Inexpensive tumbler...

[Mike Irwin]

Right up front, I'll say I have never tumbled my brass. If it's dirty, I wash it. If it's stained or tarnished, I don't care.

That said, I had a couple of misfires/squibs this weekend that I can only attribute to lube contamination of my powder.

I loaded 100 rounds of .32-20 with Trail Boss for my S&W revolver. Because the .32-20 is bottlenecked, no carbide dies, and lube is required.

I used a pump lube from Frankford Arsenal. I tried to go sparingly, and keep it out of the case mouths, but I apparently wasn't all that successful.

Out of 100 rounds, I had several that were SIGNIFICANTLY lower pressured than others, one that sort of just... lobbed the bullet at VERY low velocity, and one that resulted in the bullet being stuck in the barrel, and a very protracted fizzle as the powder SLOWLY burned.

So, if I'm going ton continue to load .32-20, I need a small, inexpensive tumbler for the sole purpose of removing case lube.

Any suggestions on make?

Capacity?

Corn Cob good enough to remove lube?

Any advice you have is greatly appreciated.

 

[SL1]

Mike,

The small rotating barrel type tumblers are cheap when I see them at Harbor Freight. They seem to be the same as my Thumbler's Tumbler that I bought decades ago and still use. They have a relatively small capacity, but you can load them pretty full if all you want to do is wipe away the lube. Corncob is better for wiping lube than walnut.

But, if you already wash cases, why not just wash them again? It would probably be quicker than tumbling and then picking cob crumbs out of the flash-holes.

SL1

 

[Scorch]

Mike-
I have found tumblers to all be fairly similar, whether you use the orange ones, blue ones, green ones, etc. I throw the cases in and let it run for a while, how long depends on how bad the cases are. I tumble about 20 mins to 45 mins max, I don't care if my brass is so shiny it sparkles in the noonday sun. And I use the Lyman media, which is just corn cob, but occasionally I give it a shot of rouge and NuFinish.

Another suggestion is to switch to Imperial Sizing Wax. I have used it for 20 years or so, and I have never had powder contamination issues.

 

[QBall45]

Lyman 1200
Crushed Walnut
NuFinish car polish
Used dryer sheets.

With any tumbler you want to be certain there is a cooling fan on the motor. Read too many threads about em getting hot any fryin wires.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Red Green would have you duct tape a 5gal bucket to your car wheel and then drive into town on an errand <grin>.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I thought walnut was for polishing.

I DO NOT CARE if my brass is nice and bright and shiny and winks at me in the sunlight.

 

[snuffy]

I DO NOT CARE if my brass is nice and bright and shiny and winks at me in the sunlight.

It's not about how it looks. It's about how clean it is. Since you wash your dirty brass, how sure are you that it's really clean? In my mind, washing and rinsing only moves the grit around. I like clean cases going into my dies. If they just happen to be shiny, all the better. I also like DRY cases going through the process.

I tried Iosso brass wash ONCE! I had miss fires from some water that didn't get dried out of the insides. Please don't say sit them out in the sun! In Wisconsin, sunny days amount to MAYBE 20 days in the summer. Lots of clear sunny days in the winter, but water evaporates very slowly below freezing! And my mother would have had my butt in a sling if I tried using the oven!

 

[Mike Irwin]

I've run over 35,000 rounds through one of my 9mms, probably 32,000 of it my reloads, with the cases being washed. At least washed once in awhile.

Washing only moves grit around if you let the grit settle back onto the cases after washing.

That's what rinsing on a screen does, removes the grit.

And I have enough brass that once it's washed, it will likely be a year or more before it's used, and for much of that time it's been lying in front of the dehumidifier on a sheet.


My intention is to remove case lube from the cases.

Nothing else.

My thoughts are that untreated corncob will do that better than anything else.

And yes, I say UNTREATED corn cob because my intention is only to remove the case lube from the cases. The tumbler will NOT be used to shine, brighten, lighten, polish, or winky-wink the cartridge brass.

 

[Ron]

Well, I have to say I like my brass nice and shiny. It rells me it's very clean for reloading. Use walnut media, NuFinish polish, and dryer sheets cut up into quarters.

 

[QBall45]

I'm not sure if/where the idea that walnut was for polishing and corncob for cleaning has developed.

I like walnut for a few reasons: lizard litter is Cheap at the petstore. It does a fine job cleaning my cases. And, it never gets stuck in the flash holes. Yes it happens to shine up my brass...side affects are nice.

Walnut will readily remove case lube with out the use of additives. I would however add the dryer sheet. It cuts down dust and removes some of the dirt from the media.

Mike, what's the deal with not wanting your brass shiny like it was when new? I know it does not affect proformance, but...shiny brass is easier to find in the grass...unless maybe you have access to shoot on sand/gravel...then it would make no differance.

I'm thinking outloud with the keyboard again...sorry.

 

[Kyo]

i bought a smart reloader tumbler.
http://cgi.ebay.com/SMART-RELOADER-...in_0?hash=item27ab004350&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
it works great. I don't mind having to get the brass out of the walnut media. I was told corn was for shiny, walnut is for clean. Well, it cleans them pretty good after about 2-3 hours in it. It can hold lots of rounds but I have only tried with 2-300 45 ACP's. I like mine. Its noisy, but what do you expect. There is no on/off switch. You plug it in and thats it. It comes with a cover, and a nut to make sure it stays on. assembly took 5 minutes of not even trying. hope that helps!

 

[Mike Irwin]

It's not a question of want/not want.

It's a question of I simply don't care.

If walnut media removes case lube, I'll get myself a bag of lizard litter and go to town.

 

[Jeff H]

This looks about identical to all teh other vibratory tumblers out there, but costs $50 from Harbor Freight. Much cheaper than the competition. For me, I could give a crap about the "you get what you pay for" theory. With the initial cash outlay to get the reloading supplies, saving on a tumbler is a big deal. If it lasts several years, I will happily replace it once cash gets looser, but my bet is that I will get 10 years + out of this cheap one.

 

[rantingredneck]

For the last 2 years I've used a Frankford Arsenal tumbler i bought from my local shop for 35-40 bucks. I use crushed corn cob. I just replaced the media for the first time about a month ago. I've used the dryer sheet trick a few times to clean the media.

I use a $1.50 plastic collander from Walmart and an empty plastic 3 gallon bucket that had pool chemicals in it to separate the corn cob out of the brass. Put collander in top of bucket pour contents of tumbler in collander. Place lid over top and give it a healthy shake.

I've never tried walnut. May buy some lizard litter next time instead of the corn cob tumbler media.

 

[QBall45]

Mike,
I for the life of could not figure "why in the world this guy don't want his brass to shine". Not caring one way or the other makes more sense.

Walnut will do what ya want.

Petco Petsmart should have 25 liter bags(about #50) for $20 or less.

 

[David Wile]

Hey Mike,

For whatever it is worth to you, I wash the lube from my cases in gasoline. If I am single staging it, I wash them after sizing and depriming. If using the progressive, I was the finished rounds in gasoline. Once washed, cases or finished rounds, I dry them on a towell. I use a vibratory cleaner to shine the brass after the rounds are loaded. If the thought of gasoline causes you discomfort, then try Stoddard solvent. I don't like the idea of using my cleaning media to remove lube. It shortens the useful life of the media.

No, I do not use gallons of gas to wash the rounds or the cases. I use a quart or so in a coffee can and slosh the lubed cases around in the gas for a few seconds. I then dry them off with a towel.

Never had any squibs from the washing, and never had any loaded rounds go off in the vibratory tumbler.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

 

[jepp2]

Maybe the Lizard Litter in your neck of the woods is finer than what I buy. But it does hang up in the flash hole for me. I have only found that the fine walnut blast media from Harbor Freight does not get caught. And it is cheaper for me to buy too.

I admit I am a Lyman fan. But their Turbo 1200 is on sale currently at Midway for $44.99

http://midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=158440

I have had EXCELLENT life from Lyman tumblers. I read lots of stories about "cheaper" tumblers failing. They just don't have the motor to stand up long term. And you don't need a colander or anything else. Just turn it upside down and shake it like you are panning gold.

I agree solvents or gasoline may successfully remove sizing lube, but I don't care for the environmental impact, the smell, and the film they leave on the brass.

But as you can see, there is a lot of spread in preferences on cleaning brass. And I am not saying mine are any better than anyone else. They are just mine.

 

[Swampghost]

Anybody will tell you that using gasoline for ANY cleaning is akin to standing under a tree during a lightning storm, definitely NOT recommended.

I have a rotisserie for my BBQ, see where I'm going? The right size plastic bucket w/lid, drill a few holes for the rod and tines, add some 1X2's around the interior of the bucket and voila!

 

[Walther22lr]

In my case, I use the RCBS water soluble resizing lube. After my brass is resized, I place them in a large bucket. I then take the bucket and rinse the brass in water. I may add a very small amount of dish soap. I agitate the water and brass and change the water perhaps three times.

I then drain the brass and place them on a towel in the garage for either a day or a couple of days to dry (depends on the time of year).

Using this method, I have not had any problems with squibs or powder contamination as you have mentioned.

 

[GP100man]

go ahead & buy 1 of the kits with the seperator & all .
once ya start shining ya brass ya won`t go back.

i polish mine for inspection & givin my dies long life.
sometimes at the range it seperates my brass from there brass.