How many stainless pins?

[Catmanran]

I'm making this tumbler and could use some advise on how many pins to buy. I'm cutting the end of the drum off, it's 14" diameter and I would be happy with 1000 .223 at a time.

http://youtu.be/ZoolFBs3vsg

thanks,
Randy

[SlowBurn]

A 14" diameter drum might be too large for 1,000 .223

A 1,000 .223 will weigh about 16 2/3 lbs, so you'll want about 19 lbs of pins in a 3 gallon drum
4.5" high 14" diameter drum will give you 3 gallons

You might do better with a smaller diameter drum, or double the media and height of drum to do 2,000 .223 at a time

I do about 480 .223 in a 2 gallon, 6 inch diameter drum with 10 lbs media

g'luck!

[dudel]

Skip the pins, and go with citric acid. may never need pins.

[runfiverun]

you use the citric acid bath with the pins.

I use about the same ratio of pins to case weight as above.
close to 3 lbs of cases to 4 lbs of pins.
the case size itself makes a difference so I can run more 223's and fewer 30-06's of course.
but the weight comes out close to the same.

[Bayou52]

I use both pins and Lemi-Shine. Typical results:






Bayou52

[WarEagleEd]

I also use steel pins and Lemi-shine and get good results. I generally use a 1:1 ratio of pins and brass, by weight. But, I use the little 2-drum tumbler from Harbor Freight, so YMMV with different tumblers.

Ed

[OS OK]

"That's what brass oughta look like when you load them. Look at those primer pockets and flash holes…immaculate…looks like a bag-O-new brass.

Bully for you in going the extra step! After experiencing these results, anything less is just …unacceptable."

[Walter Laich]

I've used the Lemi-shine and SS pins with the same great results

Now I'm trying SS 'chips' that have been advertised on this site.

Do the same job and don't seem to slide out of the tumbler as easy as the pins when I drain off water. Still running tests but I'm liking them right now.

One 'problem' is they came covered in cutting oil and that took a couple of runs without cases to get cleaned off; used Dawn and a bit of Lemi to get the oil off.

I'll run more tests but both seem to be great and yes, I'm a bit OCD on condition of brass. If I can't shoot all that well at least my cartridges can look top notch

[Bayou52]

"That's what brass oughta look like when you load them. Look at those primer pockets and flash holes…immaculate…looks like a bag-O-new brass.

Bully for you in going the extra step! After experiencing these results, anything less is just …unacceptable."

Thanks much for the compliment, OS OK. I really enjoy SS wet tumbling, and I especially enjoy getting brass that looks like it just came back from a jeweler!

Bayou52

[Bonz]

supposed to use the same weight of SS pins as the brass, 8 pounds of SS pins to wash 8 pounds of Brass. I use 6 pounds of pins to wash 8 pounds of brass and it does a great job in 3 hours.

[Bayou52]

supposed to use the same weight of SS pins as the brass, 8 pounds of SS pins to wash 8 pounds of Brass. I use 6 pounds of pins to wash 8 pounds of brass and it does a great job in 3 hours.

Hi, Bonz -

I'm right there with you - 5 lbs of pins and about 5-6 pounds of brasses......

Bayou52

[Bonz]

Hi, Bonz -

I'm right there with you - 5 lbs of pins and about 5-6 pounds of brasses......

Bayou52

The best improvement in my brass washing with Stainless Steel pins was when you told me to try Armor All Ultra Shine Wash & Wax ! Most of my brass ends up getting washed twice due to the roll sizing process which scratches the outside of the brass case. On brass that I run thru my roll sizer, I wash the first time with Dawn "Blue" dish detergent & Lemishine and after roll sizing, I wash/polish with the Armor All Ultra Shine Wash & Wax which leaves a very thin layer of wax on the brass and keeps it from tarnishing. I cannot thank you enough for letting me know about that !

[TheDoctor]

Anyone ever do steel pins and brass in a small harbor freight cement mixer? The reason I ask, is I have a potential project of processing 50K 223 for a friend of mine. The cleaning part will be my bottleneck. Trying to figure out how to get the most bang for my buck equipment wise, and not spend 3 months doing this. 2K brass at a time I feel would be adequate. Thanks.

[OS OK]

Anyone ever do steel pins and brass in a small harbor freight cement mixer? The reason I ask, is I have a potential project of processing 50K 223 for a friend of mine. The cleaning part will be my bottleneck. Trying to figure out how to get the most bang for my buck equipment wise, and not spend 3 months doing this. 2K brass at a time I feel would be adequate. Thanks.

Meet Mr. Jerry Miculek...How to clean your brass for reloading with Jerry Miculek


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5y_dsP3dsM

I think he made this video with you in mind!

OS OK

[fast ronnie]

I built a tumbler just last week and tried it out. Drum is six inch pvc with six baffles glued in. Tube is 16" long and capped with hose clamp caps. About 800 38's, 10 pounds of pins. Used one teaspoon of armorall with 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid. First batch I ran for 1 hour but didn't quite clean up.Second batch was same recipe but ran for 2 1/2 hours. Man do they look good. I did this because of a 2 year old thread on this forum. I'm sure glad to have the knowledge of some of you guys to fall back on.

Ron

[Bonz]

Anyone ever do steel pins and brass in a small harbor freight cement mixer? The reason I ask, is I have a potential project of processing 50K 223 for a friend of mine. The cleaning part will be my bottleneck. Trying to figure out how to get the most bang for my buck equipment wise, and not spend 3 months doing this. 2K brass at a time I feel would be adequate. Thanks.

The small Harbor Freight cement mixer works great for cleaning a bunch of brass at once. The more Stainless Steel pins you have per pound of brass to be cleaned reduces the required cleaning time. You need to think about having a strainer to catch the SS pins in when you dump the cement mixer full of clean brass and dirty water. "Blue" Dawn dish detergent and Lemishine will give you clean brass. You could probably clean a 5 gallon bucket full of brass in each load, maybe more.

[Catmanran]

I didn't see all these post, I have 10 pounds of pins on the mail truck supposed to be tomorrow. I got busy with other stuff. As soon as I can find lemi shine I'm putting the gas mixer to work. I figure I'll just put a smaller bucket in there. I'll post some pics in a few days.

[Beaver Scout]

Not sure if this is only the benchrest shooters having issues since most of us 1MOA is good, but people are starting to have problems with necks peening with SS media. It is mainly because the brass cases are hitting each other over and over and don't have enough "buffer" to slow them down like they would in conventional media. A lot of people are starting to add more SS media and less brass for shorter times. I have yet to try SS media but I have 5 pounds of swarf and going to give it a try soon.

[CASTING MACHINE]

I use the large harbor freight mixer. Equal pin/brass ratio. More pins the better. You will have a hard time doing 2000 223 in the small HF mixer as I can barely do that in the large size. Lanolin based case lube is difficult to remove. I found using extra detergent speeds process up by suspending it in the foam. Secondly it buffers the brass acting a cushion. Prior to using extra detergent the lube actually smeared onto the mixer drum for a period of time. I get this much foam from 2 tbsp. dawn by eyeball and cold water. There are only 1500 or so 223 cases in this batch. There are 25 lbs pins in this batch. 2000 cases is max as it will push to much foam out of the mixer. Smaller batches clean faster because of pin /brass ratio is higher. Rinse well. This batch took 1.5 hours vs 3.5 before I changed my technique. They are very clean. I added the 11/4 inch aluminum angles x6 inside the bowl to aid tumbling. I left the factory mixing blades in place. =CONFIG]162573[/ATTACH]

[Plate plinker]

CM What if you fashioned a lid for you mixer Maybe a 30 gallon trash can lid? Could you run 4-5000 pieces? The mixer should have the power for that many cases right?