SS Media Users--Question Please

[tclaunch]

I went cheap to see how I like the SS media, and so far am delighted. I bought the refresher kit with 2 pounds of pins and the packet of Lemishine. The Rock Polisher single drum from Harbor Freight. I put all the pins in and from 20 to 40 cases at a time, and have trouble with case mouth deforming needing to re do after each use. I been digging the history here as I saw this being discussed and how to go about reducing the damage done to case mouth. I think I am ready to jump in with both feet on the larger kit after seeing how well this works, thanks for the help, Tim

 

[people]

You do not have enough pins. The casings are not being fully supported as they tumble. You need more pins or less brass.

 

[Juma]

We run 3.5ltr water with standard lot of SSM and 100 cases of 223. Stunning cleanliness and shine.

 

[Steve Blair]

Tim, [br]
I use five pounds pins, one teaspoon each of Lemi Shine, Lemi Shine Rinse and Ajax Lemon dish washing detergent dissolved in hot water to fill the drum (approximately one gallon), along with one hundred .300 WSM cases. I tumble for thirty minutes and case mouth deformation is minimal. I still run the cases through my Giraud trimmer every time, after annealing and sizing. It removes any slight peening and usually does not shorten the cases as they do not grow much.

 

[Bayou]

Tclaunch-

I use a Thumler's Model B high-speed. 5 pounds of pins, 2 pounds of brass, 1 gallon of water, 1/4 tsp of Lemi-Shine and 1 ounce of Armor-All wash & wax. I switched from Dawn to Armor-All as the detergent since the cleaning results are just the same yet the Armor-All leaves a bit of residual wax the impedes the return of tarnish. It works for me.

With this recipe, peening of the case mouth is s non-issue. If it occurs, it's so little as to be insignificant. Trimming, chamfering and deburring removes any minor peens that should occur.

 

[amlevin]

I've been using the SS PIns for several years now. At first the peening of the case mouth bothered me. Now I don't give it a second thought . Wipe cases clean, size, and then into the SS Pins and the tumbler drum. When Clean I then trim using a 3-way cutter on my RCBS trimmer.

This trues up the case mouth and removes any minor peening that changes case mouth OD.

I like to keep enough pins in the drum to insure cleaning, inside and out, and no longer concern myself with any minor peening.

 

[tclaunch]

My case mouths were almost to the point of flattened. The Harbor Freight tumbler may be the culprit as it is a tiny unit with a 3 pound maximum load limit. I went to a site that sells the pins and ordered another 2 pounds, but also saw a new model with plastic drum number 17 I believe for $219.00. I put that at the top of my wish list. I am now convinced this is the best way to go about cleaning brass, really unreal how well they look.

 

[Bayou]

My case mouths were almost to the point of flattened. The Harbor Freight tumbler may be the culprit as it is a tiny unit with a 3 pound maximum load limit. I went to a site that sells the pins and ordered another 2 pounds, but also saw a new model with plastic drum number 17 I believe for $219.00. I put that at the top of my wish list. I am now convinced this is the best way to go about cleaning brass, really unreal how well they look.

I believe you may be referring to the new Exteme Rebel 17 tumbler. It's basically a Thumler's improved with axle bearings rather than axle bushings and a few other little things. If they wanted to really improve on the Thumler's, they should have gotten rid of those dinky drive belts.

My Thumler's belt was constantly breaking for no apparent reason under the sun. I've since abandoned repacement belts ($5-$6 a pop) and have gone to an equivalent size o-ring (80 cents apiece). The o-ring has really held up and at a fraction of replacement belt cost.