Years ago people made these things to hold cases upside down while processing. The idea was that the case was upside down so nothing could get into it until it was time to charge with powder then a bullet was seated immediately. For some reason these fell out of favor in the 1960s.
How I reduced my drying time after SS wet tumbling.
- Thread starter MrBottleneck
- Start date
Lone Hunter
Silver $$ Contributor
I use the SS pins and despite all the negative comments you always get I will continue to do so. I like my brass clean to where I can see any defects. As to having the case mouths peened,never seen it, never have seen the dents either. This is to say it can't or don't happen but I have never experienced it. I have seen the pins stuck in a case neck though( sideways). I reload for 2 different rifles in 6.5 mm and I look very close at those cases. Never have seen them stuck in .224,.257,or .308 caliber cases. I also dip my bullets in Imperial dry neck lube when seating. To each and his own,just tired of the"my way is better than your way comments all the time". Rant Over
My one bad experience tumbling with pins was from pinging the neck openings. Cut back to 50 max of 308 for 45 minutes after firing and depriming (cleans the primer pockets which was the manual step I hated the most) and 30 minutes again after Annealing, sizing, trimming and deburring/chamfering.
It took a while to figure out what the problem was caused by when I was having problems chamfering.
Individual case handling is my least favorite part of reloading. I can't imagine placing hundreds of cases on little pins just to dry them. Then I would have to find a storage spot for the rather fragile drying rack.
I dump my wet brass into a bath towel, form a hammock shape, and slide them back and forth for a few seconds to get rid of nearly all the external moisture. Then I dump them into a big SS baking pan and put the pan on my wife's tennis shoe rack inside the clothes dryer. Twenty minutes on "cotton" makes them completely dry. There is no danger of overheating the brass, like there might be in an oven, and no danger of using a device which is also used for food. Plus there is no uni-task device to store; I use the baking pan strictly in my reloading shop for other purposes other than drying brass.
If you don't have a shoe rack, you can put the brass into a mesh bag and trap the mouth of the bag in the dryer door so that it hangs inside the door without touching the rotating dryer drum.
My next reloading step is annealing, which takes care of any potential residual moisture.
I dump my wet brass into a bath towel, form a hammock shape, and slide them back and forth for a few seconds to get rid of nearly all the external moisture. Then I dump them into a big SS baking pan and put the pan on my wife's tennis shoe rack inside the clothes dryer. Twenty minutes on "cotton" makes them completely dry. There is no danger of overheating the brass, like there might be in an oven, and no danger of using a device which is also used for food. Plus there is no uni-task device to store; I use the baking pan strictly in my reloading shop for other purposes other than drying brass.
If you don't have a shoe rack, you can put the brass into a mesh bag and trap the mouth of the bag in the dryer door so that it hangs inside the door without touching the rotating dryer drum.
My next reloading step is annealing, which takes care of any potential residual moisture.
Shooter13
Gold $$ Contributor
The only time I saw that was when not enough water was used and allowed the pins and brass to much interaction, 2/3 to 7/8 full of water, pins and brass and no problem
slm9s
Gold $$ Contributor
I take mine out of the tumbler and set them upright on a THIN dish towel on the counter. Any fan around the house aimed at the brass will have them dry in no time. No money out of pocket. (THIN dish towel because so many tip over if you try to stand them up on a thick one)
A food dehydrator is the answer.I made this originally with just using high strength steel finish nails but, over time they got a touch of rust on them so, I finally got around to modifying the drying board.
This time I used bambo dowels. Simple conversion just pulled the nails. Set up a bit with a stop then re-drilled the holes to fit the little bambo dowels (100 of them).
For you guys that want to speed up the drying time doing a setup like this helps after wet tumbling.
Granted they make dryers or you can fire up your oven and put the cases on a cookie sheet etc. but, this is a easy cheap alternative.
Love to tinker and it was a fun overall project that cost one bag of bambo skewers ($3) and the (board was scrap I had laying around).
It is nothing fancy but, it works.
View attachment 1025775
The rack is for once they are tumbled to help them dry quicker. It prevents water from staying in the case as it is upright.
I dont know anyone who tumbles with spent primers still in the pockets but, assuming they did I would guess it would obviously effect air movement to some degree.
Thanks guys for all the nice comments. It works but, might not be for everyone as they think the method they use is best/better. No issue with that but, this is an option so, keep an open mind.
I can get about 200 284 cases on this.
Guarantee it happened while filled to the brim. 100 round batches back when I used to run the fired brass for up to three hours as I had read recommended here a couple years ago. I HATE cleaning pockets so that had me listening to three hours.
Peening is what I was told it is called. I was experiencing inability to chamber on 2x fired Lapua - which is very expensive to learn the hard way. Threw 400 rounds of Lapua away. Changed my cleaning to as described and am past 4-5x on all brass this past year without a problem.
Pockets are plenty clean in 45 minutes.
Here is one I made a few years ago. Fans suck air down to pull the water out. I also run a hair dryer over them a little to make sure there isn’t a drop of water in the flash hole.
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Summertime = Texas sun will dry them quick! Wintertime = put them in a brass sifter on top of one of those oil filled radiators I use to keep the shop warm.
I can get about 200 284 cases on this.
I use this too. Then blow everything off with an air nozzle. Another option is to just put it in the oven for about 45 minutes on the lowest setting and it works fine for me. Typically not in a hurry so I just let it sit overnight.
i use an ultrasonic occasionally. used to use it every loading. i made a simple dryer that will dry a 100 cases in less than 15 minutes. took a Tupperware container, drilled holes in the lid, cut a hole in the side with a hole saw that just fit a cheap walmart hair dryer. set a colander with brass in it in the Tupperware and turn on the hair dryer. quicker than i ever expected.
After wet tumble, place brass in large sieve, dunk sieve in large basin of metho a few times then blow with hair dryer for 1 or 2 minutes, all done to reload.
Not that particular one, but I found a food dehydrator at wally world for $40 that has a temp setting, and used it yesterday to dry a couple hundred 223 cases, works fine so far.
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