wet tumbler question

[Stripesdude]

When I want to store brass for an extended period of time, after wet tumbling (deprimed if rifle, not if pistol) and drying in the oven, I'll tumble in corn cob and car wax (Nufinish or any other). That puts a nice protectant on the brass and resists tarnishing.

You can even skip the oven step if you shake enough of the water off of the brass. The corn cob will dry them.

 

[GBExpat]

Or ... you could replace the detergent with a bit of something like ArmorAll Wash&Wax in the wet tumbling step.

 

[Stripesdude]

I've done the wash n wax thing. Results weren't the same as tumbling in corn cob infused with wax. That really shines them up too. Easier to spot in the grass at the range.

 

[GBExpat]

? Interesting. I have always found that wet tumbling with AA W&W plus pins and a little citric acid powder does a MUCH better job of cleaning & polishing my cases. As for wax application, that seems to be about the same.

 

[Captaingyro]

After a lot of experimentation I have settled on a system that works very well for me:

When I get home from the range with a load of brass (both my own and pickups) I rinse it all in plain, clear water to remove the dirt and grit that could harm my sizing die. Then I just toss it on a towel for a while to dry.

Next, I size and deprime in a single step using a little Imperial Sizing Wax on my fingertips. After that I wet tumble and I'm ready to reload. This system is very efficient for me and has worked well for a few years now.

 

[Bang!]

Could care less if pistol brass has clean primer pockets. As long as the hole is open. Shoot hundreds at a time. Load it in batches of a thousand. Clean it in batches of, I don't know, but the FART is full. In the summer dry it on an old towel on the driveway. Use the FA hand held deprimer after a few hours to see if the primer portion is dry. When that's dry I store'em in Totes from dollar store. Same thing in winter except dry'em in yard sale food dehydrator. Load'em on a progressive. No need to make pistol practice ammo harder than it should be. Same thing for AR practice ammo.

Rifle ammo for huntin' or target shooting is entirely different. That's where I get crazy with cleaning and prepping. Wet tumbled twice and dry tumbled once before loading. That part of reloading is still relaxing and fun. Pistol practice ammo, on the other hand, is similar to a part time job.

Don't overthink it or make it harder than it needs to be. Unless that's your thing. If that's the case then make it as hard as you like. Your toys, your time, your life.

 

[GBExpat]

I do like the look of that FA Hand Deprimer.

Maybe I will talk myself into spending the 40 bucks on one next Christmas ... or, perhaps, sooner

 

[sbwaters]

I deprime with a Hornady universal deprimer after each range visit -- which is about 100 cases. When I get several hundred, I wet tumble with Frankford Arsenal + Lemishine, Armour All Wash & Wax, and stainless pins for about 1-1/2 hr. I gave up on dry tumbling because my lead count was beginning to inch up and the tumbler was on my bench. The pistol brass runs easily through my carbide sizer and I don’t have to worry about the depriming pin on my Hornady LNL AP. Clean primer pocket and spiffy brass. Love it!

 

[Chuck R.]

I never deprime my handgun cases before wet tumbling. I don't even use the stainless pins. I'm not really worried about how clean the insides of the cases are, nor am I worried about the primer pockets. I usually tumble with Lemi-shine and Armorall Wash-n-Wax for about 1.5 hours

I do use the pins when tumbling rifle cases. If you are going to use pins, you really should deprime...not so much for the primer pockets, but to allow a flow of water through the case.


Not when you dry your brass after tumbling. During the warm months, I lay them outside in the sun. During the wet months, I dry them in the oven (213 degrees/20-30 mins)

Same here, I don't deprime handgun brass prior to wet tumbling and I do use SS pins. I haven't seen any corrosion and still noticed that the primer pockets are a little cleaner than normal dry media cleaned. Honestly with the amount of handgun ammo I go through a month I'd be spending a a lot of time depriming it all 1st prior to running it through the Dillon. I never sweat the primer pockets on handgun ammo before I changed to wet tumbling anyway.

I clean it in a Thumler's Tumbler for 1.5HRs, using the Lemi-shine and Armor-All, then I rinse thoroughly. IF I have time and the weathers good, it gets sun dried, if not I use a re-purposed food dehydrator.

Chuck

 

[roval]

i may just get that wet tumbler then. will not depprime handgun, wet tumble with ss pins, dry and store with spent primers in and then load as needed on the progressive. thanks for the responses.

 

[Doublehelix]

I deprime on my Lee Classic Turret Press with a modified, 4-flipper case ejector system that ejects on each pull of the handle. This really speeds up the depriming steps:

 

[Dudedog]

The outdoor range where I shoot has sandy soil so I do a quick clean, deprime/ resize (and flair), then a longer clean. (Lyman wet tumbler)
I usually just wash out all the dirt in a 5 gallon bucket so since the cases are wet I go ahead with the quick clean.
This also washes away some of the possible lead before I go to the deprime stage on the press.
If it's cold outside I put the case on an old towel in the house to dry, no corrosion issues, in the summer time here when it's 105 outside they dry real quick in the sunshine.