stainless tumbling...

[dcloco]

Something that nobody has mentioned yet, LESS garbage in your dies and press. Easier to size ultra clean brass as well...just a touch, but is noticeable. I am ANAL about clean brass - stainless media tumbling takes less time and provides a CLEAN base to build on.

[LongRange]

Yes. Soft water less Lemishine. Maybe a pinch. Rinsing the snot out of them makes huge difference for tarnish. Too much LS gives me rose colored brass. I air dry/anneal here in Phoenix at 110 degrees. They dry REAL fast. I also towel dry the excess off the cases leaving them on a towel on the concrete.

Greg

thats what im getting is the rose color not the white shinny brass...im going to shoot the 50pcs of 300 brass this weekend then tumble with less LS and less dawn and see how they come out.

[Robinhood]

I had put some water softener in with mine and it came out rose colored. Stopped using softener and the shined up like they should have. I can be very liberal with the LS in my hard water but the soft water must have been the issue for me. I just know that when the water softener was used it created the pink copper color.

[sparky123321]

Anything "basic" or "alkaline" is probably causing your discoloration. Primarily, using too much detergent or not thoroughly rinsing your brass will cause it to discolor. No worries though. If your clean brass gets discolored for any reason just re-rinse it in clean water with a little dissolved Lemishine. One final rinse in clean cold water and you should be good to go. Remember that the hot water and the SS pins really do almost all of the cleaning. Detergent just helps to loosen and float off any oils or resizing lube/wax while Lemishine will help remove any tarnish and brighten the brass.

[seanhagerty]

If you want shiny brass to stay shiny try this.

After SS cleaning, dry the brass, then put it in a dry vibratory tumbler with either corn cob or walnut and some liquid auto shine. Just a bit. Tumble it for ten min and this will coat your brass and it will stay bright forever.

[LongRange]

Anything "basic" or "alkaline" is probably causing your discoloration. Primarily, using too much detergent or not thoroughly rinsing your brass will cause it to discolor. No worries though. If your clean brass gets discolored for any reason just re-rinse it in clean water with a little dissolved Lemishine. One final rinse in clean cold water and you should be good to go. Remember that the hot water and the SS pins really do almost all of the cleaning. Detergent just helps to loosen and float off any oils or resizing lube/wax while Lemishine will help remove any tarnish and brighten the brass.

Yep...ive found if i just mix a tiny pinch in warm water and dip the cases then rinse it cleans them up...i should have written all this down but i ran one batch that came out perfect and i think it was in cold water with no soap...if it gets above 30deg this weekend ill go shoot 50 rounds and tumble 25 at a time and figure out what combo came out clean...i also tumbled a batch with a 1/4 cup of slip 2000 carbon killer and it seemed to help remove the carbon faster ill have to try it again as well.

If you want shiny brass to stay shiny try this.

After SS cleaning, dry the brass, then put it in a dry vibratory tumbler with either corn cob or walnut and some liquid auto shine. Just a bit. Tumble it for ten min and this will coat your brass and it will stay bright forever.

Thanks for the tip...

[Texas10]

For what it's worth, stuff I've learned the hard way...

If you live in an area with fairly hard water you probably need to switch to bottled water in your final cleaning/rinse solution, or up the amount of acid by using more Lemishine or vinegar. Too little acid in the presence of salt/minerals will promote corrosion instead of cleaning.

I've experienced rose colored brass after cleaning with a mixture of vinegar and salt and tap water. I've read on other forums that this makes a weak hydrochloric acid and the rose color is the result of the zinc being leached out of the surface of the brass, turning it more towards copper than brass. I don't get this with Lemishine (citric acid), just get clean brass.

I did try vinegar and salt in my ultra-sonic cleaner too and made the mistake of leaving it in for a few days. Ate it's way right through the bottom of what I thought was a SS tub, but was actually nickel plated steel. I suspect the nickel plating was a bit too thin in a few places. The brass did clean up well, except for the slight rose coloration in spots, mostly around the neck where it had been factory annealed.

For drying, I give a quick shot of compressed air and then place them into a cardboard box that I've cut a hole in the side of to insert a hair dryer. Set on low and with a vent hole in the other side so as not to obstruct airflow through the hair dryer, this will easily get up to 140 degrees. I find this safer and more effective than using a cooking oven, and 20 or 30 minutes in the hot box will cook out all the moisture. I've been using this hot box technique for about 30 years, it's quite effective. Regarding fire risks, most modern hair dryers have an overheat limit switch so even if you completely screw up by obstructing the inflow or outflow, they'll shut off before starting a fire. I've never got one to go hotter than 180, so no risk of softening the brass. I monitor temps with a meat thermometer poked into the side of the box.

I hope this helps.

[Rick_W]

OK folks help me out here...

I've been contemplating going with one of these for a little while as I "hear" how much easier it is to use and how much cleaner the brass gets (inside and out).

Now the cleaner part I can see (visually), but I wonder how clean brass has to be. Inside or out.

As for the easier part, I'm really not getting it. Two-three hours tumbling with the pins then rinsing two-three times with fresh water and then drying. And then, some even throw the brass into a vibratory cleaner with corncob/walnut media after that.

I personally throw my brass, usually 200-250 pieces of .38 Special, in a vibratory cleaner with walnut media and a few drops of Nu Finish liquid car polish for two-three hours and then separate it. The brass is usually quite clean & shiny on the outside. I'm not too concerned with the inside and I don't deprime until after I tumble.

My hunting brass will get the primer pockets cleaned out quickly with a hand-held primer cleaning tool.

[Twinsen]

Does the tarnished look affect performance? I've only tumbled a couple times. I didn't use lemishine, just a little detergent. They don't look perfect, and the insides aren't cleaned out, but they look a lot better than corn cob ever did.

I ran some m855 pulls and it cleaned off all the tar sealant and the stuuuuuupid green paint. Also I found a 55gr pill hiding in the bag. Last time it was a 190gr in a box of 175s.

[Robinhood]

Does the tarnished look affect performance?

Yes, It creates a better boundary layer of air so as you eject the case it results in the cases flying so far back that you cant find them. Ive seen an improvement of case B.C. of as much as .5% Some Benchrest guys us emery cloth while turning the brass in a fixture chucked up in a cordless drill.



Just kidding. It doesn't hurt a thing. Get some lemishine at the grocery store and put a pinch in there and you will be amazed.

[Twinsen]

I appreciate the info and the sarcasm. I swear you could build a skyscraper with just nails and sarcasm. Magic stuff.

Case BC got me. I was like "does that have something to do with neck tension or does he mean Ballistic... OH YOU SON OF A *****!"

[LongRange]

OK folks help me out here...

I've been contemplating going with one of these for a little while as I "hear" how much easier it is to use and how much cleaner the brass gets (inside and out).

Now the cleaner part I can see (visually), but I wonder how clean brass has to be. Inside or out.

As for the easier part, I'm really not getting it. Two-three hours tumbling with the pins then rinsing two-three times with fresh water and then drying. And then, some even throw the brass into a vibratory cleaner with corncob/walnut media after that.

I personally throw my brass, usually 200-250 pieces of .38 Special, in a vibratory cleaner with walnut media and a few drops of Nu Finish liquid car polish for two-three hours and then separate it. The brass is usually quite clean & shiny on the outside. I'm not too concerned with the inside and I don't deprime until after I tumble.

My hunting brass will get the primer pockets cleaned out quickly with a hand-held primer cleaning tool.

I dont know so much thats its easier as cleaning brass is a PITA no matter how you do it but ss tumbling eliminates you cleaning your primer pockets so that eliminates that step...and ive come to the conclusion that you dont need to rinse it several times and that my water is very hard which is causing the rose/copper color...i just got 200pcs of new lapua brass and when i put the last batch i tumbled next to brand new lapua the only difference is the new brass has a mirror like shine because its smooth and free of scratches but as far as the color its exactly the same....ive always only cleaned the outside of my brass with 0000 steel wool with makes the brass more of a brass color (white gold so to speak)so i just need to get use to the gold color. Im going to tumble my next batch in bottoled water,1/2tsp dawn and a little over 1/4tsp lemishine and see how that works...ive found with my tap water the less dawn i use the shinier the brass is. Also nice to see the inside of the cases instead of a black crud caked to the insides.

[sparky123321]

I love using SS pins, but it's much more involved and takes up a lot more of my time compared to a vibratory cleaner. However, using the SS pin causes less wear and tear on my dies and I no longer need to manually clean my primer pockets or necks. I also feel(know) my annealing/neck tension and seating pressure are much more consistent due to the brass being in like new condition while preforming those processes.

Here's my process:
1) Decap only
2) Thoroughly clean brass in SS pins
3) Anneal
4) Lube and FL resize brass
5) 10 minutes in a vibratory cleaner with corncob to remove the lube
6) Reload

[bbqncigars]

I put some Armor All Wash and Wax instead of Dawn into the water when I tumble. It gets just as clean, and seems to stay shiny longer. The wax it leaves is not a substitute for case lube, though. (I had to try it)

[LongRange]

i think ive got the recipe down now...these are the cases that i finished turning necks on last night PRIOR to tumbling to remove the imperial wax off the cases. the cases were tumbled about 2 weeks ago using 1TBL spoon of blue dawn and 1/4tsp of limeshine and as you can see they are a little dull and have black spots on them....

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff515/LTT-/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-17.jpg (http://s1239.photobucket.com/user/LTT-/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-17.jpg.html)

these are the same cases i neck turned AFTER i tumbled(for 1 hour to remove the wax)and dried...this time i tumbled with 1TSP of yellow ajax and a rounded 1/4TSP of limeshine....its a crappy pic but the cases are now the shinier white brass color not the dull gold color and no black spots....

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff515/LTT-/Mobile%20Uploads/photo1-43.jpg (http://s1239.photobucket.com/user/LTT-/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo1-43.jpg.html)

this pic is a little better...

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff515/LTT-/Mobile%20Uploads/photo2-43.jpg (http://s1239.photobucket.com/user/LTT-/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo2-43.jpg.html)

[tomme boy]

I bought some 357 mag brass from someone that ran them in the SS pins. I now have 2K rounds of brass that I have to chamfer on the inside and out side as it crushes in both the expander die and the seater die. What a pain in the arse. I can see rifle brass doing this but not pistol. It defeats the whole purpose of a pistol round.

[yobuck]

Im not necessarily one that needs things bright and shiney. I do tumble my brass occaisionaly in the old corn cob media
but usually only when it starts to embarras me. And ive never gone the extra step some do to get the extra shine even when i do.
My proceedure for many years has been to use hand tools to clean primer pockets and inside case necks. Ive noticed however that
after loaded ammo sits for awhile it can sometimes be difficult removing bullets from the cases. To the degree in some cases where the grip type
bullet pullers wont do the job. No doubt this can cause pressure spikes when firing this type of ammo. Ive never conducted any type of test
to determine if this situation takes place with new or sqeaky clean brass as well as with sooty neck reloads. Ive known quite a few competative
shooters over the years and loading proceedures is always a topic of conversation. But ive not heard this particular topic discussed.
I was shooting some ammo that had been loaded for about 5 years this fall while practicing shooting distant rocks. Several of the rounds gave me
a very heavy bolt lift on a load ive been using for many years. I swithced over to some of my sons ammo of the same load and had no issues.
Pulling 2 of his and 2 of mine revealed exactly the same powder charge of the same powder. Pulling the bullets was where there was a difference however.
Most of mine were seemingly welded to the case and required using dikes to pull them. I of coarse pulled all i had and threw away all the ruined bullets
and powder. Has anyone else experienced this and if so what was your remedy for correcting it?

[BillPa]

Has anyone else experienced this and if so what was your remedy for correcting it?

More than once bucky. Sometimes if you seat them only a .001" or so deeper you'll fell/hear then break lose.

I've heard opinions why "bullet welding" happens but nothing concrete. Some seem to think its sizing lube, some kind of a reaction between the brass -bullet jacket, residue from cleaning, lube on the bullets from manufacturing process and etc. What's strange, some may be welded and some not in the same batch, no rime or reason why.

My remedy, seat them a .001 or so deeper to break the weld then fire or pull the bullets.

Bill

[LongRange]

I bought some 357 mag brass from someone that ran them in the SS pins. I now have 2K rounds of brass that I have to chamfer on the inside and out side as it crushes in both the expander die and the seater die. What a pain in the arse. I can see rifle brass doing this but not pistol. It defeats the whole purpose of a pistol round.

my riffle brass does this every time...i dont load for pistol and 9MM are cheap...but i trim and chamfer every time anyway so its not an issue for me...when loading for pistol do you NOT normally chamfer every time?

[LongRange]

Im not necessarily one that needs things bright and shiney. I do tumble my brass occaisionaly in the old corn cob media
but usually only when it starts to embarras me. And ive never gone the extra step some do to get the extra shine even when i do.
My proceedure for many years has been to use hand tools to clean primer pockets and inside case necks. Ive noticed however that
after loaded ammo sits for awhile it can sometimes be difficult removing bullets from the cases. To the degree in some cases where the grip type
bullet pullers wont do the job. No doubt this can cause pressure spikes when firing this type of ammo. Ive never conducted any type of test
to determine if this situation takes place with new or sqeaky clean brass as well as with sooty neck reloads. Ive known quite a few competative
shooters over the years and loading proceedures is always a topic of conversation. But ive not heard this particular topic discussed.
I was shooting some ammo that had been loaded for about 5 years this fall while practicing shooting distant rocks. Several of the rounds gave me
a very heavy bolt lift on a load ive been using for many years. I swithced over to some of my sons ammo of the same load and had no issues.
Pulling 2 of his and 2 of mine revealed exactly the same powder charge of the same powder. Pulling the bullets was where there was a difference however.
Most of mine were seemingly welded to the case and required using dikes to pull them. I of coarse pulled all i had and threw away all the ruined bullets
and powder. Has anyone else experienced this and if so what was your remedy for correcting it?

ive had ammo that has only sat around for a few months do weird things...flyers wouldnt group for sh.t...same ammo freshly loaded shoots bug holes so i dont keep hand loads around longer than a week. and im going on theory here but youve seen grease or oil that sits around for years right...kinda turns to paste so my thoughts are that...like Bill said...the wax and or oil glues the bullets to the cases...why factory ammo dont do it?? maybe because of the tight factory crimp seals the bullet so that less or no air can get to the oil??