Tumbling brass

[Adrenolin]

I bought one of those Frankford vibrating media units for brass awhile back and some walnut shell media. I didn't like how it cleaned, it was dusty and messy and overall just didn't do a good job. It worked to cleanup the outside a bit however that was all.

Last week I was at Harbor Freight armed with a 25% off coupon and noticed the Chicago Dual Drum Rotary Rock Tumbler was on sale for $49 bucks. This has 2 drums, each with a capacity of 3Lbs or 6Lbs total. Figured what the heck and brought it home. While I'm sure its not the quality of the several hundred dollar units available it seems to be decently well built. One thing of note is that it is VERY quiet while running. The first thing I did was give the inside of the drums a good washing with some hot soapy water as they we black inside. Once this was done I took the top cover off and lubed up a few areas.

I also ordered a 5Lb bag of Stainless Pellet Pins off Amazon (Sold by Bullseye Relading) with some Lemi Shine and waited for delivery. Cost was $49 bucks as the Stainless median runs about $10 bucks a pound. Arrived earlier today. I put 3/4Lbs of the Stainless media in each drum, added 2 drops of Dawn dish soap, about 3/4 cup of water and turned the unit on letting it run for about 2 hours before opening and rinsing everything down. The pins need to be cleaned first which is why I did this. Also, No Leaks! This is a good thing!

I grabbed 300 9mm brass casings that I had already de-primed and tossed 150 in each side along with .75Lbs of Stainless media in each, a drop of Dawn, about 1/4tsp of Lemi Shine and just enough cold water to cover everything. Note this was a bit more then 3Lbs in each but wanted to see how it worked. Turned the unit on, it seemed to take the weight easily and I went out grocery shopping. Returned home, unloaded, put away and had a bite to eat and played with my son for a bit. After 4 hours of it running I turned it off and emptied one drum into a Stainless screen. Rinsed it off and was quite happy with the results. Don't have a separator so I simply pulled each piece of brass out and the pins just dropped away not sticking at all. Tossed each piece on a light towel, rubbed down and then stacked then in trays. Wife asked how long it had been running and when I told her she said she hadn't heard it even being home all day.

The brass looks brand new inside and out as does the primer pockets. No dust. No replacing the media as the Stainless are pretty much a lifetime product. I tossed in another load just doing 100 in each side and the load on the unit didn't sound any different so I'll weigh the 150 rounds and likely stick to that weight for future cleanings. I don't think it was struggling at all with the 300 rounds.

Here is a quick iPad photo of the cleaned casings with a new 9mm sitting on top. If your not looking to clean a ton of brass at a time, this is a much better way to clean then using the vibrating media and all its dust. This cost about $90 bucks to setup with the HF coupon.

[Cbmarine]

Great description and results. I've been using a Hornady Sonic with their brass cleaning solution. Works well but primer pockets are still dirty.

[Adrenolin]

Yes I was looking at the ultrasonic cleaners awhile back and remember reading people saying it often didn't clean out the pockets very well. The Stainless pins have a few sizes available. A lot of people have commented that the standard smaller sized pins can often fit 2 pins in the pocket hole and they get jammed up and stuck. This was mostly reported in .223 casings. The newer sized pins I found are slightly larger at 0.047" diameter and I'm told only allow 1 pin to pass though at a time. I've only cleaned 9mm but haven't had any stuck pins. These are the pins I used. This is a 5Lb bag. They also sell a 2.5Lbs bag which would be better for the HF tumbler. I'm only using 1.5Lbs between both drums and have 3.5Lbs left over.

Here is a photo of the primer pockets after 4 hours. I'm told they become quite clean after just 2 and the extra time simply adds to the polish. The 3 batches I've run at times I've had to run out so can't comment on how they are after just 2 hours yet. They are spotless.

[Morder Chemiker]

For anyone looking for a good deal on this tumbler (like me, I missed the last good sale and was waiting until it went under $50), Harbor Freight has it on sale from 4/15-4/28 for $44.99 so tack on the common 20% or 25% off coupons to get it for $35.99 or $33.75, respectively.  

Here is the flyer shown on slickdeals


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[Adrenolin]

Morder.. Skip the single and spend the extra for the Dual Drum unit. Its only an extra 10 bucks and having the extra is very nice on these smaller units.

I've done several thousand piece of brass now and it hasn't leaked nor ave I had a single stick pin in the pockets with the media I linked above. For the cash this is definitely the way I'd suggest everyone clean their brass.

[Condition 1]

I never clean primer pockets for pistols.

[Adrenolin]

I never clean primer pockets for pistols.

With the stainless steel pins used in the drum rollers the pockets come clean anyways. Note that many people have had issues with other venders selling the pins as 2-3 would become stuck in the pockets. The linked pins above are slightly narrower and allow them to slide through without becoming stuck.

Regarding the pins... You only need about 3/4lbs in each drum. I've tested with 1/2lbs through 1lbs and found 3/4lbs to work great.

[Condition 1]

I never had any problems by not cleaning primer pockets. I tumble then run them through my press at once:
1. De-prime
2. Prime
3. Expand
4. Powder
5. Seat bullet
6. Crimp

out comes a ready round.

[Adrenolin]

Different ways is all. I had several thousand pieces of brass that had already been deprimed. Hence the reason I mentioned the pockets. Some people prefer cleaning them while others don't. Note also that some brass like the S&B casings have a very straight walled primer pocket which tends to be a bit more finicky to prime. With these its easier to have clean pockets then not. I have a lot of S&B brass.

Are you using a tumbler or a roller like we're talking about? A tumbler with walnut or corncob media typically will not clean the primer pocket that well anyways but the roller with pins, bit of Lemi Shine and a drop of Dawn cleans them out like new. True, not really needed for most pistol but more so for rifle.

[Condition 1]

I use a tumbler, and I don't deprime before tumbling pistol. I do only for rifle.

[Morder Chemiker]

Morder.. Skip the single and spend the extra for the Dual Drum unit. Its only an extra 10 bucks and having the extra is very nice on these smaller units.

I am talking about the the Dual Drum (the ad has it for $44.99 between April 15th-28th plus the coupons make it cheaper).  I wouldn't go with the smaller single drum its not as good of a deal and takes just as long to do half the amount.

[Adrenolin]

Ok glad to hear. I opened the slickdeals link and got an error so just wanted to make sure