Finally got a wet tumbler

[lordpaxman]

For really dirty brass a water change after the first hour will help get your bling back. Your recipe for your water will be found after a few loads but basically soap and citric acid. Too much citric and you’ll have purple brass, not a good thing.

all different sizes

Good luck with that one. I can tell you 9’s fit in 40 cases and 40’s fit in 45 cases. 38’s about the same as 9’s.

 

[OFFGRID]

For really dirty brass a water change after the first hour will help get your bling back. Your recipe for your water will be found after a few loads but basically soap and citric acid. Too much citric and you’ll have purple brass, not a good thing.

Good luck with that one. I can tell you 9’s fit in 40 cases and 40’s fit in 45 cases. 38’s about the same as 9’s.

lol there were some 9 stuck in 45. no big deal

 

[tominboise]

Brass Shine

I know a lot of guys have their own formula, but I just buy this Brass Shine from Amazon. It works great and gets case clean in 30-40 minutes rather then an hour or two. I do use pins in the tumbler as well. I tumble for 30 minutes or so, then rinse and tumble for another 5-10 minutes with clean water.

 

[Chuck R.]

I use 1/4 TSP of Lemi-Shine and a cap full of ArmorAll "Ultra Shine" Wash & Wax for about 1.5Hrs in a Thumlers Tumbler Model B (High Speed).

 

[Pottimus]

I use a dollop of any Wash/Wax ( I love carnauba smell) with a sprinkle of LemiShine, hot tap water, and de-primed cases. I let them dry for a long time.Don'ts for me include; fornicating cases like 9mm and .223 slipping in and out of each other and getting stuck, adding extra pins thinking more is bedder. I love the finished results, it is like brand new brass.

 

[AJC1]

I’m a rebel. I use Palmolive instead of dawn. We have really hard water so a spoonful of citric acid and an hour with pins and it’s nice and shiny. It loses that shine without wax, but thats not a problem to me.

I decap and tumble before storage. I still use a dry tumbler to remove sizing lube and polish cases. Since the wet tumbler removed the primer residue, the lead dust problem is minimized.

I also use different soaps, the last was apple Palmolive... nice smell.
The purpose of the acid is to help the soap foam. Soft water foams better helping suspend the dirt. For nasty range pickups I use a lot of soap and change the water out in the middle of the cycle. Just a dump and refill, not removing pins or brass. Rinse cycles help for super clean brass.

 

[Laphroaig]

so do any of you guys wet tumble after sizing to remove sizing lube?

I have in the past to remove lanolin lubes. Both from case sizing and I used to make .22 bullet jackets from .22RF cases. My formula was TSP detergent and hot water. I'm pretty much 100% One-Shot nowadays so no need.

 

[conan32120]

If anyone doubts the effectiveness of a FART I put about 150 .243 and .308 brass that I had dry tumbled in walnut for about an hour into a mix of hot water, a 1.9cc lee dipper of lemi shine, 2 capfuls of wash and wax and 2 1/2 pounds of pins. An hour and a half later I dumped it out and the water was black. I fully realize that it's only a perception thing but holy cow. I suggest anyone who may question my results to try a test for themselves.

 

[OFFGRID]

packing up the brass this morning i noticed it doesnt have the shine anymore. i see why the guys use wax. i probably wont tho, because the rifle doesnt care if the brass is super bright and shiny. really pleased with the cleanliness though.

 

[TheClasonater]

Just wipe it off is all I do. I use imperial wax, don’t know if it’s a different story with other lubes.

Me too with a dry rag. tried sizing it and then tumbling to remove the loob and got sick of my nice round necks getting slightly bent

 

[TheClasonater]

packing up the brass this morning i noticed it doesnt have the shine anymore. i see why the guys use wax. i probably wont tho, because the rifle doesnt care if the brass is super bright and shiny. really pleased with the cleanliness though.

That too, i kinda chose to give up the jewelry look for squeaky clean cases. Better on the dies, the press, and just the entire process. To me, its a much more pleasant experience after moving to wet tumbling.

 

[Tilos]

packing up the brass this morning I noticed it doesn't have the shine anymore. I see why the guys use wax. I probably won't tho, because the rifle doesn't care if the brass is super bright and shiny. really pleased with the cleanliness though.

The results you noticed is common and based on water condition.
I too had seen brass dull-out over time even when using wash/wax in the tumbler mix.

I think the wax was being removed during the rinsing process and that led to the tarnishing/dulling of stored brass.
To combat this, I mixed-up a gallon of water with a heavy dose of Armour all wash/wax and only use it (over and over) for the final rinse!
An added benefit of this is the cases, when dried, are lubed for sizing with "dried" lube that does not need to be removed.
A negative of this though is, the cases turn somewhat black when fired, but that comes off during the next tumble.
This is getting kind of complicated now, but it's fun for me, and may not be for everyone.
jmo,

 

[JmacD]

I won’t bore everyone with my Soft water, RO(Reverse Osmosis) water, DI(deionized) water multi step process I like warm (soft; almost everything in the house is) water, no pins, and Dawn platinum to start cleaning ratty range brass. I also dump it into a separator like for a “buzz bucket” tumbler and spray it to get the “brush and bullfrogs” out of it. It ends up rinsing in the wax and wax.

 

[N555]

I use a product called "guntap".

 

[Highland Lofts]

If anyone doubts the effectiveness of a FART I put about 150 .243 and .308 brass that I had dry tumbled in walnut for about an hour into a mix of hot water, a 1.9cc lee dipper of lemi shine, 2 capfuls of wash and wax and 2 1/2 pounds of pins. An hour and a half later I dumped it out and the water was black. I fully realize that it's only a perception thing but holy cow. I suggest anyone who may question my results to try a test for themselves.

I've done the same thing, I dry tumbled in corn cob media and dry tumbled in walnut media each tumbled for an hour.
I then wet tumbled the brass that was dry tumbled.
Both got cleaner and both turned the water black form the crud left behind after dry tumbling.


I retired my dry tumblers.

 

[9mmepiphany]

so do any of you guys wet tumble after sizing to remove sizing lube? in the past i used a rag with solvent but thats kind of tedious

I'd advise against it if you're planning on using the same mixture you used for cleaning. What will happen is you'll end up with brass stained black from the lanolin/lube not dissolving in water/detergent . It's much easier to throw them in a dry media tumbler for 20 mins. When reloading 9mm on a progressive, I've even dry tumbled loaded rounds...when I wanted them really shinny in the MTM boxes.

If you insist on wet tumbling, use Woolite in place of the detergent...it cuts lanolin

 

[LiveLife]

lanolin/lube ... much easier to throw them in a dry media tumbler

You can "dry tumble" in wet tumbler ... Just wipe the drum dry really well.

 

[Skgreen]

Armor All Wash and Wax & FA liquid cleaner https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012723325?pid=918233 , with pins.

 

[King Medallion]

My method is to dry tumble an hour first to get the majority of the crud off the brass so it doesn't damage the dies. I then size and decap. Cases such as 45acp and the like I fill the barrel. Cases that need to be lubed for sizing such as 44-40 get a batch done of 300, again full barrel. Always a full barrel. I used distilled water, a packet of the Hartford Arsenal brass cleaner, cuz that's what I have. I've used the packets of Dawn dishwasher soap too, same results. Also a sprinkle of lemshine. Usually 3 hour tumble cycle out in the shop, then rinse and dry in an old dehydrator. Brass looks like new.

 

[Pottimus]

Is it possible a lot of the black could be liner decay? and just wanting to mention using the rotary media separator with fresh water as the rinse.

 

[Roc_my_tims]

so do any of you guys wet tumble after sizing to remove sizing lube? in the past i used a rag with solvent but thats kind of tedious

Might as well load and try tumble finished rounds

 

[vaalpens]

Wet tumblers are great as long as you can mange the SS pins. This works for me:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KT7YHFD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Ar...=frankford+arsenal+magnet,aps,172&sr=8-1&th=1

A while ago I asked for input regarding wet tumbler recipes. This is a compilation of the input I received.


https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/oh-no-not-another-wet-tumbling-thread.908437/

 

[Dudedog]

i never knew just how dirty the brass i used to load was.

Yes, the first time you see the water you go yuck, all that was on my brass......

I use auto wash and wax + citric acid.
Brass gets what the car is getting, car gets whats on sale. (make sure it is wash and wax not just wash)
I get citric acid from amazon

Amazon.com

5lbs is about $22, 5 pounds will last me most likely the rest of my life. (I use about a .45 case per batch)
Harder water = more acid
Note: to much acid is not good.

I use a dollop of wash and wax actual amount is not critical.

 

[rocirish]

All the black you see tumbling with pins after tumbling dry is just carbon coming from the inside of the brass. The outside of the brass is clean and the carbon on the inside isn't going to affect anything while loading. I've been loading since cleaning was done with a damp rag, and I've never ruined a die yet.

 

[Stevenvalleyky]

how much citric acid?

I just sprinkle some in. I would guess probably 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon with a gallon or gallon and a half of hot water. Can get clean primer pockets if using pins but they arent worth the trouble to me.