Brass Tumbling ?

[fredj338]

I shoot Bullseye indoors and outdoors. Some of our members were tested for lead exposure over the last few years and found that their lead levels were Double the limit where the health department has to be notified. .

THis is primarily from shooting indoors. Washing up is fine, but you want to limit your lead exposure, stop shooting indoors. Even shooting jacketed bullets, the lead styphonite in primers is always there on firing & you are breathing that in. Most indoor ranges have minimal air scrubbing systems, it's just an unhealthy enviroment to shoot in. I limit my indoor shooting to about 4x per year.

 

[trulyapostolic]

THis is primarily from shooting indoors. Washing up is fine, but you want to limit your lead exposure, stop shooting indoors. Even shooting jacketed bullets, the lead styphonite in primers is always there on firing & you are breathing that in. Most indoor ranges have minimal air scrubbing systems, it's just an unhealthy enviroment to shoot in. I limit my indoor shooting to about 4x per year.

I also agree that airborne lead will still find it's way into our systems. But, the individuals who I described continued to shoot indoors and still had the reductions. Around here, we can only shoot comfortably outdoors for about 6 months, which only leaves indoors.

 

[TAROMAN]

Many ways to skin a cat, for sure. I do it a bit different. I give the cases a quick (1-2 min) wash in hot water with a bit of Bar Keeper's Friend, then deprime the wet cases. Shake dry and tumble in lizard bedding (walnut). Never had any media stuck in a case or flash hole. Even if a bit was caught in the primer hole, I would imagine that a primer would have enough brisance to push it out when firing.

 

[Rule3]

Many ways to skin a cat, for sure. I do it a bit different. I give the cases a quick (1-2 min) wash in hot water with a bit of Bar Keeper's Friend, then deprime the wet cases. Shake dry and tumble in lizard bedding (walnut). Never had any media stuck in a case or flash hole. Even if a bit was caught in the primer hole, I would imagine that a primer would have enough brisance to push it out when firing.

Barkeepers Friend is my favorite all around cleanser. It is the best for stainless steel (yes I have used it on guns, carbon on the front of SS cylinders) pots, pans, boat fittings, sink.

great for brass but leaves a bit of white residue if not washed really well.

Oxalic acid.

 

[Moonman]

Give STAINLESS STEEL MEDIA tumbling a look, not a vibrating unit but a rock tumbler such as a Thumbler's Tumbler Model "B" Hi-Speed 15 pound unit. Look at Snipershide.com for a 42 page post undrer the reloading section, (check out pg 39 for a compiled list of all ideas and improvements) with many photos on the subject too. The S.S. media is .041 in dia. and .252/252 in length. You use Dawn dishwashing soap, Lemi-Shine rinse agent, 5 pounds of the pins (which are magnetic and aids with separation in the end), along with 2 pounds of dirty brass.

The media does not hurt the brass, lasts forever, cleans brass inside and out and the primer pockets too. Turns dirty brass into clean shiny jewelry. I'm impressed with my unit and results.

 

[SMSgt]

I use lizard cage media purchased in the local pet store. It's no more than finely crushed walnut shells and does an excellent job. @$12-15 for a huge bag. Small enough not to plug the primer hole.

My only interest is to clean the dirt, soot and grit off the cases to protect my dies and chambers. Any "polishing" is incidental, like when I forget and let the tumbler run overnight. I never saw the need to have to dry cases after cleaning.

 

[RWJ]

I am not a fan of wet tumbling, just a PITA to get the cases 100% dry, JMO. I use a Thumblers UV18, been using it for 25yrs now, just keeps going. I like corn cob, but untreated walnut works too. Add a cap of NUfinish every other tumble & let go for 2-3hrs. I am only looking for very clean brass, super shiney is pretty but serves no huge value other than reloader pride.

The only additional value I ever found for super shiny reloads was a lower coefficient of friction when speedloading a revolver during PPC matches, where the cylinder can get a bit dirty during matches.

 

[parabarbarian]

I tumble all my brass now. I used to just give it a quick cleaning and then reload but it made for an unattractive final product. Tumbling is not really necessary but I take enough pride in my work that I want my reloads to look at least as good as they work.

Simple green will stain the brass, leaving them OD green and giving them a sticky feel, regardless of how much you rinse them.

I tried a mild solution of simple green to clean surface crud off the brass brass before deprime and resize. It left the brass feeling "greasy" though it was was pretty clean. Now I just use a mild dish soap (the kind without bleach) in the ultrasonic cleaner, deprime and resize then tumble.

Acidic or basic cleaners will cause dezincification but, unless your using pretty strong solutions, it takes a lot of exposure to weaken the brass. Be careful of any cleaners or polishes containing ammonia. The flaring and crimping of the case mouth raises residual stresses that, in combination with ammonia exposure, will accelerate cracking.

 

[blujax01]

Being rather new at this (just started las year) I read about the lack of need for tumbling brass and so I tried it.
Whether or not it makes a difference in performance is just part of it. Dirty brass is ... well, dirty. This dirt transferred to my fingers, then my calipers, the control panel on my scales, my coffee cup, the pages of my manuals, etc. And every time I picked up more to load into the feeding tube, it got worse.
I spent 10x the time cleaning up than I would have had I cleaned the brass first. If cost is the question, it is capital well-spent.

 

[Calliope]

I just tumble (dry vibratory) revolver cases enough to get them clean. I kind of like a little patina on my revolver cases.