SS Tumbling Media

[no4mk1t]

This is about a method to tumble clean cartridge cases and have them come out looking like new inside and out in 3-4 hours time. The only caveat is that you must use a rotary tumbler. This will not work in a vibratory machine.

I've been using this method for 6 months and have cleaned about 10K cases so far. Like everything else, there are pluses and minuses, but in this case, the pluses win out.

Pros:
Cleans squeaky clean inside and out.
Even worst case scenario brown brass can be cleaned.
Only takes 3-4 hours.
Media does not wear out. Buy once, use from now on.
Non toxic cleaning agents used.
Cleaning ageants are inexpensive. Wal-Mart has them.
Process is wet. No dust.
If de-primed first, primer pockets clean up like new. No more manual cleaning.
An affordable homemade tumbler can be constructed that will clean 1K 308, or 1500 223 cases at a time.

Cons:
Cannot use a vibratory machine.
Cases must be rinsed thoroughly and dried.

Basic Overview.

A Thumbler's Model B is probably the most often encountered type of rotary tumbler. They work fine, but have a weight limitation of 15lbs. that limits the amount of brass that can be tumbled at one time to 2lbs. (One gallon of water+5lbs. of SS media+2lbs. of brass.) The drum will hold much more, the limitation is the small electric motor on the Model B. This can be overcome with a homemade or commercial tumbler of greater capacity. More about this a little later.

Here's what goes in the drum with the brass.
The ratio per gallon of water capacity of your drum is:

5lbs. SS media.
1 Tablespoon Dawn or similar dishwashing liquid.
1/4 teaspoon of Lemi-Shine. (A 40 S&W case mounted on a wire works great.)


If you have a health food store nearby, granulated Citric Acid is essentially the same as Lemi-Shine if you clean enough cases to warrant a 5lb. jug.


I had this 5 gal bucket of 308 cases that a bud gave me several years ago. Came off the ranges at Ft. Jackson. Because they were so dirty, I set them aside and never did anything with them. I thought these would be a good test for the SS pins.


At the 1.5 hour mark, I changed out the dirty water and this is what they looked like. Some dirty ones for comparrison.


When finished.


Even inside is clean.


While sorting thru the 5 gal bucket weeding out blanks and crushed cases, I found these. I almost tossed them in the trash, but said, I wonder.......


After. Not 100% clean, but another pass thru the process cleaned them up the rest of the way.



The headstamps of SL57 and LC 6 indicate St. Louis arsenal 1957, and Lake City 1946. These cases have probably been laying out on the range since the 50's-60's.


I got the Model B drum for free from a friend when the motor burned out and he decided not to fix it. The rest was built to originally use a 5 gal bucket as a drum for tumbling. That didn't pan out, so I've used it this ways for over 20 years.


Once I got the pin thing working good, I decided to make a larger drum. The motor pictured above is 1/3h.p. so turning a bigger drum was no obstacle. Got a piece of 8" PVC drain pipe and fittings. By gluing in a couple of pieces of 1" PVC angle, agitator paddles were made.



Finished drum is 3.5 gal. capacity.


When loaded with brass and water, it weighs 70lbs. Holds 1000 308 cases.


After cleaning, I pour off as much of the dirty water as possible. Then dump into a 5gal. bucket and rinse. Everyone thinks getting the pins out of the cases will be tedious. Actually, it's very simple. Dump the cases into a rotary media separator and rotate under water. The pins are carried out by the water and sink to the bottom of the tub. The pins are made magnetic during manufacture and are retrieved with an $8 release magnet.



The cases can be dried in several ways from simply laying out in the sun, to the hammock method using an old towel, or if you have a outside A/C unit.......


Happiness is having clean brass. Some of the brass left from my rifle team days. Finally got it all ready to load.


A couple of things to do for best results.
The pins are drawn wire that is cut to length. There is a manufacturing residue on the pins that needs be be cleaned off before use. Simply run the pins with the Dawn, but without brass for an hour or so.

As received the pins are a dull silver color. After 4-5 uses, they will be brightly polished and clean noticeably better. Do not be discouraged with the results at first. You could also let then run overnight to equal 4-5 batches of brass if you have a safe place outside to let the tumbler run unattended.

Where to buy:

There are at least two other sources for these pins. Both of them get them from this manufacturer. Ask for Pellet Pins for cleaning cartridge brass.

Pellet Pins 304SS .041 X .265
$35 per 5lbs. incl. USPS flat rate shipping
$65 10lbs.

Pellets LLC
63 Industrial Drive
North Tonawanda, NY 14120
P:716-693-1750
F:716-693-1880
C:716-471-5855
1-800-336-6017

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