Stainless Media Tumbling

[Dusty Stevens]

Its not a problem except in this case of stm. With bt bullets you dont need much at all

 

[jlow]

Thanks for the feedback Dusty.

I didn't neck turn until recently and most my dies were factory.

Due to the high neck tension if I didn't use an aggressive deburr/chamfer during seating the case mouth would scuff my bullet jackets.

My aggressive chamfer is a throwback to those days. I'll be backing it off since my handloading techniques have evolved.

Brass that rolls either inside and/or outside is peening. In your case, I think Dusty is spot on. If you over chamfer/deburr you basically is producing something akin to a knife edge at the end of the neck. As you can imagine, the thinner the edge, the weaker the edge, and the more likely you will have peening.

 

[Mozella]

In an effort to reduce tumbling time, I've lately been putting fired/deprimed brass into a medium bucket with some Simple Green; no water. I swirl the cases around a bit while I'm heating a tea kettle of boiling water. Then I dump in the boiling water, swirl them around (don't use your finger), and I let them sit for half an hour or so. This seems to loosen the carbon so that I can wet SS tumble for a shorter period of time.

 

[1shot]

Sorry if this seems like a little off topic, but what method do you use to separate the pins from the brass. My way is very time consuming and I invariably have to retrieve pins from the bucket that I drain the water into.
Thanks,
Lloyd

 

[jlow]

Pistols yes, rifles no. There are no easy way to remove the pins in bottle neck cases and make sure none is left in the case. I grab 4 case, turn them upside down under water and shake until they all fall out.

 

[Charlie-NY]

For whatever it's worth - I decided to put two stainless steel brakes into my STM tumbler to remove the carbon that builds up on the inside. Three interesting things were noted when the tumbling was finished.

1. The brakes were very clean and almost looked new again
2. The finish on the brakes changed a bit and no longer matched the barrels that they were on.
3. The threads on the brakes had changed enough, dimensional, that they could not be threaded back onto the rifle barrel !!

If tumbling in SS media can do this to a SS brake, I'm surprised that the soft brass cases don't have more problems then you guys have noted.

 

[Endyo]

I have a mesh waste basket that fits perfectly in a 5-gallon bucket.

I put on ear muffs and shake the brass for a minute or two.

The only occasion I had pins left is when I was cleaning bulk 9mm.

JLow I found a combination that works for me. 15lbs, 45mins. Some carbon left but brass is clean. No peening at all.

 

[SHootSTraight22]

For whatever it's worth - I decided to put two stainless steel brakes into my STM tumbler to remove the carbon that builds up on the inside. Three interesting things were noted when the tumbling was finished.

1. The brakes were very clean and almost looked new again
2. The finish on the brakes changed a bit and no longer matched the barrels that they were on.
3. The threads on the brakes had changed enough, dimensional, that they could not be threaded back onto the rifle barrel !!

If tumbling in SS media can do this to a SS brake, I'm surprised that the soft brass cases don't have more problems then you guys have noted.

Darn, you scaring me to try stainless tumbling now!! I currently use Pet Smart walnut that's 1 year old, so it's very fine like now compared to new.. It works perfect.. Put some Maquires Wax or NuFinish in it and tumble away..

 

[waldo1979]

I wonder how much peening occurs during separation? I use a Giraud Triway for trimming after tumbling. This handles chamfer but dent seem to resolve neck group consistency issues.

 

[jlow]

I have a mesh waste basket that fits perfectly in a 5-gallon bucket.

I put on ear muffs and shake the brass for a minute or two.

The only occasion I had pins left is when I was cleaning bulk 9mm.

JLow I found a combination that works for me. 15lbs, 45mins. Some carbon left but brass is clean. No peening at all.

This is definitely not a good thing. If the cases banging against each other with the presence of the SS media cushion is conducive to peening. Shaking the brass in a 5-gallon bucket in the absence of the SS-media for a minute or two is not a good way to treat your precision brass. I would avoid doing this...

 

[jlow]

For whatever it's worth - I decided to put two stainless steel brakes into my STM tumbler to remove the carbon that builds up on the inside. Three interesting things were noted when the tumbling was finished.

1. The brakes were very clean and almost looked new again
2. The finish on the brakes changed a bit and no longer matched the barrels that they were on.
3. The threads on the brakes had changed enough, dimensional, that they could not be threaded back onto the rifle barrel !!

If tumbling in SS media can do this to a SS brake, I'm surprised that the soft brass cases don't have more problems then you guys have noted.

Sorry but I do not believe this is accurate. SS media tumbling is very very gentle treatment. Imagine a cleaning process that in 1 hour cannot remove all of the sharpie written on the surface of a case?

I have also in fact used it to clean other non-shooting stuff like sparkplugs and have never seen a problem like you described. What other chemicals did you put into the tumbler?

 

[Endyo]

Haha. That's probably true. The last batch came out with no peening. Shaking and all.

I've cleaned a suppressor in STM. I did the shell first because I didn't want to ruin the baffles which aren't replaceable.

It stripped the finish. The baffles never got tumbled wasn't worth the risk.

 

[918v]

I tumble all day or all night without peening. This gets all the carbon out of the case.
I do it for two reasons: 1. I like clean shiny cases, much like crows are attracted to shiny objects. 2. I do other stuff while I tumble... like sleep, work, play, etc.
The reason I don't get any peening is because I use the right ratio of pins to brass. That way the brass does not impact against itself hard. The pins cushion the blow. The right ratio seems to be 20 308 cases to 5lbs of pins. I once let the tumbler run for three days straight with no peening.

So use the right amount of pins.

For those who are laughing at me right now, I agree that one hour is sufficient to clean the brass enough for reloading. I don't know why I do what I do.

Oh, btw, I shake the water out of the cases. That way I don't get water spots on the inside.

As far as flaring of the case mouth when using bushing dies, yes that's what happens. Try a Lee collet neck die instead.

 

[918v]

For whatever it's worth - I decided to put two stainless steel brakes into my STM tumbler to remove the carbon that builds up on the inside. Three interesting things were noted when the tumbling was finished.

1. The brakes were very clean and almost looked new again
2. The finish on the brakes changed a bit and no longer matched the barrels that they were on.
3. The threads on the brakes had changed enough, dimensional, that they could not be threaded back onto the rifle barrel !!

If tumbling in SS media can do this to a SS brake, I'm surprised that the soft brass cases don't have more problems then you guys have noted.

The reason the color changed was prolly due to the citric acid in the water reacting with the steel.