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On 4/28/2020 at 11:31 AM, Heavyopp said:

Wondering if “dry gas” at the auto store would work as the alcohol element in the mix?

would be easier to find right now

Yes I use the RED bottle of iso heet ITS 98.5% isopropyl here’s a spec sheet  on it

https://www.imperialsupplies.com/sds-pdf/_s/ds/0055120_SDS.pdf

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Is there any significant advantage to wet cleaning brass over the standard dry method? I dry tumble my brass in corn cob or walnut with a little bit of nu finish car polish for 4 hours. The brass comes out very clean. My whole purpose to to clean the brass so the dirt won't screw up the dies. The whole process of having to dry the brass after wet cleaning seems like a lot of unnecessary ass-pain. 

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6 minutes ago, JC_68Westy said:

Is there any significant advantage to wet cleaning brass over the standard dry method? I dry tumble my brass in corn cob or walnut with a little bit of nu finish car polish for 4 hours. The brass comes out very clean. My whole purpose to to clean the brass so the dirt won't screw up the dies. The whole process of having to dry the brass after wet cleaning seems like a lot of unnecessary ass-pain. 

Wet cleaning makes the brass a lot cleaner and shinier, and if you do the extra step of depriming first, it cleans the primer pockets nicely.  So there is a case to be made that it's a superior process.

That said, I can't be bothered with all the time and effort.  I sold my wet tumbler years ago and never looked back.  Dry tumbling with a little case polish (and a used drier sheet to trap the dust) cleans the cases up just fine for my purposes, it's faster, and I can reload as soon as the cases come out of the tumbler.   And all the residual lead eventually goes into a landfill instead of down the sink.

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21 minutes ago, 10X said:

Wet cleaning makes the brass a lot cleaner and shinier, and if you do the extra step of depriming first, it cleans the primer pockets nicely.  So there is a case to be made that it's a superior process.

That said, I can't be bothered with all the time and effort.  I sold my wet tumbler years ago and never looked back.  Dry tumbling with a little case polish (and a used drier sheet to trap the dust) cleans the cases up just fine for my purposes, it's faster, and I can reload as soon as the cases come out of the tumbler.   And all the residual lead eventually goes into a landfill instead of down the sink.

Thanks, that is exactly what I was thinking. I reload way too much to add steps like depriming prior to cleaning and drying.

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I'm giving wet tumbling a try for two main reasons. One, I wanted to get away from cleaning primer pockets by hand one at a time. Two, the brass was still dirty after cleaning with dry media in a vibratory cleaner. I was using dryer sheets, had not tried other additives. When I say dirty, I mean my hands would be dirty from handling them. I could wear gloves, which I hate, but even then, I believe the dirty brass would impact my dies, magazines and firearms.

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to clean twice, once before de-driming to keep dies clean or just once and run the dirty brass through the de-prime/sizing die.

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22 minutes ago, kc17 said:

I'm giving wet tumbling a try for two main reasons. One, I wanted to get away from cleaning primer pockets by hand one at a time. Two, the brass was still dirty after cleaning with dry media in a vibratory cleaner. I was using dryer sheets, had not tried other additives. When I say dirty, I mean my hands would be dirty from handling them. I could wear gloves, which I hate, but even then, I believe the dirty brass would impact my dies, magazines and firearms.

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to clean twice, once before de-driming to keep dies clean or just once and run the dirty brass through the de-prime/sizing die.

I only clean primer pockets when single stage loading. Dirty primer pockets don't seem to bother my bulk reloads.

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2 hours ago, JC_68Westy said:

Is there any significant advantage to wet cleaning brass over the standard dry method? I dry tumble my brass in corn cob or walnut with a little bit of nu finish car polish for 4 hours. The brass comes out very clean. My whole purpose to to clean the brass so the dirt won't screw up the dies. The whole process of having to dry the brass after wet cleaning seems like a lot of unnecessary ass-pain. 

Not at all....  the problem with dry media...for me was the associated dust...  wet doesn't have that issue.

 

Winter time i let em dry by the woodstove...summer out on the deck in the sun..easy peasy

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1 hour ago, kc17 said:

I'm giving wet tumbling a try for two main reasons. One, I wanted to get away from cleaning primer pockets by hand one at a time. Two, the brass was still dirty after cleaning with dry media in a vibratory cleaner. I was using dryer sheets, had not tried other additives. When I say dirty, I mean my hands would be dirty from handling them. I could wear gloves, which I hate, but even then, I believe the dirty brass would impact my dies, magazines and firearms.

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to clean twice, once before de-driming to keep dies clean or just once and run the dirty brass through the de-prime/sizing die.

I use cabelas corncob...and add some of their cabelas branded “metallic cartridge polish” added in my brass shines like a brand new door knob ....I toss spent brass in the tumbler for 15 mins or so lube...resize/deprime ...then in tumbler for 30-45 mins and then into storage ready to be loaded whenever. 

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Amazon delivered some citric acid powder today, setting me up for round two.

Once again a two hour tumble in hot water with a splash of Dawn; this time with the pins & citric acid powder also.

I'm now satisfied with the results. Primer pockets are nice and clean. While I accept that it may not matter, in my mind a clean pocket reduces the chance of a primer not seating properly. To me that makes it worth the extra investment in time and product.

Those pins though, man are they annoying! I'm glad I ordered the fancy media separator, that should be here tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I test fired another 10 rounds yesterday, making me confident to go into mass production with that load. I have two other projectiles and some different powder to create test loads for as well.

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3 hours ago, kc17 said:

 

Those pins though, man are they annoying! I'm glad I ordered the fancy media separator, that should be here tomorrow.

 

Which one did ya order??  Let me/us know how it works! Those pins are a PIA for sure.. but they work well

 

 

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12 minutes ago, eyeinstine said:

Which one did ya order??  Let me/us know how it works! Those pins are a PIA for sure.. but they work well

 

 

I have the Frankford media separator and its a beast. I just whip the handle like there is no tomorrow and it gets every pin out. Out of 1000 223 rounds I prepped, I didn't find a single pin stuck or floating around in a case. It gets most the water off them too. Can also be used with dry media.

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They all appear to be the same basic design, they do work really well though.  Nothing worse than having to reach into the pile of media and brass and dump out each shell by hand!:mad: That gets old really quickly! .223 and 5.56 are the worst to get all of the media out because of the small neck!

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29 minutes ago, JohnnyB said:

Nothing worse than having to reach into the pile of media and brass and dump out each shell by hand!:mad: That gets old really quickly!

Is that the way some people do it?  I guess that would get pretty tiresome.  I use a wire scoop to dig out the brass, 95% of the media falls away, then I dump it into a strainer until it's full, and then shake out the rest of the media.  That gets out 99%.  Lastly, as I inspect each case, I tap out the last few bits that may remain.  There are tumblers that look like BINGO ball cage, to shake out every last bit of media too.  I don't mind tapping the cases as I inspect them before I toss them into the deprime/reloading bucket.

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12 hours ago, eyeinstine said:

Which one did ya order??  Let me/us know how it works! Those pins are a PIA for sure.. but they work well

 

 

I found an old salad spinner like this one for $3 at Goodwill:

salad-spinner.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

 

 

 

I don't use the spinning function.  I just shake things around and move my had through the cases for a couple of minutes as I'm rinsing them.

Works great for me.

I take a little extra time on .223/5.56 cases but with the other calibers I load the pins come right out.

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21 hours ago, eyeinstine said:

Which one did ya order??  Let me/us know how it works! Those pins are a PIA for sure.. but they work well

 

20 hours ago, kc17 said:

Short answer: not impressed. Would not recommend unless you plan to do small batches.

Longer review:

It is not rigid. It does not hold much before it starts to flex. One handle wants to dislodge from the basket. The efficiency seems to decrease as the quantity increases. Some pins escaped the bucket. The latch to keep the basket closed is a PIA. The basket kept hitting the bucket (due to the flexing).

I plan to contact Midway regarding a return. The policy stated on the website states product must be unused to be returned unless defective. I could argue that the handle not staying locked in place makes it defective, but it is also due to the design. If I have to pay return shipping it's probably not worth it.

Dealing with the pins is still a PIA and has me rethinking my desire to want a clean primer pocket. I think for next batch I'll run it without the pins again but with the citric acid powder and longer.

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3 hours ago, kc17 said:

 

Short answer: not impressed. Would not recommend unless you plan to do small batches.

Longer review:

It is not rigid. It does not hold much before it starts to flex. One handle wants to dislodge from the basket. The efficiency seems to decrease as the quantity increases. Some pins escaped the bucket. The latch to keep the basket closed is a PIA. The basket kept hitting the bucket (due to the flexing).

I plan to contact Midway regarding a return. The policy stated on the website states product must be unused to be returned unless defective. I could argue that the handle not staying locked in place makes it defective, but it is also due to the design. If I have to pay return shipping it's probably not worth it.

Dealing with the pins is still a PIA and has me rethinking my desire to want a clean primer pocket. I think for next batch I'll run it without the pins again but with the citric acid powder and longer.

You have to be doing something wrong... u know that the entire thing goes together, and contains all the material. The strainer is actually the lid as well. You cant possibly loose pins, I spin this thing like a Vortex with 1000rnds of .223. 

 

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1 hour ago, gleninjersey said:

First time cleaning brass ever.

Harbor Freight Dual Drum Rock Tumbler 

Hot tap water, squirt of Dawn and 9mm case full of Lemon Shine.

125 cases of deprimed 38 Special in each tumbler.  

Ran for 1.5 hours.

Look at that Bing, Bling!!!

Screenshot_20201024-175628.jpg

What do the primer pockets look like?

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7 hours ago, gleninjersey said:

Pretty clean I would say.  First time doing it so nothing to compare it to over other methods.  The steel pins get in the shells and primary pockets.  They are VERY small.

So you used, the pins then? I thought maybe you didn't.

 

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6 hours ago, carl_g said:

Why wouldn’t you use the pins? Sorry I am a little confused.

If I can get the cases & pockets clean enough overall without the pins, it will save me the aggravation of dealing with the pins. I don't need the brass super shiny, I just want them fairly clean and residue removed from the pockets.

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