Cas City Forum Hall & CAS-L
CAS TOPICS => The Darksider's Den => Topic started by: Little Dalton on February 06, 2023, 02:43:29 PM
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I’ve seen a few folks who wet tumble their BP-fouled brass recommend a “wash n wax” type additive that supposedly leaves a thin film on the brass that acts as a case lube among other things. I’m pretty happy with the results I’m getting wet tumbling with SS pins, Lemi-Shine, and Dawn, and I’m skeptical that anything with wax in it could retard the cleaning power of those chemicals. But I’m intrigued, and I wouldn’t mind being able to skip an extra case-lubing step with my .44-40s. Does anyone do this with good results, including brass that’s good and shiny (yeah, I’m one of those types- I like being able to see my brass on the ground easier)? Also, what is the product exactly so I can order some? Thanks in advance!
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Turtle Wax wash & shine is what I use, because I just happened to have it when ZIP Wax was suggested.
SS pins water to cover, 1/4 tablespoon Lemi Shine, cap of Turtle Wax....I don't use any Dawn or other soap.
As for Lube, I use Hornady One Shot Case Lube, Easy Peezy and it works :)
I don't think it overkill lube wise, but other opinions may vary :-\
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I use Armor-all carwash with Lemishine and no pins, and get very good results. I still give my cases a quick spritz with Oneshot case lube before running them, even my carbide dies stuff.
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I use pins, 1/4 tsp Lemi-Shine, and a capful of ArmorAll wash n wax. I don’t use dawn. The wax in the wash n wax helps slow case tarnishing. You will still have to lube your cases during the reloading process.
I use Imperial sizing die wax for case lubing including carbide sizing dies. A little goes a long way.
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NONE OF THE ABOVE!! ::) No help atall for the OP's question(s) cause I don't "wet tumble" my fired brass. Don't care about shiny like new, kinda like the stains that give it personality.
Toss my brass inna sack at the match. Haul it home and rinse in water with Vinegar,
try and toss inna vibrator with Lizzard Litter for 30 minutes, DONE.
Yep. People are Hazardous to Yer Health
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Everybody has a method of cleaning their brass, some exotic, and some quite simple. and most of them will do the job just fine. My method is to put my fired brass into a mildly soapy solution when I come off the stage. When I get home I shake the container a few times and pour off the water. I dump the wet brass directly into my Lyman tumbler which is filled with walnut media and no additives. I then add three caps of mineral spirits and three caps of water measured with the cap from the mineral spirits can and then run the tumbler overnight. Brass looks new the next morning.
I do not know of a simpler or cheaper method to do the job.
Lucky ;D
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cup of water, a few drops of Dawn, run in the tumbler for 3 hours. Rotate them a few times in an old Dillon separator to clear out the pins and let dry. End up clean with a dull copper color, fine by me.
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stainless pins do a great job but are a major PITA to separate and store.
Somewhere I read to take a zip lock bag turned inside out.
Put a big magnet in the bag, pick up the pins turn the bag right side out and all the pins are caught inside and the magnet is outside.
My system is to HE double tooth picks with it just shoot stained brass and save time.
Bunk
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Guys, respectfully the OP was about SPECIFICALLY whether there is an additive to the process that eliminates the need for case lubing- NOT for general recipes for wet tumbling (I'm getting nice and shiny brass) or case lubing after the fact (which I already do) I still enjoy hearing about everybody's processes, it's just that I was looking for more specific info.
In response to a couple of you gents, I really am stuck on shiny brass. I don't consider it too hard to achieve, they look great in my belt, and most importantly to me are easier to find on the ground around the homestead.
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stainless pins do a great job but are a major PITA to separate and store.
Somewhere I read to take a zip lock bag turned inside out.
Put a big magnet in the bag, pick up the pins turn the bag right side out and all the pins are caught inside and the magnet is outside.
My system is to HE double tooth picks with it just shoot stained brass and save time.
Bunk
I understand the frustration- still worth it to me, but I plan to try a rotary media separator soon.
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In answer to the original question, the Armorall carwash and wax leaves the cases shiny and you can run them through CARBIDE dies easily. I still give them a light spritz of One Shot just because I usually load 400-800 rounds at a time and it does make it easier. You still MUST lube with steel dies.
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Cascade automatic dishwasher detergent. No/low foam. I won't bore you with the rest of my procedure. I'm a shiny bass freak. I also like Snap~on tools. ::)
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Preaching to the crowd: A squirt of Dawn, a pinch of Lemshine and a capful of Armorall car wash into the pins and onto the Thumler. No eye of newt required.
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I've been using the Frankford Armory juice with no pins. It does a real good job. Not seeing any value in the pins.
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Since I use the wet tumble method(count me in on nice shiny brass) on bottleneck cases(38-40 & 44-40) and straight wall (45 on down, you name it) I get an opportunity to compare results. When the "wash & wax" additives are used (compared to just Dawn), I can detect no discernible difference on the brass surface. I use a bit of Lemi Shine either way. The bottleneck cases have to be lubed anyway, but I will also lightly lube the straight wall cases because I can feel the difference. The lubed cases still resize easier in a carbide die. Maybe because I have to use a "light touch" resizing the thin--especially 38-40--bottleneck cases I habitually use the same hand pressure on everything, but maybe that proves the point.
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stainless pins do a great job but are a major PITA to separate and store.
Somewhere I read to take a zip lock bag turned inside out.
Put a big magnet in the bag, pick up the pins turn the bag right side out and all the pins are caught inside and the magnet is outside.
My system is to HE double tooth picks with it just shoot stained brass and save time.
Bunk
Stainless pins from STM are absolutely no trouble at all for me. I just dump the water off as much as possible through a piece of screen and then dump the rest, pins, brass and all in on of the rotary separator and spin it a few times just like you would with corn cob, walnut hull, or any other cleaning media. If by chance you rarely get a pin in a primer pocket just throw that pin away because their pins are supposed to be sized so they don't get stuck.
As for storing, once they dry just dump them back in the tumbler bucket I let them sit in the garage on the tumbler with the lids off ready for the next use.
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After separation, I just grab the pins with a big magnet, put them back in the tumbler till next time, no drying.
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When separating the media from the brass. Do not over fill the media separator. Too much brass in the media separator will result in pins left in the cases.
I limit my RCBS media separator to no more than 300 38 specials at a time. Fill the lower container until the water covers the brass by about 1/2".
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:) Gad Zooooks ;)
After reading all the "pointers" and personal processes, "Wet" tumbling is way more work than necessary for reloadable brass. Sheesh. No Way
People are still hazardous to yer health
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:) Gad Zooooks ;)
After reading all the "pointers" and personal processes, "Wet" tumbling is way more work than necessary for reloadable brass. Sheesh. No Way
People are still hazardous to yer health
Sometimes it is necessary on very black / corroded brass. If the brass is simply dirty from firing smokeless loads ONCE then I don't use wet media. For that sort of brass the pecan shells (or corncob) and a vibratory cleaner with a squirt of Simichrome works nicely.
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I was given some Milsurp 30-06 circa 1972 and 77 vintage, no clue when it was fired in the last 50 years.
So, I set about to de-prime, remove the crimp and tumble it, in another thread I chronicled the process & outcome.
My solution of SS pins, Zip wax & Lemi Shine mentioned above netted harmonious results.
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What be "Zip Wax"? ???
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IT Be car wash ;D
BTW note this bottle was purchased a K-mart ...I have no idea how long ago I bought it....
note the price $2.27 :-\ I guess 25 or 30 years ago :o
Still about 1/2 full.... still works just fine.
K-mart went bankrupt
As of April 2022, only K-mart 3 locations remainng in the US: in Miami, Florida; Westwood, New Jersey; and Bridgehampton, New York.
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:) Gad Zooooks ;)
After reading all the "pointers" and personal processes, "Wet" tumbling is way more work than necessary for reloadable brass. Sheesh. No Way
People are still hazardous to yer health
Pretty much the exact same process as dry tumbling so if it's more work than necessary then all cleaning of brass is more work than necessary. To each their own I guess. Depends on whether you want shiny brass or dull.
Personally I like shiny plus the fact I haven't bought any new tumbling media in years since whenever I started wet tumbling. Maybe I'll live long enough to wear out the stainless pins. I can only hope I do.
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:) Hi Cliff ;)
Nah. Not Quite. I dump my fired brass inna sink wid White Vinegar and let soak for 30 Minutes. No work involved. Then I rinse and dry it. Drying is done inna oven. No work involved. Rinse takes 5 Minutes, very little work involved. Dump straight into the media and turn the tumbler on. Only work involved is to flip the switch. Separate from the media (turn crank two minutes) and DONE. By my math, I only have 7 to 10 minutes actual work involved, up to 500 cases. Takes less work for the whole process then it does to just recover the little pins. Nanny Nanny Poo Poo
PS: ALMOST forgot. I don't dare about shiny brass. Just doesn't matter. Only needs to go BANG after all.
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+ 1 to Cliff Fendley
My tumbler does the work, less than a minute to add the ingrediencies and the brass.
Filp the switch, about 1 hour or so turning, then
dump the contents into a RCBS tumbler separator, spin that for about 30 seconds
and Bobs your Uncle.
The Zip wax is a wash as well. and the wax in it keeps the brass bright.
To each their own, this is my routine.
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:) Ha! thibbit thibbit thibbit ;) ;D
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:) Hi Cliff ;)
Nah. Not Quite. I dump my fired brass inna sink wid White Vinegar and let soak for 30 Minutes. No work involved. Then I rinse and dry it. Drying is done inna oven. No work involved. Rinse takes 5 Minutes, very little work involved. Dump straight into the media and turn the tumbler on. Only work involved is to flip the switch. Separate from the media (turn crank two minutes) and DONE. By my math, I only have 7 to 10 minutes actual work involved, up to 500 cases. Takes less work for the whole process then it does to just recover the little pins. Nanny Nanny Poo Poo
PS: ALMOST forgot. I don't dare about shiny brass. Just doesn't matter. Only needs to go BANG after all.
What do you mean recovering pins? Do you think we dump them out in the driveway? LOL :D :D The pins are the media, they are contained same as whatever dry media you're using. Not sure how all of that is any less work it sounds like what you do is more work. Oven drying, soaking, etc.
I just dump mine in the rotary tumbler fill with water with a dash of dawn and lemishine. I guess that takes a couple minutes or so. Come back three hours later or so, dump most of the water off and dump the brass in the separator and spin it over a few times (actually takes less revolutions than with dry media) and then set brass out in the sun. If no sun oh well, your brass may have some spots. Just dump the pins back in the tumbler same as you do with any media. I usually do that a couple days later or whenever I think about it after it dries but don't really have to. I guess it's about the same, maybe ten minutes of my time cleaning brass. The tumbler does the rest of the work.
OH edit, how many years and many thousands of pieces of brass have you cleaned with the same media? I'm about 13 years now on my stainless pins and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and again and again and again. I don't reckon they will ever wear out in three lifetimes. I've started doing smokeless brass with the wet tumbler because I never have to buy more media.
To each their own though, what works for some might not for others. I don't plan to change my methods because it can't be any simpler.
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:) Aw Cummon ;)
Oh cummon Cliff. Nothing personal, just having a little fun with this thread. You have your sense of humor surgically removed at birth or sumpthin?? Lighten Up fer Pete's Sake.
PS: I do have to change out the media about once every year. Makes it tough on the lizards atta pet store. ::)
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This lemmieshine stuff leaves my pins all stuck together and as hard as a brick. What's up with that?
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This lemmieshine stuff leaves my pins all stuck together and as hard as a brick. What's up with that?
??? unknown, I've not had that happen to me.
How much Lemi Shine are you adding?
You only need 1/4 teaspoon, a cap of Zip and just cover the brass with water.
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??? unknown, I've not had that happen to me.
How much Lemon Shine are you adding?
You only need 1/4 teaspoon, a cap of Zip and just cover the brass with water.
I think I'm using a massive overkill. I just shake some out of the container. I'll have to measure next time.
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The only good reason I can think to start using my wet tumbler is for Black Powder brass. Occasionally work on BP loads for one of the various 45/70s gathering dust in the safes. Up till now have just soaked in water with a bit of vinegar and dry tumbled. Bought a wet tumbler years ago on sale prolly should use the darn thing. Many claim wet tumbling really reduces lead dust exposure. There may be a valid argument for wet tumbling all brass.
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The BEST thing about wet tumbling is the saving of your lungs and lower lead levels of not just yourself but your family and especially if you have young children or grandchildren.
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The only good reason I can think to start using my wet tumbler is for Black Powder brass. Occasionally work on BP loads for one of the various 45/70s gathering dust in the safes. Up till now have just soaked in water with a bit of vinegar and dry tumbled. Bought a wet tumbler years ago on sale prolly should use the darn thing. Many claim wet tumbling really reduces lead dust exposure. There may be a valid argument for wet tumbling all brass.
Is there any other powder other than black?
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Back from the Grand Muster, dumped the deprimed brass in the tumbler, dumped in the pins, dumped in enough water to just cover the pile, then spun for 4 hours. Dumped the whole mess in a mesh strainer set on a bucket to drain off the water, then dumped pins and brass into my old Dillon rotary separator and spun a few times to get rid of the pins. The brass will dry in the separator overnight, and the pins remain in the Dillon tub until the next time. Except for the spin and the dry the whole process took about 5 minutes. Brass is a nice copper color, no chemicals used at all now. I really like how the pins clean out the primer pockets.
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"I really like how the pins clean out the primer pockets." THIS! and the fact that it is easier for the brassers to find when it is shiney, especially now that cartridge cases are apparently made of gold!
I use pretty much the same method as Drydock, plus a squirt of Dawn.
B.N. Scotty