Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Brass cleaning: Stainless pins or Sonic???

I want to upgrade from Walnut media and a vibratory cleaner ot something better. I am looking at either the stainless steel pins (in a tumbler type cleaner) or the sonic cleaners.

What is the best route, considering cost, convenience, speed and results?

Thanks,

Jordan

Myself I'm waiting for a promised writeup at Sinclair on the steel pin way but I expect to try it. Pricey with maybe the RCBS true tumbler (not vibrator) or a truly heavy duty Thumbler or other rock true tumbler.

I don't consider sonic cleaners an upgrade on walnut media for polishing cases but certainly a very nice thing to have for general use.

In a nice industrial unit sonic is very nice for cleaning handguns.

To some extent this is related to the quantity of cases to clean and willingness to fiddle with solutions and timers - a sonic cleaner can do a fine job but IMHO not so much with quantities or cases that again IMHO need polishing before the case goes into the sizing die. For small quantities to be intensely fussed over maybe the sonic cleaner is the first choice.

What I'd like is a small motorized cement mixer for a true tumbler and enough cases to justify it.

+1 for the SS system.

I think you will like it better.

Stainless works great, just be prepared to be frustrated, picking up the little rods, they seem to want to go every where, especially using a thumblers, if you pour everything out of it to separate the brass from the media. They even float sometimes on the surface. I have been told they are magnetic, but have not verified this, which might help.

Some of the retailers don't sell pins which are magnetic. The magnetic ones are a whole lot easier to work with.

Frikkin' A.

Here's a link to a 6mmbr writeup on stainless media www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/brass-cleaning-with-stainless-media/

And here's a link on sonic: http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/ultrasonic-case-cleaning/ with 4 steps each with a different solution for best results. Myself when I've used ultrasonic I've settled for less than best but maybe good enough for me. If I were using more Lapua or equal brass I'd maybe be spending more time and effort on cleaning.

I've never used ultrasonic on anything but M4's and it sure cleaned them up good. Even took the paint we'd put on for camo off.

Big fan of the SS media. I will never go back.

"What is the best route, considering cost, convenience, speed and results?"

Steel pins. But both systems are expensive, slow and messy; other than that the wet systems are great. But why anyone is willing to spend the money and time to make cases surgically clean inside and out eludes me.

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