Wet Tumbling Brass

[s1mp13m4n]

Hello folks. I would like your thoughts on wet tumbling. Being new to reloading, I am interested in the simple and inexpensive ways to do things. Youtube is loaded with videos where people basically use a bottle, some form or detergent, something acidic like lemon or viniger, salt, etc. Tumble away, rinse, and various forms of drying from baking brass, to drying in the sun, to fans. The reason that I am interested in this is cost. I do not have a garage, live upstairs in a farmhouse with my family....above 69 and 72 year old parents. One hundred plus year old hoyse, wood floors, no carpet. LOL I am thinking the tumbler would make a heck of a racket and do not want to bother anyone. I could let the brass air dry or place it outside a window on the flat roof and let the sun bake it for me inside a breathable container. My goal is clean brass for plinking, pretty brass does not matter. For a cheap and no frills way to clean 38/357 brass, what do you think? What advice would you offer?

 

[Hang-Fire Hank]

SIMPLEST WAY

The wet cleaning process sounds too labor intensive & time consuming to me. Buy a vibrating tumbler & some untreated ground walnut media. Dump fired, dirty brass in the tumbler, wait an hour, and they're clean. Dump the entire quantity in a separate container (rectangular plastic bin), put a made-for-the-purpose bowl-shaped screen on the empty tumbler, pour a little of the cleaned brass & media into the screen, turn on & the vibration will separate the media from the brass.

I have a wet process Thumbler Tumbler & ceramic media I used to use for black powder cartridges & that was horribly labor intensive, so smokeless residue is a snap in comparison.

Hank M.

 

[Mike in Reedley]

I place the brass in a plastic pitcher, squirt in some Dawn dishwashing detergent and soak them for a few minutes in the soap and hot water. I rinse them in clean water (the strainer lid keeps the brass from falling out). I pour in some white vinegar for a few minutes, then pour the vinegar back into its bottle.

From there I dump the damp brass in a large vibrating tumbler, with the lid off so moisture can escape. The brass polishes up quicker and turns out brighter than without the rinsing process. I think the media last longer too, because the brass is cleaner when it goes in the tumbler and you don’t have to run it as long.

 

[stansdds]

Wet cleaning can be done cheaply, but then you have to dry the brass, which may mean the brass will need to be oven baked. That's too much like work for my tastes.

I prefer a vibrator cleaner using crushed corncob. A good cleaner, mine is a Lyman Turbo 1200, will last a long time and it will do a good job of cleaning and polishing. Dump the brass in, fasten the lid, turn it on for a couple of hours and you have clean, shiny brass.

 

[dsink]

I used the vibrator method for years and finally made the switch to wet tumbling. Best move I ever made.

4 hours in the wet tumbler and the brass comes out looking better than new. Inside the cases, primer pockets and outside all are spotless including range pickup brass.

Yes you have to let the brass dry but once I get all the pins out of the brass, I just pour them out on a towel on the concrete and in a couple hours the brass is dry. You can also do a lot more brass at 1 time than I could do in the vibrator tumbler.

I cant really say one way or the other that it is more work but I think it is worth it due to how clean the brass comes out.

I use a universal decapping die to knock the primers out before I tumble them. This keeps from putting all that dirt and grit in my good reloading dies.

 

[DumpStick]

I have been reloading for almost 30 years. For the first 10 years, I didn't clean the brass at all. I would deprime, and wipe it off. Reload.

Then, I started washing the brass. Hot water, some sort of detergent, shake and tumble by hand. Rinse, then out in the sun to dry.

I've been dry tumbling for about the past 7-8 years, only because I purchased a large lot that had a Lyman tumbler included.

These days, I spend far more time than necessary on cleaning brass. I deprime, wash, soak in a citric acid solution, rinse,, dry in the sun. Tumble in Walnut Shell media.

Lots o' shiney. Looks Fab, doesn't shoot any better.

 

[Bayou52]

I also have been wet tumbling for 7 years using a Thumler's High-Speed drum tumbler. Even the worst tarnished brass comes out looking better than what's on the shelf.

However, I have reached the point of simply not needing that degree of shine for my weekly range trips. So, I don't wet tumble my brass except for the most and worse tarnished. For weekly stuff, I do what was described above - put the brass in a container, add 1 ounce of detergent, some Lemi-Shine, salt and shake and let stand for an hour or so. That's it for very clean brass.

Bayou52

 

[max503]

I wash my brass in the utility sink in the basement. Brass in a plastic bucket.
-Warm water
-salt
-squirt of lemon
-squirt of Dawn
Swish and rinse.
Spread brass on cafeteria tray on picnic table in the sun till dry.
I don't like dry tumbling because of the toxic dust, noise, and expense of the tumbler.
To each his own.

 

[gman51]

Personally I think all the hoopla about having shiny casings for reloading is a total waste of time. I just run my dirty casings in walnut media in a vibrator tumbler for about an hour and they are good to go then. I have yet had a casing hang in the gun because the casing wasn't like new pretty shine to it.
To each their own.

 

[mikld]

Case cleaning/polishing is probably the most talked about, but least important part of reloading. It seems today too many new reloaders are lead to believe ultra shiny, virgin looking brass is essential to good reloading, when in fact it is 99% cosmetic only...

Rant over. I used to use a solution to soak my brass in (I reloaded 12 years before I got a tumbler, zero ruined dies, no scratched chambers). My formula was 1 qt water, one teaspoon citric acid, and a few drops on dish washing liquid. Swish/soak for mebbe an hour and rinse/dry. Many use this same formula in their wet tumbling with SS pins...

As a lifelong machinist/mechanic I've done a lot of metal work. I tried wet tumbling with "the formula", but I also just used plain water, no additives. I couldn't tell a lot of difference between the batches...

 

[Engineer1911]

38 / 357 brass is generally shot in a revolver. Eject the fired brass into a container. You don't have to worry about sand or dirt, the carbide sizing die will restore the 'shine' every time.

No noise, drying, or mess. I did it for 12 years before I bought my first tumbler. 'Surgically clean brass' is not one of my reloading steps.

 

[rockquarry]

I've seen good results for many years using a vibratory tumbler or a tumbling tumbler and either crushed walnut or crushed corn cob media. Can't tell much difference in either method or either media. Everything cleans well and it's all very simple and inexpensive.

Wet tumbling to get ultra shiny, new looking brass is fine but quite unnecessary. However, that seems to go along with today's fastidious shooters who have no aversion to busy work but do have an abhorrence for "dirty" powders, smudged fingertips, and a little smoke from cast bullets.

 

[iouri]

s1mp13m4n's, you're thinking right any kind of tumbler will be noisy and vibratory in addition will produce some fine dust which won't be welcome in living quarters. I think your original idea of just washing it w/o tumbling would work just fine.

 

[stansdds]

s1mp13m4n's, you're thinking right any kind of tumbler will be noisy and vibratory in addition will produce some fine dust which won't be welcome in living quarters. I think your original idea of just washing it w/o tumbling would work just fine.

Yes, all tumblers and vibratory cleaners will make some noise, but my Lyman cleaner is not very noisy. As for the dust, cut a used fabric softener sheet into strips and place them in the vibratory tumbler, maybe add a small amount of mineral spirits. This will allow the sheet strips to trap dust and it extends the life of the media.

Do not use a fresh fabric softener sheet, the fabric softener will be deposited on your brass and a new sheet is not very effective at trapping dust.

 

[Nightowl]

I have been using a Lortone Lapidary Tumbler for a long time. My brother bought it probably 45 or so years ago and I got it after he quit reloading. I have used it for the last 30 plus years and I do a lot of shooting. It has a rubber drum and I use walnut or corncob media and Dillon cleaner. I use the media for a long time, probably a year or more. It is pretty quiet, especially if you put a rubber mat under the frame. You will need a separator, like the small one Dillon sells, to separate brass from media. No wet, no pins, no drying, much less hassle than wet cleaning. Brass does not need to be shiney, just clean so it does not damage the reloading dies.
Mine is similar to the QT12 model they sell now. Apparently, they are a good company, because last year I bought a new belt for my old tumbler and they sent the correct part!! Works great. I hope you enjoy your reloading as much as I have.

 

[MyDads38]

Dry tumbling is the easiest but requires a vibratory unit. A quick wash in Dawn, Lemi-Shine, warm water will get the brass clean with little/no investment. I always de-prime before wet cleaning, so no water remains in primer pocket. rinse, dry, done.

 

[Bobafett]

The only way I've done it (45 ACP) was with walnut media in a tumbler and I'd add a cap full of liquid Turtle Wax into the mix after its been running a few hours. I've always had slick clean brass from doing it this way.

 

[Axis223]

I wet tumble because I was tired of the nasty lead/powder dust that came along with dry tumbling. I can also better inspect my cases too because they are cleaner and I don't have to mess with primer pockets either. Its worth the extra headache to go through. Fill the jug, soap, lemi shine, turn on and leave for 2hrs rather than 10hr with dry and then dump into the shaker pan, rinse 5 times, magnet pins, shake on towel, dry in front of fan or outside.

 

[H Richard]

I can't see the extra time and mess wet cleaning. I use a vibratory cleaner, corn cob media with a thimbleful of Red Rooster brass shine. Dump the dirty brass in and forget it for a couple hours and it's done. Dump it out on a separator pan and shake out the media. I don't decap until it's been cleaned. Been doing this for over 35 years and don't plan to change now.

 

[Hasbeen1945]

I have a RCBS rotary tumbler. I like clean brass. It’s a lot easier on your dies. And the equipment a long with the sun does all the work. Deprime with a Lee die. Put brass with SS pins and a little dawn ang lemi shine in tumbler with water. Run about 2 hours. Use Lyman seperator pans and magnet to recover pins. Set on table on towel to dry.