What do you tumble your brass with?

[CLT65]

Everyone has their own process that works best for them. I like to size and decap before tumbling too. For this reason I will never use any case lube besides RCBS. It's water soluble and easily rinses off.

I bought a Lee APP press for sizing brass before tumbling. With a case feeder on it, I can size a thousand 9mm cases in about 20 minutes. It's a little finicky to get set up right, but when you do, this rinky-dink little press is nothing short of amazing!

Speaking of brittle brass, I have started annealing every single bottle-neck rifle case that gets wet tumbled. I use the same formula as most of you, a little Lemishine and Dawn, but every batch of rifle ammo that I loaded since wet tumbling, if it sat for a while before firing, has cracked necks. I've come to the conclusion that the wet tumbling process contributes to this. I've had no problems with pistol brass at all, but multiple batches of high-pressure rifle rounds, different calibers and brands, all started coming up with cracked necks, and only the ones that were wet tumbled. Just something to consider.

If you load up thousands of rounds of 5.56 and stash them away for a rainy day, you might just end up with a mess when you get around to shooting them.

 

[rscanady]

Dang! Thanks for the tip, I try to always do a check on my brass right before loading, but now gotta double check!

 

[HighlandLofts]

I dibble in range brass and sell it dirty or wet tumbled.
When I first started i would knock the primers out and dry tumble them.
I ruined a new Hornady single stage lock n load press in two years depriming dirty brass.
Now I wet tumble the brass with no pins and then dry it before depriming it.
I have the larger frankford wet tumbler and love it.
I just ordered another one today.

I tumble full loads, over 1,000 pieces of 223.
More 9mm cases.
I use 1/2 a teaspoon of Lemi-Shine Booster
A cap full of ArmorAll Wash & Wax.
And a small squirt of Blue Dawn Dish Soap.
I let it run for one hour, drain and add fresh warm water and let it run another fifteen minutes.
Drain the gray water from the brass.

If I use the pins I swish the cases upside down in a bucket of warm water and place them on my drying racks.



If the primers are knocked out I hit them with a airhose to get a bunch of excess water off the brass and any pins that remain in the cases.

If you wet tumble don't go cowboy on the lemi shine it will make the brass really dull.



When wet tumbleing a good magnet is your best friend.

 

[Grizzly_A]

all those pins for drying is a lot of work!

I use vodka, car wash soap, lemon juice and the steel pins. I add the soap and lemon juice to the wet tumbler with the cases for 1.5hrs. Then I add the vodka to another tumbler and a little more lemon juice. I take the extra car wash soap and have the kids wash the car while I sip my cocktail. I think the vodka adds a little something to the tumbling process.

 

[CLT65]

Just a little food for thought for anyone who handles and tumbles brass very much: be sure to practice some good industrial hygiene.

Fired brass and primers contain trace amounts of lead. Occasional contact isn't really much to be worried about, but when you do large quantities very often, it can really add up. You could be exposing yourself much more than you realize.

Have a good primer catcher when sizing. Don't breathe the dust, and wipe your loading area and floor beneath down with a damp rag. REALLY don't breathe the dust from a dry tumbler. Wear latex gloves and a dust mask when handling large quantities of brass. Don't put your bare hands in the dirty water from your wet tumbler. All these things can potentially expose you to small quantities of lead, and it can really add up.

Be especially careful if you have your kids help you. Lead exposure is far worse for kids still developing than it is for adults.

 

[BillGabby1]

Plain old BB's for media and a little Brasso, does the trick!
In my old rotary tumbler run a couple of hours or less.
Not shiny bright but definitely clean.
Gabby

 

[orygun]

I really want to tumble my brass with primers, powder and bullets to get a complete round.

Actually, I've dry tumbled only. Wet tumbling reminds me of my friend's dad tumbling rocks. But all that I've seen makes me think I should be wet tumbling, too.

 

[Grizzly_A]

Just a little food for thought for anyone who handles and tumbles brass very much: be sure to practice some good industrial hygiene.

Fired brass and primers contain trace amounts of lead. Occasional contact isn't really much to be worried about, but when you do large quantities very often, it can really add up. You could be exposing yourself much more than you realize.

Have a good primer catcher when sizing. Don't breathe the dust, and wipe your loading area and floor beneath down with a damp rag. REALLY don't breathe the dust from a dry tumbler. Wear latex gloves and a dust mask when handling large quantities of brass. Don't put your bare hands in the dirty water from your wet tumbler. All these things can potentially expose you to small quantities of lead, and it can really add up.

Be especially careful if you have your kids help you. Lead exposure is far worse for kids still developing than it is for adults.

I appreciate the health advisory, and it's always good to keep a clean and safe workspace, so thank you for the reminder.

Lead or mercury absorption through the hands is not a significant factor in exposure. Inhalation or soft tissue (eyes, ears, mouth) is the primary method of exposure and absorption.

Breathing the "gunsmoke" while shooting will expose you to more lead than just handling fired brass and primers. Again, it depends on "how much" you are doing said activities.

For me personally, I'm not going to suit up like a COVID tester with shoulder length gloves and a respirator. I find reloading rewarding and the exposure risk is low with wet tumbling at the frequency I do it.

 

[HighlandLofts]

I use to dry tumble and after I seen yhe results of wet tumbleing I bought a wet tumbler.
My dry tumbled brass looked nice but not shinny nice so I retumbled it in the wet tumbler and what a difference it made plus the water was black from all the stuff the dry tumbler left on the cases.

My dry tumbler hasn't been used for a couple of years.

 

[umrek]

I dry tumbled for several years and was always amazed at how much media dust wound excape from a 'sealed' tumbler. I figured the dust couldn't be healthy so that was one of my reasons for trying out wet tumbling.

No turning back now!

 

[CLT65]

I appreciate the health advisory, and it's always good to keep a clean and safe workspace, so thank you for the reminder.

Lead or mercury absorption through the hands is not a significant factor in exposure. Inhalation or soft tissue (eyes, ears, mouth) is the primary method of exposure and absorption.

Breathing the "gunsmoke" while shooting will expose you to more lead than just handling fired brass and primers. Again, it depends on "how much" you are doing said activities.

For me personally, I'm not going to suit up like a COVID tester with shoulder length gloves and a respirator. I find reloading rewarding and the exposure risk is low with wet tumbling at the frequency I do it.

Believe it or not, I agree with you to a large degree. I've worked in the chemical industry for decades and have spent LOTS of time in a wide variety of PPE, including respirators, SCBA, HAZMAT suits, flam suits, etc.. I have no desire to gear up when casting or reloading any more than I have to, but I do want to fully understand the risks and routes of exposure to stay safe. My concern is more for my kids than myself, because if I'm doing something that affects me it could affect them worse if they're exposed.

I had a lead level test a couple years ago with an annual physical, assuming I was fine, but it came back higher than it should have been: not high enough for real concern, but a level that showed definite exposure. I went on an "industrial hygiene" kick, put in a vented hood over my lead pot in the garage, bought some special soap to wash with after handling lead, even started wearing a dust mask when casting.

No, physically handling metallic lead is pretty low risk if you're careful to wash your hands before things like eating or smoking. Handling brass exposes you to very small, trace amounts of lead, so for the average person it's of little concern. I hadn't cast anything for months or handled much raw lead before my next physical and lead test, so I was pretty confident that I had it licked. I was shocked when it came back even higher!

What I had been doing in recent times before the test is handling a lot of brass, and not being as careful as I could when washing it and wet tumbling. I usually wore gloves, but not always, since gloves have been a scarce item in recent times. I didn't put my bare hands directly in the dirty water, but I would often handle the brass before it was completely washed off.

I did more research to find that while metallic lead is not a major health concern so long as you wash your hands, lead oxides can be much, much worse. Those lead oxides, dissolved in a weak acid from wet tumbling, CAN be absorbed into your skin. Latex gloves for me every single time from now on!

The dust from handling a large amount of fired brass and primers can be inhaled, and they contain trace amounts of various oxides. In the small amount that most reloaders handle, no big deal, but start handling hundreds of pounds on a regular basis, and it can become a big deal.

I'm not saying to go overboard. I've seen posts in the past about casting, where some guys say they wear respirators or chem suits to cast. That seem really over the top and silly to me. If I thought I needed a chem suit to cast, I wouldn't cast, but I do think it's wise to follow some basic precautions, and even more so the more brass and lead that you handle. Please be especially cautious if you have your kids around it. Lead exposure is far worse for kids than adults.

 

[CLT65]

I've spent a little time in one of these (training only). Believe me, they're no fun. Hot, sticky, hard to see or breathe. Liquid sweat builds up quickly inside the suit. They're pretty much miserable.

If reloading were bad enough to require one, I wouldn't do it!

 

[Lesliet]

I did more research to find that while metallic lead is not a major health concern so long as you wash your hands, lead oxides can be much, much worse. Those lead oxides, dissolved in a weak acid from wet tumbling, CAN be absorbed into your skin. Latex gloves for me every single time from now on!

Thanks for the info, this is good to know!

I will be more careful about always wearing nitrile gloves when handling my tumbler water, there's definitely a weak acid in it, and I usually wet tumble it initially with the primers still in.

 

[BillGabby1]

Thanks for the info, this is good to know!

I will be more careful about always wearing nitrile gloves when handling my tumbler water, there's definitely a weak acid in it, and I usually wet tumble it initially with the primers still in.

If you remove the primers you will eliminate some of the oxides and also get a clean primer pocket to seat your new primer in!

 

[HighlandLofts]

This time of the year when I get get wet nasty range brass I wet tumble it with out pins to get the cases clean enough to work with them
Before tumbleing


My additives.


The water after tumbleing.


Tunbled brass.