Wet tumbler pros and cons

[Bottom Fodder]

How are you cleaning your brass now?

Dry tumble and no plan to change. I was just wondering why a lot of people were getting on wet band wagon and the pros and cons of it
thanks

 

[nettle]

I dry tumble. It's less expensive and less hassle. for me.

 

[Dfish1247]

The grungy stuff picked up gets washed with stainless chips, then dried in a convection oven. Who knows what nastiness lurks in there.

The brass I used gets wiped off, primer pocket scraped out, reloaded.

Cleaning has its place, after every shot ain’t it.

 

[bozo699]

Be cause it is being talked about in another post what the pros and cons between wet and dry tumbling

All cons no pros as far as I’m concerned!… I work hard to keep my carbon inside my necks.
Wayne

 

[bozo699]

Dry tumble and no plan to change. I was just wondering why a lot of people were getting on wet band wagon and the pros and cons of it
thanks

Because they like shiny brass I guess
Wayne

 

[jpjulian]

This topic has slowed down, way down, and I've got popcorn popping. Come on.....

 

[misser]

Because they like shiny brass I guess
Wayne

sucks getting them pins out of 223 brass . in fact the only brass i like for getting pins out of is 45-70

 

[kris bassett]

Wet is great for pistol brass, 556, and other bulk (free) range pickup type stuff. It turns the nastiest, corroded, dirt caked, brass sparkling clean, better than new. I only use it for that.

I use dry media on my precision loads. I like Shiny brass.

Same,Nothing cleans range brass like the wet tumbler. Some of that stuff is just nasty! I use my ultra sonic for my good brass.

 

[jpx2rk]

sucks getting them pins out of 223 brass . in fact the only brass i like for getting pins out of is 45-70

I use a FA wet media separator (might work on dry media as well) and have never found a SS pin in 223 or 20 caliber brass.

 

[DiffEQ]

Pro: super clean brass, necks and primer pockets.
Cons: a lot more work.

Edit: I only do it quarterly, but I have a lot of brass.
Technique is for another thread.

 

[markm87]

Many of the complaints from wet tumbling is because people haven't thought it through.

Bingo. Develop a process, and most of the problems, perceived or real, are outweighed by working with clean brass.

Now if I had a tidy set up where my fired brass went right back into the space in the ammo carrier where I grabbed it, and never hit the dirt, etc... I'd be fine with just wiping the necks... believe me.

But I shoot with an ADHD lunatic, and I end up with a bag of mixed brass every weekend. Crap fired out of suppressed gas guns, etc. Misc pick up brass with dirt inside from the elements, etc.

For me, bulk wet cleansing is best.

 

[RabbitSlayer]

I decap, anneal, FLS (no expander), mandrel, wet tumble with dawn and lemi shine no pins for 15 minutes just to remove wax, trim, clean pocket & chamfer, prime, load.

This retains the carbon in the neck and doesn't damage the case mouth since its going to get cleaned up. I trim every time, so it doesn't matter if it was to get peened. To reduce the chance of peening the case mouth I fill water all the way and if its a smaller batch I add pistol cases to take up the excess space. I'm not really trying to clean anything, just remove the lube. Clean cases is just a bonus. I don't mind waiting for it to dry since I do batches of 250 or 500. By the time I FLS that many i am done for the day.

Id probably switch to dry tumbling, but I already own the wet tumbler.

For really small batches I skip the tumbling and remove lube with alcohol in a Ziploc

 

[servant403]

I actually use my Thumblers tumbler with corn cob media in dry mode much or more than wet tumble with my steel pins or ceramic. I just don’t find it necessary to wet tumble that often. I do however like the clean primer pockets that wet tumbling produces.
I actually think wet tumbling process is very over thought. Especially the concoctions that people come up with. I get very shiny brass just using dawn. And sometimes a bit of lemon juice. Most of the cleaning is done mechanically with the pins IMO.

 

[ebb]

The work is removing pins, washing brass and pins, cleaning tumbler container, drying brass. I always get water spots on the side that sits down when drying.

 

[RabbitSlayer]

The work is removing pins, washing brass and pins, cleaning tumbler container, drying brass. I always get water spots on the side that sits down when drying.

Roll them around on a towel to prevent water spots. I just air dry.

 

[RED DIRT]

What are these stainless chips some of you speak of in here? Pictures?

 

[ballisticdaddy]

What are these stainless chips some of you speak of in here? Pictures?

You can find all kinds of different types of tumbling media on the interweb...

1/8" 3 Shape 304 Stainless Steel Tumbling Media

304 Stainless steel tumbling media is rust and corrosion resistant and able to stand up to strong compounds. Using a Stainless steel media is important to avoid rust and works great for wet tumbling. The abrasion resistance of Stainless steel media is 3-5 times greater compared to cast steel...

www.bcprecision.com

 

[kris bassett]

Fresh out of the hottub!

 

[misser]

Fresh out of the hottub!

ah ppc

 

[kris bassett]

Even shinier!