Chemically clean brass or SS media tumbler?

[RacerX]

I currently tumbler my brass (corrected from "bread"!!!!) in media and can't stand to dust it creates. I had to keep me daughter away from it too for her safety.

That got me to thinking...

My dad sent a concentrated bottle of bread cleaner and know all about SS media tumbling.

Which do you prefer? Why? How do you discard the lead-laden water?

I was wondering getting a Thumbler tumbler and some ss media and just moving forward.

Thoughts? Advice?

 

[CDR_Glock]

I think you meant brass. I was very confused.

I have reloaded for pistol calibers primarily. I have 4 progressive presses, a turret press and 2 single stage presses.

Anyways I have a Frankford Arms wet tumbler, Ultrasonic cleaners and a Lyman dry tumbler.

I find SS to be a huge hassle. I used lemishine and SS Media. I used a magnet with it. It’s time consuming. I don’t deprime my brass either. Many people do SS for rifles after depriming brass to clean the primer pockets.

I dump water in my utility sink in the basement.

Dry is faster but there’s dust, as you say.

I did cleaning recently with dish soap and lemishine without the SS media which was very Efficient. Some describe using some form of car wax but I’ve never messed with it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[BowWow]

Dump the water in the yard or down the drain.

I use the frankford arsenal solution. A 32 ounce bottle will do several loads. I have used the dawn-lemishine......but it took a few times to get it right. My brass was tarnishing within minutes of drying.

 

[BowWow]

I think you meant brass. I was very confused.

I have reloaded for pistol calibers primarily. I have 4 progressive presses, a turret press and 2 single stage presses.

Anyways I have a Frankford Arms wet tumbler, Ultrasonic cleaners and a Lyman dry tumbler.

I find SS to be a huge hassle. I used lemishine and SS Media. I used a magnet with it. It’s time consuming. I don’t deprime my brass either. Many people do SS for rifles after depriming brass to clean the primer pockets.

Dry is faster but there’s dust, as you say.

I did cleaning recently with dish soap and lemishine without the SS media which was very Efficient. Some describe using some form of car wax but I’ve never messed with it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Your setup is awesome!

 

[jmccracken1214]

I use a harborfreight rock tumbler that i got with a 20% coupon, works great. I can fit 40-50 6.5CM cases in there, hot water, a pinch of lemi shine and a squirt of dawn. Let it roll for 45 min or so, they come out cleaner than new. Primer pockets are clean too.

rinse, blow off with air compressor and let dry for a few hours outside.

 

[J R Green]

Ammonia based brass cleaners will make the brass hard and brittle. Ruins the life of a case.

 

[Jerzsubbie]

I used to dry tumble in corn cob or crushed walnut, both treated with some car wax. It works well but I’ve had a Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler and finally gave it a try a few weeks ago.
I use SS pins with dawn and just a little lemishine. After rinsing a couple times and tumbling in a submerged media separator, I lay it out to dry on a towel on my garage floor overnight. Brass hasn’t tarnished yet and the process gives me practically new looking brass.

I haven’t given it much thought about where I dump the dirty water, I just dump it down the drain or in my side yard.

 

[Toprudder]

I use the Frankford rotary tumbler, with Armorall Wash-n-wax car soap, and a little lemishine.

I started out using Dawn as the soap, but sometimes had brass that tarnished after a few days. The Wash-n-wax leaves a very thin film of wax, which makes the brass run through the dies a little easier (especially the expander) and prevents tarnish later.

I always decap my brass when I get back from the range, I have very little brass stored that still have the primers. I decap on a press that sends all the primers and residue out of the bottom and does not get the press dirty (Lee classic turret). Having the primer out helps the water to drain out, and also dry quicker. I dry using different methods, depending on the situation. If it is a warm sunny day, sometimes I set the brass outside in the sun. If it is a cold day, I use a dehydrator in my shop. Sometimes I set the brass in front of the fireplace insert when I am burning wood. Most often, though, I simply put the brass in front of a fan.

For pistol ammo, that I do not lube, I run the brass through the tumbler one time, with pins. For other brass that I do lube for resizing, I will usually tumble the brass for about 15-20 minutes, without pins, just to get them clean enough to lube and resize. Once I have fully processed the brass, I then tumble them for 1-1.5 hours with pins. These are extra steps that some people don't like to do, but it is the method that gives me the results I want and I don't find it too time consuming.

Separating the pins has not been a big deal for me. I use the RCBS media separator, with the tub full of water. Being submersed in water helps prevent the pins from sticking to the brass due to surface tension.