Lyman Wet Tumbler Leak Solution

[Bruce_in_Oz]

I used to lay a towel on top of our old electric hot-water heater, which was quite large and stood in its own alcove in my workshop.

When it started generously leaking onto the floor, we replaced it with an "outside-rated" one of more modest dimensions, so it is back to sun-drying on old towels spread out on the lawn.

Those Lyman pins are a great polishing aid, but they are expensive and get into odd places in the brass, (not so much with 9mm cases).

I bought one of those hand-cranked rotary media separators (the cheap blue one) to do a primary separation and "slow spin-dry". This gets most of the pins and water out. The next step is to use a fairly powerful old magnet from an expired loudspeaker driver to sweep up the ones among the dried cases on the towel.

[browningautorifle]

Those Lyman pins are a great polishing aid, but they are expensive

They're $85CDN for a 5LB bag here. I took the best care of them.

I bought one of those hand-cranked rotary media separators

That's what I got too, they're designed for use with the pins.

a fairly powerful old magnet

I had a handle magnet to go with, it worked better than my eyes to find the pins.

[usabaker]

I'm still on the fence about wet tumbling. I don't know if the x3 extra effort to make the cartridges pretty worth it. I get paranoid that pins might unknowingly be inside the cartridge case and find myself checking them during each process of reloading. I always decap my casings first, so even when I dry tumble in my Lyman vibratory the primer pockets get clean enough where it does not effect anything, not that not cleaning them changes anything either,

[browningautorifle]

when I dry tumble in my Lyman vibratory the primer pockets get clean enough

It's not that they get clean enough, your cases are like new brass after wet tumbling. Yes, more effort but no comparison. I did dry tumbling for 40 years and swore I didn't need wet tumbling but once I tried wet I found the dry had been a waste of time. My Dillon press stayed clean while loading. I didn't have any pins get past the drying phase.

[ssgross]

It's not that they get clean enough, your cases are like new brass after wet tumbling. Yes, more effort but no comparison.

I think the biggest advantage is how much easier it is to inspect cases for signs of over stretching, and it's easier to see when they are annealed properly. New 30-06 brass has been very hard to come by these last few years, and so I've been tuning my process and shooting to make what I have last a bit longer. I'm on my 12th reload of the current lot. Each case needs carefully inspected at this point, and bright shiny from wet tumbling makes any flaws easier to spot. The first sign 30-06 brass needs to be tossed is a ring 1/3 down the case, clearly visible with just a glance inside the case after wet tumbling. Annealing after each firing and using lower(ish) pressure loads when you can will double the life of 30-06. Just my 2 cents.

[RAM1ALASKA]

Well folks, I may be a little late to the party but better late than never. I solved my leaking gasket problem by just slobbering up the gaskets with dawn dish soap when I'm at the sink loading with water etc.
A pinch of lemeshine, a blurb of Dawn dish soap and fill with hot water.
Tumble for an hour or so and then check. Don't want to get too carried away with the wet tumbling or they start to look frosted or maybe take on a satin look......
I keep an eye on them and when I'm happy the next step is dump dirty water into a bucket, and then move along to an old Dillon hand crank media separator,(garage sale $20), Full of water and tumble for a bit,
Next is into an old colander for a vigorous shake while blowing with compressed air.
Then onto a cookie sheet with paper towels,
And since my reloading is done in the winter time, I just slide the cookie sheet under the woodstove overnight and retrieve the next day.
Since I have well water, I usually end up with some spotting, so it's off to the dry media tumble for a bit and they come out looking like new.

I also read somewhere along the way, if you have one of the pick up magnets that's made especially for retrieving the stainless pins,
Best off not to submerge in the water,, as they trap water inside and then rust from the inside out.
Hope this helps !
Edit: may seem like a long process but it's something I enjoy, and I am in no hurry!

[browningautorifle]

Don't want to get too carried away with the wet tumbling or they start to look frosted or maybe take on a satin look......

I did mine for three hours without fail, and they never came out frosted. They always had a perfect shine like factory unless I added too much dawn or lemme shine. Then they would come out perfect and turn butter color as they dried.

[ssgross]

Don't want to get too carried away with the wet tumbling or they start to look frosted or maybe take on a satin look

Too much lemishine (or equivalent polish substance) will make them look dull and cause green spots. I also found that that if I store them after they are dry, I get some tarnish spot. Now if I know I won't get to them for a few days or more, I just go ahead and lube them right out of the dryer. I did start annealing this year too, so they get dried twice, once after tumbling and again after they drop from the annealer into a bucket of water.

[RAM1ALASKA]

Browingautorifle said :
I did mine for three hours without fail, and they never came out frosted. They always had a perfect shine like factory unless I added too much dawn or lemme shine. Then they would come out perfect and turn butter color as they dried.
************************************************** **
absolutely on the three hours, I don't remember but I have a sneaky suspicion I probably way over did the tumble
and the additives and I agree on too much of the additives is definitely a recipe for problems.
At any rate, the satisfaction of seeing a batch turn out "just right" puts a smile on my face !

[browningautorifle]

too much of the additives is definitely a recipe for problems.

I also wonder about content of the tumbler? I found a tall margarine tub full of brass, no matter what caliber was all I could put in reliably. Any more was too much. I had the big tumbler... I had problems to start and had to read every forum I could to glean the small detail answers and sort out my problems. Good thing I have the time to do the research.