Stainless pin question

[Kaldor]

I currently fry tumble everything in walnut. I tried shines ss chips from Facebook with soap and water. What a mess.

I’m curious about SS pins and have seen that the really clean the brass and pockets.

I use a thumblers tumbler that is the 12# model. The drum is about 3/4 the size of a milk gallon jug.

how much of those pins will I need? A 5# bag is about 1-1/2 cups and they are expensive. I can’t picture 5# rolling around with 250 PCs of brass and being very effective.

Ive used the pins from STM for 8 years now. Never had an issue with getting them stuck in the flash holes, and very rarely do I have one stuck in a case, and thats only on 223 and 6mm sized case mouths. I also tumble the brass and pins out in a Dillon media separator using water which helps a bunch.
https://stainlesstumblingmedia.com/shop/reloading-products/media.html

Something worth mentioning though is that if you dont care about the inside of the cases or the flash holes being perfectly clean, dont use media. Ive found it gets the cases "good enough" and still gets them more than clean enough to use. I dont use media with pistol brass, but do with rifle post trim to deburr everything.

 

[lightman]

When using SS pins for cleaning brass you really need a magnet for handling the pins. 400 series pins are slightly magnetic, where 300 series is not. The reason the 400 series is preferred.

I thought it was the other way around? I have some bolts made from both types. Guess I mis-remembered?

Ive found the biggest place I lose them is in the drain in the sink. I just dropped a neodymium magnet in the sink drain when I dump now. Saves drama.

I do the same thing with the magnet and sink drain. The little buggers sure try to escape!

 

[Hugger-4641]

I thought it was the other way around? I have some bolts made from both types. Guess I mis-remembered?



I do the same thing with the magnet and sink drain. The little buggers sure try to escape!

I just use something similar to this. Brass stays in my separator basket, then I rinse the pins in the bucket and pour into this, then pour pins out on a cookie sheet to dry:

https://www.culinarydepotinc.com/wi...yVfe53yibx8SipnuujsYuOrjokOxazuhoCOA8QAvD_BwE

 

[Dudedog]

The little buggers sure try to escape!

And I thought it was just mine trying to escape California

 

[BushMaster-15]

Two aspects to keep in mind , the correct solution (aka detergent combo ) and a Fine mesh screen ,such as a 5 gallon bucket with it pulled taught and secured , you want a slight sag so nothing rolls out . Remember one DOESN'T need and abundance of pins and overfilling a tumbler impedes cleaning and polishing . I've been polishing Dry and Wet including using an ultrasonic for decades and the ONLY media I've had give ME trouble is WALNUT SHELLS and LIZARD litter same thing . They can jamb up a flash hole sufficiently enough to BREAK DE-CAPPING PINS . Don't ask Me how I know that or WHY I've purchased a portion of Hornady