Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Cleaning brass ?

You'll need a tumbler made specifically for wet tumbling. From the reviews I've read, Frankford Arsenal makes a very good one. It is less expensive, designed well, and seems to be a great value.

You can find them at Midway USA and Cabelas for less than $200. This includes the stainless media.

Set the wet brass in a colander on top of your air conditioner.

Give it a couple shakes every 15 mins or so. It will be dry in an hour.

Flyer.

I am still using walnut hulls in my old RCBS roller but rarely, if ever, do I clean brass. I see no functional need...

I use the Thumler's Tumbler and am happy with it. The caveat is that I've only been handloading a couple of years and that is the only method I've used. I do decap before tumbling. To dry them I place them on a towel outside and let them sit all day.

Same here

No value added and as a matter of fact.......your spending hundreds of dollars and countless hours for shiny brass

Funny

Does stainless steel media work harden the brass?

"I don't care that my brass looks like new. I only care that there is no grit or carbon on the case when it enters the sizing die."


This, pretty much. Sorting the brass out of the polishing media is a giant PITA, as is wiping the rouge off. It ain't jewelry.

I just put the brass in a couple of cloth bags, rubber-band them up tight and toss them in the washing machine. To dry, I toss in the clothes dryer with a load of laundry. Been working well for the last 20 years. No extra equipment, no extra cleaners and they come out looking new.

I still use the Lyman Turbo and it works just fine.

Hundreds of dollars?

I maybe spend fifteen dollars per year to do a few thousand rounds for very simple cleaning and polished brass that feeds great through my dies and chamber. Doing the "wet stuff" is just way to much work.

I'm in this Camp.....If cleaning served a functional purpose then I'd do it.



Shod

I used the vibratory method with walnut hull/corn cob for years. Recently purchased the Frankford Arsenal tumbler with SS pins, while it is a quality unit that produces very clean brass inside and out I feel it is somewhat more work than the vibratory unit. Dealing with the water and drying the brass I may not be worth the effort. Clean primer pockets are a nice result, not sure why inside of the case needs to be sparkling clean though. Cabela's sells the FA unit for $189.00 + tax, I was able to purchase mine lightly used on eBay for $150.00 OTD.

I like the wet tumbling with pins.

I used to tumble in walnut or corncob.

I hated the dust (which is probably filled with lead) and I hated separating the cases from the media. Seems like there was always at least a few cases that had media hidden in the bottom of them or stuck in a flash hole.

To me, the wet tumbling seems like less work and the product is cleaner.

I agree, corn cob and walnut dust was a royal PITA, so I switched to wet tumbling using pins, but...

I couldn't be bothered with ensuring that all the pins were out of the cases.

I am lazy, so I started using an ultrasonic cleaner. I only do it once a year maybe. I don't care about shine, just cleanliness. They come out looking fine and can either be left in the sun to dry or, if you're living in a cold climate, placed in a rag over a heating duct for an hour in the winter.

My ultrasonic cleaner is also good for removing grit from other things. I spent $200 on it a few years ago, but it was worth the price. No more walnut. No more pins.

Edited to add: The cases in this pic came out of the ultrasonic. Clean, but not polished to a high gloss like the pins. Good enough, IMO.

There's more to clean brass than the out side being shiny

Id.. Right. I generally only clean (NRA water/DWS/VIN/NACL) on cases that are dirty, range PU and for S.A. rifles/pistols. Anyway ones that NEED cleaning to function correctly. Muddy

If I could pay/trust someone to reload ammo I would.

That said I still tumble my brass after every sizing just to get the Imperial wax rubbed off.