Stainless steel tumbling media

[Graybeard]

I have never cleaned my stainless media.  It never gets dirty....

What am I missing.

Neither have I. Sounds like trapper's pins arrived with some black stuff on them from the manufacturing process? Maybe some debris from an abrasive cutting wheel mixed in?

[sqlbullet]

Must have been.

[Trapper6L]

Okay, tumbled about 200 rounds of 9mm Remington brass today that the outside was shiny clean but the insides were still nasty. I used the GunTap detergent as they like to call it. Doesn't take but a tablespoon of powder to a gallon of water. No sudsing so that's a major plus. Washes out real nice. I emptied the solution out and then washed the brass separately, then to  the oven at 215F. The SS media was completely drained so I figured there shouldn't be nothing but clear water come off of them......wrong. Looked like mud was on the media as the water got a nasty brownish black color and more powder sized particles of black like carbon. Rinsed it out, washed it again and it was clean. Normally, I don't have black brass to clean up like this batch is. It might be that there's a lot of crud on the brass inside the case. Unfortunately I don't have any brass that's once thru the gun that needs any work done to it to try again. I pretty much keep everything readi-2-load including primed. I will give it this, from what I see, there's not a brass case that this media and detergent won't clean to like new......and do it in a matter of minutes. I'm impressed with the results, just haven't got the process down yet.

[Kenk]

Yea, I really need to look into this type of cleaning

Ken

[Trapper6L]

One more question and then I'll let this lay. Does anybody here that uses the stainless steel media use a nut milk bag to separate the media from the dirty water? All you'd have to do is separate the brass out, then pour the rest of the cleaner/water/SS media into the 12"x 12" nut milk bag. The media will be in the bag while the water/cleaner is drained off. The bags usually filter somewhere around 60-80 microns. Sure looks to be mighty easy and you wouldn't lose any of the media at all. Amazon has a 2 bag pack made of nylon for just under 7 bucks and it is reusable. Seems to be a no brainer but it makes it way too easy to be right.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2Q4O08/ref=psdc_13840231_t1_B00KLT6X9W

[Graybeard]

It should work, as long as the bags are durable enough for repeated use. If the fine mesh SS strainer (pops up on same page) is fine enough to hold the pins that would probably be better. You could set it on top of a bucket and pour right in. The bags might require another person to hold open and support.

Now that I'm really thinking about it, you might want to try the bags in a bucket, too. If one breaks your media won't go rushing down the sink drain.

[Pablo]

I have only used the wet ss pin method for the last 5+ years. In a wide variety of calibers - it is so simple, not sure why I would hassle with dry tumbling media again. It may not be necessary but I like to start with surgically clean brass. Just eliminates one worry and keeps my loading press very clean as well. Basically I treat brass processing as a totally separate, segregated process.

It really is not difficult.

I always deprime first, it really is a requirement of wet cleaning or what else is the point. It's for cleaning the whole case, primer pockets and all. I just have a separate dirty area with a low cost single press and a universal deprimer. Bone simple, listen to sports, radio, music or the wind and go to town. I also sort my brass by caliber at this point. I've tumbled mixed brass, it's easier to sort when dirty frankly, plus you don't get the case in case issues.

Graybeard had a good summary. But here is what I do. I use car wash soap, not Dawn. Car wash soap actually works better, and I use the kind with wax in it.

I simply throw brass, pins, water, wax as you wash type car wash soap - (most any brand works fine and your brass stays shiny for years), and Lemishine in. 2-3 hours wet tumble and all my brass is perfect.

Separate in a $25 media separator. Easy peasy, plus it helps get the extra water out

Then the brass goes in a garage sale food dehydrator. No staining, perfect brass. Bag and tag for later use. I have brass I cleaned this way from 5 years ago. Looks perfect.

I have never had a pin stick in a case. You need the 0.047"x.25" pins, if you use another size, I believe this is where people have troubles. Yes the pins might be oily when new, just wash with some Simple Green in a separate bucket.

This is the starting place, but you can get items elsewhere. Even Amazon.

https://stainlesstumblingmedia.com/

[jjerome49]

There is a place on facebook called southern shine media. Instead of pins they use stainless steel chips and they wont ever get stuck. They also clean everything including the primer pocket alot faster them pins do. As for seperating I use gold mining pans (1/4 inch on top for the brass then a very fine on bottom to catch the chips). Then i dump the chips into a mesh laundry bag about the same as the milk bag and put that in the dehydrator with the brass.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Pablo]

There is a place on facebook called southern shine media. Instead of pins they use stainless steel chips and they wont ever get stuck. They also clean everything including the primer pocket alot faster them pins do. As for seperating I use gold mining pans (1/4 inch on top for the brass then a very fine on bottom to catch the chips). Then i dump the chips into a mesh laundry bag about the same as the milk bag and put that in the dehydrator with the brass.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Indeed I bought a bag of these chips several years ago and haven't used it yet. It looks and feels really sharp, which explains the quicker tumble time. I have been saving it for some really bad brass. One caveat since this appears to be chip cuttings, it's filthy.  Best to soak overnight in Simple Green neat, repeat wash and rinse. Took awhile to wash clean, but it's now sitting dry and read to go.

[Trapper6L]

FWIW, I tumbled some more 9mm today. Everything went slick. But the Nut Milk bags I showed above are slicker than owl snot. They're reasonably heavy duty and should last a couple of years if you take care of them. The wash water from rinsing the stainless media still is nasty so for whatever reason, this batch of media needs cleaning after every use although I guess it wouldn't hurt to leave it dirty. It'll get cleaned with the next batch of brass. I empty the dirty water/media into the nut milk bag which is in a 3lb coffee can so I won't lose anything. Empty the nasty water out, put in fresh and clean the media. Pretty simple actually.

[Graybeard]

I'm glad that worked out for you. More than one way to skin a cat.

[Road_Clam]

Been SS wet tumbling for the past 3 years. Will never go back to dry. Wet tumble is more steps to complete the process but my brass comes out like BRAND NEW. I DON'T deprime, way too much hassle with jammed pins in the flash holes. I don't care about squeeky clean primer pockets . My mix of Palmolive soap and Lemishine removes some of the primer pocket crud anyways. Wash tumble for about 3 hrs, rinse and dry in my food dehydrator and done. 

[mr.revolverguy]

LemiShine and Dish Soap as you can see has been a favorite but I can't believe my little secret has not caught on more

A really cheap solution I have been using for 3 years is armor all wash and wax. A big bottle for 4 bucks and I am still using it for 3 years now with 3/4's of the bottle still left. 2 cap fulls every tumble and my pistol brass looks like new but honestly I was experimenting for another reason. I know there is no need for lube with the right dies on pistol brass, been loading for 24 years. But I liked to use spray lube as it just ran the press so much smoother going in and out of the sizing die. You guys already know I like to test and that I have done. Because the brass is so slick I was wondering if it would hurt neck tension due to the slickness and the chronograph says it doesn't make a difference. If anything I got better consistency in extreme spread but I have only tested 50 rounds of walnut tumbled and SS Brass and armor all tumble. Not enough to be statistically relevant but enough to be safe and directionally correct.

Try and watch in awe

[Pablo]

LemiShine and Dish Soap as you can see has been a favorite but I can't believe my little secret has not caught on more

A really cheap solution I have been using for 3 years is armor all wash and wax. A big bottle for 4 bucks and I am still using it for 3 years now with 3/4's of the bottle still left. 2 cap fulls every tumble and my pistol brass looks like new but honestly I was experimenting for another reason. I know there is no need for lube with the right dies on pistol brass, been loading for 24 years. But I liked to use spray lube as it just ran the press so much smoother going in and out of the sizing die. You guys already know I like to test and that I have done. Because the brass is so slick I was wondering if it would hurt neck tension due to the slickness and the chronograph says it doesn't make a difference. If anything I got better consistency in extreme spread but I have only tested 50 rounds of walnut tumbled and SS Brass and armor all tumble. Not enough to be statistically relevant but enough to be safe and directionally correct.

Try and watch in awe

Well I did mention wax as you wash type soap in my post above above. Lubricity, brass preservation AND I actually think it cleans better - make it a no brainer, IMHO.