Should I buy an SS PIN tumbler = YES!

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ACES&8S

ACES&8S

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This makes about 7 times I have dried cases of this amount since I got it!
Of course there are lots more to go.
No complaints, it works perfect, inside & out clean as new.
Just working out the sequence & drying methods now.
Should have had this Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler -f,a,r,t, a long
time ago.
It does dirty & previously tumbled cases, they all come out the same.
One ounce of Hornady One Shot sonic solution per normal load, an
ounce & a half on heavy loads.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback on my previous thread.
BEEN BUSY = 7 TIMES SO FAR.JPG
Even used the ArmorAll Wash & Wax recipe with the same success.
 
I wet tumbler and would never go back to dry. But I’m sure there will be some posting that will tell you all the negatives and wasted time involved in doing so.
 
Food for thought, i boiled my cases, did not do as good as what your doing but what i want to pass on is that i rinsed my cases in clean almost boiling water, shook them in a media separator then threw them steaming hot in vibrator with corn cob and polish, they came out dry and shiny. Just thought it was a good way to dry
 
I really like pin tumbling. Can't imagine vibratory,,, (Never done it, but sounds a bit dusty and slow)

Thought about getting one of those 'brass dryer's' (multi-tray dehydrator), but I fear they'd be too slow,,,,,

FWIW, my 'oven method' drying capacity exceeds my tumbling capacity,,, with or without de-capping first.

Once out of the FART:
Thorough tumble in media separator.
Dump batch on dry bath towel. Spread out to single case depth with 2nd dry towel.
Grab 1st towel by ends and fold in 1/2 lengthwise. Elevate. Keep tension on towel to end up with a 'hammock',,,
Agitate towel left and right, brass inside 'hammock'
Place brass single layer deep on cookie sheets. Place in preheated oven. (I bought 4 cheap medium sized sheets for 8 bucks at the dollar store. Can load all 4 in the oven at once)
20 minutes @ 250. (I typically get the FART rolling again at this stage)
Remove brass from oven and spread out over a dry towel to cool. (I use a small table under a ceiling fan)

I usually let 'em set up until about 20 min before the FART is done with another load,,
Grab towel and make a hammock again.
Elevate one end and pour clean/dry brass out the other into an airtight container. (I do leave the lid off the container for a couple hours, just for 'good luck' )

Could probably keep up with a couple FARTS this way if synchronized correctly, but I ain't in THAT big of a hurry,,,,,,,,
 
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I wet tumble and will never go back. Not that dry tumbling is a bad thing, but I like the results of wet tumbling.

I use the ArmorAll Wash-n-wax Ultrashine, with a little Lemishine. I'm a little generous with the soap (maybe an 1 or 1.5oz per load).

I have dried the brass several different ways:
  • The sun on a hot day, as it is free. Can take a while, and depends on the humidity/weather.
  • The shoe rack in the clothes dryer, but I figured that was probably the least cost-effective way.
  • Toaster oven.
  • A rack on top of the outside AC coils, which works really well, but requires warm weather to operate the AC.
  • A screen rack in front of a box fan - have done this many times and it works well. Very little power used, takes a little longer.
  • Food dehydrator. Probably my favorite, especially in the winter when a little extra heat in the reloading room is ok. Quick.

For rifle brass, I tumble without the pins for only about 15 minutes - just enough to clean the dirt off for lubing/resizing. I'm not too worried about drying at this point. After resizing, I tumble with the pins for an hour and then proceed with drying and trimming/prepping.

For pistol brass, just throw in the tumbler.
 
Skgreen said:
A rack on top of the outside AC coils, which works really well, but requires warm weather to operate the AC.

Very creative!!! A source of heated, moving air that would otherwise have absolutely no value!
Click to expand...
Oh, I forgot one. In front of the forced-air fireplace insert. Heated the house, dried the brass, and raised the humidity in the house, all at the same time. :)
95841728-A3CA-4B5F-872C-21E5B452A6FA.jpeg

Maximum utilization of available resources.
 
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Derek Zeanah said:
WHY IS EVERYONE TRYING TO MAKE ME SPEND MONEY THIS WEEK! DON'T YOU PEOPLE VALUE MY MARRIAGE!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Click to expand...

I really have a way out for you!
My wife is the one that turned all the cases toward the fan, so that makes it a
family fun thing. Tell her it saved our marriage or something like that.
 
Reeferman said:
I wet tumbler and would never go back to dry. But I’m sure there will be some posting that will tell you all the negatives and wasted time involved in doing so.
Click to expand...
I'm sure they will reply negatively but this isn't something that has a maybe right for you, or it might
work, or it has it's place in some settings. It is an absolute YES.
I am among the world's worst to be the last hold out on change, but when it comes to perfect
case condition, this can't be beat. I only have one dry tumbler left now, & it will be for tools
& some gun parts maybe. Unless I come upon a beginning reloader that needs boost for free.
 
ACES&8S said:
My wife is the one that turned all the cases toward the fan, so that makes it a
family fun thing. Tell her it saved our marriage or something like that.
Click to expand...
"Hey, Baby! So, I spent a few hundred dollars to replace that dry media tumbler I used to use in the garage with something louder and heavier. It saves me time! As part of this though, I'm gonna need you to take part of your Saturday and arrange all these hundreds of pieces of brass so they point into the wind from this fan, OK? By the way, when's dinner?"
 
Stew0576 said:
Food for thought, i boiled my cases, did not do as good as what your doing but what i want to pass on is that i rinsed my cases in clean almost boiling water, shook them in a media separator then threw them steaming hot in vibrator with corn cob and polish, they came out dry and shiny. Just thought it was a good way to dry
Click to expand...
Never heard of that method, sounds interesting.
Bet the open top tumblers would dry them faster or maybe better. Perhaps yours is the open top type.
 
Skgreen said:
I really like pin tumbling. Can't imagine vibratory,,, (Never done it, but sounds a bit dusty and slow)

Thought about getting one of those 'brass dryer's' (multi-tray dehydrator), but I fear they'd be too slow,,,,,

FWIW, my 'oven method' drying capacity exceeds my tumbling capacity,,, with or without de-capping first.

Once out of the FART:
Thorough tumble in media separator.
Dump batch on dry bath towel. Spread out to single case depth with 2nd dry towel.
Grab 1st towel by ends and fold in 1/2 lengthwise. Elevate. Keep tension on towel to end up with a 'hammock',,,
Agitate towel left and right, brass inside 'hammock'
Place brass single layer deep on cookie sheets. Place in preheated oven. (I bought 4 cheap medium sized sheets for 8 bucks at the dollar store. Can load all 4 in the oven at once)
20 minutes @ 250. (I typically get the FART rolling again at this stage)
Remove brass from oven and spread out over a dry towel to cool. (I use a small table under a ceiling fan)

I usually let 'em set up until about 20 min before the FART is done with another load,,
Grab towel and make a hammock again.
Elevate one end and pour clean/dry brass out the other into an airtight container. (I do leave the lid off the container for a couple hours, just for 'good luck' )

Could probably keep up with a couple FARTS this way if synchronized correctly, but I ain't in THAT big of a hurry,,,,,,,,
Click to expand...
Hammock method, I do the same & never could come up with a word to use in threads to match the action taken= HAMMOCK!
From now on we will refer to it as the Green Hammock method!
I probably don't have rank enough to pull that off.
 
Skgreen said:
A rack on top of the outside AC coils, which works really well, but requires warm weather to operate the AC.

Very creative!!! A source of heated, moving air that would otherwise have absolutely no value!
Click to expand...

You are proving to be a wealth of information. Thanks again.
 
Derek Zeanah said:
"Hey, Baby! So, I spent a few hundred dollars to replace that dry media tumbler I used to use in the garage with something louder and heavier. It saves me time! As part of this though, I'm gonna need you to take part of your Saturday and arrange all these hundreds of pieces of brass so they point into the wind from this fan, OK? By the way, when's dinner?"
Click to expand...

When all else fails lie!
 
WHY IS EVERYONE TRYING TO MAKE ME SPEND MONEY THIS WEEK! DON'T YOU PEOPLE VALUE MY MARRIAGE!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Click to expand...

I believe ACES&8S said his wife liked the nice clean shiny brass. Some women just like nice clean stuff. (or at least they always seem to want something cleaned;))

ACS, glad you are liking the wet tumbler, .
I thought well that's kind of a lot of money to clean cases and sounds like hassle,
but it took only one batch and I decided it was money well spent.
Also nice that there is no lead contaminated dust floating around like when dealing with dry media.

Like I mentioned before the brass may not shoot any better but it makes me :)

Edit
PS: I'm sure our female members will maintain if us guys were not always making a mess they would not need stuff cleaned. (and they might be right)
 
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My wife went to college after I retired from the military and one of her professors convinced her that the ice cap were melting and it was her fault because we didn't have energy saving appliances. Well, I had a refrigerator that I had dragged all over the world that I had to sell it so she could get her energy-saving refrigerator. One month after the warranty was up, it gave up the ghost. So off to the landfill. "you know to save the planet" So now, I have to buy another one of them damn energy-saving refrigerators. To my surprise, this one lasted 8 months after the warranty expired. But I keep this one. I knocked out the switch that turns the light bulb out and wires in a small personal fan and built 7 trays to hold brass. If I don't need the brass until the next day it is perfect. Now if I want to see a good running 40-year-old refrigerator I just go to my sister's house. And I laugh at them damn ice caps. "They are still there."

edit: I forgot FU professor and your buddy Al Gordo.
 
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so... I love my Franklin Wet Tumber / SS pins! As you guys know the cases come out looking like brand new Starline brass. I like to do large batches ata time and then store them for reloading later. However, I noticed that. although they would stay shiny for years, the color would change from the light champagne yellow to a golden as they began to oxidize again. I decided I would kill 2 birds with one stone.

Now, when I remove the cases from the tumbler and rinse with cold water, I spin them in a media separator to remove the water, roll them in a dry towel to dry them a bit mpre berfore throwing them in a vibrator tumbler with corn cob media and a couple of squirts of FLITZ case polish. Not only does the corn cob dry the cases and primer pockets completely in about 30 minutes, but it puts a coat of polish on the cases that keeps them that "just out of the tumbler" color for at least a year.
 
Ruger 15151,
are you using wash and wax?
I find the wash and wax helps with tarnish.
I used FLITZ case polish when I dry tumbled, great stuff.
 
ACES&8S said:
This makes about 7 times I have dried cases of this amount since I got it!
Of course there are lots more to go.
No complaints, it works perfect, inside & out clean as new.
Just working out the sequence & drying methods now.
Should have had this Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler -f,a,r,t, a long
time ago.
It does dirty & previously tumbled cases, they all come out the same.
One ounce of Hornady One Shot sonic solution per normal load, an
ounce & a half on heavy loads.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback on my previous thread.
View attachment 789013
Even used the ArmorAll Wash & Wax recipe with the same success.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%. The Frankford Arsenal/SS Pin method is superb. It's all I have ever known, since I began hand-loading only 4 years ago.
 
After I remove my brass from my fart, I place the brass in a towel. Fold it closed and shake as much water as possible out. I then take the empty, but damp brass, straight to my annealeeze! Ready to load as soon as they cool down!
 
OK - so you guys have piqued my interest.
Long time corn cob tumbler(Lyman) here - what I like about my way is the easy dump into an RCBS separator after tumbling. Quick, easy, done.
Now, I do tumble 10+hours with older media (before depriming) , shorter with fresher media. I am not too concerned with how long I tumble(got enuf brass :))

So do I try wet? Or, do I change my regimine, and short tumble with the corn cob, deprime then (get a FART) wet tumble? And, dry in the oven?

Edit: spelling :)
 
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Only downside I've seen to wet tumble with SS pins is if you induction anneal. Gotta watch for stuck pins, those may kill the annealer, like placing a metal object in a microwave :(

I decap, wet tumble, dry in a desiccator, anneal, size, trim (if needed), seat.
 
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