Wet tumbling- I'm set for life

Just a added note. You can substitute citric acid in place of the Lemishine and you.get the same results. You can buy it at Wal-Mart in the canning section.

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Just using the harbor freight single drum now. I got 6lbs of pins in a bag, just waiting a bit to see if the Frankford tumbler goes on sale and buy it

I think I got mine on Amazon about $40 cheaper than Midway or Brownells. IIRC it was around $140.
 
I think I got mine on Amazon about $40 cheaper than Midway or Brownells. IIRC it was around $140.
I think they’re like $170 on there now. The HF is ok for my bolt gun brass, I just make 2-3 batches to do 100 but it’d be nice to do them all in one. Plus my 223 brass is not even going to go in the HF. That’ll take years
 
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Just getting ready to start wet tumbling my rifle brass. What ratios do y'all use?
 
Just getting ready to start wet tumbling my rifle brass. What ratios do y'all use?
Depends on the size of the tumbler/amount of water.. In the HF single drum, its just a pinch, MAYBE a 9mm case worth. If you use too much it'll start turning your brass pink where it's ruining it.

It doesnt take a lot of lemi shine at all, and I just use a good squirt of soap.
 
Just getting ready to start wet tumbling my rifle brass. What ratios do y'all use?


I don’t measure it, but I also don’t wet tumble in a machine.

I have a gallon size water jug that I fill about half full with brass, dump the equivalent of 2-4 tablespoons depending on how dirty the brass it, and 2-3 drops of dawn liquid soap, then fill an inch from the top with hot water. I shake hard til it’s good an mixed and I let it sit and soak for a few hours

I drain it, rinse with cold water a couple times, and dump out on a towel to dry overnight. Then I tumble it in my corn media
 
I used dawn/aldi dish soap before but the brass would loose it's shine quicker than when I use Armor-all wash and wax car soap. Plus it leaves a little waxy finish so the pistol brass goes thru the dies better (even thought they're carbide) than when completely stripped of all grime like Dawn did.
 
I used dawn/aldi dish soap before but the brass would loose it's shine quicker than when I use Armor-all wash and wax car soap. Plus it leaves a little waxy finish so the pistol brass goes thru the dies better (even thought they're carbide) than when completely stripped of all grime like Dawn did.

My process also ends up with them being wiped down (towel) and tumbled again....they come out super clean and shiny. More than one way to skin a cat so whatever works :cool:
 
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My process also ends up with them being wiped down (towel) and tumbled again....they come out super clean and shiny. More than one way to skin a cat so whatever works :cool:

Doesn't really matter how dry they are. If you leave that acidic PH on brass it will tarnish quicker without wax than with. I used to neutralize with a baking soda rinse but now the W&W takes care of it in 1 step
 
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Doesn't really matter how dry they are. If you leave that acidic PH on brass it will tarnish quicker without wax than with. I used to neutralize with a baking soda rinse but now the W&W takes care of it in 1 step

But....what if they aren’t tarnishing? I’ve got rounds I loaded for Appleseed KD in the summer of 2017 I didn’t fire and they still look brand new. Prepped just like I described
 
Dunno. I've had brass turn darker after wet tumbling so I switched up soaps. Seems to be working alright :D

This is after about a week sitting out in my man cave

396ecab7f5de22bc32b1398a33036f05.jpg
 
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Doesn't really matter how dry they are. If you leave that acidic PH on brass it will tarnish quicker without wax than with. I used to neutralize with a baking soda rinse but now the W&W takes care of it in 1 step
I found that using too much lemishine, it turned my brass pink, which I learned weakens the brass. I cut it back to no more than a 45acp case worth in my FA tumbler. Using car wash with wax made a big difference in luster and water spots.
 
I just purchased a used Lortone QT12 off Craigslist and wow, I am so impressed with wet tumbling. I have been using a Dillon vibratory case cleaner for 25 years and have never really be satisfied with the job it did on the brass. I used the Lortone for the first time yesterday, I put 4 lbs of stainless media, about 250 .45 cases, a little lemi-shine and dawn detergent and added enough water to cover the brass then ran for 2 hours. I was amazed how clean the brass came out. The case on the left is vibratory cleaned and the right is wet tumbled.

brass-small.jpg

I am considering using the Turtlewax car wash with wax to see if it does any better.
 
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I am considering using the Turtlewax car wash with wax to see if it does any better.
Right out of the bath, you may not notice any difference. But a week later, you might notice the brass turning a little dark with Dawn, but not with the wash-n-wax. That has been my experience.
 
Right out of the bath, you may not notice any difference. But a week later, you might notice the brass turning a little dark with Dawn, but not with the wash-n-wax. That has been my experience.
Did you have to tumble longer using the car wash opposed to the Dawn? I grabbed my car wash and noticed it didn't contain wax so I need to stop by Walmart and some.
 
Did you have to tumble longer using the car wash opposed to the Dawn? I grabbed my car wash and noticed it didn't contain wax so I need to stop by Walmart and some.
If anything it takes less time. I use Armor All wash and wax and a bottle has lasted a long long time.
 
Thanks, I will pick up the Armor All wash!
While at wally world look for citric acid in the canning section of home goods. Clearance lemishine may be cheap at .88 but the $2.xx bottle of citric acid is bigger and dissolves faster....FYI lemishine is 98% citric acid
 
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While at wally world look for citric acid in the canning section of home goods. Clearance lemishine may be cheap at .88 but the $2.xx bottle of citric acid is bigger and dissolves faster....FYI lemishine is 98% citric acid

I keep a 5lb bag of citric acid around, it is what I use to descale of my Espresso machine and it works great.
 
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