How long to you tumble your brass?

[38ExtraSpecial]

If I’m tumbling to remove lube then it’s a rifle case. So I probably sized on a single stage press.
After tumbling the lube off I’ll go to my Dillon 550 with a universal decapping die in the first station (no sizing die there because I sized on the single stage) to poke out any media stuck in the flash hole.

 

[Skipmeok]

I use corn cob media for about 3 hours. I place a couple of drops of NuFinish in the media, let it tumble for about 15 minutes to mix into the media, then put in a dryer sheet (this helps keep the media clean), add the brass, set the timer for 3 hours and walk away. BTW, to keep the media out of the primer hole pocket, I leave the primer in. To control the dust, I use the new Lyman Turbo Case/Media Separator ($32.00 on Amazon)....BIG difference IMHO....

 

[moojpg2]

Usually works out to be about 3 or more hours with the dry tumbler (10/14 corn cob w/a squirt of Nufinish every few runs and pieces of used dryer sheet every run). I usually start it when I have other stuff to do which sometimes results in more time than intended. If I was paying attention, probably 1-2 hrs. with fairly new media. Longer with old media.

This works, I use walnut, but with a bit of nufinish car wax, works great, I usually will fill it up with brass before dinner and shut it off sometime after, no specific time, it's probably 2-3 hours or so. I also decap on a single stage with a decapping die before tumbling. I re-size after tumbling, never worried about removing case lube.

Have always wanted to clean brass like Jerry Miculek, he does 5 gallon buckets at a time in cement mixers filled with media lol

 

[IPSC_DRL]

I use a simple lamp timer to run the tumbler for a couple hours. Nufinish and mineral oil and dryer sheets in with the media.

Good luck.

 

[Mike 53]

4-5 hours for fired cases, deprimed first. (in corn w/ Dillon polish)
1 hour to remove sizing lube again in treated corn.
I really like the Frankford Arsenal corn cob in 15lb bag from Amazon, less stuck in primer pockets. Lyman media- I bought a big bucket of their treated media and it drove me crazy with getting stuck in the primer pockets. I ended up throwing it away it was so bad!

 

[milktree]

Dirty stuff I let go overnight. After reloading maybe an hour or to to clean the oils off the brass.

Are you sure you want to tumble loaded ammo? It could mechanically break down the powder into smaller pieces, greatly increasing the surface area, and changing the burn rate. (Which is bad.)

 

[jct61765]

Are you sure you want to tumble loaded ammo? It could mechanically break down the powder into smaller pieces, greatly increasing the surface area, and changing the burn rate. (Which is bad.)

All the ammo manufacturers do to clean the oil and stuff off the brass before packaging.

 

[milktree]

All the ammo manufacturers do to clean the oil and stuff off the brass before packaging.

They all use a vibratory tumbler?

 

[Picton]

Walnut, dry, in the cheapest HF tumbler I could find. I usually leave them in there for 2-4 hours.

I've tried decapping both before and after tumbling, and I don't see much difference. Either way, I sometimes have to rap the case against my bench to dislodge clogged walnut in the case mouth, especially in .38 spl. I undoubtedly need to change out my media.

 

[jct61765]

They all use a vibratory tumbler?

How else would you clean them before packaging?

 

[jpm]

They all use a vibratory tumbler?

Its been studied before, there's several articles on the web about it. They've tumbled the bejesus out of loaded rounds and pulled them open to check the (stick) powder and found no changes.

 

[DW357]

Its been studied before, there's several articles on the web about it. They've tumbled the bejesus out of loaded rounds and pulled them open to check the (stick) powder and found no changes.

This.

 

[milktree]

How else would you clean them before packaging?

I dunno, automated manufacturing does some pretty amazing things, and there's a lot of very clever mechanisms out there I don't know about. My wife works in semiconductor manufacturing, and there's some amazing manufacturing techniques that are *fast* that don't bash the chips around too much. I can imagine there might be a way to clean without lots of vibration.

Its been studied before, there's several articles on the web about it. They've tumbled the bejesus out of loaded rounds and pulled them open to check the (stick) powder and found no changes.

This.

Huh..

I would have bet a nice dinner I'd read the opposite, but I can't remember where, so either I made it up (less likely) or it's bullshit (more likely)

 

[akma]

Wet tumble for about 2 hours. Wet tumbling peens the case mouth a bit so I trim to length after tumbling. Incidentally I noticed the same look on new factory brass.

 

[jct61765]

I dunno, automated manufacturing does some pretty amazing things, and there's a lot of very clever mechanisms out there I don't know about. My wife works in semiconductor manufacturing, and there's some amazing manufacturing techniques that are *fast* that don't bash the chips around too much. I can imagine there might be a way to clean without lots of vibration.





Huh..

I would have bet a nice dinner I'd read the opposite, but I can't remember where, so either I made it up (less likely) or it's bullshit (more likely)

I tumble it after reloading, maybe an hour. Just so the cartridges don't feel greasy.

 

[jct61765]

Every person that has commented here, has their own way of doing it. None of it is wrong, just different. Don't analyze to much and you'll be ok.

 

[Bob P]

3 hours walnut with a tiny bit of car polish added every 4 batches or so. Comes out pretty bright

 

[Mike 53]

I too have tumbled the crap out of RA-54 m2 Ball for hours just to clean off the corrosion. Took one apart to see what happened to the powder and...nothing.

 

[BrianWilson]

Depends on whether I fall asleep before remembering to take them out. I'm pretty sure at some point your just beating the crap out of your media for no gain. Corn, typically 1-2 hours, the Dillon polishing stuff.

 

[swampy]

I don't know if there are experts on on that or not, but I just checked, and I don't happen to be one. My guess is that any normal amount of carbon fouling inside the casing wouldn't matter a bit. Most people don't de-prime before tumbling, which means that they'll end up seating a new primer in nasty-looking primer pocket (which they will never see). If that doesn't cause problems, I don't see how a case that has carbon fouling inside would.

Those nasty primer pockets aren't as bad as flash holes filled with tumbling media.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Are you sure you want to tumble loaded ammo? It could mechanically break down the powder into smaller pieces, greatly increasing the surface area, and changing the burn rate. (Which is bad.)

Virtually every round of loaded commercial factory ammo you've ever shot was tumbled by the manufacturer after it was loaded. The powder doesn't break down. They use vibratory bowl cleaners ("tumblers") the size of Tilt-a-whirl cars.

To answer the OP - Cleaning is over rated. The cases have to be clean enough to detect defects and be free of grit that can damage your dies. The insides don't need to be clean.

I know precision shooters that don't clean their brass other than quickly wiping down the outside of the cases with a rag moistened with Ballistol. I also know shooters that wet tumble it for three hours with stainless pins, dish soap, and Lemishine. Whatever makes you happy.

 

[Broc]

Virtually every round of loaded commercial factory ammo you've ever shot was tumbled by the manufacturer after it was loaded. The powder doesn't break down. They use vibratory bowl cleaners ("tumblers") the size of Tilt-a-whirl cars.

To answer the OP - Cleaning is over rated. The cases have to be clean enough to detect defects and be free of grit that can damage your dies. The insides don't need to be clean.

I know precision shooters that don't clean their brass other than quickly wiping down the outside of the cases with a rag moistened with Ballistol. I also know shooters that wet tumble it for three hours with stainless pins, dish soap, and Lemishine. Whatever makes you happy.

I used to only clean my brass with an ultrasonic cleaner (which doesnt remove much). My brass looked like it was taken out of a WWI trench, and it shot great. The old timers at the club always got a good laugh out of it, I would tell them it was surplus brass loaded with BP from WWI.

I used the same brass for over 20 reloads that way.

Then I got bored and was tired of looking at black/gray/green brass and bought a wet tumbler.

1.5 hours and the brass was 95% clean. Good enough for me.

I never tumbled after reloading.

 

[peterk123]

I use walnut, cap full of car wax, couple of cut up drier sheets to pick up the soot and put the vibrator on for a couple of hours or until I get sick of the noise. Like others have said, cleaning is overrated. But shiny is kind of cool looking

 

[DW357]

put the vibrator on for a couple of hours

Too much information!....

 

[1903Collector]

I dunk em' in Iosso brass cleaner (after de-priming) then a hot water rinse and let them air dry. Then I do all the case prep then tumble for an hour or two. I don't clean cases as I go, I just let empties build up until there is a blizzard or Nor'easter and stuck in the house and then go on a clean-a-thon.

 

[whacko]

I use walnut, cap full of car wax, couple of cut up drier sheets to pick up the soot and put the vibrator on for a couple of hours or until I get sick of the noise. Like others have said, cleaning is overrated. But shiny is kind of cool looking

Shiny is cool. When I got my tumbler last summer I tumbled for 2 hours just to get the grit off......was good enough. Then I forgot to turn the tumbler off one night and left em tumbling for about 6 or 7 hours ......that brass was beautiful! Now I tumble for 5 hours to get them mirror clean for no reason other than I like the look of it.

Yes....I know my tumbler will wear out faster.....and the media will need to be changed more often. I don't care. I like shiny brass.

 

[daekken]

I tumble for 45 minutes to a little over an hour max. Once or twice I got distracted or forgot and let it run for about 90 minutes.
Crushed walnut shells with some plain white rice, and cut up dryer sheets that I refresh with each batch.

Comes out plenty clean.

 

[Broc]

The other day I wet tumbled but didnt add Dawn, l only used the diluted solution that comes with the Frankford wet tumbler.

I also didnt rinse the brass (I shoot BP and like to rinse it before I throw it in the wet tumbler).

Anyway, the brass came out a cool gray look. I put a new case next to them so you can see the difference:



I removed the primers and threw it back in the tumbler for 1hr with dawn. I ruined the cool look and now it looks like shiny brass.

 

[whacko]

The other day I wet tumbled but didnt add Dawn, l only used the diluted solution that comes with the Frankford wet tumbler.

I also didnt rinse the brass (I shoot BP and like to rinse it before I throw it in the wet tumbler).

Anyway, the brass came out a cool gray look. I put a new case next to them so you can see the difference:

View attachment 323466

I removed the primers and threw it back in the tumbler for 1hr with dawn. I ruined the cool look and now it looks like shiny brass.

I like mine shiny!

 

[drgrant]

Shiny is cool. When I got my tumbler last summer I tumbled for 2 hours just to get the grit off......was good enough. Then I forgot to turn the tumbler off one night and left em tumbling for about 6 or 7 hours ......that brass was beautiful! Now I tumble for 5 hours to get them mirror clean for no reason other than I like the look of it.

Yes....I know my tumbler will wear out faster.....and the media will need to be changed more often. I don't care. I like shiny brass.

I used to literally just let them run overnight as a matter of course. Tumblers are so cheap worrying about the motor burning out is skinflint mode. They're cheap enough everyone
should have more than one.

-Mike