Thanks for posting. I enjoyed watching someone else work. :) I have just started reloading so I bought the single drum HF model. Wet tumbling pistol brass in various calibers. Works for me. A little soap, some Oxi Clean Dishwasher booster, and some SS media, and the cases come out clean and ready to go. I don't have all of the extra steps to go through. I pour everything through a sifting pan to catch the pins. Rinse the cases really good, and use a small magnet to pick up any straggler pins.
I have both tumblers and they both do a great job. I don't use the stainless media unless the brass is real bad. I just use a little Lemi Shine and a few drops of Dawn detergent and all my brass comes out beautiful. The small tumbler is great for small batches of pistol ammo but for rifle brass the larger tumbler does the trick. Happy reloading.
What an enormous amount of mess and work! I've been using an RCBS Ultrasonic cleaner and Hornady (the bin lifts off the motor) dry media polisher. The only reason I just bought a pin tumbler is the difficulty in reaming the primer pockets.
The Franklin Is used for large quantities of brass. The only problem I have is the drive belt on the Harbor Freight wears out over time so I have spares in case of breakage. They are easy to replace and no other problems wit either tumbler.
I use about half a pound or less of the stainless steel pins and I place almost two hundred 45 auto brass cases in each one of the Harbor Freight tumblers. I only clean them for about fifty minutes and they are good to go. Who in their right mind will only put 80 pieces of brass in one tumbler. So I'm actually cleaning about 400 pieces of 45 acp brass with the HF tumbler... and if you add the cost of the Frankford I can buy three sets of the Harbor Freight making it 1,200 pieces of 45 acp brass... so in reality the Harbor Freight wins. Shoot lots and stay safe.
i have the Frankford dry vibrator and the wet drum also H.F. rock tumbler drum. they all suck and have their own issues. i will say with the "lizard corncob size" media with polish does clean out the pockets pretty good if you decap first with the dry tumbler and a dryer sheet. both wet tumblers also do a great job but in the winter that sucks too cleaning cold water and the SS pins. neither way are easy to do but we just have to do it. really both systems work fine...........good video. i know guys that decap and just put the brass in a coffee can with Dawn n Limmie shine shake it up and let it sit till the water is cold and their brass comes out pretty clean too. lol.
I wouldn't use any wax based cleaners personally. I'm not sure what what effect it would have on the powder over long-term storage of ammo. It may have some effect on burn rate. I want the case as clean and uncontaminated as possible.
I hear you. Reloaders have been dry tumbling adding wax based car polishes to their media for decades with zero ill effect to long term storage and ballistics. Think about traditional cast bullets with wax based lubes. I'm sure if there was going to be an issue someone would have experienced it by now.
I think you forgot the weight of the stainless steel media in your preliminary capacity calculations. 5# for the Frankford and 1# each for the Harbor Freight drums.
Great video, I have processed many using this method. Have a question, maybe others might know as well -- the brass comes out shiny I can see my reflection it's that good. But after a few weeks the brass gets a funky color, it looks like smudges but won't rub out that I can tell. Does not look copper color, just smudged up. Doing full load of 9mm brass, 1 tsp of blue Dawn, 1/2 tsp of citric acid, ss pins, 2-3 hours, food dehydrator drying 120 degrees for 2 hours. Any ideas?
Try the Hornady Cartridge cleaning solution. For the HF one I would use a couple teaspoons per black container, for the Frankford Arsenal Platinum , I use 2 tablespoons of the Hornady cleaning solution. I store my brass in sealed ammo cans until I use them.
The brass naturally oxidizes and tarnishes when exposed to air. Your tumbling with Dawn (degreaser), citric acid, and SS strips and removes literally every layer of oxidation, oil, crud that was creating a barrier to air. You removed all this and didn't do anything to keep it from re-oxidizing. That's all it is. Your combination of tumbling and 2-3 hours really cleans the brass to a sparkle. You just need to put on a protective layer. If you don't put on a protective layer it'll tarnish right back up. People combat this problem by using a wash and WAX such as Armor All Wash n' Wax or Turtle Wax Wash n' Wax. Some others will dry and then immediately dry tumble them in NU FINISH car wax. For pistol brass it makes zero difference but it does feel like a waste to have it all polished up and then become tarnished. I refuse to dry tumble ever again so I use Armor Wash and Wax. My process is to use Dawn to really deep clean it. I rinse it 2 or 3 times but I'll spray Armor Wash and Wax during one of the rinses and let it sit to drip off. Once that's done I'll gently rinse it off one final time to remove the Wash and Wax and throw it out onto a towel or strainer and call it good. I shoot competitively and have gone through 10,000's of brass this way. Some batches are more tarnished than others. It all reloads the same once I apply case lube. It definitely shoots all the same regardless of how shiny they are.
Here is a tip to all who did what I did...( Harbor Freight double canister..$40). To keep the containers from sticking and stopping...just add a drop or two of dish soap on the bottom of each container...Works great for me.
I know this is an old video, but it seems like you are struggling. Get the fine strainers from Frankford, they fit under the caps and rinse a couple of times in the sink, then use a dry media tumbler separator. Instead of separating the corn or walnut media, I use it to separate the pins from the brass. Put the pins on a tray and let them air dry and the brass how ever you choose.
when you compare number of cases they will handle, don't forget to factor in the initial cost of each tumbler. so what is you have to run one twice, you can always reload while the next load is tumbling.
Supply and demand. The market had a demand, they provided the supply. When you're one of the only ones in the market you get to set the price. Thanks for watching! I'll be following you waiting to see your design using higher quality parts for cheaper!!!
To dry your brass....put them in a flat baking pan...then.....most clothes dryers have a shelf you can insert to hold shoes and other things you don't want tumbled in the dryer.....run for a complete cycle and you will have dry brass easily. Be easy with the Lemi Shine. Do not over use as it will remove some of the magnesium that is in the brass and cause it to turn red because of the copper. Clean your stainless steel pins with heavy duty cleaner like Purple but do not use it with the brass. Clean the stainless pins every once in a while with the Purple heavy duty cleaner to remove any carbon and other deposits that get on the stainless pins. Use dish detergent with a pinch of Lemi Shine and hot water for the brass....it will come out cleaner with no discoloring. Dry in the clothes dryer and you will have really nice looking brass. I use the Harbor Freight Tumbler.....using a 4 inch plastic pipe and end caps from Home Depot. Works really well and very inexpensive.....I can do about 200 223's in it and it works well.
Do you ever experience the FA leaking from the seals ? I'm on my second one now and no matter what I do, cranking down the seals super tight to not so tight and in between, plus using plumbers silicone grease, they are still leaking. I've got to crank it down insanely tight for it to not leak as bad. Wonder if I've just got some defective drums/seals ?
MY FA tumbler does the same thing. I bought some vasoline, grease ect, and still leaked. What I found out that works is I make sure the tub, seal and caps are clean before using them. Then I take some water and wet down the seal before use. Just like putting a little bit of oil the seal of a new oil filter. Then I screw the lid down tight and it solved the leaking problem I had. Hope this helps.
I have never used wet brass cleaners. I started out cleaning brass with a Lymon tumbler and used it for about 9 years. At the time the cost was $ 29. Today you can pick one up for well under $100. Eventually, because I moved to a place where I had to keep noise at a minimum, I discovered a tumbler made by Thumbler. It Is lined with a thick rubber as well as is the lid. I paid $129 for it about 3 years ago and it is very very quiet. Well worth the money. Since time spent on cleaning is important to me
For large volume brass yes I could see myself using the media crank separator. For small to medium volume however it just turns into a gimmick and a $1 colander will do.
@@YTBEN1045 if you do not have a reasonable amount of brass to work with. Why reload. Not worth the price of equipment. Might take you 50 years to recover your cost.
@@danielswartz6818you've got a point if say you're reloading cheaper 9mm rounds not when it comes to reloading $2.00 rifle rounds like 45-70 or a 45 colt which I do. You'll save a dollar or more each for these rounds...
Never had any issues. But I inspect my cases before reloading like any good reloader should. I guess if you were lazy and don't inspect your cases it could happen. But if you're that guy you probably shouldn't be messing with making ammo to begin with. Attention to detail will keep a reloader from blowing up his gun.....
I have a harbor Freight and I tumble with BB's and soap and water .. Love it.Those pins are a real pain to retreave from all the brass and water. The BB's no problem with strainer.
Interesting "hack" on wet tumbling. How long do the BB's take to start rusting? Do you dry and oil them after to keep the rust from forming? I can imagine the citric acid reacts with the steel as well to strip of any patina and allow oxidation to occur with the steel.
I just dry them with heat lamp and put away till next use. No problem rusting and the container I bought at Walmart I will probably never use them all. The ones that I am using now are over a year old and used many times. I know Too much limoshine will diss color the brass.
@@curtislong1987 It also depends on the mineral content of your water. Again do what works for you because the water you use is different than the water I use. Also "weathered" brass that has been exposed to the elements and has corrosion needs to be chemically cleaned vs. Washed. If you are only cleaning your once fired brass in good water, yes you can get away with just soap.
@@Springfield-eo8jl I got it,I just care about function. If I have weathered brass that's still somewhat dull I don't care,I just make sure it's clean. Shiny is just a bonus. If shiny brass is critical to you ,then I completely agree.
have you ever tried a dry tumbler a dry tumbler will produce an equal amount of cases with 1% of the work. It Takes Me 2 minutes to set up and have it running. And 2 minutes to separate the media from the brass my refrigerator makes more noise then my Tumblr and so does my air-conditioner. I set it and forget it and it's all over
I'm looking at starting to reload and was wondering if the dry tumbler was better than the wet. I also thought the water had to be disposed of due to the hazmat of the products used to clean the brass and the residue removed.
@@salty2561 I posted a response for you Dry is definitely cheaper then wet. I started with a Lymon dry tumbler. I also reloaded rifle brass and did not clean them. After shooting pistols I realised that they are very dirty and need to be cleaned. If funds are limited you can wet clean very cheap. From what I have seen all you need is a gallon jug water and some dawn liquid soap. Shaking the jug until you get tired. Then draining and rinsing the brass. Next put them in the oven for a few hours and the should be able to go. Remember Dawn resolves carbon based materials. So, you can spend more money on your reloading equipment. I have been reloading for more than 50 years and every year I like to add to my equipment or replace a peace with a better product. I can now reload over 900 rounds in an hour. With all of my guns I have developed loads that produce less then one inch groups at 25 yards from a bench rest.
Lead is not water soluble and cannot be absorbed thru the skin. It can be absorbed thru mucus membranes in your eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs. The dust created from a dry tumbler contains lead. I'll let u do the math. Also think about how mush dust is created and where it is settling in your environment you're using your tumbler, then analyze whencwas the lsst time you decontaminated ALLLLLL of those surfaces.
@@Springfield-eo8jl all my dry tumblers are sealed units. No dust during operation. When you rinse your bras in the sink the water might have some lead in it that just might contaminate your sink and possibly your food. No matter what you do you are in trouble. So, where is the lead coming from. I would assume you are using coated bullets. I don't think lead is used in powder. But perhaps it Is used in foreign primers. I don't think that cleaning brass exposes us to lead poisoning no mater which method you use.
@@Springfield-eo8jl you would get a hefty fine from the EPA for dumping water containing toxic chemicals from cleaning brass. Please tell us how you safely dispose of it. You do the math.
I use both of these tumblers, which one I choose just depends on the amount of brass I'm doing. I fill them to the top with water, there's no reason to leave air space in them. I've been told that leaving air space in the FA tumbler can lead to dinged case mouths from them slamming around too hard. Also, there's no need to do anything to the HF machine to forcibly agitate the drums like you did with the tape. I run mine just as it came and it cleans quickly. Yesterday I ran some 30-30 cases for only 45 minutes and they came out pretty clean, tho the primer pockets could use more time I didn't want to wait. With a 2 hour run they'd be totally clean without any agitation mods and the machine runs smoother and quieter than with bumps of tape on the rollers. Lots of people say that the drums need something to keep the pins from just sitting on the bottom, I have clean cases that prove otherwise.
If a person wants to reload ammo but doesn't have attention to detail and likes to rush through steps, this can lead to disaster. You Can have, good, fast, and cheap but you only get to choose 2. You do know that some russian ammo is steel jacketed with a copper electroplating wash? What does that steel jacket do to the bore of a gun?
@@doghousedon1 Another question for you. If someone was using a vibratory tumbler with walnut or corn cob, what would happen to a gun if the reloaded cartridge had the media left in the cartridge? Over pressure? Under pressure? Squib? Some gun powder can cause over pressure issues at reduced amounts. I bring this up because it seems that you are trying to weigh the pros vs cons using SS pins. Think about your question. IF and a big IF, a SS pin is shot down a barrel how much acctual contact time will it have in the bore? With that time being a fraction of a second how much wear/tear do you think can occur? How would the "damage" occur? From friction correct? Now take into account a steel jacketed or a copper jacketed bullet. How much contact time and contact surface area? Which will cause excessive wear and degrade the barrel faster? So then compare if you have 2 identical barrels and one is used to shoot exclusively jacketed rounds, a and the other is used to shoot exclusively lead bullets, which one will wear out faster? Also the #1 casuse for barrel degradation especially in high pressure loads is the rapidly expanding gasses from the powder ignition. Again if you are concerned about a pin left in the brass, that means you are not diligent during your reloading process and you view the brass cleaning and processing as a hindrance and a time waster. If this is the case I reccomend you just purchase previously cleaned or new brass to eliminate YOU not ensuring every cartridge is free of foreign objects before that cartridge is reloaded and subsequently fired. A pin left in a cartridge is the fault of the reloader not the SS Pin.
@Springfield 0612 I don't understand why you get so bent out of shape over a legitimate question. Of course, I'm weighing the pros and cons, and instead of shedding light on the subject, you go ballistic. Would you get equally pissed if I asked about a walnut shell stuck in the flash hole? I understand that leaving such objects in a case is sloppy work, but accidents do happen, and you have no right to act this way. I'm done with you, your vids are now blocked. Good day.
It’s a DIFFERENT FORM of stainless steel. It contains IRON so that that type can be heat treated. Go buy yourself a copy of Machinery’s Handbook and deignorantize Your erroneous beliefs.
Unless you're going to make jewelry out of your polished brass, one to two hours in a vibrating tumbler is perfectly sufficient for cleaning brass. Quicker, neater, cheaper, easier. Tips from a 30 yr reloader: Throw in 3 or so 2" square torn pieces of USED dryer sheets to collect dust. Add a few squirts of 50/50 mix of Nu Finish Car Polish/mineral spirits to get shiny brass.
Cahyo Winarko the results would be very disappointingg. An USC is no where near as efficent as wet tumbling. If you really want to see it I'll throw a video together.
Cahyo Winarko also the point of the video was to compare 2 of the more affordale wet tumbling options on the market. I feel each one has a place in the reloading room. But for large batches of brass the FA platinum tumbler is my go to.
SuperUncleRyan it can seem tedious at times. I like that each case is clean inside and out. Especially for rifle rounds. I can be sure there is no excessive carbon build up inside the cases or nu-finish and media clumps.
Don't underestimate getting the primer pocket clean prior to seating a new primer. Brass that has been loaded a few times can have a heavily fouled primer pocket and will not seat a new primer properly resulting in a misfire.
I just did a batch of just under a hundred 308's that looked like they were drug through the mud and walked over for about six months and when the HF tumbler and a fist full of BB's and about two hours they look just like they have never been used. Primer pockets are spotless. Just DON'T use copper BB's. Don't use them. Only use steel BB's I put half the brass in each tub wit warm water and half teaspoon Limosheen and about the same amount Dawn Detergent.. The BB's are easier to seperste than the pins. Just dump everything into strainer and was BB's and brass with garden hose. Then I dry them with red heat lamp. Check it out. Didn't lose one single BB.
Ok !!! My tumbler is a sealed unit unlike a Lymon which has an open top. My media is lead free, and my bullets are coated. No lead in primers and I don't think that there is any lead or mercury in gun powder. However, if these harmful chemicals are in your brass, remember at some point in time your hands will be in contact with the contaminated water. And where are you dumping that water ???
I've got an old treadmill waiting to be used to build one. Just gotta find the time. Working 90+ hours a week right now. A lot of stuff is on the back burner.
Any material that conducts magmatism, contains ferrites or iron based materials, there are high carbon stainless matels, but even they are non magnetic, carbon and iron are two completely different elements, if it is magnetic the it is not a true stainless, Do some research on your chemistry and metalergy
Another attempt to compare apples to apples but winds up comparing apples to oranges. I would like to see someone to start with the test samples identical, identical chemicals, and same processes.
@@Springfield-eo8jl I think he's talking about the difference between brass when starting. Brass that had been shot vs brass that was wet tumbled and not dried to cause it to corrode. I don't think it matters it should clean it all the same.
Great video helped me a lot. But now for the me saying something stupid. I just gotta ask who is behind the camara? They were breathing like they had the Rona and this was 3 years ago. How is that possible?
And you have to dry the brass. Water can lay inside the brass and primer pockets as well. Your wife will love you more if you used a dry tumbler. Not only that you could get lucky and she could pay for it. However stay away from Lyman. A good tumbler comes from the Tumble Company. They are not cheap but are worth it. I just spent 10 minutes of my time and cleaned 3,000 cases. You gave us an excellent video. But you sure had to do a lot of work. In the time you spent in cleaning your brass, I cleaned 3,000 rounds and loaded 1,000 rounds on my Dillon 650 press. Now I can go to the range. And you ain't done yet.
chris G nope..... No issues with the pins wearing down the brass. Your brass will rupture or flash holes will open up long before a SS pin wil wear it out.
@@Springfield-eo8jl I weld stainless steel barrel if you go to scrap yard (recycle place)they use a magnet to separate steel and or low grade stainless from ss
There are magnetic and non-magnetic grades of stainless, if you get a multi-ply stainless pan, the outside layer is magnetic stainless so it'll work with induction but still be corrosion resistant
Continuing... since time is important to me I have found out that using a dry tumbler takes less of my time. It takes seconds to put media and brass into the tumbler and put the lid on it. I plug it into a timer and it will run based on the time set on the timer. I then can get to any chores I have. When they are done it takes 3 minutes to separate brass from media and another 3 minutes to wipe the dust from the brass. So, you see my total time commitment is about 6 minutes tops. Per load. Now. Watching these videos on wet cleaning I observed that there is much much more time needed for the wet cleaning. Initially cost of equipment was and is cheaper for dry cleaning. Lastly wet cleaning is quicker but you have to work at it. Dry clraning process takes longer run time on the equipment with less effort on your part. The equipment does the work and not you. The inside of the cartridges are not cleaned As good as wet. One problem I saw is that it takes time to dry wet brass effectively. So in the end it is cost effective to start with a dry tumbler for 2 reasons. One is that a dry tumbler cost about half as much and your hands on time and effort is about 5 minutes per load. That being the case you can concentrate more of your time on the reloading process. REMBER. You have to find the best combination of bullet, powder, and primer that works best in your gun. How much of that powder works best as well. If you spend all your time cleaning brass, how much time will you have for developing your loads and range time. I would rather be shooting then cleaning. And trying to reduce the cost of each round fired. Remember the reason you reload is cost of each round as well as getting the best accuracy you can. Lastly keep extensive records.
You're also exposing yourself to dust that contains lead. Lead is not water soluble so it cannot be absorbed through the skin. But small "microscopic" particles can be absorbed through mucus membranes in your eyes, nose, mouth, and......... LUNGS. Good luck with your lead poisoning and having your blood filtered and the cancer!
@@Springfield-eo8jl N95 Mask and Gloves been using them for years because of the lead in the dust. I put my brass in then sprinkle on non-acetone nail polish remover then put in a 50/50 mix of corn cob and walnut. One hour and done about 500 9mm casing at once
@@Springfield-eo8jl And what do you do with all the toxic Wastewater from your wet tumbling process? Throw it down the drain to go into the water treatment plant? One to two hours in a vibrating tumbler is perfectly sufficient for cleaning brass. Quicker, neater, cheaper, easier. Throw in 3 or so 2" square torn pieces of USED dryer sheets to collect dust. Add a few squirts of 50/50 mix of Nu Finish Car Polish/mineral spirits to get shiny brass.
@@jungleno4151 The neighbors who live behind me are @$$holes so I dump it over their fence in hopes that someday they'll try and sell the house so I can tell the prospective buyers that the soil is contaminated with lead.
Please go research a recent advance in technology called....... Alloy. It's a very new process where you mix different types of metals to get them to perform in different matters. This technology is at least 8 thousnd years old.
Dude bare feet and Mt Dew? You never said how much Mt. Dew. Just kidding about the bare feet, why do people have to point stupid crap like that out. Probably the same people that don't were seat belts and drive drunk.
Mark Janness retirement must be hard if the only thing you are doing is trolling people's youtube videos for "safety" violations. I guess the fraud investigation industry is pretty slow.
Thanks for posting. I enjoyed watching someone else work. :) I have just started reloading so I bought the single drum HF model. Wet tumbling pistol brass in various calibers. Works for me. A little soap, some Oxi Clean Dishwasher booster, and some SS media, and the cases come out clean and ready to go. I don't have all of the extra steps to go through. I pour everything through a sifting pan to catch the pins. Rinse the cases really good, and use a small magnet to pick up any straggler pins.
I have both tumblers and they both do a great job. I don't use the stainless media unless the brass is real bad. I just use a little Lemi Shine and a few drops of Dawn detergent and all my brass comes out beautiful. The small tumbler is great for small batches of pistol ammo but for rifle brass the larger tumbler does the trick. Happy reloading.
Good job with the investigative work.
What an enormous amount of mess and work! I've been using an RCBS Ultrasonic cleaner and Hornady (the bin lifts off the motor) dry media polisher. The only reason I just bought a pin tumbler is the difficulty in reaming the primer pockets.
Really enjoyed this video, thank you for taking the time to putting together a great educational piece.
Crazy Dogs thanks for watching! Hope to be making more video's soon!
thanks for the video. it answered quite a few questions i didn't even know to ask.
You're welcome! Glad I could help you out!
Great vid! Very informative. Thank you!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
The Franklin Is used for large quantities of brass. The only problem I have is the drive belt on the Harbor Freight wears out over time so I have spares in case of breakage. They are easy to replace and no other problems wit either tumbler.
I use about half a pound or less of the stainless steel pins and I place almost two hundred 45 auto brass cases in each one of the Harbor Freight tumblers. I only clean them for about fifty minutes and they are good to go. Who in their right mind will only put 80 pieces of brass in one tumbler. So I'm actually cleaning about 400 pieces of 45 acp brass with the HF tumbler... and if you add the cost of the Frankford I can buy three sets of the Harbor Freight making it 1,200 pieces of 45 acp brass... so in reality the Harbor Freight wins. Shoot lots and stay safe.
Really good video man! I'm looking at reloading my 6.5 Creedmoor cases so will go with the larger tumbler.
i have the Frankford dry vibrator and the wet drum also H.F. rock tumbler drum. they all suck and have their own issues. i will say with the "lizard corncob size" media with polish does clean out the pockets pretty good if you decap first with the dry tumbler and a dryer sheet. both wet tumblers also do a great job but in the winter that sucks too cleaning cold water and the SS pins. neither way are easy to do but we just have to do it. really both systems work fine...........good video. i know guys that decap and just put the brass in a coffee can with Dawn n Limmie shine shake it up and let it sit till the water is cold and their brass comes out pretty clean too. lol.
I have the same tumbler. A little tip i use a pant strainer from Sherwin Williams for 5 gallons paint.
A little bit a baking soda added to the rinse water should neutralize any trace acid completely.
I wouldn't use any wax based cleaners personally. I'm not sure what what effect it would have on the powder over long-term storage of ammo. It may have some effect on burn rate. I want the case as clean and uncontaminated as possible.
I hear you. Reloaders have been dry tumbling adding wax based car polishes to their media for decades with zero ill effect to long term storage and ballistics. Think about traditional cast bullets with wax based lubes. I'm sure if there was going to be an issue someone would have experienced it by now.
@@Springfield-eo8jl Lots of reloaders use NuFinish Car POLISH which is not a wax.
I think you forgot the weight of the stainless steel media in your preliminary capacity calculations. 5# for the Frankford and 1# each for the Harbor Freight drums.
I'm going with the HF. Starting small. Thanks!
You're welcome! The HF unit is where I started, with 4 shooters in the house now I out grew its abilities.
Great video, I have processed many using this method. Have a question, maybe others might know as well -- the brass comes out shiny I can see my reflection it's that good. But after a few weeks the brass gets a funky color, it looks like smudges but won't rub out that I can tell. Does not look copper color, just smudged up. Doing full load of 9mm brass, 1 tsp of blue Dawn, 1/2 tsp of citric acid, ss pins, 2-3 hours, food dehydrator drying 120 degrees for 2 hours. Any ideas?
Try the Hornady Cartridge cleaning solution. For the HF one I would use a couple teaspoons per black container, for the Frankford Arsenal Platinum , I use 2 tablespoons of the Hornady cleaning solution. I store my brass in sealed ammo cans until I use them.
The brass naturally oxidizes and tarnishes when exposed to air. Your tumbling with Dawn (degreaser), citric acid, and SS strips and removes literally every layer of oxidation, oil, crud that was creating a barrier to air. You removed all this and didn't do anything to keep it from re-oxidizing. That's all it is.
Your combination of tumbling and 2-3 hours really cleans the brass to a sparkle. You just need to put on a protective layer. If you don't put on a protective layer it'll tarnish right back up. People combat this problem by using a wash and WAX such as Armor All Wash n' Wax or Turtle Wax Wash n' Wax. Some others will dry and then immediately dry tumble them in NU FINISH car wax.
For pistol brass it makes zero difference but it does feel like a waste to have it all polished up and then become tarnished. I refuse to dry tumble ever again so I use Armor Wash and Wax. My process is to use Dawn to really deep clean it. I rinse it 2 or 3 times but I'll spray Armor Wash and Wax during one of the rinses and let it sit to drip off. Once that's done I'll gently rinse it off one final time to remove the Wash and Wax and throw it out onto a towel or strainer and call it good. I shoot competitively and have gone through 10,000's of brass this way. Some batches are more tarnished than others. It all reloads the same once I apply case lube. It definitely shoots all the same regardless of how shiny they are.
I used to dry tumble till I bought the FART machine. I don't use the pins !
No more breathing the lead dust from dry tumbling.
well done sir👍
Here is a tip to all who did what I did...( Harbor Freight double canister..$40). To keep the containers from sticking and stopping...just add a drop or two of dish soap on the bottom of each container...Works great for me.
I know this is an old video, but it seems like you are struggling. Get the fine strainers from Frankford, they fit under the caps and rinse a couple of times in the sink, then use a dry media tumbler separator. Instead of separating the corn or walnut media, I use it to separate the pins from the brass. Put the pins on a tray and let them air dry and the brass how ever you choose.
gotta catch em all
when you compare number of cases they will handle, don't forget to factor in the initial cost of each tumbler. so what is you have to run one twice, you can always reload while the next load is tumbling.
Great design on the wet tumblers, but way overpriced considering it’s a plastic bucket that rides on a cheap motor
Supply and demand. The market had a demand, they provided the supply. When you're one of the only ones in the market you get to set the price. Thanks for watching! I'll be following you waiting to see your design using higher quality parts for cheaper!!!
@@Springfield-eo8jl
5 gallon bucket on an electric single speed motor with a speed controller. Built mine for 45 bucks.
@@Springfield-eo8jl sleazy salesman logic. Rubber drums work better anyway.
To dry your brass....put them in a flat baking pan...then.....most clothes dryers have a shelf you can insert to hold shoes and other things you don't want tumbled in the dryer.....run for a complete cycle and you will have dry brass easily.
Be easy with the Lemi Shine. Do not over use as it will remove some of the magnesium that is in the brass and cause it to turn red because of the copper. Clean your stainless steel pins with heavy duty cleaner like Purple but do not use it with the brass. Clean the stainless pins every once in a while with the Purple heavy duty cleaner to remove any carbon and other deposits that get on the stainless pins. Use dish detergent with a pinch of Lemi Shine and hot water for the brass....it will come out cleaner with no discoloring. Dry in the clothes dryer and you will have really nice looking brass.
I use the Harbor Freight Tumbler.....using a 4 inch plastic pipe and end caps from Home Depot. Works really well and very inexpensive.....I can do about 200 223's in it and it works well.
Nice yard !!
Harbor freight concrete mixer. I found it works the best on a lot of brass
LOLZ - way to go!!
Do you ever experience the FA leaking from the seals ? I'm on my second one now and no matter what I do, cranking down the seals super tight to not so tight and in between, plus using plumbers silicone grease, they are still leaking. I've got to crank it down insanely tight for it to not leak as bad. Wonder if I've just got some defective drums/seals ?
Over tighten the outside cap and you’re pulling the inner seal out of the tube. I place one of the extra o-rings on top of the inner seal . No leaks.
MY FA tumbler does the same thing. I bought some vasoline, grease ect, and still leaked. What I found out that works is I make sure the tub, seal and caps are clean before using them. Then I take some water and wet down the seal before use. Just like putting a little bit of oil the seal of a new oil filter. Then I screw the lid down tight and it solved the leaking problem I had. Hope this helps.
I have never used wet brass cleaners. I started out cleaning brass with a Lymon tumbler and used it for about 9 years. At the time the cost was $ 29. Today you can pick one up for well under $100. Eventually, because I moved to a place where I had to keep noise at a minimum, I discovered a tumbler made by Thumbler. It Is lined with a thick rubber as well as is the lid. I paid $129 for it about 3 years ago and it is very very quiet. Well worth the money. Since time spent on cleaning is important to me
How many pins are left stuck to inside of brass and primer slot? Also how did you separate the SS pins from dirty water?
The pins are too big to get stuck in the flash hole for the primers. If you shake the brass thoroughly there will be no pins left in the brass.
Lot easier to separate the pins and brass with a dillon media crank separator.
For large volume brass yes I could see myself using the media crank separator. For small to medium volume however it just turns into a gimmick and a $1 colander will do.
I stopped listening when you said, "Dillon". Would rather save $1,000 and buy the Frankford Arsenal separator.
@@Springfield-eo8jl there not that expensive. But there are better solutions. My separater cost me 6 bucks.
@@YTBEN1045 if you do not have a reasonable amount of brass to work with. Why reload. Not worth the price of equipment.
Might take you 50 years to recover your cost.
@@danielswartz6818you've got a point if say you're reloading cheaper 9mm rounds not when it comes to reloading $2.00 rifle rounds like 45-70 or a 45 colt which I do. You'll save a dollar or more each for these rounds...
The result is perfect but it takes too much work to get the job done...
Good job . :)
I wonder how my front load washer would work. It does a great job on our clothes.
They work great..
I predict a problem with your wife.
Man the frankford tumbler is loud. I run the HF tumbler in my reloading room and it doesn't make half of that noise the FA tumbler does
William Burch no pain no gain!!!
I run mine in the bathroom and close the door, no noise problem. I enjoy not having to clean pockets.
Do any of those pins get stuck in case and get shot out the barrel?
Seems like it would. I like my BB's.
Never had any issues. But I inspect my cases before reloading like any good reloader should. I guess if you were lazy and don't inspect your cases it could happen. But if you're that guy you probably shouldn't be messing with making ammo to begin with. Attention to detail will keep a reloader from blowing up his gun.....
I heard bb's being used. Do you use brass or stainless bb's
Great gideo
I have a harbor Freight and I tumble with BB's and soap and water .. Love it.Those pins are a real pain to retreave from all the brass and water. The BB's no problem with strainer.
Interesting "hack" on wet tumbling. How long do the BB's take to start rusting? Do you dry and oil them after to keep the rust from forming? I can imagine the citric acid reacts with the steel as well to strip of any patina and allow oxidation to occur with the steel.
I just dry them with heat lamp and put away till next use. No problem rusting and the container I bought at Walmart I will probably never use them all. The ones that I am using now are over a year old and used many times. I know Too much limoshine will diss color the brass.
Do the bb’s clean the primer pockets?
@@joekirk167 I tried bbs and they just rusted up. They were actual bb gun bbs from Walmart Are you using another type?
Dawn soap and steel pins at two hours, bright and shiny. No need for all the other additives.
Do what works for you!
@@Springfield-eo8jl not trashing your way, just stating that I get just as good results with was less stuff,and time, do what works for you,
@@curtislong1987 It also depends on the mineral content of your water. Again do what works for you because the water you use is different than the water I use. Also "weathered" brass that has been exposed to the elements and has corrosion needs to be chemically cleaned vs. Washed. If you are only cleaning your once fired brass in good water, yes you can get away with just soap.
@@Springfield-eo8jl I got it,I just care about function. If I have weathered brass that's still somewhat dull I don't care,I just make sure it's clean. Shiny is just a bonus. If shiny brass is critical to you ,then I completely agree.
You made a meringue!
have you ever tried a dry tumbler a dry tumbler will produce an equal amount of cases with 1% of the work. It Takes Me 2 minutes to set up and have it running. And 2 minutes to separate the media from the brass my refrigerator makes more noise then my Tumblr and so does my air-conditioner. I set it and forget it and it's all over
I'm looking at starting to reload and was wondering if the dry tumbler was better than the wet. I also thought the water had to be disposed of due to the hazmat of the products used to clean the brass and the residue removed.
@@salty2561 I posted a response for you
Dry is definitely cheaper then wet. I started with a Lymon dry tumbler. I also reloaded rifle brass and did not clean them. After shooting pistols I realised that they are very dirty and need to be cleaned. If funds are limited you can wet clean very cheap. From what I have seen all you need is a gallon jug water and some dawn liquid soap. Shaking the jug until you get tired. Then draining and rinsing the brass. Next put them in the oven for a few hours and the should be able to go. Remember Dawn resolves carbon based materials. So, you can spend more money on your reloading equipment. I have been reloading for more than 50 years and every year I like to add to my equipment or replace a peace with a better product. I can now reload over 900 rounds in an hour. With all of my guns I have developed loads that produce less then one inch groups at 25 yards from a bench rest.
Lead is not water soluble and cannot be absorbed thru the skin. It can be absorbed thru mucus membranes in your eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs. The dust created from a dry tumbler contains lead. I'll let u do the math. Also think about how mush dust is created and where it is settling in your environment you're using your tumbler, then analyze whencwas the lsst time you decontaminated ALLLLLL of those surfaces.
@@Springfield-eo8jl all my dry tumblers are sealed units. No dust during operation. When you rinse your bras in the sink the water might have some lead in it that just might contaminate your sink and possibly your food. No matter what you do you are in trouble. So, where is the lead coming from. I would assume you are using coated bullets. I don't think lead is used in powder. But perhaps it Is used in foreign primers. I don't think that cleaning brass exposes us to lead poisoning no mater which method you use.
@@Springfield-eo8jl you would get a hefty fine from the EPA for dumping water containing toxic chemicals from cleaning brass. Please tell us how you safely dispose of it. You do the math.
I use both of these tumblers, which one I choose just depends on the amount of brass I'm doing. I fill them to the top with water, there's no reason to leave air space in them. I've been told that leaving air space in the FA tumbler can lead to dinged case mouths from them slamming around too hard.
Also, there's no need to do anything to the HF machine to forcibly agitate the drums like you did with the tape. I run mine just as it came and it cleans quickly. Yesterday I ran some 30-30 cases for only 45 minutes and they came out pretty clean, tho the primer pockets could use more time I didn't want to wait. With a 2 hour run they'd be totally clean without any agitation mods and the machine runs smoother and quieter than with bumps of tape on the rollers. Lots of people say that the drums need something to keep the pins from just sitting on the bottom, I have clean cases that prove otherwise.
DonziGT230 thanks for the feedback! Each to their own! Thanks for watching.
Use steel BB's. You will be surprised.
@@joekirk167 how do the steel BB's clean the primer pockets?
Wow... that tumbler is even loud without the drum
What does one of those pins do to a bore if you neglect to get them all separated?
If a person wants to reload ammo but doesn't have attention to detail and likes to rush through steps, this can lead to disaster. You Can have, good, fast, and cheap but you only get to choose 2. You do know that some russian ammo is steel jacketed with a copper electroplating wash? What does that steel jacket do to the bore of a gun?
@@Springfield-eo8jl Steel core, not jackets.
@@doghousedon1 Never stop learning! saami.org/glossary/steel-jacketed-bullet/
@@doghousedon1 Another question for you. If someone was using a vibratory tumbler with walnut or corn cob, what would happen to a gun if the reloaded cartridge had the media left in the cartridge? Over pressure? Under pressure? Squib? Some gun powder can cause over pressure issues at reduced amounts. I bring this up because it seems that you are trying to weigh the pros vs cons using SS pins. Think about your question. IF and a big IF, a SS pin is shot down a barrel how much acctual contact time will it have in the bore? With that time being a fraction of a second how much wear/tear do you think can occur? How would the "damage" occur? From friction correct? Now take into account a steel jacketed or a copper jacketed bullet. How much contact time and contact surface area? Which will cause excessive wear and degrade the barrel faster? So then compare if you have 2 identical barrels and one is used to shoot exclusively jacketed rounds, a and the other is used to shoot exclusively lead bullets, which one will wear out faster? Also the #1 casuse for barrel degradation especially in high pressure loads is the rapidly expanding gasses from the powder ignition. Again if you are concerned about a pin left in the brass, that means you are not diligent during your reloading process and you view the brass cleaning and processing as a hindrance and a time waster. If this is the case I reccomend you just purchase previously cleaned or new brass to eliminate YOU not ensuring every cartridge is free of foreign objects before that cartridge is reloaded and subsequently fired. A pin left in a cartridge is the fault of the reloader not the SS Pin.
@Springfield 0612 I don't understand why you get so bent out of shape over a legitimate question. Of course, I'm weighing the pros and cons, and instead of shedding light on the subject, you go ballistic. Would you get equally pissed if I asked about a walnut shell stuck in the flash hole? I understand that leaving such objects in a case is sloppy work, but accidents do happen, and you have no right to act this way. I'm done with you, your vids are now blocked. Good day.
Could just use a mining screen. Lol no pins will fall thru
Water spots ?
Stainless steel pins that can be picked up with a magnet isa lower grade of SS and will rust
I've had these pins for 9ver 5 years left them in water, left them damp in the air and never a speck of rust....just sayin......
they may, but tumbling in the drum with the brass cleans it up.
Springfield 0612 mine aswell. I agree with the comment which leads me to think they are coated
They are magnetic because of their atomic structure, they aren't going to rust.
It’s a DIFFERENT FORM of stainless steel. It contains IRON so that that type can be heat treated. Go buy yourself a copy of Machinery’s Handbook and deignorantize Your erroneous beliefs.
Unless you're going to make jewelry out of your polished brass, one to two hours in a vibrating tumbler is perfectly sufficient for cleaning brass.
Quicker, neater, cheaper, easier.
Tips from a 30 yr reloader:
Throw in 3 or so 2" square torn pieces of USED dryer sheets to collect dust.
Add a few squirts of 50/50 mix of Nu Finish Car Polish/mineral spirits to get shiny brass.
both are same...!!
what about comparison between wet tumbler vs ultrasonic
Cahyo Winarko the results would be very disappointingg. An USC is no where near as efficent as wet tumbling. If you really want to see it I'll throw a video together.
Cahyo Winarko also the point of the video was to compare 2 of the more affordale wet tumbling options on the market. I feel each one has a place in the reloading room. But for large batches of brass the FA platinum tumbler is my go to.
About how many 30-06 or similar size cases can you fit in the harbor freight drums?
The wet tumbler works so good but it just seems to be such a pain in the ass. I may just stick with my vibratory tumbler.
SuperUncleRyan it can seem tedious at times. I like that each case is clean inside and out. Especially for rifle rounds. I can be sure there is no excessive carbon build up inside the cases or nu-finish and media clumps.
Springfield 0612 thanks for helping me talk myself out of buying the Frankfort Arsenal one. What, are you on commission? 😁👍
Don't underestimate getting the primer pocket clean prior to seating a new primer. Brass that has been loaded a few times can have a heavily fouled primer pocket and will not seat a new primer properly resulting in a misfire.
Those ferrets are mean.... I heard that one kill a guy just for snoring too loud
I just did a batch of just under a hundred 308's that looked like they were drug through the mud and walked over for about six months and when the HF tumbler and a fist full of BB's and about two hours they look just like they have never been used. Primer pockets are spotless. Just DON'T use copper BB's. Don't use them. Only use steel BB's I put half the brass in each tub wit warm water and half teaspoon Limosheen and about the same amount Dawn Detergent.. The BB's are easier to seperste than the pins. Just dump everything into strainer and was BB's and brass with garden hose. Then I dry them with red heat lamp. Check it out. Didn't lose one single BB.
Anuel Jackson brilliant
Stainless steel should Not work with magnets.
@@jmac3693 some types of stainless are magnetic others are not. It just depends on the number grade of the steel.
@@ParasitikOne cool I didn't know 😎
HF for the WIN !
My Frankfort Arsenal tumbler died in a couple months of just occasional ise. It was crap.
Suck! I have a new Thumlers Tumbler Model B with 5 # of pins for sale. Interested?
Springfield 0605, hey I'd be interested if it works good w no problems!
Ok !!! My tumbler is a sealed unit unlike a Lymon which has an open top. My media is lead free, and my bullets are coated. No lead in primers and I don't think that there is any lead or mercury in gun powder. However, if these harmful chemicals are in your brass, remember at some point in time your hands will be in contact with the contaminated water. And where are you dumping that water ???
Primers contain the toxic compound lead styphnate. Some companies are now making lead-free primers
I made a home made wet tumbler that works better than a rock tumbler and as good as Frankford Arsenal
I've got an old treadmill waiting to be used to build one. Just gotta find the time. Working 90+ hours a week right now. A lot of stuff is on the back burner.
If a magnet can pick them up they must be a stainless steel alloy
All stainless steel is an alloy
Any material that conducts magmatism, contains ferrites or iron based materials, there are high carbon stainless matels, but even they are non magnetic, carbon and iron are two completely different elements, if it is magnetic the it is not a true stainless, Do some research on your chemistry and metalergy
@@topchoppers7980 you should probably heed your own advice. Ferretic stainless steel has always been a thing.
Another attempt to compare apples to apples but winds up comparing apples to oranges. I would like to see someone to start with the test samples identical, identical chemicals, and same processes.
Lucy Preuninger thanks for watching. Not sure what you mean about apples to oranges. These are the same process and same chemicals.
@@Springfield-eo8jl I think he's talking about the difference between brass when starting. Brass that had been shot vs brass that was wet tumbled and not dried to cause it to corrode. I don't think it matters it should clean it all the same.
Great video helped me a lot. But now for the me saying something stupid. I just gotta ask who is behind the camara? They were breathing like they had the Rona and this was 3 years ago. How is that possible?
And you have to dry the brass. Water can lay inside the brass and primer pockets as well. Your wife will love you more if you used a dry tumbler. Not only that you could get lucky and she could pay for it. However stay away from Lyman. A good tumbler comes from the Tumble Company. They are not cheap but are worth it. I just spent 10 minutes of my time and cleaned 3,000 cases. You gave us an excellent video. But you sure had to do a lot of work. In the time you spent in cleaning your brass, I cleaned 3,000 rounds and loaded 1,000 rounds on my Dillon 650 press. Now I can go to the range. And you ain't done yet.
Oh gross...! Mountain Dew, really? Also do you find the ss pins wear your brass down faster?
chris G nope..... No issues with the pins wearing down the brass. Your brass will rupture or flash holes will open up long before a SS pin wil wear it out.
Real stainless are not magnetized so those low grade
Real people do their research before making a public comment making themself looking uneducated.
@@Springfield-eo8jl I weld stainless steel barrel if you go to scrap yard (recycle place)they use a magnet to separate steel and or low grade stainless from ss
There are magnetic and non-magnetic grades of stainless, if you get a multi-ply stainless pan, the outside layer is magnetic stainless so it'll work with induction but still be corrosion resistant
@@xBaronSamedi yes you are right I have been a tig welder for 25 years
Continuing... since time is important to me I have found out that using a dry tumbler takes less of my time. It takes seconds to put media and brass into the tumbler and put the lid on it. I plug it into a timer and it will run based on the time set on the timer. I then can get to any chores I have. When they are done it takes 3 minutes to separate brass from media and another 3 minutes to wipe the dust from the brass. So, you see my total time commitment is about 6 minutes tops. Per load. Now. Watching these videos on wet cleaning I observed that there is much much more time needed for the wet cleaning. Initially cost of equipment was and is cheaper for dry cleaning. Lastly wet cleaning is quicker but you have to work at it. Dry clraning process takes longer run time on the equipment with less effort on your part. The equipment does the work and not you. The inside of the cartridges are not cleaned As good as wet. One problem I saw is that it takes time to dry wet brass effectively. So in the end it is cost effective to start with a dry tumbler for 2 reasons. One is that a dry tumbler cost about half as much and your hands on time and effort is about 5 minutes per load. That being the case you can concentrate more of your time on the reloading process. REMBER. You have to find the best combination of bullet, powder, and primer that works best in your gun. How much of that powder works best as well. If you spend all your time cleaning brass, how much time will you have for developing your loads and range time. I would rather be shooting then cleaning. And trying to reduce the cost of each round fired. Remember the reason you reload is cost of each round as well as getting the best accuracy you can. Lastly keep extensive records.
You're also exposing yourself to dust that contains lead. Lead is not water soluble so it cannot be absorbed through the skin. But small "microscopic" particles can be absorbed through mucus membranes in your eyes, nose, mouth, and......... LUNGS. Good luck with your lead poisoning and having your blood filtered and the cancer!
@@Springfield-eo8jl N95 Mask and Gloves been using them for years because of the lead in the dust. I put my brass in then sprinkle on non-acetone nail polish remover then put in a 50/50 mix of corn cob and walnut. One hour and done about 500 9mm casing at once
Makes comment about his time is precious, but spends 30 min wrighting said comment.
And yes I'm just poking fun at ya man.
@@Springfield-eo8jl And what do you do with all the toxic Wastewater from your wet tumbling process? Throw it down the drain to go into the water treatment plant?
One to two hours in a vibrating tumbler is perfectly sufficient for cleaning brass.
Quicker, neater, cheaper, easier.
Throw in 3 or so 2" square torn pieces of USED dryer sheets to collect dust.
Add a few squirts of 50/50 mix of Nu Finish Car Polish/mineral spirits to get shiny brass.
@@jungleno4151 The neighbors who live behind me are @$$holes so I dump it over their fence in hopes that someday they'll try and sell the house so I can tell the prospective buyers that the soil is contaminated with lead.
Okay,electricity, water and bare feet?
I bet your neighbours love all that noise for 2 hours.
Don't really care!😁
It can't be a very high grade of stainless steel or the magnet wouldn't be picking it up. That seems to indicate that the pins would corrode.
Please go research a recent advance in technology called....... Alloy. It's a very new process where you mix different types of metals to get them to perform in different matters. This technology is at least 8 thousnd years old.
Dude bare feet and Mt Dew? You never said how much Mt. Dew. Just kidding about the bare feet, why do people have to point stupid crap like that out. Probably the same people that don't were seat belts and drive drunk.
Right!? I was wearing sandals! Some people are just crabs in a bucket.
Bare feet, electricity and water not good.
Stainless steel is non magnetic so what is it
Not all SS is nM. 400 series is Magnetic.
Ferritic stainless steel.
Bare feet, electricity and water not good.
Mark Janness retirement must be hard if the only thing you are doing is trolling people's youtube videos for "safety" violations. I guess the fraud investigation industry is pretty slow.
Springfield 0612 You're gonna have to change your name to Chris B. Bacon.
Still here! Gotta be smart and safe!