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I am also using SS media. After tumbling, I am rinsing them off in cold water to remove the soap, then I put them in a colander, set it on top of my boot dryer (with the upper sections removed), and cover it with a plastic bag. I am doing small batches with one pound of media, as I have a small tumbler. Results look great.As for the "liquid method", I rinse mine under the hottest water from my tap (about 125 degrees), shake it in a towel, and lay it out to dry overnight. It's bone dry when I get to it the next morning. If I was in a hurry, I could always blow it out with compressed air or as some have suggested, dip it in alcohol and it will dry almost instantaneously then.
I'm still nervous about SS but willing to learn that it's OK. It's harder than brass and I'm having trouble seeing how it doesn't work-harden the brass surface. Oh well, I've learned lots of new things before...
I still use walnut shells. They are way cheaper at a pet supply store than from reloading outfits including Harbor Freight which sells a tumbler. In fact, HF is high for media. I do punch the primers out first, but I have to be careful that there's no walnut left in the primer pocket or flash hole. I usually just blow the case out with the blow tip on my compressor, but I have a good dual inline moisture/oil trap for painting so my air is clean.
Since the tumbler does all of the work, I don't mind letting it run for several hours.
Face it - the whole reloading process is a tedious job not meant for those who don't like attention to details, not just cleaning but everything. It's not for everyone IMHO.
In order to work harden brass, you have to WORK it. Each of the small Stainless Steel "pins" weighs less than .6 gr. or .04 grams. These pins are not being fired at the brass by compressed air like might be done in a shot-peening operation, they are merely sliding along the surface of the brass scouring off any carbon or other "crud" accumulated on the brass case.
I believe this is a case of "over analyzing" a cleaning method without giving any serious thought to the actual dynamics. I mentioned this to someone at our range that supposedly has no less than 5 Engineering Degrees. He brought up the same reservation regarding the use of Stainless Media yet when asked if he felt there was more or less "impact", case on case, with his dry media method of tumbling versus a tumbler filled with water and stainless pins he merely shrugged his shoulders. Just remember that the stainless pins have no inertia and don't work the surface of the case at all. Not nearly to the extent that tumbling cases do in a lesser cushioning media or media separator.
I've been using it long enough now to get 8-10 reloading cycles on some Commercial Winchester brass that I have purposely not annealed. I shoot a near max load in these .308 cases and have seen no signs whatever of any "surface work hardening".
As I've stated in previous posts, the Stainless media does what cob/nut media doesn't. It cleans the inside of the case to a state just as if the brass was new. Every one of my loads now has no residue left from previous loads. No bits of carbon built up to take up room in the case and alter the case capacity.
Just remember, "Work Hardening" requires that the metal actually be "worked". It's not done by a bunch of .6gr bits of stainless working on a piece of metal that has a yield strength of 60,000 lbs (about 22,000 lbs if annealed)
Ive recently started using a mixture of 1 gal water...a couple squirts dawn dishwashing det and 1-2 teaspoons of citric acid.Seems to work real well and wont harm the brass.Soak it for an hour or so and drain.Even over night wont harm your brass.You can reuse the solution and it keeps well.Fred Meyers has citric acid in the bulk health food section for a buck or two for a couple ounces.I got this information for castboolits.com...
I think that this SS media might be just the ticket to remove the crud from the inside of my black powder cartridge cases.