Brass tumbling question

briandg said:
Because in my experience they do little to no good in keeping brass clean. They do little to no good at removing dust. In my experience, all they do is wrap around the center post and interfere with the flow of materials.....
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I keep a two inch wide natural sea sponge in the media as the vibrator runs. The sponge is slightly sticky, dust and dirt cling to it like glue, media drops off. A light shake once every few runs drops off media, a good whomp tosses of volumes of dust, hand washing makes it as good as new. Hundreds, up to maybe a thousand rounds can be run between cleaning the thing, and when you sort, there will be little to no dust in your pan.
Click to expand...

My experience with used dryer sheets is different from yours. They don't totally eliminate dust, but they do hold it down. Brass comes out the same with or without them. But I'm going to try the sponges to see if they do a better job of dust control for me. Can't hurt and I'm always looking for a better way.
 
I believe that you will be happy with the results. Like I said, it will probably use up a bit more goop, and you're going to lose a bit of media that gets into the pores.
 
You can dry "damp brass" on a paper towel lined baking tray or pizza pan on the oven at 195 degrees for a couple of hours to evaporate the water. Just make sure the brass was deprimed first. Old primers in pockets can trap water. There is also the food dehydrator method also.
 
So I may not be loading as long as some of you and this is a fascinating topic.

I am of the belief that there is no right or wrong way to do this just different ways with different and varying results.

I like clean brass but it certainly doesn't need to look new and all shiny. I am also retired and on a fixed income so pinching pennies is a habit. I don't own a dry vibrator or a wet tumbler but I do own a plastic jar that is oval in shape and easily holds 200 pcs of 9mm brass.

I just put a small amount of dish soap and a small amount of lemi-shine then half fill with hot water and then ad cases. Close it up and then go sit down and watch TV or come visit the forum. All the while shaking the jar and tumbling by hand. 1/2hr and it's good to go. I've even done this while walking on the treadmill!

I have more brass than I can reload in an afternoon so for me waiting for it to dry isn't an issue. I spend more time sorting than I do washing!

So sorry but I am not going to spend dollars on a tumbler and even more dollars on SS tumbling media.
 
Both wet & dry have issues , drying time or dust . l shoot 30 rounds of 308 each week , the two types of cases 30 HSM & 30 ADI . I switch each week , so drying time isn't a problem . I just want very clean brass on every reload .
 
It's the dogma that you can ONLY DO ONE OR THE OTHER....
I have issues with that, not how people do it (or if they clean or not).

Since I use a plastic coffee can to cart dirty brass back home, half can of water/soap and drop the brass in, rattled around in the water on the way back to the barn, wash off goo and throw in dry media when I get home, rattle small batches a while & leave them in the tumbler (lid off) when they are done until I feel like storing or processing.

Not much to it. I'm lazy when it comes to this stuff since its so forgiving and mistakes like leaving brass in water for a week or two is solved by a littlr extra rattle time,
about the same time as if I didn't wash first,
Its just a non-issue...

If there isn't any acid in the water it's not like sitting around in water or dry media is going to hurt the brass in any way...
 
Dogma?

Sort of definable as a stubborn refusal to accept provable information so that a person can retain belief in previously held information.

It is a real problem in shooting, especially since the information used in shooting is vague and hard to prove.
 
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