Wet tumblers for beginners

So how much media do you put in? Same mix media/brass as vibratory? Figuring out how much media I need to get.
 
Lucky13bullets said:
45 minutes in corncob is fine.. i got no time to decap, tumble, dry in either the oven or a dehydrator, or let air dry.. then find some place to get rid of the water which is now hazmat, just so my brass can look new
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See this^^^^^
This is the kind of people you need to be listening to.
 
There is NO reason. Ever. To ever. Make brass completely shiney inside and out.bit has no use. It has no function. It can actually be detrimental to extreme accuracy due to the removal of carbon from neck of case.
Unless you are making jewelry it is ridiculous. The only people who will be impressed with your shiny brass are geeks and dweebs.
 
Just bought a new Rebel 17 that I can't wait to try out....pointless shininess for the win.
 
The Green Heron said:
There is NO reason. Ever. To ever. Make brass completely shiney inside and out.bit has no use. It has no function. It can actually be detrimental to extreme accuracy due to the removal of carbon from neck of case.
Unless you are making jewelry it is ridiculous. The only people who will be impressed with your shiny brass are geeks and dweebs.
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You really have no sense of beauty.
 
The Green Heron said:
There is NO reason. Ever. To ever. Make brass completely shiney inside and out.bit has no use. It has no function. It can actually be detrimental to extreme accuracy due to the removal of carbon from neck of case.
Unless you are making jewelry it is ridiculous. The only people who will be impressed with your shiny brass are geeks and dweebs.
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You sir are quite the sage
 
i always deprime and size, then it goes into the UC with distilled water and lemishine only(cheap citric acid), it cleans the crap outta the brass, then it goes in the dehydrator for half an hour, then im done.

it doesn't shine, but its really clean, primer pocket too.

when i first started reloading, i did walnut in the vibrator and it was a pain in the ass. dust was everywhere, inside the brass on the floor. i hated sifting through the media to get brass. im glad i got the UC
 
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I bought a UC cleaner before the wet tumbler setup. It takes longer and doesnt work as well. Definitely didnt take the crap out of primer pockets like the pins do. So i use the UC for what it does best: cleans dies, gun parts, and jewelry
 
Ikarus1;n64770 said:
Someone should tell Lapua to put some carbon on the necks of their brand new brass that BR shooters use to load ammo.
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Ever notice how once fired brass shoots better than new brass?
Of you haven't you haven't shot enough to really have an opinion.
 
The Green Heron;65185 said:
Ever notice how once fired brass shoots better than new brass?
Of you haven't you haven't shot enough to really have an opinion.
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I know that the neck is expanded by gas before the bullet makes significant forward movement forward out of it
 
I use the HF wet tumblers with pins. I've done thousands and thousands of rounds with no problem. Deprime before, and my press stays really clean too.
 
Ikarus1;n65222 said:
I know that the neck is expanded by gas before the bullet makes significant forward movement forward out of it
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So you are saying neck tension is not important?
 
Ikarus1;n65253 said:
For uniformity mostly. Low SDs, very important on max loads to be sure.
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Do you think you can achieve maximum accuracy at long range, without low SD?

I don't need to read about it, I've actually done the testing myself.
 
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Ok everyone dont clean BR rifle brass with the wet method. The all knowing Heron had spoken.

PS how about pistol?
 
Ikarus1;n65314 said:
Ok everyone dont clean BR rifle brass with the wet method. The all knowing Heron had spoken.

PS how about pistol?
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I don't give a baker's f@#$ what you do with your brass.
I don't purport to be all knowing. I tell you what, I do know quite a bit more than most shooters. I do get a little torqued when people flit all over the internet, promoting the latest craze like it is magic wizardry, and everyone who doesn't do it, are just backward Hicks.

If you think that some BR principles, shouldn't be applied to other long range rifle shooting, then you sir aren't as smart as you want people to think.

I don't shoot BR ANYMORE.

This is the reason I hate to contribute to the general areas on any forum. No experience required. It isn't long before someone challenges, those who don't act like sicophantic @$$ licking wackos over the latest fad.

Sorry I challenged wet tumbling.
It is the easiest, most affordable, practical, most fabulous invention of the 20th century.
 
My brass turn out super shiny, in case anyone was wondering. ;)
 
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I have a brand new Harbor Freight "double barrel" rock tumbler that we bought on sale, and with a 25% coupon. Wound up paying about the same price as the normal price of the SINGLE barrel tumbler. It's still brand new, and I haven't used it yet because I just restored an old "Thumbler" rock tumbler that I had. It worked okay, but the motor was tiny, and seemed to be way under powered. I took a motor out of an old table fan, and shortened the shaft, and made a few other minor modifications to make it fit. I also drilled a few more ventilation holes in the tumbler. I love tinkering with stuff...


Here it is with the NEW motor!


I always deprime first using an old de-capping die that I use for only that purpose.


I use the same stainless steel pins that everyone else talks about:






A little Dawn, a little Lemi-Shine, and the results speak for themselves. I just bought some ArmorAll Wash & Wax, and I'm still experimenting with that.


The end results are fantastic!



I separate the pins from the brass with a magnet, pat them dry with an old beach towel, then shoot a blast of compressed air through each primer cup, and any moisture still in the brass is blown out the mouth of the case. Then I let them air dry for a day or so, and they're ready to reload.

I started out with the small Harbor Freight dry, vibratory tumbler, with crushed walnut shells. I must disclose that I did not add any polish or wax, but after 8 HOURS of tumbling dry, the brass was clean, yes, but nowhere as SHINY as with the wet tumbling after an hour and a half.

Everyone has their own opinion, and whatever they are comfortable with. That's fine, but speaking for myself, I'll never go back to dry tumbling my brass...
 

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For those that don't deprime pistol brass before wet tumbling...

Do you just let it dry for a longer time before reloading?

Would a sheet pan in the oven at a low temp be a decent idea to make sure the primer pocket it dry?

I'm about to get into the hobby, and was trying to avoid spending the time depriming since I'm going be using a progressive press.
 
BigWaylon said:
For those that don't deprime pistol brass before wet tumbling...

Do you just let it dry for a longer time before reloading?

Would a sheet pan in the oven at a low temp be a decent idea to make sure the primer pocket it dry?

I'm about to get into the hobby, and was trying to avoid spending the time depriming since I'm going be using a progressive press.
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I do not deprime. I use a dehydrator from harbor frieght. Run it about 2 hours and done
 
Mike Overlay said:
I do not deprime. I use a dehydrator from harbor frieght. Run it about 2 hours and done
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I looked there earlier. It's either not online or not called a dehydrator?
 
BigWaylon said:
For those that don't deprime pistol brass before wet tumbling...

Do you just let it dry for a longer time before reloading?

Would a sheet pan in the oven at a low temp be a decent idea to make sure the primer pocket it dry?

I'm about to get into the hobby, and was trying to avoid spending the time depriming since I'm going be using a progressive press.
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I use a toaster oven set at 220 deg
 
DnB_TeK said:
I like this method the best. I've seen others used oven and clothes dryer. Here a pic of mine cooking.
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Is that the HF version? Wasn't sure how big of a dehydrator it was.

ETA: just did a image search for the HF model...definitely a pretty decent size
 
Couple more questions...

1. Do you try to separate pins from brass before drying? Or after? Or maybe both? Seems like when wet they may not come out from inside the brass as easy, but maybe that's not really a concern.

2. For those with the Frankford...do the sifting caps work well enough? Or is there a need for an alternate method (magnet, colander, Frankford separator, etc)?
 
BigWaylon said:
Couple more questions...

1. Do you try to separate pins from brass before drying? Or after? Or maybe both? Seems like when wet they may not come out from inside the brass as easy, but maybe that's not really a concern.

2. For those with the Frankford...do the sifting caps work well enough? Or is there a need for an alternate method (magnet, colander, Frankford separator, etc)?
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I use a colander and bowl from a dollar store. Hand toss the brass while rinsing. The after a few minutes lift and slightly shake to remove more water. Then on a tray.
 
Mike Overlay said:
Sku#/stk # is 66906 according to the box
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For anybody interested...

While that SKU isn't listed on the website, and a search for "dehydrator" doesn't return what you need...I did call the store today around here and they do have them in stock. $24.97, so ~$20 with the readily available 20% coupons/codes.

I think I'll be driving that way on Thursday, so not going to run over there this weekend.
 
wolfpack65 said:
I'm thinking about selling my Lyman tumbler (walnut media) and going with the wet tumbler.
I have brass in the tumbler right now, but it's messy to sift out inside and I'm not going to do it outside right now.

Can you recommend a wet tumbler? Thx.
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Harbor Freights.... they work fine !
 
Metalliman27055 said:
This is one of my biggest concerns. What to do with wastewater after the fact? Don't want to pour down the drain, can't in good conscience dump it down sewer grate. Won't pour in yard where pet could drink.....I have a few gallons of wastewater In the garage I don't know what to do with, has been sitting there for years.
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Leave the cap off, let it evaporate, then throw the remains in the trash.
 
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