhttps://i.imgur.com/yFjnYbQ.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/B3KN8xA.jpg?2https://i.imgur.com/J9rzhUy.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/RLFUtJn.jpg
then a metal frame https://i.imgur.com/eBafSuv.jpg https://i.imgur.com/j9ooP47.jpg

[kenton]

Forgive my ignorance, but what's purple cleaner, LaPoint?

I assume he is referring to this https://www.clean-rite.com/

[rondog]

I assume he is referring to this https://www.clean-rite.com/

Yeah, that's powerful stuff! I use it for stripping gunstocks.

[Ed_Shot]

Citric Acid works! Lemishine, dollar store fruit fresh, some hot water, drop or 2 of dawn and brass comes out clean inside and out.

Also no media stuck in primer pockets.

I have not tumbled or vibratory polished brass since I first learned about Citric Acid. Perfect, maybe not, close enough. Well it is for me. YMMV

Amen! Citric acid, Lemishine and Dawn in a bucket of hot tap water fo 30 minutes.

[Iowa Fox]

I take a plastic coffee can with a lid and put 1 teaspoon of Lemishine in. Take the wifes 5cup measuring cup and bring it to a boil in the microwave then pour it in the lemishine add the brass and snap the lid on. When water is luke warm I pull the grass out and use another coffee can to give it 3 clean water rinses, shake it out and set it out to dry. Brass comes out clean, shinny and will still bite the chamber walls when your running max loads. I used to get it squeaky clean and slippery shinny but found out that wasn't doing so well for me.

[Pighunter]

the wife decided she wanted a carry pistol, so we bought a glock 43 and a bulldog carry purse. And we have been going shooting so she can get use to the new gun. But i wanted to use reloads for that, but after tumbling the brass with dry media the cases still had so much dust on them they made her hands dirty (and she didn't like that) so i decided to try wet tumbling. I don't reload a lot of cases at a time so i went the cheap route and bought a harbor freight rock tumbler for $47.00 and $15.00 worth of stainless steel pins, after tumbling i put them in a toaster oven i bought at a thrift store for $5.00 to dry them, worked much better than i thought it would. It worked so good i thought i would try it on some of the worst looking brass i had. 4 or 5 years ago at a flea market i picked up 500 rounds of 1950's 30-06 ammo that was in a canvas bag stored in a very damp place, some of the most crusty stuff i have ever seen, but i wanted them for the boolits, knocked them apart, tumbled the boolits and i am still using them in my m1. (broke 1 boolit puller in the process). A dash of lemi shine, dawn soap and hot water wow. Sorry the pic's are not in order, still trying to figure that out, but you get the idea.
250855250856250857250858250859

nice!

[DiverJay]

Hate to say this but the SS pins do very little other than eat up space in your tumbler. Just for giggles. Try running a load of brass without them and see if the difference is worth the expense of the SS pins.

[coatessey]

The expense and the hassle. I don’t use pins when wet tumbling.

[edp2k]

The pins clean the insides and primer pockets.
no pins == dirty insides and primer pockets.
your choice :)

[John Boy]

For those that use Dawn, where did you first read or was told to use it?

[Green Frog]

I’ve only done wet tumbling with SS pins once, to do a product review for an article in the ASSRA Journal. I threw a batch of particularly nasty 45-70 brass into my old Thumler Tumbler with the pins, water, and a dose of the original blue Dawn dish detergent and let her roll. I was amazed when I opened it up a couple of hours later and discovered that the dirty brass was nickel... it had been so darkened I couldn’t tell. I wish I hadn’t passed those SS pins on; I have a bunch of nasty brass again. :???:

Froggie

[Budzilla 19]

Just finished a full 5 gallon bucket of rifle brass!!! Wet tumbled in a FART, Lemishine, Rain-X wash and wax, and hot water, run them 1 hour, drain them, rinse them,dry them in the oven on 250f for one full hour, sort and package!! Put my Dillon polisher in retirement. Works for me.

[doulos]

I use 99 cent store lemon juice concentrate, works great for me.

Ditto. Lemishine replacement. I use one or 2 capfuls of Real lemon juice. Cant imagine the brass being any cleaner.

[popper]

Is the difference in $$ worth the STM vs Thumbler B? She asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I know the STM is much better quality but still!