Tumbling Dry or Wet?

[Loui3]

Hello all,

I have my question. I been looking for a tumbler and found some nice cheap ones right now. This will be my first time owning a tumble plus reloading. I am reading that dry tumbling should be first for new reloaders. Others say wet much easier.

a dry tumbler I found with media for $68.00.

* Frankford Arsenal Quick-N-EZ 110V*

* Walnut Media - Hazel Shell Tumbling Media - 10 lbs. (Hazelnut Shell)


the wet tumbler is $126.00

* Frankford Arsenal Rotary Case Tumbler Lite

*National Metallic Brass Cleaning Media Stainless Steel Pins 2.5 lb Plastic Jar
The diameter is 1mm
length is 6.5


Each one has its perks. Both seem easy to do it's just preparing the brass. One has a lot of dust and I need to buy more stuff to separate the brass from the media.

Wet just drain the water and be careful not losing the pins.

As that saying goes "Pay what you get for" This time around is it better to go with the expensive one rather than the cheap one?

Any kind of help would be awesome... Want to get items before they go out of stock...

Thanks again.

[dsconstructs]

I'm definitely happier with the results of wet tumbling vs dry tumbling. Much faster, 45 minutes and even the dirtiest brass are shiny like brand new. Tablespoon of Dawn dish soap, pinch of Lemishine....rinse well. Got a magnet to help separate the pins from brass but found it easier to use a colander to rinse, dumping the shells as I rinse. Do this over another container to keep from losing pins down the drain.

[tabascoz28]

I still have my FA dry using walnut from 20 years ago. Buy new walnut on Amazon called lizard bedding for cheap. Not as shiny new as wet tumbling but no need to dry afterwards either. I use a light timer and just go 30 minutes. Made a speed cone for it a few months ago. If it breaks, I'd buy another one.

[baih777]

wet tumbling for rifle cases.
dry tumbling for pistol cases.

dont buy that franklin dry tumbler.
get this for dry tumbling.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012874280?pid=514805

[hermosabeach]

to me- Lead exposure is a problem....

Wet Tumble- all water goes down sink... to waste water treatment plant...


Dry tumble- dust goes in air- converting garage to lead contaminated area...




that why I stopped dry tumbling

[Dooder]

As the old saying goes, get both. Don't fall for the food dehydrator dryer or other high wattage dryers for wet tumbling.

Don't need 5lbs of pins, some people don't use pins at all. I wet tumble with a couple handfuls of pins, and soap. Strain the pins out and rinse brass clean with the hose. Dump it into a towel and roll around to towel dry. Then dump brass into a vibratory tumbler with corn cobb.

Its dry in 10 mins and the cobb smoothes the cases. Clean cases + moisture + corn cobb = fast drying, no dust and no lead.

I use the FART machine and the Lyman two stage strainer.

[ar15barrels]

I have my question. I been looking for a tumbler and found some nice cheap ones right now. This will be my first time owning a tumble plus reloading. I am reading that dry tumbling should be first for new reloaders. Others say wet much easier.


Each one has its perks. Both seem easy to do it's just preparing the brass. One has a lot of dust and I need to buy more stuff to separate the brass from the media.

Wet just drain the water and be careful not losing the pins.

As that saying goes "Pay what you get for" This time around is it better to go with the expensive one rather than the cheap one?

Any kind of help would be awesome... Want to get items before they go out of stock...

Wet tumbling is definitely more work.
If you leave a pin in a rifle case and send it down the barrel, it does ugly stuff to the barrel.
You need a way to separate the pins from the cases just like you separate the dry media from the cases.

The dust is not as much trouble as the wet tumbling people say it is.
The wet tumbling people talk about lead contamination in the dust but they are the ones keeping ALL the lead in their case cleaning water and on their hands when handling the cases.

Wet tumbling leaves the cases TOO clean.
Wet tumbled cases often have problems galling to the sizing die or the neck expander.

With dry tumbling, there is some dust left on the cases.
The dust acts as a dry lube when you are sizing pistol cases in carbide dies.
This keeps the dies and neck expander from galling to the case.

You can dry tumble the wet tumbled cases to get some of this dust on the cases or you can use some dry lube on a brush inside of each case neck which is even MORE work.

[JackEllis]

If you're thinking you HAVE to tumble because, keep in mind that it isn't necessary. Your loads won't shoot better, they'll just look like new.

I thought dry tumbling might leave the cases clean enough that my hands would stay reasonably clean. They don't so I just don't bother any more. I wash the cases in hot water, Dawn and Lemishine and the result is clean enough for me. Forme anyway, tumbling isn't worth the time and trouble.

[bubbala]

Dry tumbling is just so easy.keep the lid on the machine if dust bothers you.add some nu-finish to the nut shells.
I think a lot of reloading methods/ tools just feed into people's O.C.D
An opinion only..

[cavemanlrrp]

On the dry side, the used drier sheets keep the "dust" down and media clean. Used, not unused.
Corn cob and nut shells are cheap in bulk.

I think de-priming before cleaning helps keep some of the nasty's out of the process, and I like clean primer pockets, nether thing may make a difference.

Best
caveman

[sofbak]

This subject is like "Which religion is best?" Comes down to a matter of preference I guess.

I've used both, and I prefer wet tumbling. It is much faster-by about 65-70% less time.

It's neater. You don't broadcast lead-laden dust all over the place. And the dirty water goes down the drain.

Separating the pins is simple. Use a magnet. You (should) inspect the cases as you reload, so if an errant pin becomes a stowaway in one case-you should be diligent enough to spot it during the reload process.

Drying is simple. Put the cases in a towel and "hobo fold" it into a sack. Shake like hell for a few seconds, and done. Done even faster if you use a "no-touch" car wash/wax soap.

Lube. Yeah if you use regular soap, no lube. But if you use a liquid car wash/wax concentrate like Armorall instead of dishwashing liquid, you get a nice thin coating of carnuba that lubes the cases, and protects them against tarnish if you store them for lengthy periods before use.

Wet tumbling FTW.

[ar15barrels]

keep the lid on the machine if dust bothers you.

Do people tumble with the lid off the tumbler?

Holy crap.
I never thought people would do that.
THAT probably explains the dust that the wet tumbling people always talk about.
They were probably too dumb to realize that you should keep the lid on the tumbler because there are no case tumbling instructions on the bag of lizard cage litter to follow.
These must be the "no child left behind" era kids finally getting old enough to have guns.

I always thought they were complaining about the little bit of dust while separating cases from media!

[smoothy8500]

Do people tumble with the lid off the tumbler?

No kidding. I always wondered why people complain about the dust. The lid keeps it in...

[divingin]

Each one has its perks. Both seem easy to do it's just preparing the brass. One has a lot of dust and I need to buy more stuff to separate the brass from the media.

Wet just drain the water and be careful not losing the pins.

I use both.

A media separator that allows operation underwater (both the RCBS separator and Frankford Arsenal 5 gallon bucket separator do) will make getting pins out of wet cases way, way easier.

[Distinct_Editz]

If I had to choose between the two right now, wet tumbling **WITH SS PINS**. I de-cap all the cases before tumbling, and it will clean the insides, the primer pockets, and also clean off annealing or any hard discoloration on the outside of the case usually within 30m - 2hr depending on how bad it is. If you use the correct amount of lemi-shine you'll also get a shine on the outside of the brass just as good as dry tumbling.

BUT I still use dry tumbling because with the corn media and flitz additive, I have found it prevents the cases from turning brown/discoloring after wet tumbling, which is why I dry tumble after wet tumbling to maintain the finish that I get from wet tumbling.