Brass tumbler additives?

[Brice 2020]

What’s your go to additive for tumbling brass in a dry vibratory type tumbler? I’ve seen some use Lemishine, Brasso, and Nu Finish. Just wondering what works for others.

[mapper]

I use Lemishine in wet tumbler, nu finish in dry, used dryer sheet to help absorb dust in dry.

Here is a old thread with discussion
https://forum.capitalcitygunforum.com/threads/6340-Cleaning-media-for-your-brass

[BWest]

you can get a lot of brass pretty clean just by shaking it around in a container with Lemishine and dawn. Pretty amazing stuff.

[Clays]

you can get a lot of brass pretty clean just by shaking it around in a container with Lemishine and dawn. Pretty amazing stuff.

Yeah, then you just lick out the gunk from the primer pocket and you’re gtg. Tastes good too

[BWest]

quit shilling for your brand...

17968

[Countryboy27012]

What’s your go to additive for tumbling brass in a dry vibratory type tumbler? I’ve seen some use Lemishine, Brasso, and Nu Finish. Just wondering what works for others.

Haven't done the dry tumble thing. But I got the rock tumbler from harbor freight and some stainless-steel pins from amazon. Put the brass in with those with a few drops of dawn dish detergent for 3 to 4 hours... The water looks like mud when you pour it out and the brass is shines like it's new. Rinse with warm water and put in the oven for 150 until dry.

[FLT]

I’ve used all of the above , and gotten pretty good results with most of them. But for the first 10 years or so that I reloaded I didn’t bother with tumbling cases. They weren’t pretty but I don’t remember ever having a problem because of it.

[Floridawally]

I use crushed walnut with no additives in dry tumbler. I haven’t found the need for any additives. 2 hours in the tumbler and I have clean brass.

[AB]

I use the Dillon Precision tumbler additive. Works a ton better than media alone, and I do like me some bright, shiny cases. Of course, for that truly "like new" look, nothing beats wet tumbling with stainless steel pins.

[Mad Man]

The Hornady additive works good as well. On a side note horrible freight has 25 lbs of walnut media for $25. I haven’t used it yet because I just saw it the other day but that will be the next media I buy.

[AB]

I posted this photo a long time ago and there is a thread around it that I can't currently find. You're not going to accomplish this with dry tumbling.

17973

[Dale Gribble]

I posted this photo a long time ago and there is a thread around it that I can't currently find. You're not going to accomplish this with dry tumbling.

17973

The only thing I don't like is inspecting cases for pins still in them.

[AB]

Never had that issue. I run them under moving water in a squirrel cage while wet and then squirrel cage them again when they are dry. Finally I run a magnet over them.

[Dale Gribble]

Do you reload 223?

[Johnny]

I now use a Lyman ultra sonic cleaner,rinse them in water dry with a hair dryer then run them for about 20 minutes in dry corncob media.all the primer pockets are clean also.

[mapper]

Most of the time I'll admit to being lazy while tumbling. By that I mean putting the brass in the tumbler with walnut screwing the lid on it, turning it on and walking away. If the media is still sharp I'll come back sooner, if not I'll come back later.

Now if I wasn't as lazy, I'd déprime the brass and wet tumble with stainless pins, lemishine and dawn. I've done it before and it does a great job and cleans the primer pockets great.
Seperating the pins from the brass not a issue, with a separator with a top on it, I use it like a salad spinner.., the blue spinner worked good In Low gear with the bottom in the water as well. but it was the drying of the brass that caused me to abandon it. I put in towels, or hung up in mesh bags, but did not put in trays or a dehydrator.

But for rifle brass that's been de primed, yes its a better cleaning method.

But that said, I'll still used walnut tumbled brass with primers intact and brush out the primer pockets as part of brass prep as I'm handling brass anyway.



But everyone has their own methods that work for them, and that's a good thing.
I may revisit the swim team again for déprimed rifle brass.

[Floridawally]

I now use a Lyman ultra sonic cleaner,rinse them in water dry with a hair dryer then run them for about 20 minutes in dry corncob media.all the primer pockets are clean also.

Do the primer pockets come out pretty clean after ultrasonic? I’m with Mapper about not having to dry, but I also don’t like cleaning the primer pockets. I also wouldn’t want to dry tumble after ultra sonic. If they come out of the ultra sonic cleaner with pretty clean primer pockets, that may be the best way to go and just let them air dry for a few days.

[Dale Gribble]

Do the primer pockets come out pretty clean after ultrasonic? I’m with Mapper about not having to dry, but I also don’t like cleaning the primer pockets. I also wouldn’t want to dry tumble after ultra sonic. If they come out of the ultra sonic cleaner with pretty clean primer pockets, that may be the best way to go and just let them air dry for a few days.

I use a HF ultrasonic and it gets the brass and pockets clean. Not clean like thumbing with steel pins, but the dirt is gone, its just not super shiny brass. I use it for small batches of rifle stuff.

[mapper]

I'm lazy with pistol brass and don't clean primer pockets, I just run them through that little square deal..
Now rifle brass prep I'm a bit more particular I do clean primer pockets.

But the motorized brass prep tools have brushes for that and the brass is already in my hand anyways.
So chamfer deburr, brush neck, invert case and cut crimp and brush primer pocket is all one operation for me.

[Johnny]

I run my cleaned brass tru the corn cob media in a vibertory cleaner.looks like new brass

[AB]

Do you reload 223?

Nope. I’m not much of a rifle guy.

[FLT]

Nope. I’m not much of a rifle guy.

LOL ,Says the guy that can shoot the wings off a fly at a hundred yards with a pistol. Some us need all the help we can get just to hit the general area of the bullseye. ;):cool:

[Floridawally]

I use a HF ultrasonic and it gets the brass and pockets clean. Not clean like thumbing with steel pins, but the dirt is gone, its just not super shiny brass. I use it for small batches of rifle stuff.

That’s mostly what I reload. I’ve been thinking about trying a sonic. Small sonics are relatively inexpensive.

[mapper]

That’s mostly what I reload. I’ve been thinking about trying a sonic. Small sonics are relatively inexpensive.

OK, if you want to do a comparison between, dry media and brushing primer pockets out, and wet tumbling with pins, with primers removed, you can use a hf wet tumbler i have. I'd have to look to see if I have some lemishine, not certain. But I did use it when I was doing it.

I tried it before and it worked extremely well with the pins going through and cleaning the flash holes on small primer brass.

But, come up with a way to easily and effectively dry it. And normal runs what you would do in a dry tumbler.

That way the only difference would be when the brass is de capped and the handling time
It would be a interesting comparison. Timewise.

Looks to be decent modification to the hf tumbler, but I've not done it.
https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=98912.0

[Cattle/Horses]

And I thought reload was suspossed to be cheaper and quick. Reading al this, IDK.

[Dale Gribble]

The more brass you process at a time, the quicker it is, per unit.

[12bhunting]

Shit for a long time I never cleaned the brass. Deer didn't seem to care at all....

[mapper]

I've used that "since I have other components that use the same things, it will be cheaper" on my bride with success before to justify that 6 mongoose and 243..

"dear, but I have brass and bullets and the rest of the stuff to feed it, it's just another set of dies, really"

But like most everything else in reloading, you can solve the problem just by reaching in the wallet.

Hence the wallet friendly option..

[mapper]

Shit for a long time I never cleaned the brass. Deer didn't seem to care at all....


Dad never did when he was shooting bullseye, either.

[12bhunting]

But then I picked up a tumbler from Mike and a separator from you, now I like my cartridges all pretty and shit.....

[mapper]

While the pretty brass is nice, I won't deny it, I just want them clean before I run them through my dies, then chamber them.

[AB]

Sand and grit on the outside of a case can scratch the dies, and over the years that does matter. Also, when the brass is super shiny it is easier to see on the ground and distinguish it from all the not-shiny brass that isn't mine.

When I obtain new brass from wherever, I run it through the wet tumble once to get it super shiny and take all the discoloration off. After that, I just dry tumble it with the Dillon polishing stuff in corn cob media.

[Floridawally]

OK, if you want to do a comparison between, dry media and brushing primer pockets out, and wet tumbling with pins, with primers removed, you can use a hf wet tumbler i have. I'd have to look to see if I have some lemishine, not certain. But I did use it when I was doing it.

I tried it before and it worked extremely well with the pins going through and cleaning the flash holes on small primer brass.

But, come up with a way to easily and effectively dry it. And normal runs what you would do in a dry tumbler.

That way the only difference would be when the brass is de capped and the handling time
It would be a interesting comparison. Timewise.

Looks to be decent modification to the hf tumbler, but I've not done it.
https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=98912.0

I don’t want to deal with the pins. It is one thing to have walnut media in the flash hole, but I’ve read about bent and broken decapping rods with ss pins. With ultra sonic, just toss em in and pull em out.

[Dale Gribble]

I don’t want to deal with the pins. It is one thing to have walnut media in the flash hole, but I’ve read about bent and broken decapping rods with ss pins. With ultra sonic, just toss em in and pull em out.

I decap before I clean to avoid that. But yes, I sit every case upright and look with a flashlight to make sure no pins inside. It doesn't take long, even on 223.

[Floridawally]

I wonder what would happen if a pin got loaded by accident and the round was fired.

[AB]

I doubt much of anything.

[Brice 2020]

I like my brass shiny but I’m not going to use the wet tumbler because, to me, it’s more messy than dry. Dry is good enough for me. Sometimes I’ll manually hand polish brass or live Ammo because I like clean and shiny Ammo.

[AB]

I had (past tense) a purpose-built drying rack I used for mine. I have a 2'x2' frame built out of 1x4's with 1/4 inch wire mesh stretched across it. I would put the wet brass in that and slide it in the upper part of the rack and then slide a 2'x2' box fan in the lower rack so it would blow up through the wire mesh

Now I just put it on the wire mesh frame and wait a week. I have enough brass it doesn't slow me down to wait and I've never had any water left in it after a week in a hot garage.