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Stainless pins
countryfarmer
Member Posts: 4,552
Do the stainless pins work with the vibrating cleaners or do they work best with the tumblers? Thinking about getting some type of case cleaner and just trying to narrow down what will work the best for me. I would just be doing small batches and don't reload that much.
Comments
I am currently using a large rock tumbler, dual drum model, that I got from harbor freight for about 50 bucks. Does the job, but even with both drums going, I can only do about 30-40 cases (rifle) total at a time. I'm going to upgrade to the thumblers as I already have the pins, as soon as I get the cash.
A clever sort could also make a good rotary tumbler... I have seen several good plans for them made out of various sized plastic buckets.
One hint I'll give: basically any sort of soap will result in clean brass. To get it really shiny, you need a weak acid. A lot of guys use Lemi Shine, which is a dishwasher additive I think. Which I see does a great job. But it works because it has powdered citric acid in it. I skipped the middle man, and bought 10 pounds of citric acid powder off of fleabay. Lifetime supply.
Fill your drum no more than 1/3 to 1/2 filled with cases, fill with water to 1/2-2/3 full of water, few squeezes of the soap of your choice, a tsp of citric acid, and go to town.
Do note, you have to rinse the cases after, or the lemi shine or citric acid powder or whatever will leave tarnished brass. Also, if you don't towel dry the brass or dip in distilled water after the rinse, you still get water spots. That doesn't bother me, but I know some guys get very... exact about their desire for PERFECTLY shiny brass.
I haven't used mine in years, just my Midway.
I'm not even sure what I will invest in. Might even get a vibrating cleaner for now with corn cob and if I stay in the reloading racket, upgrade in the future. I know I saw the smaller Lyman on sale in the $40 range some place the other day. I might check Fleabay out and see what kind of rotarys they have on there.
If you are not going to be reloading a lot of brass and not going to be in a big hurry just get a vibrating type tumbler ($60-70 new) like maybe a lyman 600. I got a lyman 600 when first starting out several years ago and that thing just keeps going like the energizer bunny. After about 10 years I had to replace the plastic container and lid and it's still running.
Use the red rouge type WALNUT type media for the first run because corn cob takes too long for the first polishing usually. I now only use the red rouge walnut type and never go to the corn cob for the final bright shiny polishing. Main thing to prolong the life of your media is to degrease your hulls real good before sending them to the media. (One run of 20 hulls of greasy full sized brass will usually ruin the polishing media) You won't believe how long walnut media will last if you send it degreased brass.
When walnut media quits polishing I give it a toss and add new. Not worth time, money effort trying to do a media restore additive to a 1/2 quart of media. I sometimes put my brass polishers on a timer (usually about 4 hours for dirty brass) so as they don't run all day while I'm at work or away.
For Brass storage You will also find that the old vintage type paper type shell boxes (that look great and vintage like and match old Betsy gun) will cause your shiny brass to tarnish (turn dull and lose it's shiny color over time) Use zip loc bags for bulk brass and later type plastic or styrafoam shell boxes if you want to keep your hulls bright after polishing.
I got a lyman ultrasonic cleaner on sale (around $70) few years ago and I use it as a brass precleaner for grease and grime removal before sizing brass and before sending brass the tumbler (it degreases the inside of the hulls also) and it's great for small engine carb repairs using 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar for the carbs. Only thing I do not like about the ultrasonic cleaner is the reservoir tank is too small.
Use the ultrasonic brass cleaner additive for your hulls.
It can be confusing to try to make decisions about the two different processes. But they are processes and you will find that you will be comfortable with one or the other.
I used the vibratory cleaners for way too many years before switching to the stainless steel pins. I will never go back either. Yes there are parts to each process that require some hand work but both have some as 'drawbacks' if you will. The vibratory stuff is cheaper but you only buy pins once. Yes, you need something like citric acid to get the shine but you need an additive for the other also. See the resemblance?
Small time users like yourself are at the mercy of cost since your volumes are low. Maybe this would be a good time to look into time sharing with a reloader buddy? Split the costs and share time on the process.
Best.