I bought a lyman.So far am unimpressed.i have been using a Lyman Turbo vibrating tumbler for over 20 years.It does a good job.I heard these new tumblers clean the primer pockets and inside of cases which it does.Too me they are twice as much work as the old kind.You still have to get the pins out of the brass and then rinse and dry them.Does anyone use one of these and have any shortcuts that work?My other option is to take it back.Thanks ahead,OB

Buy the media for the SMALLEST neck on the brass you will be cleaning.
Add a few drops of Dawn and if the brass is really dirty,add a 1/2 cup of vinegar to your hot water. Tumble for one hour. Drain and rinse.
Nasty 6.5 Swede brass after the above was done:

I for one will not be switching to the wet method

It took me a few runs to get the process down. Here's what I do:

1tblspn of dawn, 1/2tsp of Lemishine, fill the tumbler to the brim with warm water.

Tumble 1-2 hours, depending on how dirty the brass is

This is the part where it got easier:

Take the tumbler and put it in the sink. Start running water into it, and let it keep running. Start pulling the brass from the tumbler, and pour them out UNDER water then rinse them in the running water inside, and out. Lay them out on a cookie rack to dry. I put the rack in the oven at low temp for 20 minutes.

Rinsing them out under water helps all the pins flow out. I tried media separators, and this ended up being as fast, and much cleaner. Plus, all the pins come out. I have a media separator I need to get rid of. I'll never use it again.

I switched to this method a few years back and have no use going back to the corn cob and walnut days.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
I for one will not be switching to the wet method

Your reasoning, Ted? I'm skeptic and don't think I tumble enough to make it worthwhile; also just have an aversion to the idea of wet brass.

your thoughts?

Thanks for the info guys.I will give it another try with your methods.Huntz

I switched a few years back. My first batch of brass was LC 556 that had been in use for a long while- probably 6-8 reloads using RL15, Varget and 8208.

After the first hour of tumbling the water/lemishine residue was so bad- I was amazed at how much corn cob media, carbon flakes and general filth came out of my cases.

I still use corn cob occasionally, but SS pins make brass look new- removing primer pocket residue, and all the crud that builds up.

I dispose of the liquid waste annually in a local hazmat facility for $20- I created about 20 gallons of such waste last year. Some folks just dump it out, into the drain etc.

My brass is clean in and out and I am more confident in my reloaded ammo as well.

The steel media is great at burnishing the brass to make it look like new or better. It also work hardens the brass, running steel media is not much different than hammering on it.

I switched and sold my vibratory tumblers.

Mine is a Thumblers.

I use the LemiShine as suggested - one 9x19 case full per cycle and about one desert spoon of dishwashing liquid. Cases come out clean; necks clean except on the really small stuff and primer pockets generally clean.

I clean handgun and rifle brass. I anneal rifle brass virtually each firing and have experienced no noticeable reduction in brass life of rifle or pistol brass.

Drying is a PITA. I am looking to build a drying rack with gauze to hold the cases. I currently use a hairdryer which works pretty well. Before this I also used an ultrasonic which I also sold. No contest....

Decap and clean prior to tumbling. My progressive runs like clockwork with brass cleaned like this, although decapping adds a step. Keeping the primer crud off the press and the clean primer pockets made all of the difference.

I clean my brass weeks ahead of reloading. The wet brass/pins are
placed in a Lyman media separator and turned occasionally until dry.
At that point, the dry pins readily fall out of the brass.

I use a method that is a little of both wet and dry.
I put my brass in a Tupperware container and add a bit of powdered dishwasher detergent, some hand cleaner degreaser and a shot of dish soap then add really hot water.
I shake it around letting it soak up to an hour shaking vigorously on occasion.
I rinse it in really hot water until there are not suds. dump them on a towel and the moisture disappears quickly.
Then I throw them in my walnut media vibratory unit (even if they are still slightly damp) and run it about 4 hours. For me brass turns out really clean and primer pockets are usually bright and clean as well.
Keep thinking of buying steel pins but this works really well.

quote:

Originally posted by Dulltool17:

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
I for one will not be switching to the wet method

Your reasoning, Ted? I'm skeptic and don't think I tumble enough to make it worthwhile; also just have an aversion to the idea of wet brass.

your thoughts?

You're thoughts reflect mine plus my old fashioned vibro bowls (2) don't do a bad job and Im not concerned with the inside of my cases looking new

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn: Im not concerned with the inside of my cases looking new

It's nice not to have too much carbon in the necks, but yes that can be removed in other ways.

quote:

Originally posted by AFRICAN LEADWOOD:

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn: Im not concerned with the inside of my cases looking new

It's nice not to have too much carbon in the necks, but yes that can be removed in other ways.

I have used Scotch brite inside the necks or a wire brush with no change in my accuracy over just leaving the "black" inside.

IMO....the "black" hurts nothing and may prevent electrolysis in long term storage ammo

I still use the walnut, can't see that its a problem in my RCBS vibrator...cleaning out primer pockets bothers me not. I don't care if it doesn't clean primer pockets I use a round screwdriver for that once in a while..

Im not comfortable with using anything wet in or on my cases, bothers me..

The best way to not have carbon on your case is to use more powder in the case if you can safely, or a different powder, perhaps a faster powder..I never have carbon on my cases..if I did I would wipe them with 4 ought steel wool. Carbon is usually the result of blow back on the neck as the powder your using faile to expand the neck enough.

Now, I switched to stainless media too. I bought Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler. Works great.

First, if necessary, I clean brass out of the mud, sand and whatever in clean warm water and ultrasonic cleaner. This I use now only on really dirty brass (driven game, brass in the mud etc.).

After that I let it dry. Next step is depriming+full length sizing (need to be lubricated), trimming, deburring, cleaning primer pockets and stainless media tumbling for about 90 minutes. I just use local dishwashing liquid (now I have Orange&Lemongrass scent :-)) plus about 10 g (150gr) of citric acid. After that, I rinse brass with cold water and dry it in old towel. After I let it dry completely. It is very best clean brass inside/outside I have ever seen.

But if I want ultimate shine for some reason, I then tumble it in vibratory tumbler with plastic media and special compound used by goldsmiths.

More info on that polishing here: http://forums.accuratereloadin...2511043/m/5341060712

Conclusion: If clean brass inside and outside is your goal, stainless steel media tumbling is the best method I have ever seen.

Jiri

I switched over to the Frankford tumbler as well. I won't go back to the vibratory cleaner again. It is a PITA to wipe down 500 10mm cases after cleaning them with corn cob media.

The stainless media cleans the cases inside and out like new again.

I use a Thumblers model"B" tumbler,
started with 5#'s of SS pins, worked very well, using the OEM instructions etc.

I then went to 10#'s of SS pins,
Worked even better, about 1 hr of tumbling and the cases are better than factory looking brass,
after 1 hr.

YMMV,

Tia,
Don

Mr Atkinson - I am pretty certain you are referring to carbon on the outside of the case necks, whereas I am referring to carbon inside the case neck. For carbon on the outside of the necks you are of course correct.

Jiri - somewhere on the net there is a discussion about jeweller's rouge and the polishing compounds some add to corn cob media and a barrel manufacturer having found indications that rouge specifically was responsible for barrels shooting out faster. I don't recall where this was, but try an internet search. I may give it a go later and post a link.

What I did at one point with pistol brass was to add a little car polish and later on about a tot of mineral thinners. It worked well and brass seemed cleaner. With reports of vibratory tumbler fires I don't recommend it, but I'm giving anecdotal evidence.

Don - do you reduce the load by tumbling less brass after doubling up on the SS pins?

Ted - are you referring to the phenomenon often referred to as "cold welding" or "stiction"? I'll start a new thread on that.

I like to remove certainly the sort of sooty carbon. It seems very hygroscopic and if you leave fired cases for a relatively short time there is a visible increase in what is in the neck - it looks almost crystaline and sometimes looks almost like corrosion / oxidisation. This as I said can be removed and a brush works well, although it is tougher to remove if you've left the cases a while. I don't like that "stuff" dragging up and down over my expander ball in the dies, or the mandrel of the Lee Collet dies etc.

I have gone so far as to run a bronze brush in necks (to no ill effect at all) but will now settle for the SS tumbling. It's not bare metal as there is some sort of disclouration (except in really big bores and say a large mouth pistol case), but the neck is clean and a brush with a nylon brush seems to make it all the same. By the way, when using an ultrasonic cleaner I generally found that the cases were not evenly cleaned in the neck; i.e. visible carbon presence differed. This bothered me and I would brush the case with a bronze brush and literally running a case onto a spinning brush in a drill press and pushing it up until the brush bottomed out and removing it did the job. Some advise against this, but I will start a new thread for cleaning neck and stiction etc.

I am very happy with the SS tumling and am no longer all happy with the idea of an abrasive dust residue on cases ad moreso in cases after vibratory tumbling. Of course untreated media does exist as well, but I've not seen it here.

quote:

Originally posted by AFRICAN LEADWOOD:
Ted - are you referring to the phenomenon often referred to as "cold welding" or "stiction"? I'll start a new thread on that.

Call it whatever you wish.

Ammo.....given enough time or the correct environment to do so will bond the bullet to the case.

When disassembling old ammo I usually seat the bullet deeper before pulling.

When you do this you will normally hear the bond fail

It will "pop" then the bullet will pull like it was seated just yesterday.

When asked, I will recommend older ammo be re-seated to hear the "pop" before shooting to avoid a situation of possible over pressure.

I've always assumed that while the media is churning around on the outside of the case, it's also churning around on the inside of the case as well as in the primer pocket.
It doesn't get the inside as clean as the outside but it certainly doesn't leave anything other than a stain. I've never had the stain on the inside nor the stain that's in the primer pocket affect accuracy.

I'm about to get a Thumblers set up another friend is going to send me as he don't like it.

I got about 20# of fiberglass media a few years ago. It's too heavy for the shakers. Been figuring to use it with the roller system. Anyone have advice on this?

Most of my brass and loading is done in the winter. When I first get real dirty, or dusty brass I'll wash them off with hot water. Then set in the separator on a floor vent over night. They're dry in the morning. Then they go to the shakers.

Some years ago I split a 50lb order of jewelers rouge media with a guy thinking that would made some nice looking cases. Man that crap made a hell of a mess. Had a 5 gal bucket of it. Don't know what I did with it, but, it's gone. Maybe I should have put just a bit in with plain corn instead of pure like I did. Wish I still had it around, would try that.

Good thread, enjoyed reading thru it.

George

Mixing walnut and corn cob 50-50 will leave cases clean and without much residue.If the media is not old you don't need to leave them in the vibratory tumbler for long.A small shot of compressed air in each case is all that is needed afterwards.It is very simple and cases will make for the most accurate reloads.I don't want to make unnecessary extra work for myself so I will stick to this method.