stainless media case cleaning

[fa38]

What do you do to insure that there are no pins left adhering to the inside of a case after tumbling with water and stainless pins? . I do 50 cases at a time with 5 lbs. of media.

I was cleaning some 25-20 Win cases with the pins (probably should not use them on a case this small) and after they were dried out some pins were wedged into the necks and had to be pried out. For the heck of it I took a paper clip and put a right angle bend into the end and moved it around inside about 25 cases and out popped a pin so I did it to the rest of the cases and got 2 more out of the 300 cases.

Since that is a bit labor intensive I am looking for another method and have thought about walnut media in a vibrator. Any other ideas? Or just forget about cleaning with stainless pins.

 

[Barrel Nut]

I've wet SS cleaned tens of thousands of cases without having any problems with jammed pins; however, I imagine if your neck ID was EXACTLY the same as the length of the pins, you could have a problem.

The simple answer is to select a media with pins either longer or shorter than your neck ID.

 

[ED3]

What do you do to insure that there are no pins left adhering to the inside of a case after tumbling with water and stainless pins? . I do 50 cases at a time with 5 lbs. of media.

I was cleaning some 25-20 Win cases with the pins (probably should not use them on a case this small) and after they were dried out some pins were wedged into the necks and had to be pried out. For the heck of it I took a paper clip and put a right angle bend into the end and moved it around inside about 25 cases and out popped a pin so I did it to the rest of the cases and got 2 more out of the 300 cases.

Since that is a bit labor intensive I am looking for another method and have thought about walnut media in a vibrator. Any other ideas? Or just forget about cleaning with stainless pins.

http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/reloading-products/accessories/media-separator-deluxe.html

I used this for 9mm, 45 acp, .223, .308
100% pin separation from brass

 

[Bob L.]

What do you do to insure that there are no pins left adhering to the inside of a case after tumbling with water and stainless pins? . I do 50 cases at a time with 5 lbs. of media.

I was cleaning some 25-20 Win cases with the pins (probably should not use them on a case this small) and after they were dried out some pins were wedged into the necks and had to be pried out. For the heck of it I took a paper clip and put a right angle bend into the end and moved it around inside about 25 cases and out popped a pin so I did it to the rest of the cases and got 2 more out of the 300 cases.

Since that is a bit labor intensive I am looking for another method and have thought about walnut media in a vibrator. Any other ideas? Or just forget about cleaning with stainless pins.

When the pins get stuck in the neck, there is no substitute for inspection and removal. I use a hemostat for this. Throw those pins away and eventually you will eliminate the pins which are somewhat longer and more prone to sticking in the neck.

For those that are on the case, but not wedged, I have found that using a rotary separator will knock these out. I use the separator to initially remove the pins while still wet and again after vibratory tumbling in corn cob to remove lube. O also tap the cases upside down prior to loading powder to make sure.

To me all this is part of the brass prep process (I also anneal after every firing). If this outweighs the benefits for you, then cleaning with stainless pins might not be the best option.

 

[Rsadams]

Simply shake your brass under the water and the pins will fall out. I always check with a flashlight and check flash holes.. Look at the bigger pins from stainless media that should help.. Sometimes they do get stuck. As other posters have said the ones that do, throw them out.

 

[Sniper338]

I shake the pins out while they are wet still... dont let them dry in the cases. Pins come in different lengths...

 

[alb]

Whatever length the pins that they ship with the Frankford Arsenal tumbler are, they've never stuck on me. I've only tried them on .38/.357, .45, .308 and .223 though.

What has worked well for me is to purchase two gold panning pans, the kind that are made to sit on top of a 5 gallon bucket. One pan has a very fine mesh, such that the pins are unable to make it through, and the other a fairly coarse mesh, such that they'll fall through easily but the cases won't.

I just pour out a lot of about 600-700 cases on top of the two pans, on top of a bucket. I give the mix a stir with my hand to make most of the pins fall through, then I grab cases about 4-5 at a time, shake them out, repeat until done. Doesn't take much time, really.

 

[sfldiver]

I use the Frakford Arsenal Media separator, similar the Lyman "bingo wheel" style media separator shown in the post above. I've tumbled as many as 300 .308 cartridges with 10 pounds of pins at one time - no problems! In the past, I do recall a couple of pins getting stuck in my brass, but once I started using the "bingo wheel" style media separator, it stopped.

 

[fa38]

The pins that are stuck sideways in the neck are not the problem. They are easily noticed and removed.
I shook the pins out of the cases when the cases came out of the water and at times banged the mouth of the case against a table when separating (I thought) the pins from the cases.
The few pins I got out of the cases after they dried were stuck to the interior walls of the cases and not visible.

 

[ED3]

The pins that are stuck sideways in the neck are not the problem. They are easily noticed and removed.
I shook the pins out of the cases when the cases came out of the water and at times banged the mouth of the case against a table when separating (I thought) the pins from the cases.
The few pins I got out of the cases after they dried were stuck to the interior walls of the cases and not visible.

The 'bingo wheels' are a wet process.
Dump the contents of the drum- brass, SS pins, water into the separator and tumble for a 30 seconds.
Wet brass in the separator.
Water, SS pins in the pan.

 

[fa38]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Bob L.]

Thanks for the replies.

One last thought. I didn't see that you said whether you use dish soap when tumbling. If you don't, I think it would be worth a try. The soap should help pin removal.

 

[ED3]

One last thought. I didn't see that you said whether you use dish soap when tumbling. If you don't, I think it would be worth a try. The soap should help pin removal.

Dish soap and lemon-shine(sp) as per common instructions.
I don't know if it effects pin removal but it certainly helps clean brass.

 

[butchlambert]

How about loaded ammo?

 

[Clownbuster]

http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/reloading-products/accessories/media-separator-deluxe.html

I used this for 9mm, 45 acp, .223, .308
100% pin separation from brass

^^^This is what I use. Pins are never left in the cases.

 

[rardoin]

How about loaded ammo?

No problem with pins sticking in loaded ammo....but I point my bullets so I use pins larger than my meplats.

Do I need to put a legal disclaimer tag on this post? Such as 'Meant for entertainment purposes only...do not attempt this as tumbling live ammunition may be hazardous to your live ammunition...and possibly other adjacent objects'.

 

[jepp2]

^^^This is what I use. Pins are never left in the cases.

I use the STM separator and when I'm tumbling 25-06 I do occasionally get a few pins stuck cross wise in case necks. No other calibers, but it does happen in the 25 cal necks. You just need to check.

I do 50 cases at a time with 5 lbs. of media.

I find small quantities such as this don't clean as well as larger batches of brass. With only 50 cases, they tend to tumble with the media. With more cases you get more tumbling action and the inside of the cases come out cleaner.