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case prep (newbe)

1K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  76Highboy 
#1 ·
Hi all. I am getting ready to order equipment for reloading. Been researching for a few weeks now and getting a handle on what I want to start with. The biggest area I'm still undecided on is case prep. There seams to be two major schools of thought. Wet with a thumbler or dry with a vibrator. I'll be doing 9mm and 10mm to start with if that makes a difference.
Two questions
- wet or dry (I've read only 1 pound of cases a load for wet. Isn't that about 100 cases of common semi auto handgun? If you store your brass up and do 500 to 1000 rounds of a caliber at a time thats a whole lot of cycles.)
- if dry what brand and size. I don't want to wast money, but I use tools for a living and know the cheep tools don't alway end up being so cheep if it get used a lot. I would call 3-4 hours run time 2+ times a month a lot of run time.
 
#2 ·
I use a dry tumbler with white rice for media.
I now use a Frankford Arsenal quick-n-ez
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/587176/frankford-arsenal-quick-n-ez-case-tumbler-110-volt
I bought it local for $32
Use 2lbs of rice with 300-400 .357 brass [for example] and tumble 1.5-2 hrs
When rice gets dirty I replace it.
Only problem I have is IF I need to tumble with no spent primers, the rice
will stick in some of the flash holes, but I had that problem with other media also.
I have had this tumbler a couple of years, tumble 3000+ brass/week
 
#4 ·
In my vibratory tumbler I do as many as 200 pistol and 100 rifle. I can do more but i
It seems the more I use the longer it takes.
Sometimes my tumbler runs every evening for a month at a time and mine is over 7 years old. I prefer dry because I can go from cleaning straight to reloading.
 
#5 ·
In my vibratory tumbler I do as many as 200 pistol and 100 rifle. I can do more but i
It seems the more I use the longer it takes.
Sometimes my tumbler runs every evening for a month at a time and mine is over 7 years old. I prefer dry because I can go from cleaning straight to reloading.
Highboy, I saw your youtube vids. Great job some of the clearest how to vids I've ever seen on any subject. Thanks so much. You really should consider doing more on just general reloading. As a newbe I can tell you there isn't much out there on lee FCD that really is clear to someone that has never reloaded. Is it the same as a pass though, how does it work. IT is a tampered crimp but how is that different for a crimp on your standard setting die?

What Make is your tumbler?
 
#6 ·
Welcome. I'm kinda old school and consider tumbling/brass polishing purely cosmetic. I reloaded 12 years before I got a tumbler, and no my dies didn't wear out, and yes, I could spot any defects in the cases. I'm not impressed by high gloss, shiny virgin looking brass and I'm the only one to see them (unless I lose one at the range and someone else finds it). The one advantage for me is it's much easier to spot shiny brass outdoors in the dirt, rocks, and stuff!

I have found that whichever method you choose, it's largely determined by how much work and $$$ you want to put into the process. Dry tumbling will be less expensive (wobbler/vibrator and dry media), and prolly less work and results can be very good with good shiny brass. Wet tumbling will be a bit more costly, a specific "wet" tumbler is necessary, and a few more steps than dry rumbling, but results are spectacular; brass can look better than brand new. The size of the tumbler will determine how much media and how many cases can be processed at once, wet or dry.


I have tried both, and settled on plain old Lyman wobbler and walnut blasting media. For several years I used a Harbor Freight rotary tumbler (I paid $20.00 for it a while ago) and lizard litter mainly for my handgun brass and was happy with it's performance and results. Just an hour ago I loaded my Lyman wobbler with about 100 30-06 cases and filled with corn cob/walnut media mix and I'll have acceptable looking brass (that I can spot on the ground) in about a couple hours...
 
#7 · (Edited)
Highboy, I saw your youtube vids. Great job some of the clearest how to vids I've ever seen on any subject. Thanks so much. You really should consider doing more on just general reloading. As a newbe I can tell you there isn't much out there on lee FCD that really is clear to someone that has never reloaded. Is it the same as a pass though, how does it work. IT is a tampered crimp but how is that different for a crimp on your standard setting die?

What Make is your tumbler?
Its a Lyman. It was on sale and I would buy it again.

Don't run it on a bench where it will vibrate digital scale, primers and ammo. On a seperate bench or concrete floor is best. Or maybe against the wall opposite of renters. :D
 
#8 ·
Highboy, I saw your youtube vids. Great job some of the clearest how to vids I've ever seen on any subject. Thanks so much. You really should consider doing more on just general reloading. As a newbe I can tell you there isn't much out there on lee FCD that really is clear to someone that has never reloaded. Is it the same as a pass though, how does it work. IT is a tampered crimp but how is that different for a crimp on your standard setting die?

What Make is your tumbler?
Rodantking, be careful about encouraging highboy into more video making, next he'll have to get a agent, and a film crew. I can see maybe Bruce Willis in the lead roll as highboy:rolleyes:
 
#9 ·
Rodantking, be careful about encouraging highboy into more video making, next he'll have to get a agent, and a film crew. I can see maybe Bruce Willis in the lead roll as highboy:rolleyes:
Die Hard Full Metal Jacket

Bruce Willis performs as ever tough as 76Highboy taking on full house 44 loads and risks handling large magnum Winchesters. Suspense filled --- oops my wife wants me to pick up my sidewalk chalk. Gotta go guys.:
 
#12 ·
I use a wet tumbler for several reasons. The main one is getting rid of the noise and dust. When I was around an inside vibrator the noise was unacceptable to me and the dust got all over everything. If it could be operated outside those problems might go away. The other reason is I like my brass to be clean and shiny inside and out. That is not important to a lot of people, but I like my reloads to look like new ammo.

Fifty years ago the only cleaning I did was wipe off the dirt from the outside of the case and turn it upside down and give it a shake. That worked and I don't remember every having a problem caused by dirty brass. So I guess it's mostly personal preference and budget constraints. A wet tumbler is more expensive to purchase than a vibrator, but the SS pins last forever and you never worry about wearing them out.

As for the amount of brass that can be cleaned that is determined by the total weight in the tumbler. The weight includes the pins, water, and brass. The thumler model B tumbler has a total capacity of 15 lb and the weight of the pins is fixed at 5 lb so you can vary the weight of the bass and water as needed to get 15 lb of total weight. I've tumbled five lbs of brass with five lbs of water and it works just as well as 2 lb of brass and 8 lb (1 gal) of water. If you have too much weight the tumbler will not start to rotate on its own and you just remove a handful of brass and start it again.
 
#13 ·
I use a wet tumbler for several reasons. The main one is getting rid of the noise and dust. When I was around an inside vibrator the noise was unacceptable to me and the dust got all over everything. If it could be operated outside those problems might go away. The other reason is I like my brass to be clean and shiny inside and out. That is not important to a lot of people, but I like my reloads to look like new ammo.

Fifty years ago the only cleaning I did was wipe off the dirt from the outside of the case and turn it upside down and give it a shake. That worked and I don't remember every having a problem caused by dirty brass. So I guess it's mostly personal preference and budget constraints. A wet tumbler is more expensive to purchase than a vibrator, but the SS pins last forever and you never worry about wearing them out. I watched a video on youtube and it does look like new.

As for the amount of brass that can be cleaned that is determined by the total weight in the tumbler. The weight includes the pins, water, and brass. The thumler model B tumbler has a total capacity of 15 lb and the weight of the pins is fixed at 5 lb so you can vary the weight of the bass and water as needed to get 15 lb of total weight. I've tumbled five lbs of brass with five lbs of water and it works just as well as 2 lb of brass and 8 lb (1 gal) of water. If you have too much weight the tumbler will not start to rotate on its own and you just remove a handful of brass and start it again.
I will admit the noise and dust are the bad part. That is why I run it at night out in the garage and I open it and empty it outside. I suppose one day I will try your method. IMO the clean brass cycles better in semi-autos and is easier to find on the ground.
 
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