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Using stainless steel media pace

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  • poppop

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    I've been using stainless steel media for some time and it works wonders on brass. some of you may know that
    I sell used reloading equipment and many of my "buys" include partially full boxes of bullets. most of them
    are years old and are tarnished. many like me really don't care but I've a few to turn up their noses at them.
    today on a lark I placed a handful of mixed projectiles in the stainless media and this is what happened.

    View attachment 35957
     

    Tyler2142

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    Thats fantastic. Ive honestly always used corn cob. Do you have to use a special tumbler to use stainless steel media? Where do you buy it from? Thanks.
     

    SAWMAN

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    Is your tumbler a rolling drum or a viberator style ??

    I have an older Dillon viberator style "tumbler". I use walnut shell media that I got free from some old jet mechs that I knew in the Navy. I put a cap full of ISSO in it every third or forth time used and my brass or bullets come out great.

    I also noticed the other day that Harbor Freight had a freakin' HUGE(!) viberator style "tumbler" on the shelf. Biggest one that I have ever seen. Could probably handle 700 pieces of 308 brass. Can't remember the price but it was cheap. Unsure of the quality. --- SAWMAN
     
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    dvr6

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    Is your tumbler a rolling drum or a viberator style ??

    I have an older Dillon viberator style "tumbler". I use walnut shell media that I got free from some old jet mechs that I knew in the Navy. I put a cap full of ISSO in it every third or forth time used and my brass or bullets come out great.

    I also noticed the other day that Harbor Freight had a freakin' HUGE(!) viberator style "tumbler" on the shelf. Biggest one that I have ever seen. Could probably handle 700 pieces of 308 brass. Can't remember the price but it was cheap. Unsure of the quality. --- SAWMAN

    Sawman I've read elsewhere that you cannot use a vibrator type for stainless media. It is supposed to be a rolling tumbler and it is a wet process. Stainless media, water, dawn soap, and lemi shine.
     

    SAWMAN

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    Not sayin' that this system isn't the "cat's meow" but,I do not want my brass to come in contact with anything wet. I want the least possible chance of a misfire.

    Using the above meathod,how do you dry your brass ... and ... after dry,is there any kind of residue remaining ?? --- SAWMAN
     

    dvr6

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    I don't use this system, but have considered it. I've seen some videos where they were drying brass low temp in a toaster oven or similar. I would guess air drying over a screen would work as long as you give it enough time. Don't know about the residue, but I would assume no or not enough to make any difference. I would think you would also need to wipe water droplets off the brass as soon as it comes out to prevent dark spots from forming.
     

    Idoono

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    After cleaning my brass and seperating the media I use a towel to wipe any remaining water spots off. Then I use a dehydrator to dry my brass. Brass looks like new.

    Idoono
     

    bigbulls

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    I will be making a stainless media tumbler sometime in the near future. Once you finish tumbling them you take them out of the cleaning solution and rinse with hot water and put them out in the sun for a couple of hours and they are dry and sparkling clean. In the winter time put them in the oven on the lowest setting for half an hour. Cleans primer pockets and flash holes like nothing else can.

    No more dust, cleans quicker, brass is cleaner, media never wears out.
     
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    JohnAL

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    The only negative I have come up with is getting the SS media separated from the cases while wet. It's a real PITA. Go ahead and get some kind of media separator to start with and save yourself a headache.

    I bought my entire rig from http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/ but I did not buy the media separator. After two cleaning sessions I ordered the separator. http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/reloading-products/accessories/media-separator-deluxe.html
     

    dvr6

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    I went ahead and picked up 2 lbs of the stainless media and tried it out. Worked great. The tumbled brass turned out looking new inside and out. I also tumbled some nickle plated brass and liked the results as well. The deciding factor for me was eliminating dust produced by vibration cleaning to help reduce lead exposure.
     

    shadeogray

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    Question, in the Navy when we wanted to shine up some old hunk of brass we would soak it in white vinegar for a bit, rinse with water and dry it. Looked bright as hell when done. Would this not work on bullets?
     

    Mozella

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    The only negative I have come up with is getting the SS media separated from the cases while wet. It's a real PITA. ....... snip .............

    Actually its dead easy with the right equipment and a little technique. And for once the very best way is also the cheapest. That is NOT normal with our sport.

    Buy yourself a Frankford Arsenal Standard Media Separator. The name is fancy, but it's simply a plastic colander and costs $8.89 on Amazon. The key is that it is very deep and fits perfectly into a 5 gal Home Depot plastic bucket; chances are you own a bucket already. Put the separator into the bucket, dump your wet brass and media into the separator, stir everything around for a few seconds which gets rid of 95% of the pins and then shake. Go gently at first, and then more vigorously for about 15 or 20 seconds. Now all the pins are in the big bucket and you can dump your brass into a second smaller bucket to wash and rinse with fresh water. Use hot water if you wish. That promotes faster drying. Then dump the brass back into the separator and shake off most of the water. Dump the cases into a large towel, grab the ends and make a hammock shape, and then slide the brass around in the towel by raising and lowering your hands in an alternating motion, shaking as you go. This takes about 20 seconds and leaves the outside dry.

    Finally, pour the brass into a mesh bag, the kind used for dirty clothes. Tie a big knot in the end and trap the bag in the door of your wife's clothes dryer. The bag of brass will hang inside the door without coming in contact with the rotating dryer drum. Set the dryer on 20 or 30 minutes and you're done. If you don't have a clothes dryer, you can blast the cases with a heat gun or, a hair dryer, or set them in the sun if you prefer solar energy.

    Take the 5 gal bucket and pour the nasty water and pins through a sieve. Rinse the pins for a few seconds and pour them into a plastic storage container for next time. The few which stick in the sieve or escape can be picked up with a magnet. The kind with a plunger are best so you can collect the few remaining pins, hold the magnet over your storage container, pull the plunger and the pins drop. I do this operation in a utility sink over a bucket which helps catch any run-away pins and prevents them from going down the drain.
     

    Mozella

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    Question, in the Navy when we wanted to shine up some old hunk of brass we would soak it in white vinegar for a bit, rinse with water and dry it. Looked bright as hell when done. Would this not work on bullets?
    Yes, but save the vinegar for basting your BBQ ribs and use Lemi Shine for your tumbling water and/or rinse water.
     

    Crazydoc68

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    Question, in the Navy when we wanted to shine up some old hunk of brass we would soak it in white vinegar for a bit, rinse with water and dry it. Looked bright as hell when done. Would this not work on bullets?

    It works on rifle brass pretty well! I've used it before in a mixture of dawn soap, Lemi shine and white vinegar. Make sure water is nice and hot!
     
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