First try with SS media, brass is rainbow colored

[Campbell]

Just got a Lyman Cyclone and rushed to try it out. Couldn't wait to run to town for some Lemi-shine. Added a little Dawn and let cases tumble for 1 hour. I thought I rinsed cases after really well...? They have a blue/red tint to them. Two brands of cases, Hornady and R-P. R-P was noticeably more tinted. They clean up for the most part with 0000 steel wool. Is it because SS media was new and I didn't run am empty cycle first? Because I didn't rinse well enough? Didn't use Lemi-shine?
I suppose the "Rainbow" color will make them politically correct.....

***edited to add: of course I didn't use supplied cleaning solution....

My reckoning is that the "gay" colour (note proper spelling of colour my American cousins) is that you did not use LemiShine.

You guys can get LemiShine. easily, whilst us Limeys have to settle for citric acid.

I also use washing up liquid, together with a dab of car wax.

My cases are clean and take a while to tarnish.

 

[dttheliman]

Pins left in a case will screw a barrel up - pay attention folks- good barrel to junk in a nanosecond

 

[oley55]

Listen to Dusty he is giving you some good info. I had peening at first now my pins have about 20 hours on them and I have no peening at all.

Note to hijack the OP's discoloration issue, but I dunno about the pins being the cause of peening, or I do not share a mutual understanding of what is being described as peening. The case mouth distortions I get are more likely to have been caused by the brass clanking and banging against each other. The presence of the SS pins actually provide a degree of cushion, (Less pins equals more mouth deformation, more pins equals less deformation).

 

[Matt_3479]

It took me forever to figure out how to get rid of the discolouration and it seems that I was using too much lemishine

 

[oley55]

Pins left in a case will screw a barrel up - pay attention folks- good barrel to junk in a nanosecond

thanks for the pics. An errant pin has always been a HUGE concern for me and I go to great lengths to mitigate the possibility. For what it's worth, I offer the following:

To be certain, overcoming the water's surface tension is first and foremost. Being in the warm Florida climate, I can flush and rinse my brass outside in a Dillon separator with the tub over flowing with water (actually I keep the water running into the tub). I agitate the separator basket for many minutes. Once I am done rinsing, I dump the brass onto a large dark colored towel, then slosh the brass back and forth for about 5 minutes. The dark colored towel will allow you to spot any pins that didn't come out during the submerged in water process. When I first started using SS pins I did in fact find a couple errant pins, so I drastically increased my submerged agitation time.

After the brass has dried, it all goes back into the separator without water and cranked for a few minutes. If any pins fall out at this point, you need to increase the duration in the first step. Although my process is well fleshed out, I do still eyeball inside each case. The only time my process is not full proof is if I am cleaning brass with flash holes that look like they were punched out with a jagged plow share. SS pins can become wedged inside an irregular flash hole.

 

[Texas10]

One thing to remember about wet tumbling. Don't leave the brass in the tumbler for any length of time after the tumbler stops. Dump it immediately and rinse thoroughly in clean water. If you have particularly hard water in your area, you may need to soak a few minutes in warm water with a little lemi-shine to counteract the mineral staining. YMMV

New SS media often is coated with a preservative oil, so a hot soapy wash before use is mandatory. I just tumble it with lots of detergent and hot water for about 30 minutes, dump and repeat then rinse well to get'm clean. If using the SS chips, this will help to wear down the sharp edges from the shearing operation.

 

[Texas10]

Pins left in a case will screw a barrel up - pay attention folks- good barrel to junk in a nanosecond

View attachment 1085254

View attachment 1085255

I had the unfortunate luck of shooting a few rounds of my 6mmBR with the magnetospeed attached, then as I removed it, found remnants of what I think was a SS pin, horribly deformed on one of the magnet pickups. I don't think I'd run a borescope down the barrel even if I had one, but it's always in the back of my mind.

Might've picked it up off the bench, at least that's what I keep telling myself.

 

[dttheliman]

thanks for the pics. An errant pin has always been a HUGE concern for me and I go to great lengths to mitigate the possibility. For what it's worth, I offer the following:

To be certain, overcoming the water's surface tension is first and foremost. Being in the warm Florida climate, I can flush and rinse my brass outside in a Dillon separator with the tub over flowing with water (actually I keep the water running into the tub). I agitate the separator basket for many minutes. Once I am done rinsing, I dump the brass onto a large dark colored towel, then slosh the brass back and forth for about 5 minutes. The dark colored towel will allow you to spot any pins that didn't come out during the submerged in water process. When I first started using SS pins I did in fact find a couple errant pins, so I drastically increased my submerged agitation time.

After the brass has dried, it all goes back into the separator without water and cranked for a few minutes. If any pins fall out at this point, you need to increase the duration in the first step. Although my process is well fleshed out, I do still eyeball inside each case. The only time my process is not full proof is if I am cleaning brass with flash holes that look like they were punched out with a jagged plow share. SS pins can become wedged inside an irregular flash hole.

Yep... I eyeball every case twice - that same episode also took chunks out of the inside of my brake as I think 2nd round de-jacked itself, all in all an expensive day - the ss pin was almost 100% pressed into the barrel

 

[oley55]

Yep... I eyeball every case twice - that same episode also took chunks out of the inside of my brake as I think 2nd round de-jacked itself, all in all an expensive day - the ss pin was almost 100% pressed into the barrel

the question that comes to mind, do you still SS pin clean your brass?

 

[dttheliman]

the question that comes to mind, do you still SS pin clean your brass?

Yes , I like clean brass

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Gotta be vigilant

 

[will16]

If you leave them in the oven to long they will go to a dark tint, cough cough, I have noooo idea who did that. I like them rambo colored.

 

[stifffingers]

Make sure you check your cases!! I just got into SS tumbling too and it was always in the back of my mind that "what if a pin was left in the case". Sure enough, on one case two pins stuck to the wall and one on two others. So I changed my processing separating pins. Probably would have ruined the barrel...but the following shot could've been the catastrophe.

When I wet tumble my brass, first I anneal because I want to remove any discoloration. Then tumble, then size. The bushing will push any deformation from peening to the inside of the neck. Then I use a VLD type Lyman 22 degree inside chamfer tool to remove all the peened brass from the case mouth....Too much lemi-shine will turn your brass a bit of orange. Mostly in the extractor groove...The best way to remove pins from the cases is to do it under water. I empty my washed cases and pins into small plastic pail and put into the wash tub next to the washer. Turn on warm water into the bucket and turn the brass and pins with my hand until the water is clear. Then I dump out half the water and pick up two cases at a time at the rims and while holding them under the water shake them up un down and any pins will fall to bottom.

 

[Sixgun]

Pins left in a case will screw a barrel up - pay attention folks- good barrel to junk in a nanosecond

View attachment 1085254

View attachment 1085255

Thanks for posting these pics

 

[Sixgun]

One thing to remember about wet tumbling. Don't leave the brass in the tumbler for any length of time after the tumbler stops. Dump it immediately and rinse thoroughly in clean water. If you have particularly hard water in your area, you may need to soak a few minutes in warm water with a little lemi-shine to counteract the mineral staining. YMMV

New SS media often is coated with a preservative oil, so a hot soapy wash before use is mandatory. I just tumble it with lots of detergent and hot water for about 30 minutes, dump and repeat then rinse well to get'm clean. If using the SS chips, this will help to wear down the sharp edges from the shearing operation.

Come to think of it...I did leave them sit for a while after tumbling and I never pre tumbled the pins either...go info sir, thanks.

 

[ChadCollins]

Listen to Dusty he is giving you some good info. I had peening at first now my pins have about 20 hours on them and I have no peening at all.

I had preening when I put too many cases in. I keep it to no more than three singe handfuls. That seems to be approximately 100 .223 cases. No peening. I also added another pound of pins. Perfect!!!

 

[ChadCollins]

I recently bought a cyclone rotor tumbler as well. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but I noticed the brass tarnishing quickly after drying. The first loading sessions after wet tumbling I noticed seating pressure increased. Accuracy sucked! Did a bunch of reading. Many folks have experienced the same. The solutions were dry lube. I tried it, but didn’t really notice much Difference.. May have been my application method. So the tarnish...
After I dry, I put in dry vibratory tumbler with a a couple tablespoons of carwax. They come out brilliant and slick as snott! I also think the dry tumbling would help get out pins if there were any since they are dry and slick, plus steel is heavier and should fall to the bottom.

So my Method at the moment is...
1. Decap
2. Wet tumble
3. Separator
4. Dry
5. Dry tumble with carwax
6. Separator.
7. Anneal
8. Resize
Seems like a lot, but I just did 1000 or more and it didn’t seem like a chore as I was loading or annealing while the brass was going through each phase.

Resizing is the last thing I do now. I haven’t determined yet if annealing after sizing affects any consistency. But resizing last makes sense after the brass has been “normalized” . Time and testing will tell. I’ve read the debates, but I usually like to find out for myself too. So far so good though....

 

[Falfan2017]

Frank ford arsenal tumbling solution worked a lot better for me than lemishine, dawn, or a combination. Leaves a perfect gold shine that doesn’t wear off.

 

[Medic505]

After reading this I decided to try something yesterday. I ran a load of brass (.223) in just hot water. No Dawn, I stopped using Lemishine a couple years ago and I churned them for an hour. They didn't look much different than the last load that was soaped up. Primer pockets were clean and there was still a light discoloration inside the necks. I think it's going to work for me. YMMV

 

[dantiff2]

^^^ I agree. I stopped using lemishine and cannot tell a difference. I use a pinch of dawn and do a 1/2 hr rinse after a two hour run and they are almost 100% clean. I still have a very little soot inside but not enough to bother me. As long as my pins are clean so is the brass ; )