Stainless steel pin brass polishing tumblers

[Gabriel Law]

I have a Lyman media vibrating polisher, but it is disappointing for black powder soiled cases.   Can anyone suggest a good stainless steel pin polisher, and where to acquire it?

[Major 2]

https://www.amazon.com/Frankford-Arsenal-Stainless-Tumbling-Reloading/dp/B07KT95P5Q/ref=asc_df_B07KT95P5Q/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid={creative}&hvpos={adposition}&hvnetw=o&hvrand={random}&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl={devicemodel}&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584001420631735&psc=1


or   

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Tumbling-Media-Pins/dp/B00IER21M6/ref=pd_sim_b2b_5/130-7703117-8788549?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00IER21M6&pd_rd_r=e20567d2-e621-4a4f-8a91-063f4f001e13&pd_rd_w=ey62O&pd_rd_wg=zIZRP&pf_rd_p=a07701e4-f565-442a-b97f-93ab23cbb7ef&pf_rd_r=7KCB7GNMBSN3396MC7CK&psc=1&refRID=7KCB7GNMBSN3396MC7CK


But a bit of experience , it works best in a tumbler with water & lemon shine a tad of Turtle wax will keep them bright in storage...

[Gabriel Law]

Thanks Major 2.  I ordered the 7 l. Platinum system.  Comes with 5 pounds of pins.  I'll buy a cullender for separating shells and media.

[Major 2]

It is an envying price @ $107 .... lets us know how it works   

I use a Thumler's  Rock Tumbler that was $220.00

[hellgate]

I really don't want to mess with wet media. Can you just use the SS pins and rinse them off? I don't care to have to dry my brass. The use of detergents, water, etc. seems like a lot of work for little gain. It is pretty easy to just let the tumbler run an hour or more longer to get the brass shinier with walnut. If I really want a shine I use corncob and Brasso.

[Gabriel Law]

Cartridges fired with smokless polish perfectly in walnut shells media in a vibrating machine.  But black powder shells, particularly ones that i shot on Saturday and clean on Tuesday, never come out nice.  And my 45-70 Sharps cases get water/soap cleaned with an electric drill and brush, de-primed, dried, and spun on a 30-06 case in the drill press with Brasso on 0000 steel wool.  That's a lot of work and time.  So I'm going to the steel pin and water system.  I'll have a report in due course.

Major, Canadian cash is 1.33 of the USD, so with shipping, I paid $276.77.  I've been ordering stuff for my whole life, from the USA, so I'm used to the exchange thing.  I do not let it interfere with my life.  It won't be chaper next year, and I can't make it for that money.

[Bunk Stagnerg]

stainless pins are as PITA but I figured out a system
Take a heavy duty  zip lock bag and turn it inside out.
In the bag put one of those rare earth magnets, a big one.
Pick up the pins
Turn the bag right side out.
The pins are now in the bag so zip it up and store the magnet somewhere.
DONE!
Respectfully
Bunk

[Major 2]

$276.77 for the Franklin Armory tumbler ? 


Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Rotary Tumbler Lite with Clear Viewing Window and Leakproof Seal for Cleaning and Polishing During Reloading
by Frankford Arsenal

List Price: On Amazon.com is
$143.99
current Price:
$107.24


@ $107.24 shipped I might get one of these too


Bunk  I just flush the old water /lemon shine  and dry my pins on a blue shop towel then store them dry in the drums ?.

[Dick Dastardly]

Just because I want better than new shiny brass, here's how it's done.  Mix 2oz tumbling soap, 1/2 tsp trisodium phosphate, 1/2 tsp lemi shine in one gallon of water.  Put deprimed brass in rotary tumbler, put in SS Pin media and pour in enough tumbling mix to cover the brass and pins about 1/2".  Tumble 3 hours.  Strain and drain and return brass to tumbler with Ceramic Porcelain media and fresh tumbling mix and tumble 3 more hours.  Separate brass, rinse and throw into shaker with corncob media to dry.  Result, perfectly sparkling clean brass including primer pockets.  Just because I want better than new shiny brass. . .

DD-MDA

[Coffinmaker]

YOU     GUYS     ARE     KNUTZ!!!!   STARK     RAVING     LOONS     AWREADY!!!!!!

Gabriel, your washing your cases WRONG (I think).  I shoot APP on Saturday and wash the cases immediately!!  Like by Wednesday or Thursday.  I wash my cases in Tap Hot Water (inna sink) with a goodly amount of White Vinegar.  Let em sit for .. oh .. 30 minute than rinse.  Toss em inna Dillon vibrator tumbler for 90 minutes.  PRESTO!!  Nice looking cases.  Some staining happens.

DDD, there are very effective treatments for OCD.  Really!!  There are!!  Trust Me!!!!

Let us also remember.  I'm LAZY.  Sparkely brass is entirely too much WORK.  Doesn't shoot any better than lightly stained brass.  So There!!

[Gabriel Law]

Coffinmaker:  I appreciate your point of view,and there's no way I would try to convince you that you are doing it wrong.  I don't understand why, but I have to have my rifle cartridge brass as new looking as I can, and my revolver brass can be a little gungy, but I've been dissatisfied with walnut hull media in a vibrating cleaner, so have sought a better way.  I thank those who contributed to my making a purchase.  My main gripe with black powder fouling, is cleaning individual cases, one at a time, for an hour when a machine can do it better without the waste of my time.  I'm hoping the new tumbler will be the answer.

[Gabriel Law]

Major:  I bought the tumbler through Amazon.  I bought the bigger unit - the 7 litre one, and it is $161.99 plus shipping to Canada, times 1.33 % exchange.  Unit comes with 5 pounds ss pin media rather than 2 pounds, as in the smaller unit.

[Major 2]

Very well  Sir 

?..the reason I use a tumbler as opposed to other methods is the same reason I don't beat my clothes on a rock and hang under some pooping birds on some line....

Tumbler takes less time and is convenient to me ?.   

[greenjoytj]

I clean my 45 Colt cases that have been fired with real black powder in an RCBS rotary tumbler.
50 cases at a time 5# of SS pins, 1 litre of hot water, 15 ml Cascade dish washing machine powdered detergent and 1.25ml of Lemi-shine detergent booster crystals.

I tried adding TSP. but it makes the wash water so slippery it?s like an oil bath, I think it making the tumbling process take longer.

I press out the spent primers and dry scrape clean the primer pockets using the same tool that was used to uniform the primer pockets.

I pre clean the brass, 50 cases swirled in a 2# margarine tub with Dawn liquid dish detergent.
Do not use liquid Dawn in the tumbler, it makes too much suds, you want to use low suds dish washing machine detergent.  My favourite is Cascade brand.

I do spin a bronze brush in the cases with a cordless drill.  Brush mounted in a shortened piece of cleaning rod. The case and brush held under running tap water.  This pre wash and power brushing  removes the stubborn stuff and I get to inspect the brass for defects.

The pre cleaning removes a large amount of the fouling so my tumbler was water come out grey not jet black.  I do not want to tumble the cases in concentrated black fouling because high sulphur concentration will tarnish the brass that I am trying to clean and shine it.

I tumble for 1 hour and change the water adding fresh detergent and lemi-shine.

A Lyman Turbo Super Sifter sieve sits perfectly in the mouth of a Home Depot 2 US gallon bucket.
I have punched seven .45 caliber holes 2 inches below the bottom of the sieve floor for drainage.

At the laundry tub I pour off most of the dirty water prior to dumping all the cases and SS pins into the Lyman sieve.  With the bucket in the laundry tub and a 3 foot hose on the faucet spigot I can rinse off the cases dumping out all the pins.  All the pins fall to the bottom of the bucket passing through the sieve.  The cases stay in the sieve.

I spread the cases out on cheap Walmart grade cotton towels to air dry over night.
Or if I am in a hurry I put the case on a large pan, it?s has a ?? inch sides to prevent spilling cases.

SS pins are dumped in a mound on the above mentioned baking pan.  I elevate one end to let most of the water drain out of the mound of pins and  sponge out this water.  Then bake in a 325*F oven for an hour to dry the pins.

I usually twist a ?  sheet of paper towel into rope and twist this rope into each case, this removes more fouling and bulk drys the inside of the case.  Every 4th cases I snip off a half inch of wet and dirty piece of towel rope.  The the case are air dried or oven dried.

I am sure everyone knows the 80% of the time spent re-loading is spent on case prep, whether it is a new cases or a dirty fired cases.  Primer pocket & flash hole uniforming, trimming to length after the first firing.  All this take a lot of time and that doesn?t include cleaning the firearm(s).

[Cliff Fendley]

I use both a Thumblers tumbler and also those little two barrel rock tumblers from Harbor Freight with stainless pins from STM.

On a budget the little Harbor Freight tumbler is great and I like it when I want to clean small amounts especially when I have two different cartridges cleaned so the small ones don't get jammed in the larger ones.

[Isom]

Well, here's mine. 38-40 real b/p. On one day shoots, I've got a large old peanut butter jar , that I put my cases in, dry, no water. When I get home one of the first things I do is to deprime them. Hot soapy water wash, hot water rinse maybe twice. Dump in old towel, shake water off, dry. I've got an old food dehydrator I got from the thrift store that was broken for $15.00 that I repaired. Most one day shoots use 80-120 cases. About every 2-3 shoots, I'll tumble clean them. I use a Thumblers. I could never get b/p brass to look clean just dry cleaning (vibratory).
1. Dump brass, 2-3 shoots worth. Approx. 300
2. Water, 1" above, splash of Dawn, 1/4 tsp. Lemi-shine
3. Tumble approx. 2hrs.
4. Pour water off until pins and cases get close to top.
5. Dump cases and pins in the plastic separator in the bucket.
6. Fill with water, turn handle until no more pins come out. I cut part of the handle off that sticks out because it stuck out to far to turn in the sink.
7. Dump cases on old towel, shake water off.
8. Spread on dehydrator trays.
9. Rinse pins off, dump on old towel, shake water off.
10. I cut the back out of an old work shirt, (real thin) dump pins on it. Place on tray in dehydrator, spread pins out.
11. 2hrs. later, you've got dried pins and dry, brand new looking brass.
If I'm at an away shoot, 2-3 days, soapy water in a jar in the hotel room. When I get home, hot, soapy wash and rinse. Dry, "deprime", then steps 1-12 above.
YMMV
Isom

[Galen]

I soak the fired brass in a gallon cooler bucket in a mixture of simple green and water before leaving the range. at home I drain rinse then soak in vinegar and water for a bit. rinse dry then tumble.

[Coffinmaker]

Ya'all realize tiffin those be REAL Stainless pins, a Magnet ain't gonna hep ya pick em up ..... right

[wildman1]

Not true. Some stainless is attracted to magnets including those used for  cleaning brass.
wM1

[Major 2]

Cold worked SS is magnetic