Just wondering what you guys are using to sperate tumbling media from polished brass. I have seen several commercially made seperators available from different reloading groups but dont really want to pay $10 dollars for this is there a cheaper solution?

Simplest thing is to leave the tumbling until after you've reloaded the ammo...

I've done it for years without any hassles.

i just used some 1/4" hardware cloth and formed a sort of a scoop with it. sweep it thru the media, pick it up and the media just falls through the holes. It does work best on loaded ammo which is about all i do too

I dont think I have the "kahonies" to run loaded ammo through a tumbler.

Yeah, there's a cheeper and BETTER way to do it. I had the same question a couple of years ago. Wandering through the house wares isle of a Dollar General Store, I noticed the small sized $1 waste baskets of expanded wire mesh and bought one for a media filter. Mine has an open mesh about 5/16 square which keeps all sizes of brass while passing the media.

I put the basket in a clean 5 gal. plastic paint type bucket, pour the tumbler contents into it and then turn the basket a few times and the media is seperated.

My (free) 5 gal. bucket with snap-on lid is large enough to safely store both the waste basket and media until the next use.

When your Mama's not straining the macaroni use her colander. roger

quote:

Originally posted by Blackhawk83:
I dont think I have the "kahonies" to run loaded ammo through a tumbler.

Just curious.... why? The impact is negligible - nothing in the region of a firing pin strike....

quote:

Originally posted by Jim C. <><:
..Dollar General Store, I noticed the small sized $1 waste baskets of expanded wire mesh and bought one for a media filter. ...I put the basket in a clean 5 gal. plastic paint type bucket, pour the tumbler contents into it and then turn the basket a few times and the media is seperated. ...

Great idea!

quote:

Originally posted by rugeruser:

quote:

Originally posted by Blackhawk83:
I dont think I have the "kahonies" to run loaded ammo through a tumbler.

Just curious.... why? The impact is negligible - nothing in the region of a firing pin strike....

Personally I don`t know if this is a good practice or not. The ammo banging into each other as you say doen`t seem to have enough impact to cause one to fire IMO, but it shouldn`t do any damage if it did. The cartridges aren`t confind and I doubt one will penitrate the bucket. I have heard though the vibration will erode the coatings on the powder granuals, possibly changing the burn rate. I can`t claim it is true, just reporting the warnings I`ve heard.

When I got a tumbler it was a kit that included the media, cleaner and seperator.

I guess you could pull them out of the tumbler by hand if you are trying to save the $10 but the clam shell seperators are quick and easy to use and minimize the mess you could make using other methods.

quote:

Originally posted by Ol` Joe:

quote:

Originally posted by rugeruser:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Blackhawk83:
I dont think I have the "kahonies" to run loaded ammo through a tumbler.

I have heard though the vibration will erode the coatings on the powder granuals, possibly changing the burn rate. I can`t claim it is true, just reporting the warnings I`ve heard.

There was a thread some time back that covered this in some length. I also ran a small experiment and puplished some photos. After absorbing all that was said and portrayed it really seemed that tumbling loaded ammo was of little if any danger. roger

I think the tumbling live ammo is a bad idea and is an accident waiting to happen.
Besides I tumble brass to clean them before reloading. I don't like the idea of all the dirt, grime and powder stains scratching and wearing out my dies quicker than necessary.

Back to the original question, I've used the type that fits over a 5 gallon bucket and turns for years. It is waaaaaayyyyy easier and faster than the colander system I used before. Recently I bought one of the new RCBS models that has 2 clamshell covers over the spinning basket. It makes for a little neater job. Neither model costs much and IMO is well worth the convenience.....................DJ

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2511043/m/602103723/p/1

Here's the link to the past discussion on tumbling loaded ammo.

Your closing comment showed real class. You're right it was fun. roger