Super shiny brass in one easy step! and no wet tumbling

[anothernewb]

Simply leave them in the tumbler for 16 hours....

They sure were purdy this morning when I went back into the garage and realized they had been running all night....

 

[ATLDave]

I always run my tumbler overnight!

Of course, I burned out the motor on a tumbler in 2 years doing this... But they're readily available!

 

[joem1945]

I run mine for several days. Thumbler brand are quiet and hold up well. The motors have oil holes for the bearings.

 

[lightman]

I usually run my Dillons 12 hours at a time. They hold up to it pretty well.

 

[eldon519]

I've done similar by accident. They came out almost kinda white-gold colored they were so clean. Also had a huge dust accumulation on the lid.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Like many here, I usually turn mine on before bed and turn it off before I go to work the next morning. More than once I've forgotten to turn it off and ran it that long.

And yes, it does make for shiny brass.

 

[ants]

Be sure to keep your media clean. One time I was disappointed, some grit inside range pickup brass
got into the media and after 12 hours it cleaned the cases perfectly but also made them dull, not shiny.
Next time I cleaned them with fresh media and brass polish, they shined right up in an hour. No harm no foul.


Usually I only tumble for 45 minutes or so. I don't need shiny shiny brass, just clean.
Residual carbon inside the case doesn't hurt, stains on the outside don't hurt. They're safe.

It's all personal choice. When you clean well there's no way to do it wrong.

 

[Reefinmike]

I use fine walnut with a healthy dash of mineral spirits and nufinish. 2 hours gets them very clean, 4 hours and the brass is blinding. When mixed with nickel cases, it is very difficult to see any difference between the two until you look at the case heads. I cant convince myself to switch to stainless steel tumbling- walnut gives me a very high polish and it leaves the carbon fouling inside the cases for smooth easy case mouth expansion. Who cares if the primer pockets are dirty?

 

[hdwhit]

It's always been a matter of tumbling overnight for me.

And "ants" makes a good point about changing out media occasionally. It not only gets dirty, but with continued use the pieces of walnut shell or corn cob get smoother and smoother so they don't polish as well.

 

[mbopp]

I put a 12-hour wind-up timer on my tumbler.

 

[mdi]

Yep, it's just a matter of time...

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

Tumblers tumbler run overnight at least 2 nights a week April to October since 1974. No new motor yet. Six or 7 belts though.

 

[topazguy]

I used the Thumlers Tumbler to polish rocks long before I used it to tumble brass. It would run for 4-5 days nonstop per grit with up to 4 different grits per polish. They're little workhorses and I've never replaced a motor or a belt in12 years.

 

[ReloaderFred]

If left on long enough, they'll remove most of the nickel from plated cases.........

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Da Yooper]

I did that once with a Lyman Turbo I had & it shook it self all apart.