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Where To Get Stainless Steel Media

I was reading on another site about tumbling with stainless steel media and I would like to try it. The sources I was able to find had a minimum buy of 55 lbs. @ 5 bucks a pound.

Does anyone know a source where I can get 5lbs.?
 
If you are shooting guns with match chambers you may want to proceed with the SS media very carefully. I cleaned up about 1,000 308 Win cases and fired probablyy 300 in an AR and all worked well. So I used the same method on my competition brass 6.5 x 55 AI and 6 mm BR.

The comp brass would not chamber in the comp guns, I found the media had peened over the mouth of the case enough that there was not enough clearance to chamber the round. I had to turn all 600 cases to get them back to where the brass would chamber.

The stuff does clean every bit of carbon off the brass as stated and it is not much work . but beware if you have tighter than SAAMI chambers.

wade
 
I don't know if this will help, but a company called Buffalo Arms markets a ceramic media that won't hurt your cases. It's cylindrical with slash cut ends. I use it on large straight wall cases 45-70 and up. The actual diameter is less than a large rifle primer. It can be a bit of a pain on smaller bottle neck cases, but it cleans the inside very well.

45bpcr
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,5179.html
 
If by "other site" you mean Sniper's Hide, PM or email a user there by the name "suasponte." He hooked me up with his buddy who was selling it. Great guy, came on time and good price. Just got a Thumlers B high-speed from Buffalo Arms... will try it soon... surprisingly enough, all the brass I use is currently clean and primed and/or loaded :o
 
In reference to stainlessteeltumblingmedia.com websites advertising hype: Stainless steel media to clean cases because carbon build-up inside cases will reduce case capacity?..............yeah by 0.001 cc? Let's get real folks.
Jackie Schmidt just shot a 0.1118 record agg (100 yds- 5 groups of 5 shots)......using brass that was reloaded 30 X....how did he have room for powder with all that carbon build-up in his cases?
This is basically shot peening the brass, why would you want to introduce more work hardening to the brass?
Sparkling clean cases,eiher inside or out offer NO contribution to winning matches.
 
Shot peening requires impact to leave some residual compressive stress on the part surface. It is used in aerospace for highly loaded parts. It is also used on connecting rods. It improves fatigue strength.
 
ccg said:
Shot peening requires impact to leave some residual compressive stress on the part surface. It is used in aerospace for highly loaded parts. It is also used on connecting rods. It improves fatigue strength.


We're talking brass here. Brass is HARDENED by "working" it, i.e. bending,shaping, HAMMERING. If, as some posters have said, the brass must be resized and/ or necks dented, it is being work hardened. I coat bullets with Danzac in a tumbler with stainless steel balls ....and I would call the process shot-peening....the interaction between the balls and bullets is aggressive.
If one wants shiney brass , that's fine.....but what's stainless steel media got over traditional media?
 
Mediatest2.jpg

Example of Walnut w/dillon polish vs. SS Media with lemi-shine after 3.5hrs
 
Brass is not work harden by using SS media, I checked with a Rockwell hardness tester, and I have spent a fair amount of time flat peening Boeing aircraft stuff, its not a fast process. The process is simply water, SS Media, and soap rotating in a rotary tumbler, 200 pieces of 260 brass, 5 lbs of media, a squirt of Dawn, and 1 9mm case of Lemishine, put all that in a Model B HS and fill with hot water 1 inch from the top, put the lid on and in 2.5-3 hours the brass is completely clean, right now I use the sun to dry out the brass, its really that easy. I understand that our brass really does'nt need this level of clean, but it's not work hardening the brass.
 
Cory Dickerson of Utah sells the stainless tumbing media through:

http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com

Cory is a long time forum member who has developed this system after trying dry media (walnut, corn etc.) and ultrasonic cleaning. He has weighed cases that started clean (new from box) and after 100 tumbling sessions there was no appreciable brass loss.
 
Try www.PELLETSLLC.COM and talk to Kathy (1-800-336-6017). You can get 5 pounds of .265x.040 Stainless wire shot as they call it for less than $25 SHIPPED

I have also ordered stainless steel shot from Rio Grande supply company.

http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/SearchPage.aspx?page=GRID&category|category_root|118=Finishing+Equipment+and+Supplies&category|cat_118|292=Tumbling&category|cat_292|1068=Burnishing+Media&category|cat_1068|2598=Stainless+Steel

Good luck,
Rich
 
I have the NECO molly kit that I don't use much any more. Could I clean my tumbling media (Hardend SS shot) and use it in the RCBS rotory tumbler I use to molly bullets with. I have a 3rd drum that I use to clean my brass with. I have my Moly and wax drum perfectly seasoned, so I won't use them.
 
I'll bet those little peices of stainless will do a worse number on the diposal unit than the ceramic stuff I use for my big straight wall cases.
SWMBO watched the vid with not a smile on her face. :-)

45Bbcr
 
Does it have to be tumbled? Can a vibratory unit be used? Does the bowl / drum have to be metal? Cut wire sounds unfriendly to plastic.
 
The where has been covered. I have an old tumbler I stopped using because it just didn't clean the primer pockets and was a mess. I ordered the ss media last week. It came in. No Lemi shine yet, but, with a healthy squirt of AJAX lemon dishwasher soap, the media, and 50 .223 (ar fired) deprimed rounds (ugly, multi fired no previous cleaning). At 2 hours looked really good but still some crud in the primer pockets. At 4 hours primer pockets clean, inside case clean (white swab showed no black). This media works. I will have to wait and see what new problems arise from SS vs Brass in a longer term, but, I have to say that for me, this is worth the 50 bucks plus shipping. (I hate cleaning primer pockets) rc
 

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