Non ss pin rotary tumbler media?

I use stainless steel chips. They are small enough where they don’t get stuck and they also do a better job cleaning out primer pockets.

Hammerdown22 said:

I was shooting and the next round wouldn't chamber so I looked and there was a ss pin sitting in the chamber.
Wondering if anyone has success using different media in their rotary tumbler?
I even tapped each case upside over before charging them and still somehow one snuck by. Not worth the risk.

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There are SS chips, as mention above. If your cases are not really dirty inside, like dirt or mud colleting inside, you can get good cleaning results without any media. I do it this way when I want to tumble as I'm not interested in getting the inside sparkly clean. In fact, I like to leave so of that powder residue on the inside as it benefits bullet seating consistency.

Hammerdown22 said:

Has anyone tried rice or walnut in a rotary?
All I see is it being used in vibratory tumbler.

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As long as no water is used , I don't see any reason rice couldn't work to some extent.

I've been running rotary tumblers (mostly for rocks) for over 60 years and never use anything but some kind of liquid with media. So, you've stirred my curiosity.

They make ceramic media. What I use in my rotary tumbler for black powder cartridge cleaning.
Larger than the pins*, but depending on what caliber the brass, you still need to make sure there's none in the cases.

* (They make in all sorts of sizes, some that would never fit in a case mouth, but I don't know that you'd want to clean brass with it.)

I think soft media (relatively) in a rotary would take a very long time.

If you left a pin in the case and it caused a malfunction then the same thing would have happened if you had used other types of media.

I rinse the brass a couple of times and then put them in my wet tumbler with lemi shine and dawn no media and it gets them clean. I have cleaned plenty of rifles brass this way and about 5, 5 gallon buckets of 9mm brass.

I shake the pins out of 2 cases at a time and never have this problem. If you use the right ratio of lemishine to soap the pins slide out of the cases like they’re lubed.

Well as fate/irony would have it, I went into my reloading room, move some stuff and kicked over the drum for my rotary tumbler, spilling a decent amount of nasty water and the ceramic media on the floor. So while I was picking it up…

I use corncob media, and that does pretty well. Leaves almost a dust in the case though that I don't like. Tried a few different types of media. None have ever cleaned the inside of the primer pockets. Sister had a rotary tumbler in her house that she was about to toss that she used for rocks. I grabbed it. I use dawn and lemi shine for 30 or so minutes. Brass comes out mint. I use a primer pocket cleaner for the pockets though.

Southern Shine Media. It's better than pins. It's small SS chips.

Hammerdown22 said:

Ya but sending a ss pin down the bore of a custom rifle is gonna do more damage compared to a grain of rice or walnut.

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If you have a pin in your case and load it and shoot the gun with it inside the brass it will not launch it down the barrel. It will be in the brass still, but potentially has the possibility to fall into the action (maybe) when the case is ejected. It for sure will not go down the barrel though no matter how many times it happens.
That is unless you go muzzle down and shake it out...

Hammerdown22 said:

I was shooting and the next round wouldn't chamber so I looked and there was a ss pin sitting in the chamber.
Wondering if anyone has success using different media in their rotary tumbler?
I even tapped each case upside over before charging them and still somehow one snuck by. Not worth the risk.

Click to expand...

I use a Lyman rotary tumbler with ss pins. The instructions are woefully short of what you really have to do. I imagine they are the same for every brand. You can't just put the cases in the Lyman sifter, rinse and shake. No way No how. I have to dump the cases into their sifter:


Rinse in the kitchen sink and then take every individual case and hold it primer side up while running water through the primer hole and tapping the neck into the palm of my hand at least three to five times. Sometimes no pins come out. Other times 1-8 pins come out and other times I'll find a case 3/4 full with pins which takes even more effort. It takes at least 15 minutes to make sure 100 cases are all pin free before going into the dryer. I hate it. Things were so much simpler when I was loading 360 rounds of .308 a week on on a Dillon, using corncob media in a tumbler and not cleaning primer pockets while shooting high power rifle competitions out to a 1000 yards with an M1A and iron sights in the '90s. Now it's fewer rounds of a 6mm Dasher from the bench @600 yards with a scope on F Class targets. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do to be competitive in your sport. The rotary tumbler with pins gets cases including the primer pockets cleaner than everything I've used previously. Clean primer pockets are a thing in BR. Set your priorities accordingly to the shooting you do.

The damn pins get everywhere. I bought several magnets to retrieve pins from the kitchen sink, the kitchen counter, the bench the tumbler is on and the garage floor.

I seperate the SS media using a $12 Harbor Freight pick-up magnet. It finds all the media inside the cases. I've never had a problem.

I do the same as @918v and never had an issue either

Hammerdown22 said:

I was shooting and the next round wouldn't chamber so I looked and there was a ss pin sitting in the chamber.
Wondering if anyone has success using different media in their rotary tumbler?
I even tapped each case upside over before charging them and still somehow one snuck by. Not worth the risk.

Click to expand...

I use compressed air when cleaning them, and also visually inspect every case before reloading!

Hammerdown22 said:

Walnut media didn't really do anything

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It doesn’t work as good as stainless steel pins, but Walnut hull media works very well for me.

On really filthy brass I've used play sand. Doesn't look shiny when done, but free of crud. Finish polish with corn cob is the old school way for shiny brass. I never liked the peening effect caused by SS pins.

Dildobaggins said:

I use corncob media, and that does pretty well. Leaves almost a dust in the case though that I don't like. Tried a few different types of media. None have ever cleaned the inside of the primer pockets. Sister had a rotary tumbler in her house that she was about to toss that she used for rocks. I grabbed it. I use dawn and lemi shine for 30 or so minutes. Brass comes out mint. I use a primer pocket cleaner for the pockets though.

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Cut up some dryer sheets and put them in the dry tumbler with your brass it cuts down on dust immensely.

turbo406 said:

Cut up some dryer sheets and put them in the dry tumbler with your brass it cuts down on dust immensely.

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If it weren't for the dust in the cases and case mouth I wouldn't use the rotary. I'll give the dryer sheets a try. Thanks for the info!

The stainless chips suck, while they do a good job cleaning they stick to the case like a magnet when wet.
With the standard pins I have only had them get wedged in Starline 223 brass never in any other brass, I just shake
the cases out after tumbling.

Firing the case with pin(s) in the case will (maybe not in every case) launch it down the barrel, one of my 223 barrels has two pin scars
in it so yea I have direct evidence. Could not chamber a round pulled the bolt could see something in the chamber tilted the rifle up
and a burnt pin fell out. Scoped the barrel and found the pin scars.
Even with the scars the barrel still shoots exactly the same as it did before.

Now after I prime and with the cases in a loading block I inspect each case to make sure no pins have been left behind,
quick and easy with a illuminated magnifier lamp.

Bulk balsting 223 I use a small amount of tide detergent and no pins, works great.

I agree, the stainless chips suck. They burnish the cases and the chips are more difficult to remove from the cases.

Thanks guys....you have reinforced my decision to use dry media in a vibratory tumbler.