Heads Up for You Wet Tumblers!

[Old Syko]

For anyone who loads in volume, you can pick up an electric concrete mixer for cheap and they work extremely well with steel pins,

A Concrete Mixer? How many pieces of brass are you thinking this will accommodate - like five thousand ? Are we talking about a construction grade concrete mixer?
I don't think many need this kind of capacity!

The one I have is much smaller than you're probably thinking of and even has a plastic tub. I don't remember what the capacity is supposed to be. I can run about a 5 gallon bucket of brass at a time max which I do quite often, or just a couple hundred just the same. As I said, it's so much easier and less mess it's not funny.

BTW some of you guys need to get out and shoot more.

[BrokenolMarine]

I just tumble mine in the dillon tumbler with walnut media and blue dillon polishing stuff. High sheen. I set the tumbler in the woodshop, no worries about dust or noise.

[JEBar]

I just tumble mine in the dillon tumbler with walnut media and blue dillon polishing stuff. High sheen. I set the tumbler in the woodshop, no worries about dust or noise.

much the same for us .... 2 tumblers .... walnut media ... set'um out back on concrete pad and let'um grind ...

[jimbo510]

I have been looking at that H/F tumbler for a while. Do you have the one or two drum one? Also is there any harm in just letting the brass air dry or is best to use some type of drying machine or process.

[Mistered]

I have the two drum but would have probably got the single had I known it existed at the time.

All I do is air dry. After rinsing and straining the cases I dump them into a pan lined with a hand towel and set outside to dry.

[PWB]

In an effort to clean primer pockets I used a Hornady Sonic Cleaner for a while. I tried several different cleaning concoctions. All of them cleaned reasonably well, but some of the brass would begin to tarnish after drying. I eventually returned to a vibrator and walnut hull media. Still use my RCBS case mate brass prep to clean out the primer pockets.

[Pitchman1968]

I have never used a tumbler because I haven't run across an article or heard anyone discuss the benefits using a tumbler in the reloading case preparation process. It seems to me tumblers simply add equipment costs and are a messy step in the case prep process, without delivering any key benefit(s) in terms of (1) improved safety, (2) improved accuracy, (3) extended case life, (4) ease of chambering and (5) overall appearance of the finished cartridge. However, this opinion could easily be ignorance on my part. So, please share with me any tumbling benefits that I am overlooking in my assessment of tumblers. I think tumbling saves some time in case prep but probably not a huge amount.

I use the older method of preparing cases, and here is a description of what I do (I exclusively use Lee reloading tools and lube products): I can usually do 50 cases per hour.
1. Decap and either full length or neck size the case
2. Ream out the primer pocket and clean the pocket with a Qtip
3. Using the Qtip, clean out lube residue from inside the case
For case trimming, chamforing and polishing I use Lee's drill lock stud system with a shell holder, case length gauge with a ball handle. I lock the drill into a vice mounted on my reloading bench.
4. When polishing, I run the drill at high speed with the case locked into the lock stud and hold a 0000 fine steel wool pad against the until the brass is brilliant with no powder burns or stains. This is entire "hands on" process enables me to inspect eash case several times for any dangerous signs such as neck cracks and potential head separation.

From this point on I follow normal procedures for priming, charging, bullet seating, crimping, etc.

[ESquared]

I'm not about to try to talk you out of something that works for you. The only thing that I have read about the benefit of cleaning out the inside of the case prior to resizing (via tumbling) is that it removes the grit, powder residue, etc., and keeps all that same stuff out of your resizing die, which is operating at obviously very close tolerances. That's why I use a universal decapping die first, then tumble, etc.

Anyway, you're happy with what you've got set up, so just keep doing what you're doing!

[PT7]

Here I am again commenting when I'm not a person who reloads. But since I've recently gotten into BP shooting, in a different way I'm learning how to reload --- directly into a barrel.

So this comment is just to advocate for cleaning in all ways that can be done to prepare the cartridge brass for the next reload. And whatever that means for a person, whatever works best....just go for it

So far, this is my cleaning and "reloading" experience. I've learned how to clean my BP pistol darn well already. When I'm done and have dried the barrel, I can easily see the cleaning results using my bore light. Easy to notice anything missed during cleaning, especially at the bottom of the barrel. I even have a special tool called a "bottom scraper," which is designed to move a patch with the ramrod into that hard-to-clean area. If I leave any residual, that may affect my next reload and possibly impact the accuracy of my subsequent shooting.

My two cents toward a good clean!

[CT_Shooter]

When I first started reloading, I did exactly the same cleaning process that you use, and you're right; it doesn't save a lot of time to use a tumbler, but it does limit the hands-on time required.

I use walnut media in a vibrating tumbler with a little NuFinish Car polish and a little mineral spirits mixed in and let it run for about 3 hours, then I de-cap and resize. Next, I prime them with a hand primer, checking that the pockets are clear and clean as I go. Finally, I store the primed cases in boxes of 50 until it's time to reload.

I keep an inventory of +/- 20 primed boxes of .357 magnums, marked to show how many times each box of 50 has been fired.

I think tumbling saves some time in case prep but probably not a huge amount.

[Mistered]

because I haven't run across an article or heard anyone discuss the benefits using a tumbler in the reloading case preparation process.

Apparently you have not read this thread complety as there are many posts with pictures discussing the benefits of tumbling.
The steps you describe such as reaming the primer pockets, cleaning witn a Q tip and polishing the brass with steel wool are all accomplished during the tumbling process (either liquid or dry - but I prefer liquid and wish I would have switched to it long before I did!)
Again however if you are comfortable with what you are doing by all means stick witn it but I sure like dumping those bright and shiny, new looking cases onto the towel to dry - and them being done!

[mrguvna]

I quit using the dawn a while back and have switched to using a carwash soap with carnuba wax I think it is the turtle wax variety. It does a much better job and leaves a nice shiny surface with the wax, does not tend to tarnish during the drying phase.

[AMraider]

I read this thread with great interest. My sonic cleaner just doesn't clean the brass as well as I would like although it does a great job of cleaning clock works and gun parts. So I bought the Harbor Freight tumbler and GunTap powder and pins. This was my first batch with 20 min of run time. Clean inside and out. I'm sold!

[ESquared]

There ya go! Glad it worked as advertised and that you're happy with the outcome. Another half-hour and they would really shine, but that's very nice for 20 mins. I may have to try a shorter cycle myself.

Thanks for sharing!

[Mistered]

Clean inside and out. I'm sold!

Yea neat ain't it?
When you are out of the guntap powder get a bottle of dollar tree lemon juice and throw about a 'shot' of it in the water along with a squirt of Dawn and tumble about an hour or so.
Make sure your sunglasses are on when you dump out the brass!