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Wet Tumbling vs Dry media

Loudcherokee

Hey guys,

I'm kicking around the idea of getting into wet tumbling with stainless steel pins. Been watching some videos and love the looks of the brass when it comes out. I've tumbled with corn cob media as well as walnut. I primarily use walnut for my .223 because it doesnt get stuck in the cases like the corn cob does. I've never had results like I've seen with wet tumbling, no matter how much polish I add or how long I tumble the brass.

What I'm wondering, is if I do go to wet tumbling, is there any reason to keep my dry tumbling equipment? I have a vibratory tumbler with a RCBS rotary sifter. I would be looking to purchase a new wet tumbler, and a new sifter, as well as a case dryer.

LC
 
Loudcherokee said:
Hey guys,

I'm kicking around the idea of getting into wet tumbling with stainless steel pins. Been watching some videos and love the looks of the brass when it comes out. I've tumbled with corn cob media as well as walnut. I primarily use walnut for my .223 because it doesnt get stuck in the cases like the corn cob does. I've never had results like I've seen with wet tumbling, no matter how much polish I add or how long I tumble the brass.

What I'm wondering, is if I do go to wet tumbling, is there any reason to keep my dry tumbling equipment? I have a vibratory tumbler with a RCBS rotary sifter. I would be looking to purchase a new wet tumbler, and a new sifter, as well as a case dryer.

LC
Click to expand...
Definitely keep your vibratory Tumblr and dry media after I clean and dry my cases they go in vibratory Tumblr with walnut hull and a little bit of white diamond metal polish to polish them and preserve the metal when they come out of wet tumbling it is clean Raw brass and can tarnish and leave fingerprints after some polishing it makes him look even better and solves that problem
 
I have been wet tumbling for a couple of years now. I use a thumblers tumbler. Baught it on amazon. I use filtered water from my bench sink with a small amount of lemi shine and dawn. A little goes a long way. You can use too much soap, so go easy. I tumble 100 pieces at a time for about 45 minutes with about 8-9 pounds of pins. I found that using more pins reduced the peening on the case mouths. After the first cycle i drain the water and replace with fresh water then tumble for about 5 minutes for a rinse cycle. After the rinse i separate the pins and cases with the Frankford arsenal model. Then i put the brass in a towel and dry using the ball washing method followed by drying the inside of the case and primer pocket with compressed air. All told, about an hour of time per 100 cases.
 
I went to a wet tumbler when my dry tumbler crapped out, it was a Thumlers that I had for around 40 years (only one more payment). I really like the look of the brass after being done with the wet system over the dry. According to some the wet tumbling eliminates the carbon in the inside neck (and it does) this will probably give erratic bullet pull because of the carbon lubrication in the neck being eliminated. I don't know if any of my guns are accurate enough or my ability to pull the trigger to verify this or not, but people with better equipment any maybe shooting prowess claim it does, until I know differently I will believe them.
As for the sifter I use the same media separator that I used for dry tumbling. For a case dryer in the summer I use sunlight with the brass spread on a towel, during the inclement weather months I use the same towel placed over the floor registers and use the forced air heat to dry it out. When tumbling the brass I use a gallon of water, a squirt of Dawn dish soap and a generous sprinkle of Lemi-Shine (I have really hard water) tumble for 2-3 hours, separate the media from the brass and give thorough rinse in very warm water. Dump the brass on the aforementioned towel, rock/shake the brass back and forth on the towel to get the beaded water off the of the brass and place where it will dry. One thing you'll need is a release magnet to pick up pins that WILL land in places you don't want them to be.
 
I'm thinking of either going with the Hornady wet tumbler, at $199 or the Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler at $159. Both seem to get pretty good reviews, but the hornady seems to be quieter and doesnt have issues with leaking, which I keep coming across with the Frankford, especially the lite version.

LC
 
Loudcherokee said:
I'm thinking of either going with the Hornady wet tumbler, at $199 or the Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler at $159. Both seem to get pretty good reviews, but the hornady seems to be quieter and doesnt have issues with leaking, which I keep coming across with the Frankford, especially the lite version.

LC
Click to expand...
I don’t have the light I have the bigger one and I found if you just undo the lid and retighten it it has something to do with the rubber gasket being dry it must wrinkle once it’s wet and you Loosen and retighten everything is fine
 
Loudcherokee said:
I'm thinking of either going with the Hornady wet tumbler, at $199 or the Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler at $159. Both seem to get pretty good reviews, but the hornady seems to be quieter and doesnt have issues with leaking, which I keep coming across with the Frankford, especially the lite version.

LC
Click to expand...
Have the lite, Never had a problem. The only issue with the lite if there is to much weight in it, the wheels cannot turn it. Some stick or grip tape on the motor wheel would probably help it along
 
I got set up to wet clean with SS pins and a Thumler's tumbler 15 years ago. Nothing cleans brass like SS pins and a wet tumbler. You can take the worst looking range brass that's been laying around outside for years and make it look new, it really does work that well. But, to be honest, I don't ever use range brass and my brass never gets that dirty and I can't even remember the last time I used my SS setup to clean brass. I generally just put a little lighter fluid or mineral spirits on a towel and wipe my brass off before and after I size it.

If you do go with a wet tumbler setup, I recommend dipping the necks in dry graphite before you dump powder in them, it'll help with bullet release.
 
B23 said:
I got set up to wet clean with SS pins and a Thumler's tumbler 15 years ago. Nothing cleans brass like SS pins and a wet tumbler. You can take the worst looking range brass that's been laying around outside for years and make it look new, it really does work that well. But, to be honest, I don't ever use range brass and my brass never gets that dirty and I can't even remember the last time I used my SS setup to clean brass. I generally just put a little lighter fluid or mineral spirits on a towel and wipe my brass off before and after I size it.

If you do go with a wet tumbler setup, I recommend dipping the necks in dry graphite before you dump powder in them, it'll help with bullet release.
Click to expand...

Is the redding imperial neck lube with application media considered graphite? Is that a good way to go? I'm a Hornady One-Shot user and that's the only way I've ever lubed cases for resizing.

LC
 
Loudcherokee said:
Is the redding imperial neck lube with application media considered graphite? Is that a good way to go? I'm a Hornady One-Shot user and that's the only way I've ever lubed cases for resizing.

LC
Click to expand...
Yes it is graphite and it definitely helps one shot in the neck’s of the cases should work to that’s what I use for sizing but I also Molly my bullets so I have not use the graphite in some time CE8308B1-9202-42BB-A651-C961C39F65BF.jpeg
 
When I got my wet tumbler the dry vibratory tumbler just got converted to powder coating for LEaD bullets
 
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