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Archon_g24
09-30-2017, 5:28 PM
I took the plunge (haha) into wet tumbling today after my lyman turbo walked off the counter over night and spilled crap all over the garage :mad:

What are you guys doing to dry cases? I need to come with a better way to dry cases because the time saved over dry tumbling is lost waiting for them to dry.

I'll wet tumble, case prep, dry tumble to remove lube, then load.

RiskyBusiness
09-30-2017, 5:35 PM
i just lay them over a towel and pat them down then lay them in the sun. Unfortunately ive been getting really bad water spots/stains on the brass. I've read that its probably because i'm not rinsing them well enough.

wbunning
09-30-2017, 5:49 PM
After separating the pins, I dump them onto an old towel in a line, them roll the towel up length-wise. Grabbing both ends of the towel to close off the “tube”, I shake the crap out of it for a few seconds to dislodge most of the water. Then onto a tray. If it's sunny, I just let them dry outside. If not..into some baskets that fit into my powder-coating oven at 110 for an hour.

Remember: wet tumbling isn't just about shiny brass or time. It's about having CLEAN, dust contaminate-free brass.

Note: i have hard water, so I rinse with distilled water first.

'ol shooter
09-30-2017, 6:01 PM
Been wet tumbling for a few years now, and have learned a few things.

I use the bigger pins I bought from Stilly, you can also get them from Bullseye Reloading.

http://www.bullseye-reloading.com/Pellet-Pins-Tumbling-Media.html

I found that tumbling with warm water and Dawn without Lemishine works for me, I save the Lemishine until the brass has been thoroughly rinsed.

I tumble for an hour, dump the dirty water without dumping the brass or pins, flush the brass with clean water, then tumble with Dawn for a second hour. It comes out really bright and clean compared to when I tumbled non-stop for three or more hours.

I dump off most of the water, then rinse to get most of the soap off before I dump pins and brass into a plastic tub with cool water and Lemishine, soaking it for twenty minutes before rinsing until the water is clear.

I dump the rinsed brass into my RCBS media separator and spin forward and back a half dozen times. With the water mostly clear the pins don't stick, I might find one or two with the brass after they are dry out of 500 pieces of pistol brass.

After separating, I roll the brass back and forth several times in a big bath towel, this gets a lot of water off of the brass.

I put the brass on paper towel lined cookie sheets in the oven at the lowest setting for one hour, on mine it's 170 degrees F.

The brass is nice and dry and bright.
https://i.imgur.com/5dX3xyw.jpg

Free advice is often worth what you pay for it, so use it if it suits you.

I still do some dry tumbling when it's called for.

DGoodale
09-30-2017, 6:09 PM
After separating, the cases are dumped into a mesh bag and put into the dryer on a sweater rack. 25 minutes later inside and out or dry

jamesg35
09-30-2017, 6:20 PM
Brass dryer tried lots of different ways this works the best, rinse and shake dry put in dryer for 30 minutes and done! Beautiful brass.
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww221/jamesg35/brass%20dryer_zps5w1mvikh.jpg (http://s722.photobucket.com/user/jamesg35/media/brass%20dryer_zps5w1mvikh.jpg.html)

JackEllis
09-30-2017, 6:25 PM
I "wash" brass by dumping it in a solution of Dawn and Lemishine, then stir by hand for a few seconds. I shake them in a collander to get out as much wash solution as possible, rinse in clean water once or twice, running through through the collander again between rinses, then put them out to dry. The collanders come from a local thrift store and cost maybe a dollar or two.

I dry them either in the sun or in the oven at 220 degrees. I have a bunch of used pie tins for this purpose.

To get the lube off after sizing, I rub a handful in a cotton rag that I buy from Home Depot or Lowes by the box. Not perfect, but cheaper and faster than tumbling.

One knock against tumbling is that it tends to wear away the headstamps. For those of us with old eyes who want to sort by headstamp, tumbling is not necessarily a good idea.

Mayor McRifle
09-30-2017, 7:02 PM
30 minutes in a cheap food dehydrator like this: https://www.amazon.com/Presto-06300-Dehydro-Electric-Dehydrator/dp/B008H2OELY/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1506826867&sr=1-6&keywords=food+dehydrators

Revoman
09-30-2017, 7:46 PM
I do pretty much what everyone else does for washing, I just wash them a day before I need em and let em dry overnight. Just a little bit of preplanning gives ya bright, shiny, clean and dry brass.

ar15barrels
09-30-2017, 7:53 PM
my lyman turbo walked off the counter over night

I just wanted to post this:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/e/e9/Nelson_Ha-Ha.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20121205194057

But I will also give you some good advice to leave the tumbler on the floor.
That way, it just wanders around instead of falling.

Archon_g24
09-30-2017, 8:56 PM
I just wanted to post this:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/e/e9/Nelson_Ha-Ha.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20121205194057

But I will also give you some good advice to leave the tumbler on the floor.
That way, it just wanders around instead of falling.

Yeah i should have known better. :(

bazineta
09-30-2017, 10:26 PM
I use the Frankford dryer; if I recall correctly it cost what it took to get over some free shipping threshold one day at Midway. It works really well; holds the same amount that the tumbler will and dries in a very short time. It seems to be pretty much a gray-colored food dehydrator, so if you surf a garage sale or two, you can probably pick one up for practically nothing.

phdo
10-01-2017, 12:38 AM
Very good information in here. I've been wanting to start wet tumbling but feel so lost with all the recipes and procedures. I may have to start doing it.

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damndave
10-01-2017, 2:06 AM
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4438/37077375032_5f96b4a4cb_c.jpg

For sale in the classifieds.

longrange1
10-01-2017, 3:25 AM
From tumbler to dry 5-7mins

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171001/e0bd715dd005104f4a08a246c9f791fc.jpg


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Cheep
10-01-2017, 3:40 AM
I just use some wire baskets from the dollar store, from the towel to the wire basket and hang outside in the sun.

Whiterabbit
10-01-2017, 4:44 AM
i just lay them over a towel and pat them down then lay them in the sun. Unfortunately ive been getting really bad water spots/stains on the brass. I've read that its probably because i'm not rinsing them well enough.

lemishine if you arent using it, and using it or not, when you lay them in the sun take 15 seconds to roll the cases so none are touching. Single layer, none touching.

Ditto even if you are drying them on a rack in the oven. They'll still spot up on you if it's a pile rather than a single layer.

TexasJackKin
10-01-2017, 7:19 AM
Like others have said, if you want to load today, you should have tumbled yesterday, or last week. That said, I towel dry, and in the summer set them out on a screen in the sun, in the winter towel dry, and I made a screen, that just fits the oven. Ether way, out of the tumbler and ready to load in an hour or less.

I *try* to stay at least a month ahead....

ar15barrels
10-01-2017, 7:51 AM
Like others have said, if you want to load today, you should have tumbled yesterday, or last week. That said, I towel dry, and in the summer set them out on a screen in the sun, in the winter towel dry, and I made a screen, that just fits the oven. Ether way, out of the tumbler and ready to load in an hour or less.

I *try* to stay at least a month ahead....

Another win for dry tumbling.
I put them in the tumbler in the morning and I can load them by lunchtime.

ar15robert
10-01-2017, 7:53 AM
for drying i put brass on a towel roll it a few times then get wifes hairdryer for a few min it does a good job no water spots dry inside etc.

painkiller
10-01-2017, 7:53 AM
So what wet tumbler did you get?

Whiterabbit
10-01-2017, 3:51 PM
Like others have said, if you want to load today, you should have tumbled yesterday, or last week.

I *try* to stay at least a month ahead....

Great advice. I stay way more than a month ahead with very little exception. For that reason, I don't even put my brass in the sun. Just leave it on the towel in the shop and it's dry a couple days later. There's always another project going on to occupy my time anyways.

I still dry tumble too, when it feels appropriate. gets me 95% there on the outside, 40% there on the inside, and 0% in the primer pockets, but knowing that lets me make the right decision when to use which method. Afterall, if I'm cranking out 300 45 colts, do I need clean primer pockets?

Eljay
10-01-2017, 4:12 PM
So I mostly load 9mm and .45. Each has a 5 gallon bucket for clean and 5 gallon bucket for dirty. When the clean bucket gets to about half full I find some time to tumble enough to make it 3/4 full. If a "dirty" bucket gets full I stop scavenging for a while.

Works for me.

Michael in California
10-01-2017, 5:00 PM
Another win for dry tumbling.
I put them in the tumbler in the morning and I can load them by lunchtime.

I can put them in the wet tumbler at 9 am and load them at 10:30.

But, it does take effort.

Realistically, 3 hours. Really no different than dry.

45 minutes to tumble, I can push it to 30 minutes. Normally, I let them dry in the sunlight, so 3 hours or so. Load that evening when its cooler in my shed.

This issue is a push.

ar15barrels
10-01-2017, 5:07 PM
I can put them in the wet tumbler at 9 am and load them at 10:30.

But, it does take effort.

Realistically, 3 hours. Really no different than dry.

45 minutes to tumble, I can push it to 30 minutes. Normally, I let them dry in the sunlight, so 3 hours or so. Load that evening when its cooler in my shed.

This issue is a push.

The difference in WORK makes dry tumbling much easier though.

TexasJackKin
10-01-2017, 6:48 PM
The difference in WORK makes dry tumbling much easier though.

Yup, wet tumbling is twice the work for a 20% improvement, only the reloader can decide it the effort is worth it. I'm retired, I wet tumble, but I started while I was still working....

bruce381
10-01-2017, 7:42 PM
so anyone load a case with a wet primer pocket?

ar15barrels
10-01-2017, 7:46 PM
Yup, wet tumbling is twice the work for a 20% improvement

That's a great way to put it.

I have seen a couple guys send a stainless tumbling pin down the barrel and I want nothing to do with that possibility.

Nothing happens to your case or barrel or muzzle brake when you miss a kernel of corn cob or walnut shell as they generally burn up with the powder.
The results from a missed steel pin going out the barrel are quite different.

TexasJackKin
10-02-2017, 6:31 AM
That's a great way to put it.

I have seen a couple guys send a stainless tumbling pin down the barrel and I want nothing to do with that possibility.

Nothing happens to your case or barrel or muzzle brake when you miss a kernel of corn cob or walnut shell as they generally burn up with the powder.
The results from a missed steel pin going out the barrel are quite different.

I'm primarily a straight wall pistol shooter, not much of an issue for me. I can see with small caliber bottle neck cartridges, that could be something to worry about.

Archon_g24
10-02-2017, 8:40 AM
So what wet tumbler did you get?

I picked up the Lyman Cyclone kit.

Archon_g24
10-02-2017, 8:58 AM
Like others have said, if you want to load today, you should have tumbled yesterday, or last week.

Duly noted.

It would have been a lot faster to load this ammo if I had a decent inventory of prepared cases.

BrassMasher
10-02-2017, 5:24 PM
My wife donated a seldom used food dehydrator to the cause. It works great at the lowest setting, 135 degrees. I am looking into the anti tarnish rinse for a final step, but it is a little pricey, and I ain’t such a show-off.

dboymboy
10-03-2017, 8:26 PM
I bought the cheap dual rock tumbler from harbor freight. 2 drips of dawn. Stainless steel pins. And for drying I put it on a tray and into the oven lowest setting for 30 min. I'm ready to reload after another 30 min of cooling

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dakewlndn
10-05-2017, 3:56 PM
As BrassMasher said, Food Dehydrator is perfect.
I just got one used from a local online sale ad like craigslist for $15.

But I have done the oven trick or the leaving them outside (if weather permits) in a mesh basket without any issues as well.

Never had an issue with pins

I have heard other reloaders using just dawn and water with brass that yielded great results.

DDRH
10-05-2017, 4:11 PM
I'm new to reloading...haven't reload anything yet actually. But i did some wet tumbling with a cheap harbor freight dual rotary drum tumbler (Chicago Tools).

used stainless pins with some Dawn for 3 hours. so far i've let it air dry, but also used an air compressor to dry the inside of each casing.

Lead Waster
10-06-2017, 10:57 AM
I have an RCBS media seperator. I fill it with water and "tumble" the media/brass to seperate the pins, then I empty the water and air tumble the brass and a lot of the water comes out of the brass.

Then put on a towel, spread them out, and leave it on the lawn in the sun. Or leave it overnight for the wind to blow on (take it off the lawn though).

But as others noted ... you need to do it in advance.

They dry faster if they are deprimed, but I'm not going to do that extra step.