stainless media brass cleaning

Tnslim

New member
I've been thinking of buying a stainless media setup. Who has the best deal going currently? Comments welcome pro or con. Thanks.
 
While I cannot tell you who has the best deal going I can say that I find it quite unlikely that you will ever regret going the SS media kind of case polishing route. I bought mine (Thumler's Tumbler) after seeing what a friends did to some 60 year old .50 BMG brass. I really and truly thought that it was brand new brass when I saw it. The media never wears out and a small bottle of Dawn and some Lemi Shine will last you for eons. As long as you got water and electricity you will have gee-whiz shiny brass the rest of your life.

I even used mine a few weeks ago to clean my supressor. Looks like new!
 
I love my Thumblers Tumbler. I always deprime my brass first and then toss it in. Cases are clean inside and out and the primer pockets as well. I use my old lee press with a decapping die and then load on my rockchucker so I don't have a mess or dirty brass on the rock chucker. Picked up a cheap media separator and just fill with water and turn it and the media fall right out of the cases. I then toss it in a cheap dehydrator for 30-60 min and let it dry out and its ready to be sized and loaded. As Rustydust said it will make nasty old brass look new and you never have to buy media.
 
if i were in the market to buy stainless tumbling setup now.. that would be the one i'd get. it wasn't available when i purchased my setup a while back.


capacity, built in timer, and it comes with media.


FWIW - when using lemi shine - LESS IS MORE! - my Thumblers tumbler lets me run 5 lbs of brass at a time and i'm only using a 0.5 cc (lee powder dipper) of the stuff per batch and its more than enough.


 
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Mine is running with 500 pieces of 308 Brass right now. The Frankfort two advantages are size and it has a timer. Just set it and go about your business. I was only able to get about 130 308's in the Thumbler model I have and it running right now too.

Both seem to clean fine although it seems the Frankfort spins faster.

I use a normal RCBS media separator and rinse several times then dump the SS back into the container.
 
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Originally Posted By: TnslimWhat do you guys use for a media separator and do you need the magnet?

i have a modified frankford media separator that i hard mounted to a 5 gallon bucket.

i rinse well in a tupperware bowl to separate as much as i can, then into the tumbler for final separation.

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the stupid mount clips that model comes with are about as usefull as [beeep] on a bull moose - even with dry media.
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Guys, thanks for all the info, guess it's time to get busy ordering. I've got a pot load of 223 to do and my old sonic cleaner is pretty much worthless. Plant, I like your modified separator. Might have to copy that.
 
I'll be the voice of dissent. The wet process and the ultra-clean cases can cause some issues. I moved away from my stainless setup and have been dry tumbling in the vibratory. It is nice to be able to pull brass out of the tumbler and load it right up.
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Originally Posted By: ScalianI love my Thumblers Tumbler. I always deprime my brass first and then toss it in. Cases are clean inside and out and the primer pockets as well.

Me too.
I replaced the original base with the Rebel base. It runs a little faster and a lot smoother on the bearings.
My brass gets de-capped and stainless tumbled after 3 or 4 firings and before annealing.
The rest of the time it gets tumbled in corncob and alcohol overnight to remove the Imperial wax from the FL sizing.
 
Originally Posted By: orkan The wet process and the ultra-clean cases can cause some issues.

Just curious as to what issues you are referring to. Over the years and the thousands of rounds that I have put though mine there have been zero problems. I still have my vibratory tumbler and still use it on occasion but it cannot hold a candle to my Thumler setup.
 
Originally Posted By: orkanI'll be the voice of dissent. The wet process and the ultra-clean cases can cause some issues. I moved away from my stainless setup and have been dry tumbling in the vibratory. It is nice to be able to pull brass out of the tumbler and load it right up.
smile.gif


I really only use the SS tumblers for high volume rounds such as 9mm /223 /308 3Gun ammo. I normally just wipe off brass with a dilution of Ballistol to remove carbon and resize. That way necks don't get peening at mouth but if I plan to trim and its grungy say from AR Suppressed rounds I will throw it in the Vibratory tumbler. I loaded for 25 years or so and never tumbled a piece.
My LR match brass never see's SS tumbling.
 
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Originally Posted By: rudymontanaOrkan don't you get a little film or dust when you use the dry medium?

toss in a dryer sheet in with every batch. that'll significantly cut the dust factor down.

i buy the cheapest walmart brand ones i can get my hands on.


i dont use my walnut much anymore these days, but when i do - there's always a dryer sheet (or two) in there with every cycle.

dust magnets!
 
Originally Posted By: rudymontanaOrkan don't you get a little film or dust when you use the dry medium? Not anymore. I used to when I used corn cob media. I use rice now, and it collects all the ick and keeps it from flying around.
 
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