Well, as usual, I waited too long for the Frankford Arsenal Case Dryer. So I'm thinking food dehydrator. Bingo! I got a Presto @ WalMart for about $30. Of course I bought accessories which, as usual, I didn't need. I loaded up the trays with brass, plugged it in, unplugged it, waited 15 minutes for the brass to cool down and I was done. You can buy extra trays for not much money and some smaller spaced liners. I use a TP cardboard when loading. This beats the crap out of lining up brass in front of a fan or sticking 'em in the oven. .22 caliber bottlenecks have given me the most drying problem. Not any more. So far this thing is all that and a giant bag of chips.
-
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
Drying brass
- Thread starter Steve Marshall
- Start date
Although not always available, direct sunlight has always done a fine job drying my decapped GP-11 brass. It may take a bit longer, but it's almost too hot to handle when I gather it up afterwards.
I find that all I need is a couple of old bath towels. After you spin your brass in a separator and rinse it off I toss it in one towel. Then I grab an end in each hand and alternate lifting each end to cascade the brass from one end to the other in the towel. Then I dump it on a second towel on the floor under a ceiling fan and spread it out. By the time my next load is done (3 hours) the brass is dry. If I am in a hurry I can put a box fan on the floor and blow over it and it'll be dry within an hour or so. The first towel pretty much dries the outside completely along with knocking any water out of the primer pockets/inside the brass. This method also prevents any water spots so your brass stays shiny.
The lack of any dust is one of the main reasons why wet tumble. Never having to replace media and super shiny brass is a nice side benefit as well.
dcmdon
NES Member
I just started wet tumbling.
At this point I'm just doing rifle brass. All I do is dump the brass and stainless into a media separator and give it a few turns.
Every time I walk by it in the basement, I give it a couple of more turns. In a couple of days, its all dry and the stainless pins are in the separator base.
Steve - it sounds like you do this commercially, so it obviously wont work for you. But it works for me.
I'm considering wet tumbling pistol brass just to eliminate teh dust. I tried the frankfurt tumbler with one load of 9mm and it takes a LOT of brass. Wow.
Don
At this point I'm just doing rifle brass. All I do is dump the brass and stainless into a media separator and give it a few turns.
Every time I walk by it in the basement, I give it a couple of more turns. In a couple of days, its all dry and the stainless pins are in the separator base.
Steve - it sounds like you do this commercially, so it obviously wont work for you. But it works for me.
I'm considering wet tumbling pistol brass just to eliminate teh dust. I tried the frankfurt tumbler with one load of 9mm and it takes a LOT of brass. Wow.
Don
I just started using one of the Frankford rotary tumbler month ago maybe? The thing is a beast I need a good portion of a 5 gallon bucket full of 9mm in about a weekend.
Is it harder to size cases or seat bullets with cases that have been wet tumbled? I ask because I bought some once fired 44 mag brass that was wet tumbled and it was SPOTLESS, it looked like brand new brass. But I noticed it was much harder (required more force from the ram) to size the cases compared to my dry tumbled 44 mag cases that have been shot 3 or 4 times. I'm guessing since they were so clean and free of any sort of fouling/debris, that there was nothing to act as a "lube" if you will, on the cases??
I also noticed seating bullets required a little more force compared to my dry tumbled cases but nothing crazy. Just curious since I've gone back and forth considering buying a wet tumbler but I'm wondering if I really need to have brand new looking brass? Looks nice though!
I also noticed seating bullets required a little more force compared to my dry tumbled cases but nothing crazy. Just curious since I've gone back and forth considering buying a wet tumbler but I'm wondering if I really need to have brand new looking brass? Looks nice though!
Yes.
Also, if you use a Dillon powder-through expander, you'll notice a huge difference in the force required to extract the PTE from a wet-tumbled vs dry-tumbled case.
Your cases don't have to be super-clean.
dcmdon
NES Member
Its funny that you said this. I recently purchased some citric acid in bulk. I had some brass that I had picked up at the range, immediately after being fired. So they weren't dirty at all. I covered about 100 pieces in hot water for this test. Added some citric acid and dishwashing powder (low suds for dishwasher) it immediately started bubbling as the citric acid cleaned off the brass scale. I then shook it up for about 1 minute and rinsed.
I ended up with brass that was very clean on the outside. But inside, it was black. Which is fine. I won't hesitate to use this method in a pinch when I have to load for a match and don't have time to tumble for a couple of hours.
Don
- - - Updated - - -
Really? Do you think its because there is no residue left on the case?
- Joined
- May 4, 2014
- Messages
- 2,065
- Likes
- 367
That's exactly why. Carbon powder residue or the polish some folks use dry tumbling is a lubricant.
Yeah, you'll eventually bone the carbide sizing ring too because brass will gall and build up and scratch cases. Ask me how I know.
Yes.
I haven't had any problems and I wet tumble, but I have heard a few folks that have had such issues with super clean cases galling on their carbide dies. They fixed it by switching to a wash and wax liquid instead of using Dawn. Meguiar's Wash and Wax seems to be popular, but other brands seem to work just as well.
I bought some wahs and wax to test and see if I can feel/notice any difference but I haven't tried it yet.
I bought some wahs and wax to test and see if I can feel/notice any difference but I haven't tried it yet.
I'm not in a rush. All I do is pour them into large towel, close the edges and shake the towel, open the towel and let them air dry over night. Works every time.
I tumble the cases, open the drum, pour off as much dirty water as possible, add more water and pour it out, and then dump the cases in my RCBS media separator. Fill the pan with water over the height of the cases and spin the separator for 30 seconds or so. All the pins come out. Pour out the water and give the separator another few spins if I feel like it and dump the cases on the towel. Either shake and dry or simply dry.
K.I.S.S.
I tumble the cases, open the drum, pour off as much dirty water as possible, add more water and pour it out, and then dump the cases in my RCBS media separator. Fill the pan with water over the height of the cases and spin the separator for 30 seconds or so. All the pins come out. Pour out the water and give the separator another few spins if I feel like it and dump the cases on the towel. Either shake and dry or simply dry.
K.I.S.S.
