New to SS media and have ?

[gary0529]

OK, I just got the tumbler and 5# of SS from Brownell's and ran my first batch of 308 through the process-ABSOLUTELY LOVE the job it did. My question is simple-how do I or do I even need to dry off the ss pins?
I did watch the video from Brownell's and searched the site but this question may be so simple that no one else even needed to ask it.

The water was filthy, got everything rinsed off and now I have a barrel full of pins that are quite wet.
I dumped them into a towel, balled up the towel and got things dryer but I did not find the process neat or practical in that the pins like to hide and jump out when transferring back to the bin to store them.

Am I making too big a deal of this and being anal about the process?

And as long as I am open for scorn and abuse ;D who has a neat way of getting the cases out of the ss soup short of doing what I did and fish them out by hand-the colander/fine wire basket sort of works but I may need to find a finer mesh as the pins seem to jam or stick in the wire.

You guys always seem to have practical solutions for things, so I am open for schooling.

Thanks in advance.

Gary

 

[Erik Cortina]

You don't need to dry them.

If you decide to dry them, I have found that separating the pins individually and wiping them down one at a time with a Q-tip works the best. ;D

 

[RottenII]

You don't need to dry them.

If you decide to dry them, I have found that separating the pins individually and wiping them down one at a time with a Q-tip works the best. ;D

;D ;D I never bother doing anything to mine other than rinsing them a bit and just dump them back into the bin.

 

[hedditch]

After tumbling for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs, I dump out the dirty water trying not to lose any brass or ss pins. I fill the tub back up with clean water to with in about 1 1/2 inches from the top and then dump all of it in my RCBS media separater. Turn the handle a few times to separate the ss media from the brass. I dump the brass onto a towl and roll it around to dry off the brass then throw a heat lamp on the brass to dry the inside. Then I anneal. Meanwhile, I take the water and ss media in the media separater and dump it all back into the drum and it is ready for the next time. My procedure but hopefully you will receivee a reply to make things even easier.
Dave

 

[infantrytrophy]

The easy way:

As Dave Hedditch described above, rinse and separate the brass and SS pins using an RCBS (or similar) rotary media separator. Leave 3-4" of clean water standing in the bottom of the media separator so that the brass/SS pins are rinsed again and to help separate the pins and brass.

Then pour the SS pins onto a colander using a piece of a bedsheet as a filter. Excess water will drain through, similar to a drip coffee maker, and the pins will dry overnight. See picture below.

Randy

 

[gary0529]

Thanks for the great and fast replies.

I barely had time to finish my coffee before you all replied-talk about fast service!

Appreciate everything I learn here- even after 50 years of reloading I learn something more each day.
Great base of reloading knowledge and shooting experience here.

Gary

 

[jlow]

The SS-media never needs to be dried but they should be rinsed out well after use. They are stainless steel and I have used and left it wet with no problem for 2 years.

 

[amlevin]

My "pins" are well over a year old now and all I do is rinse the whole mess, pins and brass, well before I put them into the rotary separator.

The brass goes off to the rest of the processing and the pins are just left in the bottom of the Separator (an RCBS). I leave it with the lid open and they're dry by the time I use them again. Haven't seen the need to dry them at all and have no signs of corrosion/rust.

 

[dave7mm]

I have found that separating the pins individually and wiping them down one at a time with a Q-tip works the best. ;D

Thats funny right there.


dave

 

[tbird1960]

I have a piece of stainless steel screenwire that is very fine and will let the water and crud be washed out and leave the media to be poured back into the tumbler. Works real good.