Wet Tumbling - Finally

[NBK]

I finally pulled the trigger on a wet tumbler. My 27 year old Olsen vibratory tumbler is finally going to get a rest. The folks over at STM hooked me up with the perfect system for my needs. Extreme Tumblers Rebel 17 is made to last. And the basic food dehydrator is perfect.

I have some 280AI tumbling as we speak. 5 pounds of .047x.255 stainless pins, two tablespoons of Dawn dishwashing soap, a 1/4 teaspoon of lemon shine and a gallon of water.

I will post the results when I finish. The primer pockets were pretty dirty.

 

[Bowman]

very simple but good

 

[TRICER]

Cool stuff. I will have my eye on this thread excited to see the result.
What was your though process on the tumbler vs an ultrasonic?

 

[NBK]

Cool stuff. I will have my eye on this thread excited to see the result.
What was your though process on the tumbler vs an ultrasonic?

The ultrasonic doesn't give you that factory shiny look. And it doesn't clean as well. I was looking ant the ultrasonic last year. Glad I waited.

Below is some brass I just used and the interior and primer pockets were dirty. The brass came out last night and it looks brand new! It is a little bit more of a process but the results are amazing.

 

[TRICER]

I love how clean it gets the primer pocket. There is always another toy I need to get. It’s never ending.

 

[JakeSCH]

I have the frankford Arsenal one and the brass looks incredible when it is finished. However I need a better way of drying them, because little bit of the dirty water left on the brass looks terrible the next day.

probably use an air compressor next time. I like the food dehydrator idea

 

[GEARSRTRNIN]

Nice looking tumbler setup.

I've been using the Lyman 1200 dry for a while. Wet tumbling now with a custom made tumbler (converted treadmill). Running it with hot water and squirt of dish soap and 9mm case full of lemishine. No pins. So far pretty good but not as good in primer pockets. I'm mostly running 9mm and 223 though and not overly concerned. I did try some stainless steel chips (free from work out of the cnc lathe) They cleaned very well and fast but were too difficult to separate.

I have the Frankfort arsenal separator and didn't realize that it is recommended to keep water in the lower half when spinning the brass through. This helps wash the pins out. Will try this with pins and my rifle brass.

 

[NBK]

I am liking the converted tread mill.

The pins work amazing...

 

[GEARSRTRNIN]

I am liking the converted tread mill.

The pins work amazing...

Has a timer, speed control, and I can tell how many calories my brass has burned during it's workout.

Will be looking to get some pins soon.

 

[Josh S.]

I have the frankford Arsenal one and the brass looks incredible when it is finished. However I need a better way of drying them, because little bit of the dirty water left on the brass looks terrible the next day.

probably use an air compressor next time. I like the food dehydrator idea

I use an air compressor and it worked well. Bought a food dehydrator today to make the process easier and more time efficient.

Sent from my LG-H931 using Tapatalk

 

[BigMedicine]

Just a heads up on wet tumbling nickel plated brass, don't run them mor than 45 minutes. The stainless media will chip off the nickel plating to the point that the water will look like it has minnow scales in it. This happened to a batch of .270 WSM nickel brass I tumbled for about an hour and 45 minutes.

 

[dirtriddr]

I will never go back to dry tumbling again.

 

[Morgan1776]

Wet tumbling sure looks like the way to go. This batch has over 3 hours run time and it's still not ready...

 

[Josh S.]

Wet tumbling sure looks like the way to go. This batch has over 3 hours run time and it's still not ready...View attachment 46888View attachment 46887

I will never go back to dry tumbling. The stainless steel pins clean out the primer pockets efficiently. Been a while since i ran mine, I believe its around 70 roughly.

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[KoozeDeer]

Wet tumbling sure looks like the way to go. This batch has over 3 hours run time and it's still not ready...View attachment 46888View attachment 46887

Run a little scotch bright pad around the neck

 

[KoozeDeer]

Run a little scotch bright pad around the neck

And that looks like a creedmoor!

 

[Morgan1776]

And that looks like a creedmoor!

Haha, unfortunately it is....my neighbor gave me a bunch of once fired Hornaday brass. Prepping it for him.