FA Wet Pin Tumbler sale

First topic message reminder :

SS pin / Wet brass tumbling:
Yes it takes more time - no, I don't think the bullets go any straighter - would I ever go back to dry media/vibe tumbling?-Only if I had to.

If you shoot A LOT consider devising a system so, as long as you have the stuff out, do 6K - 8K at a time with several tumblers going at once.
I do it in the driveway with hose & buckets - air dry in crude home made bags made of Dive mesh.

Midway FA tumbler sale - best price I've seen for awhile:   https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012721373?pid=713881    
 https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012721373?pid=713881 
Wingdings Capital J,   Russ

I like the wet method.  I plan to get rid of the old vibrator. 
What do you do with the dirty, leady water?  Down the drain?
The poor fishies.

straybrit wrote:Mine just turned up. I've been planning on making the swap for a while to help reduce lead levels.

Before I start making messes everywhere :-) can people share their 'process'. Such as - what's the best way to separate the pins from the water? Best way to dry the cases?

Mine is likely overkill, but man they get clean! 
1. Add 3-4 caps of the FA cleaning solution 
2. Run 3 hours
3. Add filter caps
4. Dump water and tumbler into 5 gal bucket
5. Add water until covering cases in tumbler
6. Do the twisty shaky thing from the instructions (separates 90% of pins)
7. Dump dirty water, place tumbler back in bucket
8. Full with clean water
9. Repeat twisty shaky thing
10. Dump water, refill for a final rinse. 
11. Dump cases on towels to air dry. 

The bucket process takes maybe 15 mins overall.

Ran 1k of 45 thru mine yesterday. Too many I think, maybe 5-700 at the most. Definitely a process to figure out, the pins gave me fits. I didn't get the separator or magnet, figuring I'd use my Dillon. It has so much flat surface area on it the pins were stuck everywhere. Girlfriend came out while I was dealing with it ... 'you don't look like you're having a good time' ... 'nope'.

I ran them 30 minutes with water and a squirt of dish soap. Rinsed a couple times, and used a smallish pour of Armor-All with Carnauba wax. Ran that 90 minutes. Probably should have reversed the times. I wrote down a bunch of suggested processes, and kind of blended a couple together.

The cases look pretty good though. Maybe less of them, and/or more time would get the primer pockets a bit better.


A bucket to dunk the whole thing in to rinse would be better. Trying to run water in thru the fine mesh screens is an all day job. Taking them off means chasing a few pins.

I like the bathtub idea as well ... maybe I can get away with that while she's shopping ... ;-) And I think I can get hotter water there than the basin in the garage.

Either way, I still have to consider the well capacity and the septic. Need a gutter and a barrel ...

Interesting thing I noticed pouring the water off from the pins in the Dillon basin, pins slumping into the water and a few floating on the surface tension. I didn't expect something of that size and shape to do that.

1k of 45 brass is way too much in one batch. Runs much better as 2 smaller batches. The brass and pins need room to move around.

A couple of things I learned along the way.  

To get them bright and shiny the wash solution needs to be slightly acidic.  That’s why some put in a teaspoon or so of citric acid (LemiShine).  The soap is there as an emulsifier to hold the dirt in suspension.  The water works best if it’s hot.  If you use an automobile “wash and wax” it will leave a thin wax film on the brass and that can help in sizing.  Pins will help ,in the shine, but in pistol cases I’m not sure the “juice is worth the  squeeze”.  My usual process is:

Add a gallon ziploc of brass
Pour in hot tap water to cover the brass plus an inch and a half
Add a Tablespoon of dish soap or auto wash n wax
Add a teaspoon of LemiShine 
Tumble for Two hours
Drain the tumbler barrel of the dirty washer
Rinse three times by filling the barrel to overfill and dumping.
Dump onto a towel in the sun to dry.

Wobbly does the auto wax survive the rinse cycle? I use hornady one shot but might try the wax. Also sounds like it might prevent tarnish?

Yes, because the brass isn’t super agitated, but you could also make a “final rinse solution of just wash n wax in distilled water.

WesG wrote:I didn't get the separator or magnet...

Big mistake.   The magnet is a must have.

Don

First usage - no pins - using Ashley's recipe (because it was the simplest). As clean if not cleaner than anything I get with the dry tumbler and no inhaled lead and dust. I am a convert.

Nice job!

Some inspiration, perhaps. About 8000 223 out in the sun to dry.  These had been left outside for about a year prior to processing.  Since they still need further processing there will be another run through the tumbler before they get loaded…