Stainless steel Pin cleaning
- Thread starter Wendyj
- Start date
I went to home store and purchased a paint screen for a 5 gal bucket. I cut a hole in the lid and put the screen in the bucket and put the lid on.
I unscrew the one end of the drum and put on the plastic screen it came with. I pour most of the water out and refill it again and pour that water out.
Then I full the bucket with the screen in it about 3/4 the way up. I put the open end in the bucket and remove the cap off the other side. The drum will fill as full as you put it in the bucket. I shake the drum in the water to flush the brass and make the pins fall out into the screen. Shake pretty vigorously to do the brass around.
I then remove the drum and lift the screen out of the bucket. 99.99% of the pins stay in the screen. Last time I had about 10 pounds in the bucket. I store the pins in the drum.
I put the brass on a towel to shake off most of the water. I either dry it in the oven or I put it in a bowl with 91% rubbing alcohol and then back onto a towel to dry. They both work great.
If you need more clarity let me know.
Jeremy
I unscrew the one end of the drum and put on the plastic screen it came with. I pour most of the water out and refill it again and pour that water out.
Then I full the bucket with the screen in it about 3/4 the way up. I put the open end in the bucket and remove the cap off the other side. The drum will fill as full as you put it in the bucket. I shake the drum in the water to flush the brass and make the pins fall out into the screen. Shake pretty vigorously to do the brass around.
I then remove the drum and lift the screen out of the bucket. 99.99% of the pins stay in the screen. Last time I had about 10 pounds in the bucket. I store the pins in the drum.
I put the brass on a towel to shake off most of the water. I either dry it in the oven or I put it in a bowl with 91% rubbing alcohol and then back onto a towel to dry. They both work great.
If you need more clarity let me know.
Jeremy
Thanks guys. I have the pins drying on a towel. Hard to pick up. I used a tablespoon of lemishine and a tablespoon of dawn on last batch. It cleans way better than there stuff. Some of my primer pockets were a a midge dirty using there cleaner. Maybe 20 out of 300 or so. Last batch of 400 were all spotless. Ran both batches for 90 minutes. Hope there isn't any pins inside the bottle neck cases. Been tapping them out on a towel and nothing coming out. Did have a few stuck in a primer pocket but easy enough to get out. I'm just concerned about submerging the magnet in water. The dryer took about 1 hour set on 160 degrees. So far I like it with exception of getting ss pins out. My 357 cases were all but green and they look store bought. You would think for the money they would have put a mesh screen on one end.
retaining the pins
I use one of the brass separators from midway.
I set it in the 5 gallon bucket and just pour everything in.
The brass stays in the separator while the water and pins go thru.
I spray low pressure water while is stir the brass with my hand.
That rinses the brass and almost completely removes the rest of the pins as well.
Now, it is easy to pour out the dirty water up until the pins are about to spill out. I catch them with my free hand and slowly drain the rest of the water.
It takes longer to describe it than to do it. It is pretty fast. I pour the brass into a plastic tub (for under the bed storage) onto a towel. I stir them around and will occasionally see another pin which easy to recover.
good luck
I use one of the brass separators from midway.
I set it in the 5 gallon bucket and just pour everything in.
The brass stays in the separator while the water and pins go thru.
I spray low pressure water while is stir the brass with my hand.
That rinses the brass and almost completely removes the rest of the pins as well.
Now, it is easy to pour out the dirty water up until the pins are about to spill out. I catch them with my free hand and slowly drain the rest of the water.
It takes longer to describe it than to do it. It is pretty fast. I pour the brass into a plastic tub (for under the bed storage) onto a towel. I stir them around and will occasionally see another pin which easy to recover.
good luck
Wendyj, you maybe using a lot of lemiShine 1/4 teaspoon should be fine , too much may turn the brass a pinkish color. I use 5 lbs pins 2 table spoons bawn 1/4 lemiShine fill with warm water 1" from the top, run for 1hr. When finished drain most of the water out fill back up with cold water, this helps the pins to slide out of the cases when removing the cases. I have another bucket of clean hot water & 1/4 teaspoon of lemishine to drop the clean brass into & to make sure all the pins are out ,lemiShine will also stop the clean brass from tarnishing. A piece of nylon screen to help in draining the water out of the tumbler, then I bump the pins from the tumbler into a cardboard box top, use a magnet to remove the remaining pins left , wipe out the drum with a rag , wipe the top gasket off when the pins dry keep them in a jug or keep them in the tumbler. Writing this seems harder then doing this. Sometimes pins may stick in flash hole easy enough to see. Good luck with the tumbler, I think its the best way to clean your brass. Hope I helped.
Lemi shine
Do some research on lemi shine. A 1/4 teaspoon is all my recipe calls for.
There is quite a bit of info that too much actually has a negative effect on the brass, weakening it over time.
I am not an expert telling you what to do-just go do some digging and decide for yourself.
My experience is that what recipe was given to me makes my brass look better than new so I see no need to use more.
good luck
Do some research on lemi shine. A 1/4 teaspoon is all my recipe calls for.
There is quite a bit of info that too much actually has a negative effect on the brass, weakening it over time.
I am not an expert telling you what to do-just go do some digging and decide for yourself.
My experience is that what recipe was given to me makes my brass look better than new so I see no need to use more.
good luck
You sure did. I used a table spoon of lemi shine. I'll cut it back next time. I bought a dryer also which isn't anything but a higher priced food dehydrated. Set it on 160 degrees and in one hour all 5 trays were dry. Got lucky I guess. Nothing turned. Everything was bright and shiny. I'd go through this process to keep the 2 hours of cleaning primer pockets. Everything clean in 90 minutes. One hour to dry. About 30 minutes to get pins out to dry. Beats 6 hours in corn cob vibratory tumbler.
brasscollector
New member
brasscollector
New member
The thought crosses my mind just about every time I wash bottleneck cases. My pins stick sideways in my 25-06 necks. Once I poke it free I will drop the cases back into the water and any pins stuck inside the cases will come free and wash out.
schmellba99
New member
I use a paint strainer bag (you can get them at Home Depot or Lowes all day long for next to nothing) strung over a collander.
I initially dump my brass into a collandar with a container below it to get the bulk of the pins out, then slide the paint strainer bag over the collander and swirl the brass around while the whole assembly is half submerged in water in my sink the garage - the water breaks the surface tension of damp pins against brass and keeps them from sticking. I have never had a pin left behind.
When it's all done, I dump the original container with the bulk of the pins in the paint strainer bag, rinse everything off for a few seconds, then dump back in my tumbler.
I lay the brass out on a towel with a small box fan blowing on them - dry as a bone in a couple of hours at most, even less time in the Texas summers.
Much easier than it sounds and takes no time at all. It takes a little more time than tumbling with corncob or walnut, but it also does about a 1000% better job and I have enough brass that I don't need to go straight from the tumbler to the loading bench.
I initially dump my brass into a collandar with a container below it to get the bulk of the pins out, then slide the paint strainer bag over the collander and swirl the brass around while the whole assembly is half submerged in water in my sink the garage - the water breaks the surface tension of damp pins against brass and keeps them from sticking. I have never had a pin left behind.
When it's all done, I dump the original container with the bulk of the pins in the paint strainer bag, rinse everything off for a few seconds, then dump back in my tumbler.
I lay the brass out on a towel with a small box fan blowing on them - dry as a bone in a couple of hours at most, even less time in the Texas summers.
Much easier than it sounds and takes no time at all. It takes a little more time than tumbling with corncob or walnut, but it also does about a 1000% better job and I have enough brass that I don't need to go straight from the tumbler to the loading bench.
Lots of good ideas. Seems like everyone develops their own process, and it works for them.
Here is my process.
I have a home built tumbler that hold 1.5 gallons of water. I load it with 10 lbs pins, 8 lbs of brass. I will go 10 libs of brass, but it has to tumble for a longer time.
2 TBS of Armor All Wash and Wax with Carnuba. It you try this formula, be sure that it says Wash and WAX on the label, not Wash and Shine, which does not work.
Plus 1 tsp of Lemishine (this was originally called Lemi-Shine Original, they have now changed the name to Lemi-Shine Booster, same thing).
Fill with warm (not hot) or no less than room temp water.
I tumble for min 2 hours, but will go 4 hours to get primer pockets spotless.
I too use the 5 gallon paint strainer bags. However; I pour out as much dirty nasty water as I can, then slip a 5 gallon paint strainer bag over the tumbler and dumped the entire contents into the bag. Rinse the bag and contents under running water to remove dirty water and soap.
Dump the contents of the bag into a case and media separator. Rotate the separator to remove 98% of the pins from the cases.
Lay the brass on a large towel, spread it out, and keep moving a 1" sq magnet through the brass to get as many pins as possible.
Depending on how much brass I have, I will either let dry on the towel, or in a dish washer we have in the basement that has a Hot Dry/Pate Warmer selection, usually takes 2 cycles to dry perfectly.
On another note, I use AA Wash and Wax for 2 reasons. The wax acts as a lubricant when resizing, flaring, and seating a bullet. Dawn removes all oils and dirt from the brass, and the brass needs to be lubricated in order to function properly in the press.
The second reason is that the brass can be stored for a very long time without tarnishing. It stays shiny and clean as the day you took it out of the tumbler.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Edited for bad English.
Here is my process.
I have a home built tumbler that hold 1.5 gallons of water. I load it with 10 lbs pins, 8 lbs of brass. I will go 10 libs of brass, but it has to tumble for a longer time.
2 TBS of Armor All Wash and Wax with Carnuba. It you try this formula, be sure that it says Wash and WAX on the label, not Wash and Shine, which does not work.
Plus 1 tsp of Lemishine (this was originally called Lemi-Shine Original, they have now changed the name to Lemi-Shine Booster, same thing).
Fill with warm (not hot) or no less than room temp water.
I tumble for min 2 hours, but will go 4 hours to get primer pockets spotless.
I too use the 5 gallon paint strainer bags. However; I pour out as much dirty nasty water as I can, then slip a 5 gallon paint strainer bag over the tumbler and dumped the entire contents into the bag. Rinse the bag and contents under running water to remove dirty water and soap.
Dump the contents of the bag into a case and media separator. Rotate the separator to remove 98% of the pins from the cases.
Lay the brass on a large towel, spread it out, and keep moving a 1" sq magnet through the brass to get as many pins as possible.
Depending on how much brass I have, I will either let dry on the towel, or in a dish washer we have in the basement that has a Hot Dry/Pate Warmer selection, usually takes 2 cycles to dry perfectly.
On another note, I use AA Wash and Wax for 2 reasons. The wax acts as a lubricant when resizing, flaring, and seating a bullet. Dawn removes all oils and dirt from the brass, and the brass needs to be lubricated in order to function properly in the press.
The second reason is that the brass can be stored for a very long time without tarnishing. It stays shiny and clean as the day you took it out of the tumbler.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Edited for bad English.
Last edited:
Jimk are you saying with the wash and wax you don't have to lube in steel dies or am I misunderstanding. I depriped, tumbled and dried. Lubed resized, trimmed chamfered and ran back through with no pins to get rid of greasy residue. Not sure it was necessary because I use Hornady one shot lube. Going to try and find some 1 x6 wood or 2x6 and staple window screen to it to catch the pins and get a good rinse. I use my media separator to tumble the brass to get remaining pins out. It's winter now and I'm doing it in the spare bath tub but will be nicer to run a water hose outside.
Carriertxv
New member
Wendyj I do the same as Jimk but I don't think he means not using lube on rifle brass but means pistol brass. I find that using the wash and wax the pistol brass goes through carbide resizer die easier at least that is my experience.