has anybody used this?

[packnrat]

has any out there used this product/system to clean there brass? http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/

does it work?

worth the money?

what are your good and bad about it?

they state never wares out... but sell a replenish bag???

yes i would love to have all of my brass nice and shiny.
does this "fix" tarnished brass?


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[Happyguy]

It does work. I use steel shot and does the same.

[GRUMPA]

It's all I use, and pin diameter size does matter. I used the .043 pins and some would lodge in the flash hole, use the .063 pins now and no problem.

Just click this link, then click the threads and look at the pictures... http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?117-Grumpa

[gandog56]

Yep, I can get brass that ends up looking like this when I'm done.
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[packnrat]

only the 0.43 pin size is listed on there web page. other source for the 0.63 size?

but they say there media will last a life time, buut they sell "refresher mix" says two ways about there product.

about sold on it. just need to get cash up first, but tires for the truck must come first.
had started this thread to see what if any out there that use this product think about it, so far sounds like it is a good product, not snake oil.

[GRUMPA]

The larger pins I got those from a vendor over on CastBoolits by the name of orisolo. There are other places that sell pins but I don't know who or where they are.Pins get lost by falling on the ground, an oops or whatever. I use the largest Dillon media separator they have and even at that I'm finding pins here and there.

If you go that route, get yourself 1 of those telescoping magnets they sell at auto parts stores. Drying as fast as you can is important, after rinsing......dry with a towel. I get my towels at the thrift store for cheap, and generally pay less than $1ea for them. I set my brass on a drying rack, it's 4x6 expanded metal and out in the sun.

I use the SS pin cleaning method for a few reasons. I don't need anything shipped to me as far as media is concerned. I don't need to spend coin on special polish. My media never goes bad, and it's way cheaper in the long run.

[packnrat]

The larger pins I got those from a vendor over on CastBoolits by the name of orisolo. There are other places that sell pins but I don't know who or where they are.Pins get lost by falling on the ground, an oops or whatever. I use the largest Dillon media separator they have and even at that I'm finding pins here and there.

If you go that route, get yourself 1 of those telescoping magnets they sell at auto parts stores. Drying as fast as you can is important, after rinsing......dry with a towel. I get my towels at the thrift store for cheap, and generally pay less than $1ea for them. I set my brass on a drying rack, it's 4x6 expanded metal and out in the sun.

I use the SS pin cleaning method for a few reasons. I don't need anything shipped to me as far as media is concerned. I don't need to spend coin on special polish. My media never goes bad, and it's way cheaper in the long run.

with my body i have a number of those gadgets. good to always have one within reach.

so looks like i just might buy one in feb-march. (money...or really lack there of).


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[Mbaker78]

I use the basic wet tumbling kit from frankford Arsenal, it does well, and has a large capacity.

It comes with 5 pounds of pins and a sample pack of brass cleaning solution.

I'm still trying to get my mix just right, but they're still coming out looking almost like new.

[gandog56]

They sell refresher packs to me because no matter how careful I try to be, when I separate the media from the brass, I alsays seem to have a few get loose and bounce to the floor or go down my drain as I am rinsing the brass off of the Dawn and Lemishine. You slowly loose some media. But a 2 pound refresher pack will last me a year or two. And I am getting better at recovering most of it.

[Mbaker78]

I've had mine for almost a year now and have probably lost 1/2pound of pins, but sometimes I will run it without the pins. It works very well for deburring 223 after cutting it down for 300aac.

[packnrat]

ok so sounds like when i buy one i will have to "improve" the filtering to keep from losing too many pins. easy enough to do.

[WarEagleEd]

My gun club has a lot of grass encroachment into the shooting areas, so super shiny brass is typically easier for me to find. I started wet tumbling a few years ago and that's the only way I'll do it now. I bought a little two barrel tumbler from Harbor Freight. Each barrel will hold about a pound of brass. I tumbled some brass the other day and fit 64 pieces of 7.62 NATO, 46 pieces of 7.62 X 25, and a few pieces of 9mm/.380 Auto into the barrels. The HF tumbler isn't the route to go if you are tumbling large quantities of brass frequently, though. I purchase some steel pins from BestByte (https://www.bestbyte.net/1-lb-047x-255-in-stainless-pellet-pins-tumbling-media.html) computers. They are .047" in diameter. I have never had any stick in any flash holes, though I did have some stick inside of .30 carbine cases, but that was more a function of their length (.255").

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I rinse them in a colander and quickly put them on a towel. I roll them around in the towel and then transfer them to another towel which usually ends up on top of the dryer. The heat produced while drying clothes will dry the cases fairly quickly. I have lost some pins and, from time to time when I move things around in the garage, will find one or two under whatever I move.

Ed

[DukeInFlorida]

I put my pin tumbled brass into a food dehydrator on HIGH for 45 minutes. They come out too hot to handle in my hands, and perfectly DRY, including inside the primer pockets. I leave primers in place while pin tumbling. I polish in my walnut shell vibrating system, to leave a coat of NuFinish car polish on the brass. Keeps em bright for a long time.

[gandog56]

I ended up pouring them into a big plastic colander with a big cheesecloth bag that just fits around it. Not many strays now when I separate.

[gandog56]

My gun club has a lot of grass encroachment into the shooting areas, so super shiny brass is typically easier for me to find. I started wet tumbling a few years ago and that's the only way I'll do it now. I bought a little two barrel tumbler from Harbor Freight. Each barrel will hold about a pound of brass. I tumbled some brass the other day and fit 64 pieces of 7.62 NATO, 46 pieces of 7.62 X 25, and a few pieces of 9mm/.380 Auto into the barrels. The HF tumbler isn't the route to go if you are tumbling large quantities of brass frequently, though. I purchase some steel pins from BestByte (https://www.bestbyte.net/1-lb-047x-255-in-stainless-pellet-pins-tumbling-media.html) computers. They are .047" in diameter. I have never had any stick in any flash holes, though I did have some stick inside of .30 carbine cases, but that was more a function of their length (.255").

182

I rinse them in a colander and quickly put them on a towel. I roll them around in the towel and then transfer them to another towel which usually ends up on top of the dryer. The heat produced while drying clothes will dry the cases fairly quickly. I have lost some pins and, from time to time when I move things around in the garage, will find one or two under whatever I move.

Ed

Yeah I was thinking about trying that Harbor Freight dual drum, but did decide bigger was better and got the Thumlers Model "B" with a 15 pound capacity. Now they have an even bigger version, A Thumler's Extreme Rebel 17 with a 17 pound capacity drum.

[Mbaker78]

I think the FA tumbler has a 35lb capacity, and a rubber coated drum. The rubber coated drum is very nice, the only noise is from the gears in the drive unit.

[gandog56]

I put my pin tumbled brass into a food dehydrator on HIGH for 45 minutes. They come out too hot to handle in my hands, and perfectly DRY, including inside the primer pockets. I leave primers in place while pin tumbling. I polish in my walnut shell vibrating system, to leave a coat of NuFinish car polish on the brass. Keeps em bright for a long time.

And one of my Xmas presents was a food dehydrator! Interesting. Make dry brass and beef jerkey with it!

[Mbaker78]

I asked for a dehydrator but got a mini-fridge instead... Oh well, close enough

[gandog56]

I asked for a dehydrator but got a mini-fridge instead... Oh well, close enough
And I need a mini fridge, too. I am building a reloading/man cave shed out in my back yard. Gonna electrify and climate control it. Need a cool one while I am reloading out there.

[Mbaker78]

Need a cool one while I am reloading out there.

Hopefully you mean soda ;)

[SafetyJoe]

I use a frankford arsenal wet tumbler that I got on sale at Cabelas. I've already cleaned several 5 gal buckets full of brass using it. It only comes with a few pounds of stainless steel pins and I thought that wasn't enough so I bought a few more lbs of guntap stainless media. I do between 5 and 7 lbs of brass at a time and I use 1 teaspoon ( not tablespoon ) of regular blue dawn dish soap and 1 teaspoon lemi shine. Then after they are done I use a Cabelas hand crank media separator to get the pins separated from the brass. I keep the brass inside that media separator basket, but I open it up and run water over it in my bathtub so it rinses off the soap residue. Then I transfer the brass into a $20 harbor freight food dehydrator on the 2nd or 3rd shelf and let them dry over night. I found that the brass gets too hot on the bottom shelf and will cause the plastic trays to warp so that's why I use the 2nd or 3rd shelf instead. The bottom shelf just acts as an empty spacer. After I rinse the stainless steel pins I use frankford arsenal media release magnet to transfer them back into the tumbler.

Here's a picture of some 223 brass I cleaned

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http://images.cabelas.com/is/image/cabelas/s7_214213_999_01

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/images/product_images/122-909271/122-909271.jpg

Not mine. Just a picture I found online of someone using the same harbor freight dehydrator.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg272/dryflash3/Wet%20Tumbling/P8010276.jpg

http://media.midwayusa.com/productimages/880x660/Primary/713/713881.jpg

[Mbaker78]

I've had better results with more brass and less pins (750-1000 223, ~5lb pins) and more dawn and less lemishine (1 tablespoon dawn, 45acp case full of lemishine)

Run 2.5-3 hours and rinse/separate. I just let mine dry on a towel for a few days with a small fan on them. I'd like to get a dehydrator sometime though...

[WarEagleEd]

does this "fix" tarnished brass?

Yes, it does. I thought I had some before and after pictures, but I can't seem to find them. I'll post them if I do find them.

[WarEagleEd]

Here is a before and after picture of some .44 Magnum brass that I wet tumbled in SS media, dawn, and Lemishine.
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[gandog56]

My gun club has a lot of grass encroachment into the shooting areas, so super shiny brass is typically easier for me to find.

That's one of the reasons I like to shoot nickel plated cases, they are easier to pick out from all the brass cases left laying around. Super shiny silver cases really stand out. Sadly its real hard to find most rifle calibers with nickel plated cases.

[WarEagleEd]

I “strain” my brass through half of an old media separator (intended for dry media and brass separation) that I place over a bucket. The brass stays in the separator/strainer as does some of the ss pins. I place an old, thin t-shirt over the bucket which is held in place by a large rubber band. The t-shirt catches the ss pins while letting the water pass through. I then hand pick the brass from the strainer (having to dump out some ss pins that are still inside the cases). This part is a little tedious. After that they go in the colander for rinsing and drying.

Here's a picture of my separation setup.

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I recently weighed my ss pins and found that I had only lost a negligible amount of pins (in the few tenths of an ounce range).

[WarEagleEd]

Now they have an even bigger version, A Thumler's Extreme Rebel 17 with a 17 pound capacity drum.

Should you decide that you have to have that 17lb. Thumbler's tumbler I would be interested in your model B. 😁

[packnrat]

tried to find a dehydrator at el-cheapo tools. but i guess they do not see a need for one in my area.
getting tired of the odd case or three falling into my floor heater.
i believe i might be able to use one of my vibraters (have three) to work the pins.
every time i go out i bring back pounds of brass. had to stop yesterday as both bags were full.

[SafetyJoe]

tried to find a dehydrator at el-cheapo tools. but i guess they do not see a need for one in my area.
getting tired of the odd case or three falling into my floor heater.
i believe i might be able to use one of my vibraters (have three) to work the pins.
every time i go out i bring back pounds of brass. had to stop yesterday as both bags were full.

You can probably order one online and have it shipped to your local store for free.

[packnrat]

bit the bullet and dropped $40.usd at walley world.
first batch has been dried. stuffed it to, not too hot on the bottom tray as one had posted. but yes they were hot to the touch. (6+ hrs) did this while i slept.
but off to work and not going to leave a batch in while gone for 18 hrs.

when i get home two of my dry media cleaners will have some clean brass in them, sort place in with there friends. then decap, and when i have the lead will be able to reload them.

need to find a good source for bullet's within riding distance. not so keen of shipping lead. (weight cost thing).
when the snow melts will go over to reno.


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[Mbaker78]

I just ordered the FA brass dryer from Amazon. It was a few bucks more than a normal one, but this one heats from the top and blows air down over the brass. According to reviews it'll dry a full load of brass in just a couple hours.

It should be here tomorrow, gotta love Amazon prime, I'll post after running a couple loads

[gandog56]

Should you decide that you have to have that 17lb. Thumbler's tumbler I would be interested in your model B. ��

Me? Heck, I have a working one and I can usually fit my loads in. You still have to do like 9mm separately from the .40 cal, and .40 cal separately from the .44 and .45 cases. I usally fit all the rifle in with the 9mm, ,38, .357, .380 and 9mm Mak cases. (Except maybe the .223/5.56, they can go in with the big boy cases.)

[Mbaker78]

I'll usually run 223/5.56, 40, and 45 by themselves. I'll run any .30cal brass together though. Basically I'll run anything together that doesn't have a chance to get stuck together. Though I am curious, will .44 mag/spl fit inside a 45acp, and would 357sig get tumbled with 40 or 9mm?

[SafetyJoe]

I'll usually run 223/5.56, 40, and 45 by themselves. I'll run any .30cal brass together though. Basically I'll run anything together that doesn't have a chance to get stuck together. Though I am curious, will .44 mag/spl fit inside a 45acp, and would 357sig get tumbled with 40 or 9mm?

I've tumbled 44 mag and 45 acp together with no problems. I've also had no problems with 357 sig and 9mm, but I never try 40 S&W because I leave that caliber dirty. Nobody ever seems to want it so it's probably just going to get scrapped eventually and there's no need to clean anything that's probably going to be scrapped.

[gandog56]

I've tumbled 44 mag and 45 acp together with no problems. I've also had no problems with 357 sig and 9mm, but I never try 40 S&W because I leave that caliber dirty. Nobody ever seems to want it so it's probably just going to get scrapped eventually and there's no need to clean anything that's probably going to be scrapped.
I use it, because one of my favorite pistols, my SIG P229, fires both it and 357 SIG. But I have SOOOO much of it. Can't seem to trade it to anybody for anything else.