Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

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romer522
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Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by romer522 » 13 Feb 2012, 10:49

People can debate all they want whether or not it's worth running wet tumbling vs dry tumbling, but you can't argue with the results.

FWIW I can't imagine doing it any other way now, wet is a hassle, but I HATE the dust from standard media tumbling. At about 40 minutes of my time per 1,000 pieces of 9mm it's not terribly more time consuming than dry, and its a 100% clean process.

I'm pretty much running the standard recipe for it, with a bit more brass and a little less water, and I'm drying in a food dehydrator.

I've got some nastier looking 5.56 to run, but I'm going to finish my bucket of 9mm first.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by MrSlippyFist » 13 Feb 2012, 12:24

How much did you use and what size tumbler do you have?
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Zhurdan
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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by Zhurdan » 13 Feb 2012, 13:08

Can it be used in a dry media tumbler? (I have a Lyman Turbo 1200 Pro). It'd probably be more difficult due to the shape of the bowl, but it's able to hold water.)

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by MrSlippyFist » 13 Feb 2012, 13:12

Zhurdan wrote:Can it be used in a dry media tumbler? (I have a Lyman Turbo 1200 Pro). It'd probably be more difficult due to the shape of the bowl, but it's able to hold water.)

A stainless media website I found said no vibratory tumblers.
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romer522
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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by romer522 » 13 Feb 2012, 16:26

I've got the high-speed Thumlers Tumbler, if you get it lined up correctly it's also less annoying sounding than a vibratory tumbler. Slippy is right on the no vibratory, just doesn't work and I don't know if any of them are designed to run wet. When you dump the water out the first time and realize that all that crap is normally going into the air it makes you think a bit. I personally hated vibratory tumbling, it was fine if you were just processing what you shot that week, but if you ever wanted to do like 5K pieces of brass it became a pretty tough challenge to keep it from either caking on the brass or leaving a substantial residue unless you wanted to swap media every few batches.

I'm using

5lbs media
1Tbls Dawn Concentrate
1/2 tsp Lemishine (but I've got a bit more experimenting to do on this)
~300 pieces of 9mm at a time, been running 4+ hours but I may try a couple shorter runs too.
Water to within 1-1.5" of the top.

The "recipe" changes around a lot from site to site, some say a squirt or 2 of dish soap others say 2 tablespoons, some say 2 tablespoons lemishine others say 1/4 tsp.


To rinse them I use the following procedure.

1. Open the drum, dump as much water into sink as I can.
2. Remove rubber liner, rinse while shaking the rubber liner maybe 5 times with cold water.
3. Poor brass+media into RCBS media separator, close, rotate it ~30 times.
4. Pull the basket out of the separator, rinse it all in the sink with cold water for the final rinse.
5. Put the basket w/contents back into the separator, run ~10 rotations to knock the water out.
5. Open the media separator, wipe off the basket outside and inside, then throw 2 small dry rags in with the media, close back up and rotate for a while to dry off the outside of the cases.
6. Dump the brass into the circular tray for the dehydrator, put in dehydrator and dry for ~20 minutes at 150F+
7. Dump the media and remaining water from the separator back into the rubber liner, add another load of brass, soap/lemishine, put back in drum, add water, close up and repeat.

I don't worry about losing a few pieces of media down the drain, I've discovered that a chain of buckyball magnets retrieves it out of the trap wonderfully, just be careful with whatever else is down there you might pull up :p

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by f3rr37 » 13 Feb 2012, 18:57

Food dehydrator for drying brass... never thought about that before, good idea!

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by eddie » 14 Feb 2012, 04:09

which Thumlers Tumbler did you get?

thanks

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by jmz5 » 15 Feb 2012, 05:50

I'm getting sick of using corn media, but don't want to buy a new tumbler.
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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by romer522 » 15 Feb 2012, 07:53

I'm using the Thumlers Tumbler Model B, high speed.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by Cohiba » 08 Apr 2012, 05:29

I started using Lizard Litter a few years back. crushed walnut media at petco. About 1/5th the price of reloading media. I think $9 for 30 pounds.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by clics » 03 May 2013, 01:27

Is anyone doing this wet stainless steel process for cleaning 5.2x28 cases? Does it clean 'em without removing the lacquer?

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by Beecher Tool » 05 May 2013, 12:31

I am eagerly awaiting a conclusive answer on the use of stainless steel media for 5.7x28....however..after doing a bunch of reading I took the plunge and ordered a 40lb large capacity rotary tumbler package this afternoon. [The batch capacity of the device is 1200-1500 5.56x45 or 800-1000 7.62x51 cases at a time.] I have enough brass to warrant the device so I am going to proceed. There is a great website to learn about the produce[url] http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com//url" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;].

Once I have it in place and setup photos to follow.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by ddouglas » 05 May 2013, 13:48

I'm a little confused about the attraction of tumbling 5.7x28 brass. Early on in the life of this forum, the early adopters all said "don't tumble" because it erodes/removes the lacquer coating on the brass. I followed the then-recommended Simple Green cleaning methods and that works just fine, it seems to me. But the "tumbling" issue continues to raise it's head, like toadstools in a lawn. Why, or why, do you want to tumble your brass?

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by Rapier1772 » 05 May 2013, 14:14

Do not tumble for the reasons you mentioned but some people are set in what they want to do. Can't speak for everyone but I've gotten tired of rehashing the same subject. Like weeds & toadstools, certain subjects will always come back no matter what:
To tumble or not to tumble
To reload or not to reload
Save the brass or don't save the brass
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I'm just glad this thread was resurrected rather than making a new one on the same subject. It's a small victory but a victory nonetheless - I'll take it :laugh:

I didn't try it with full power loads but I did tumble off the lacquer when I tested some subsonic loads. It was the most failure to ejects I have ever had.
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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by fd57 » 05 May 2013, 14:26

Rapier1772 wrote: I'm just glad this thread was resurrected rather than making a new one on the same subject. It's a small victory but a victory nonetheless - I'll take it :laugh:
:agree:

There is (or was) a collection of 5.7 brass on GB that was tumbled in stainless media IIRC. Super shiny and bright - looks great! But without the lacquer, cycling will be an issue. The seller must have received more than one message because in their ad they put they know you're not supposed to tumble but they did so purposely, etc.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by grimmond » 05 May 2013, 14:46

I have tried a few without the lacquer and the were all FTE or partial FTE.
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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by panzermk2 » 06 May 2013, 08:13

Cases in the the 50 round PS90/P90 mags will gall against each other when they try to roll through the magazine also.
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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by ddouglas » 06 May 2013, 17:15

So what say you, Beecher Tool? You've got several long-time and knowledgeable members of this forum who say "don't tumble!" What interest do you think tumbling will serve? Do you think stainless steel tumbling will make a better mousetrap. I'm not trying to argue with you Beecher but, rather, to find out why--in light of so many "no" responses you are persisting in this, even to the point of buying a special tumbler? What goes on in your head that we are missing?

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by Beecher Tool » 06 May 2013, 18:38

I apologize for a rather harsh response yesterday....let me try again in a bit more thoughtful way. As a caliber 5.7x28 is mostly a curiosity for me...I was able to purchase a new FSN with adjustable night sights new for around $1K so I couldn't pass it up. I actively shoot CMP Service Rifle in 5.56, High Power in 7.62x51 and .338LM. I purchased from Ft. Leonard Wood surplus at an auction so I have 3 fifty five gallon drums full of once fired 7.62 and a drum full of 5.56....that is why I purchased a rotary with a 40lb capacity and 25lbs of steel media. At present, I don't own a PS90 or an AR 57 so the 50 round mag issue not of concern, though the logic makes complete sense.

Given the amounts of brass I have to deal with...I have two summer "interns" that are going to deprime and clean all of it. I may try some of the 5.7 with Simple Green and some with steel media. Its not that I am discounting anyone's advice...rather the equipment was purchased for the other calibers, and I am reluctant to have multiple set ups to accomplish the same task. I hope this clarifies and once again apologize for biting anyone's head off yesterday....lots going on.
Last edited by Beecher Tool on 07 May 2013, 13:37, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by ddouglas » 07 May 2013, 07:49

Fair enough. If you get any positive results, let us know.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by Beecher Tool » 10 May 2013, 08:42

Well.....a first experience with 5.7x28 FNH brass...deprimed, then put into a Branson Ultrasonic 1510...with a 1:10 dilution of Simple Green and a pinch of Lemonshine.....if you look at the cartridges there is a significant breakdown in the lacquer coating. So now the question becomes....use a much more aggressive media to clean them up completely, or just load them up. They are all going into an FSN so I am not so concerned about the galling issue. Here they are Image

The experiment continues.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by grimmond » 10 May 2013, 19:06

Does Lemonshine have citric acid in it? If it does it is probably what is causing the lacquer to do that.
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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by Beecher Tool » 10 May 2013, 19:37

Thanks for the thought....next batch gets tried without the Lemonshine....however that is clearly the key to getting shiny brass with the uncoated brass.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by fd57 » 10 May 2013, 20:32

How long were they left in the Simple Green solution?

In some experiences more than 10 minutes in Simple Green (especially the concentrated version) has caused the lacquer to peel.

If not the concentrated version of SG and not left in it more than 10 minutes then look to the Lemonshine.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by Beecher Tool » 11 May 2013, 04:42

If you go back to my post the Simple Green was diluted 10:1..they were left in for an hour with the solution heated and the ultrasonic cleaner on...ten minutes in the solution hardly does anything....I am thinking that the Lemonshine is the more likely culprit.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by fd57 » 11 May 2013, 05:09

Yeah saw it was 1 part SG and 10 parts H2O, but 1 part concentrated SG is different than 1 part regular SG.

Concentrated SG:
http://www.simplegreen.com/products_all ... leaner.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Non-concentrated SG:
http://www.simplegreen.com/products_all_purpose_rtu.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The chemical makeup of the non-concentrate is much less irritating and in the case of lacquer, much less likely to cause it to peel. Hence why the question of which version of SG did you use. Some folks are unaware of the concentrate vs. non-concentrate.


As you've got the ingredients you can perform a simple test with everything - one test same as before but minus the Lemonshine and the second test with Lemonshine but much less time.


Here we use non-concentrate SG one part to ten parts H2O and we simply drop 100 cases in the mixture, gently agitate by hand, then rinse before air drying. For us this more than cleans the cases.

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Re: Stainless steel tumbling is the real deal

Post by Beecher Tool » 11 May 2013, 09:11

I was using the concentrate, and an hour in the ultrasonic cleaner...thanks for the update I will try it...I will be amazed...when I clean 7.62 once fired brass I have been using walnut shell media with a shot of Hornady One Shot Polish for about 90 minutes with 250 cases in the tumbler.....will see what happens....now it will matter since an AR 57 upper came home this morning.

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