First 45acp brass through Stainless Steel Media

[BullzeyeNJ 104]

Just did my first batch of 45acp this morning. Turned out fantastic. Only the second time I used this SS media tumbling method. I have been doing the ultrasonic b/c of its speed of getting the brass clean Vs SS media but some things are worth the wait...

 

 

[zoid 24]

Wow, I love clean brass. Mines starting to come out kind of nasty. I think my media is getting old (about over a year

of use and 6-8k casings).

 

I've never seen stainless steel media, where do you get that?

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Just did my first batch of 45acp this morning. Turned out fantastic. Only the second time I used this SS media tumbling method. I have been doing the ultrasonic b/c of its speed of getting the brass clean Vs SS media but some things are worth the wait...

 

 

 

Looking good, probably cleaner then when it was new..

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Wow, I love clean brass. Mines starting to come out kind of nasty. I think my media is getting old (about over a year

of use and 6-8k casings).

 

I've never seen stainless steel media, where do you get that?

 

Here is the web site: STM

 

I get the same results with the the equipment and media from the website, the stuff above was done with a home made setup. Results will be the same either way. I am sold on STM even though I only do 400 of .40 brass a load, and I also remove the primers prior to tumbling, it an extra step but I think it's worth it, well to me, and heck this is a hobby in a hobby anyway.

[matt6669 71]

That is just a beautiful sight I must say so myself.

 

I'll never ever go back to dry tumbling after using the SS method. Though I may attempt to make a bigger one like he has done and possibly sell my thumblers but I don't know yet.

 

Lots of things on my to-do list but I never get anything done.

[zoid 24]

Here is the web site: STM

 

I get the same results with the the equipment and media from the website, the stuff above was done with a home made setup. Results will be the same either way. I am sold on STM even though I only do 400 of .40 brass a load, and I also remove the primers prior to tumbling, it an extra step but I think it's worth it, well to me, and heck this is a hobby in a hobby anyway.

 

Thanks.

 

What's the benefit of removing the primers first?

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Thanks.

 

What's the benefit of removing the primers first?

 

Clean primer pockets and the brass will completely dry a lot faster.

[PeteF 1,044]

Just did my first batch of 45acp this morning. Turned out fantastic. Only the second time I used this SS media tumbling method. I have been doing the ultrasonic b/c of its speed of getting the brass clean Vs SS media but some things are worth the wait...

 

 

 

Looks good. How did you dry them?

[BullzeyeNJ 104]

After rinsing the nasty carbon water off them and separating the brass from the stainless steel media pins I put the brass on that green beach towel you see in the photo. The brass lays in the center of the towel then I take the corners of the towel and make it into one big sack. Once secure in my hands, I start shaking the sack for about 30 seconds. This is a crude but effective way of getting alot of the water off the brass. Then I let air dry for 24 hours.

 

I have heard of guys using a 90% alchohol bath to rinse them in. This dries them out almost immediately. Have not tried that yet.

 

 

Looks good. How did you dry them?

[hd2000fxdl 422]

I have heard of guys using a 90% alchohol bath to rinse them in. This dries them out almost immediately. Have not tried that yet.

 

 

Thats would work, but the way I am doing it is clean brass in big lots and wait till I have a lot to clean before I clean again so I am not worried about drying time, the only thing I was worried about it spotting like some mention you can get and was thinking about keeping a bucket of distilled water and do a final rinse in that and let them dry. So far I have abandoned that idea being the water in my house is pretty good and not spotting the brass.

[BullzeyeNJ 104]

The 45acp brass I cleaned in the SS media from the picture was reloaded and the ammo was used this past Friday. I was using Vita Vouri N320 which is an very clean powder. I would have to say that 1/2 my cases still looked spotless on the outside after shooting the rounds. I culled those out and threw them into my Dillon RL1050 and proceeded to reload them again. No brass prep whatsoever. Worked like a charm. Thats pretty neat that I can get away with not cleaning some of the brass since the SS media does such a pristine job at making them spotless.

[hd2000fxdl 422]

The 45acp brass I cleaned in the SS media from the picture was reloaded and the ammo was used this past Friday. I was using Vita Vouri N320 which is an very clean powder. I would have to say that 1/2 my cases still looked spotless on the outside after shooting the rounds. I culled those out and threw them into my Dillon RL1050 and proceeded to reload them again. No brass prep whatsoever. Worked like a charm. Thats pretty neat that I can get away with not cleaning some of the brass since the SS media does such a pristine job at making them spotless.

 

Very nice to know, I'll be loading up some .40 S&W with VV N320 also, what PF are you loading to?

[PeteF 1,044]

Thats pretty neat that I can get away with not cleaning some of the brass since the SS media does such a pristine job at making them spotless.

 

Be careful doing this. Unless you are catching brass before it hits the ground, the brass will pick up pieces of what it lands on (sand,dirt, concrete, silica, etc). Cleaning the brass, even if it looks clean, removes these particles so they won't damage your dies/brass.

[BullzeyeNJ 104]

Hi Harry,

 

I dont know the PF since I havent chronoed the load yet. If I use Hornady 230g HAP bullets heads loaded to 1.230 OAL and 4.9g of VV N320 it makes for a nice smooth recoil that is very accurate on the paper.

 

VV320 used to be my pet load when I shot IPSC in limited division. I believe I used 5.0g VV320 and a 180g Montana Gold JHP head loaded long. That was a great load that made major.

 

Very nice to know, I'll be loading up some .40 S&W with VV N320 also, what PF are you loading to?

[BullzeyeNJ 104]

I hear you Pete. The cases I did not re-clean felt really slick with no signs of debris visible or felt.

 

Be careful doing this. Unless you are catching brass before it hits the ground, the brass will pick up pieces of what it lands on (sand,dirt, concrete, silica, etc). Cleaning the brass, even if it looks clean, removes these particles so they won't damage your dies/brass.