Stainless pin brass tumbling

[rjh4758]

I made the investment to stainless steel pins in a Thumlers Tumbler. I have seen all the great reviews on line and I wasn't really happy with what walnut hulls were doing for me, not to mention the dust and mess.

Got my first batch of brass in the tumbler now will see what they come out like.

I picked some of the worst brass I had lying around. These are some really tarnished 30-06 cases. I had some 308 cases that were tarnished like this and after 8+ hours in the walnut hulls it removed 70-80%. I hope the stainless pins perform better.

[morrow]

What tumbler are you using for the stainless media?
What soap(s) are you using in it?

[rjh4758]

What tumbler are you using for the stainless media?
What soap(s) are you using in it?

I am using Thumlers Tumbler Model B High speed.

I am using Dawn and Lemi-shine.

[J-cat]

Make sure you use dawn/lemishine at a 90/10% ratio and fill the drum full of water otherwise the results will be poor.

[morrow]

Why do you guys use dawn? It creates suds. I guess that's not a big deal though in sealed rotary tumblers.

I've wondered how dishwasher detergent would work (no suds)

[ExtremeX]

Dont forget the post the results!

[rjh4758]

WOW!!
I am totally impressed.

Before






After

[SB30]

Nice, I have yet to use my vibrating tumbler but may have to return it and get a rotary with some SS media.

Edit: Also curious to the dimensions of a SS media piece. Could you measure one for me please? Seeing if you took some SS tig wire and cut it if that would work.

[rjh4758]

This brass was so crudded up on the inside it was unreal. Now the inside of the brass is almost as shiney as the outside. I can see that a bunch of this brass is Berdian primed . Couldn't tell when I bought it last year and the price was cheap, oh well. Now I can sort through the 1000 or so and deprime the boxer brass before the next run. Ran these through with the primers in to see the results, couldn't wait to deprime any..

[Bill Steele]

This brass was so crudded up on the inside it was unreal. Now the inside of the brass is almost as shiney as the outside. I can see that a bunch of this brass is Berdian primed . Couldn't tell when I bought it last year and the price was cheap, oh well. Now I can sort through the 1000 or so and deprime the boxer brass before the next run. Ran these through with the primers in to see the results, couldn't wait to deprime any..

Like loading new brass, very nice.

I have a vibratory tumbler and it is going strong, so I won't be switching anytime soon, but if that thing dies, I am getting one of those Thumblers!

[22popnsplat]

when i measured my stainless media i got .041 diameter and .265 length , You would have to sit and cut wire for a good while to get 5 lbs of it . I bought my 5 pounds on the internet for $25

[ExtremeX]

That looks awsome! How long did you have to tumble to get those results?

[rjh4758]

That looks awsome! How long did you have to tumble to get those results?

I had them running about 2 hours andit removed about 40-50% of the corrosion. I wanted to look at some at 4 hours but I forgot about it running. When I stopped it at about 6 hours this is what I had. I am going to run it next time on a time so I can get an idea of how long I need to run it.

[ExtremeX]

Reason I ask is because I don't want to run a tumbler overnight or have to wait days to complete large brass cleaning jobs. Not only does it take longer, the amount of power consumption starts to eat away at my cost per round final reloading costs.

[morrow]

Reason I ask is because I don't want to run a tumbler overnight or have to wait days to complete large brass cleaning jobs. Not only does it take longer, the amount of power consumption starts to eat away at my cost per round final reloading costs.

Either way will work. Stainless hands down for shiny brass, people run them for 2-4 hours.
Vibrating tumbler with corn cob media + polish is what I use. After 2-3 hours it's clean, smooth, and mostly polished. Beyond that 3 hours is fairly useless unless you run it overnight (very shiny) but like you said, that gets expensive.