STAINLESS STEEL MEDIA TUMBLING INFO GUIDE

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How much does the stainless pins wear on the brass?

I mean these tumblers are meant to polish rocks by abrading them till smooth, and to be honest I think brass is just as likely to wear, its softer them most rock...

But I'm happy with regular vibratory cleaners:eek:
 
shovelwrench,

The tumbler is filled with water, the pins and brass roll across each other, lubricated by the soap and Lemi-Shine.

I tumble pistol brass 1-2 hours, I don't shoot rifles.

People on the snipers forum, where this idea came from, speak of tumbling RIFLE BRASS up to 4 hours.

Never did any rocks, but I think they tumble A LONG TIME.

To each his own, oh, by the way,

HAVE YOUR BLOOD LEAD LEVEL CHECKED IF YOU VIBRATE CLEAN INDOORS, AND ESPECIALLY IF YOU SHOOT INDOORS TOO.
 
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I despise cleaning primer pockets ! Also I know that a clean smooth surface for flame propagation gives more consistent ignition.That would include inside the case as well as the pocket itself.
No other method of cleaning or not cleaning prepares those surfaces for consistent ignition as well as S.S. media.
As for "extra" steps" there are no "extra" steps, it is about a push as for the time spent doing wet or dry cleaning.I do not have to pick corn or walnut media out of a still dirty primer pockets.I would rather be playing in wet media with no dust and air borne bad things and never touch a primer pocket.In reality it is less work than dry media with zero time spent on primer pockets..
I am not sure I would want to be trying to pick up the S.S. media with a magnet,it might prove to be a problem getting the media off of the magnet.
 
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Moonman, or anyone else that can answer this, I have a Delorme rock tumbler that I've used for years with regular tumbling media, can it be used with the ss media since it has a rubber drum?

For the sake of this discussion, I used to do load developement for a little extra money and found that the carbon build up inside the cases makes a lot of difference if you are looking for the ultimate in accuracy. Crushed walnut or corn medias are fine for cleaning the outside of the case, but do not really do anything for the inside, where it matters the most. Chemicals baths clean the insides a little but do not get all the carbon out of the inside. For those that are very particular about weighing each case, the carbon does add to the weight, but not the same as the metal in the alloy, plus the more carbon you have built up inside the case, the smaller the cavity gets. This can have an unbelievable affect on an otherwise perfect load.
 
Jellybean,
I don't know, is it a ROTARY TUMBLER,
What's its Capacity?
A HIGH SPEED THUMBLERS drum rotation is 40RPM vs 30RPM for standard speed, it just takes longer to clean.
Stainless Steel Pin Media can be purchased from STM.
 
Please excuse my cranial flatulence, it's a Lortone.
It is a rotary tumbler but only has a 6 lb drum, which is alright as I don't shoot rifles much anymore and don't need a large capacity. Due to our poor financial state I was trying to get away with a cheap setup, but there is a technical page on the Lortone website that has made me a little leary of using the rubber drum. I'm thinking I'll wait until I can afford a better set up.
Thanks for your input.
 
Jellybean,

Keep an eye out on E-bay for a used one.

Also garage sales and flea markets.

People and kids give up on rock collecting, Thumbler's Tumblers become available.
 
Thanks for the heads up on e-bay, Moonman, I'll keep that in mind if things get better.

The only thing flea markets are good for around here are cheap Chinese tools and puppy mills that are selling mutts for unbelievably high prices.
 
I have a $39 Midway vibratory cleaner and the corn cob media with a small shot of Red Rooster in the media cleans and shines my brass in 2 hrs of less. It ain't broke, so I don't intend to fix it.
 
ATTENTION !!!!!!!!

THIS IS A STAINLESS STEEL TUMBLING THREAD!!!!!!

PLEASE start your own How I Tumble thread.

Thank You.:rolleyes:
 
What's this thread about, anyway? ;)

Seriously, I ordered SSMedia's tumbler kit with 5lbs of pins and some LemiShine (which I also use in the dishwasher) Sunday. Should be here Friday.

What do y'all use to decap your brass. I ran a bunch of .45 ACP through my Dillon 550 with a 30-06 neck sizing die and it works OK. I used it instead of a single stage because the Dillon's primer catcher works well, but for mass quantities I'd like something a little more efficient.

I'll post my results when I get them. ;)
 
I am at present using steel pins in a rotary tumbler for my black powder cases ONLY. It is more work than walnut hull in a vibratory, which I continue to find adequate for smokeless.

The pins clean well, primer pocket and case interior included.
They do not polish as well as the wet ceramic I used until a few months ago but are a lot easier to separate from the brass.
 
gwalchmai,

I just use a single stage BIG BOSS II to deprime, it catches them through the ram and into a piece of plastic tubing.

I too would be interested if someone has a RAPID PRIMER REMOVER for a large amount of brass.
 
I haven't cleaned primer pockets in years, tumblng cases first to remove dirt and grit before sizing. Never been a problem.
 
I just go ahead and size my cases and have that done. I've gone to a water based lube so it cleans right off during the cleaning/tumbling prosess. Almost all of this is on rifle and single shot pistol cases, the regular pistol cases get the same old treatment(s) and get deprimed in the sizing station on the progessives. Ivan
 
OK, got a Model B from STM last Friday, and I've tumbled a bunch of brass. It's great. The only thing I want to improve is the retrieval of the pins. I'm dropping them on the floor during the media separation and some are falling out of the brass when it dries.

Has anyone tried putting magnets in the media separator? I'm thinking they'd help scavenge the pins. After I dried the brass on a towel I used a magnet to pick up the few (10-20) that fell out on the towel during drying.

Overall, I'm very impressed. ;)
 
Place a magnet inside a BAGGIE, move around amongst Drained Brass & Pins,
lift out to a container or back into the Drum for pins, Pull Magnet away from the baggie side and the pins will drop.
 
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