I'm thinking of upgrading from a vibratory media tumbler to either ultrasonic or SS tumbler. I'm tired of dusty cases and spending time picking media out of flash holes with a dental pick. What's the recommendation on these two choices? I'm not doing large volume, usually 40-60 large bore (375-470) cases at a time.

SS pins win hands down.

We have all three, tumbler with media, ultrasonic and stainless steel pins in a tumbler.

The SS pins are much better in cleaning cases.

Thanks, I am going to try SS pins in a tumbler. Saeed, do I get a rotary tumbler or a vibratory tumbler?

Absolutely agree with Saeed.
I have all 3 types and the SS pin in hot water with a bit of Dawn and a pinch of citric acid powder is the easiest and best method out there. Yeah, I know there are issues regarding an increase in seating force and release forces on the seated bullet may/can change POI but at the ranges I shoot it has not been a factor for me.
The pins do a great job in getting those cases sparkling and the primer pockets are similarly clean. No bits of grit in flash holes, no lead dust to breathe in when you strain out the lizard bedding from the cases and less time.
Re: ultrasound cleaners, I found it took too long and the number of cases I could clean was limited. Maybe a commercial type heated tank could minimize these issues but the cost goes waaaaay up with those models.
Good luck.

Gary

I've never used an ultra-sonic but the pins work incredibly well. Use a very small amount of Lemy-Shine.

It takes more finesse when using the small one like I have, Thmler's Tumbler, when it comes time to rinse and separate but I gave away my vibratory cleaner.

20/40 corn for 30 minutes: all the clean you need.
20 minutes in ultrasonic: cases completely clean and slight polish from citric acid.
6-8 hours in SS pins: cases completely clean and very shiny. Time reportedly goes down as you clean previously cleaned cases—I haven't gotten there yet.
For time, US wins hand down. For Shiny, with no special effort, SS wins.

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Canada:
Thanks, I am going to try SS pins in a tumbler. Saeed, do I get a rotary tumbler or a vibratory tumbler?

You need a rotary tumbler that has a water seal.

I have all three too.

If brass is really dirty, I mean cases taken from mud or something like that, I preclean it in fresh water and ultrasonic prior to sizing and depriming. I let brass dry. Do this only few times a year.

Resize and deprime, trim and deburr. Also clean the primer pocket, but it is maybe not necessary.

90 minutes of SS tumbling is all it needs to be perfectly clean. I dry the brass.

And if I want ultimate shine, I use vibratory tumbler with plastic media (used by jewelers for polishing precious metals). Result is better than new finish:



If you are not "shining nut" as me, SS is only what you really need. It is fast and works well. I use warm water, dishwashing liquid and citric acid.

Jiri

Saeed and All, thanks for the info. Brian

Thanks, all. Going to pick up one of each and just try them both.

I really like my Harbor Freight ultra sonic cleaner. I gave away my vibratory case cleaner. Hot tap water drop of dish soap and a sprinkle of Lemi-Shine. all clean after 3 cycles. Rinse rub outside with paper towel finish drying in an oven at 170 F. Start to finish I can be reloading clean cases in a little over an hour!

I am currently still using a tumbler due to lack of funds, but have only dream about a stainless steel tumbler or a sonic cleaner. However, I have recently discovered that I can get near the same results by putting 2 teaspoons of Lemi Shine in a basin of hot water together with the green hand dish washing soap. I properly rinse it before I put the brass in. Then I tumble the cases by hand for about 1 minute. Once they start looking like new brass I drain the water and rinse 3 times hereafter with clean water. Then I put them in a folded towel and twist them around. After this I put them neck down in a reloading rack.

Reloader270 , Good man. That is really all you need. And then check/clean the primer pockets.
Keeping it simple with common sense and a little ingenuity is cool.

I ordered an iSonic 2.5L cleaner through amazon (parent company that makes them for Hornady) and received it early last week. I used it with the Hornady solution on a batch of thrice fired .375 and .470 brass that had previously been just media tumbled to clean. The cases took two 8-min cycles, but came out REALLY nice.

I also discovered that the Lee universal decapping die doesnt work on .470 NE brass, and in rushing the process wrecked a .470 piece while trying to rushedly decap it in the resizing die without enough lube. So now I'm waiting on a stuck case removal tool from amazon to hopefully salvage the $90 die.