Should I Switch to a Wet Rotary Tumbler?

[Olympus]

It seems like I'm constantly tumbling brass. I have 2 vibe tumblers and I run them both a lot. They sometimes overflow the media a little at a time and it makes a mess on the floor I'm constantly cleaning. My biggest gripe is that i tend to tumble different caliber brass at the same time, particularly pistol brass. The smaller brass all end up getting "nested" inside the brass of a larger diameter. Then the corn cob media packs itself ask around in the case and makes the smaller brass impossible to remove. I end up throwing away good brass. Or if it does come out of the other case, the smaller brass is still dirty.

If I switched to a wet rotary tumbler with stainless media, would this still happen?

 

[judgedelta]

Yes. But you can get small mesh bags to put the smaller brass in to prevent it from "nesting" in the larger. I don't know if the mesh bags work in a vibratory tumbler as I have never tried...

 

[FROGO207]

Yes the nesting different sized brass will still happen with wet tumbling and SS media. Probably even more so. The process is faster to clean but the brass will need to dry before loading. I use it exclusively now. If you do not want the brass to nest inside larger brass in a vibrating cleaner put the larger brass in first and then wait 5 minutes before adding the smaller sized brass. Do this for each sized brass in order of size.

 

[moxie]

First, don't overfill the bowl, with either media or with brass. If it's overflowing you have too much stuff in there!

Second, sort the brass after you rinse it, before you vibrate it. Wait until you have enough cases in a given caliber to make it worthwhile before you vibrate them.

 

[lauderdale]

Wow frog what causes them not to nest w/that method you use? I guess some pins get into the cavities in each size?
Judge delta were do you get them bags?

 

[Olympus]

I'm not overfilling my bowl. It just seems like the brass will "clump" together in the bowl instead of evenly spreading out. So when a clump of brass gets to a certain point, it will push just a hair of media over the lip of the bowl. It's really not a lot collectively, but when it's spread over the floor it's a pita.

I've been watching some videos of the rotary tumblers. Looks like I can get set up with the Frankford Arsenal and media for a lot cheaper than a Thumler.

 

[FROGO207]

lauderdale that is for corn cob or walnut media in a dry vibratory tumbler only. Will NOT help with SS pins as they will just fall out when moved around.

 

[Muddydogs]

If you are getting media over the bowl then the tumbler is over full. If you are worried about media on the floor you will have more of a mess with water from the tumbler, rinsing brass then drying brass. Wet tumble is all good if you want shinny brass but the extra steps with rinsing the brass then dealing with it drying are just a waste of time and energy. 2 hours in corncob with Nu Finish and my brass is shinny enough.

 

[moxie]

Do your bowls have covers? Mine do, and they keep the media and brass and dust inside. Never any overflow in 27 years of reloading.

 

[OilyPablo]

I say decap and separate your brass first. Then wet tumble. Just have enough brass in rotation so you do the perfect size of all one caliber. Rinse well and dry in a food dryer. Pretty easy, really. Basically it comes as second nature to have perfect brass to start with when you actually start sizing.

 

[joem1945]

+1 on waiting until you have enough cases to tumble. Seperate cases by sumilar caliber, ie. .38, 9mm,357. Those will not nest. Same with .41mag and .40S&W. .30 cal rifle can be tumbled with .223.

 

[Gravedigger56]

I say decap and separate your brass first. Then wet tumble. Just have enough brass in rotation so you do the perfect size of all one caliber. Rinse well and dry in a food dryer. Pretty easy, really. Basically it comes as second nature to have perfect brass to start with when you actually start sizing.

How long to you "dehydrate" your brass? I assume that you set it at the highest setting.

 

[Stripesdude]

I wouldn't put two sizes of brass, that geometrically can nest, in one batch in my FA rotary tumbler. If a SS pin wedges between two cases, you will have a hard time separating them.

 

[OilyPablo]

How long to you "dehydrate" your brass? I assume that you set it at the highest setting.

My dehydrator only has one setting. It's toasty warm and dry in an hour or so (never timed it). I do tumble my brass pretty vigorously to separate the SS pins so not much water left to speak of, dump it on a towel, then load the racks up real quick like, put the lid on and hit the ON switch.

 

[notaglockfanboy]

If you put the larger caliber brass in first and let the media get into the cases before you put the smaller brass in, you will have less case in case problems.

 

[Rangemaster]

I do all my rifle cases in wet media, and all pistol in corn cob.

Do not mix pistol cases in wet media as they will get stuck.

 

[judgedelta]

Mesh bags:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/618687/lyman-turbo-tumbler-brass-baggies-package-of-12

 

[Nalgi]

YES!

 

[Olympus]

Well I'm going to try the wet system. My FIL has a Thumler's he's going to let me have.

I'm just now getting into rifle reloading. I loaded up some 243 last fall, but it was new brass. I used a auto trickler and scale and charged each case by hand. The trickler was precise and every round got weighed so they were all the exact same.

But now I just invested pretty heavily in components. I bought 1500 pieces of 223 range brass, 5000 small rifle primers, 500 V-max 55gr bullets, a new Lee C-style single stage press, universal decapping die, 223 quick trim die, deluxe quick trim cutter, rifle charging die, double disk kit for my Lee powder charger, and 5lbs of stainless media. That's all i can remember so far, but might be other things I forgot. My rat-hole money just took a huge hit!

 

[jmorris]

You have to sort your brass at some point, as you have found out the best time is before you tumble.

If you don't like corncob falling out and can't solve the problem your really not going to like messing with the tiny stainless pins, whatever you do make sure the pins you get are magnetic.

 

[bluetopper]

I sold both my vibratory and rotary tumblers (neither worked worth a flip) last week and ordered a small portable cement mixer from Harbor Freight for $140. Can't wait for it to arrive.

 

[Magnum Shooter]

Should I Switch to a Wet Rotary Tumbler?

If you want really clean shiny brass then, YES

 

[Walkalong]

I have all the stuff and haven't even used it yet. Don't tell my wife though, she bought the tumbler.

 

[judgedelta]

For more-perfect brass, rinse (the brass) in rubbing alcohol after tumbling. Dries quicker and without water spots. Alcohol can be used a number of times before it becomes too diluted.

 

[RussellC]

I wet tumble and its not the big deal some are making it out to be, likely they haven't tried it. I don't want the dust from dry tumbling, messy and full of lead.

I throw the brass in the Frankford Arsenal for about 1 hour, no pins, just a blob of Wash and Wax, put the strainer end in, dump it in a bucket and let drain. Repeat a couple times with fresh water. Then dump that into RCBS media separator to remove more water then onto a cookie sheet with layered paper towels on it at 200 degrees for 30 mins and dump that into a large container.

Later at my leisure, I decap and put it back in the tumbler with more W&W and the pins, 2 hours and re dry. no mess no fuss, just shiny clean, inside, outside, primer pocket included. This stage could be skipped and brass processed and getting decapped in the steps of loading, but I like the "like new totally clean" look. Also, you could just do a longer initial clean with pins and save a step as well....pins are removed with the previously mentioned RCBS media separator, then transferred to bucket via special magnet item designed to do so. After the first cleaning, the brass doesn't get your hands as dirty during the further processing, and I am sure it is easier on dies as well. Any "mess" can be simply wiped up, NO dust!

Russellc