Question for the guys using SS tumbling media

Started with dry media ... hated the mess.
Moved to wet media (steel pins) ... hated the aggravation.
Went to wet tumbling with no media but good cleaner (I use the Frankford Arsenal Brass Cleaner) ... and have been super happy ever since.

Do yourself a favor ... go wet without the steel.

ForgeValley said:

This ever happen to you?

View attachment 7749973

That's a piece of media stuck in the case mouth.

I just started using SS media, and my process was to tap each case to make sure all the media was out. Clearly that wasn't a good process.

Any thoughts on what would have happened if I had loaded this case and fired it?

Click to expand...

Stop using that crap and tumble the cases without it. It offers no benefit.

ForgeValley said:

This ever happen to you?

View attachment 7749973

That's a piece of media stuck in the case mouth.

I just started using SS media, and my process was to tap each case to make sure all the media was out. Clearly that wasn't a good process.

Any thoughts on what would have happened if I had loaded this case and fired it?

Click to expand...

Sure, you’d have scratched the bore, plenty of folks have done it. Not good.

I use Southern Shine Media. It will eliminate this kind of problem as they are small metal chips. When I used pins though I never really had this problem. That said Southern Shine Media is definitely an improvement.

308pirate said:

Stop using that crap and tumble the cases without it. It offers no benefit.

Click to expand...

True Dat !!!

rustyinbend said:

... go wet without the steel.

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Sorry ... that sounded too much like the title of a lesbian porn movie.

The thing is you need to lube, resize, inspect, prime and charge the case.
If that piece of steel is still there after all that then its on you.

From my experience, if you need the inside of the case necks clean then use the pins, if you
dont need the inside clean then there is no reason to use them.

ForgeValley said:

This ever happen to you?

View attachment 7749973

That's a piece of media stuck in the case mouth.

I just started using SS media, and my process was to tap each case to make sure all the media was out. Clearly that wasn't a good process.

Any thoughts on what would have happened if I had loaded this case and fired it?

Click to expand...

You should be inspecting cases prior to loading them. I use a media separator and it usually bangs the cases around enough to dislodge stuck pins. Sometimes I get what you see and/or pins stuck in the flash hole, but not very often.

A good practice is to tap the necks on a hard surface once the brass is dry. But if you still have a pin in there and load it, nothing will happen. Wet dreams of pins gouging up the bore are a product of mechanically inept Democrat retardation. I’ve been cleaning cases like this since SS tumbling came to the reloading scene and have never seen bore damage. It’s not a concern.

Brass juice cleaner with no pins gets my brass every bit as clean as lemishine, dawn and pins, and you don't need to go through all of the extra steps. Went away from pins for rifle brass when I realized I didn't want to blow out an induction annealer with one, then just realized it is better overall. I am sure there are other cleaning formulas that work just as well, but the Brass Juice is good.

ss chips works great

I use pins in my wet tumbler. Never had an issue and I check cases to make sure they are clear. I have tried both with and without pins and I find the pins get the primer pockets and case necks cleaner.

I really only use my SS media after about 3-4 reloadings or if I get range pick ups.
I use rice with some polish and it’s clean enough.

Wet tumbling, especially with SS pins, seems like a real pain in the ass.

I'll stick with dry tumbling with rice.

happens to 6.5 cases
not good if you anneal with an AMP and it falls out, expensive mistake that would be.

I haven't had that happen (yet).

I tap the case(s) against the inside of the drum while it's still in the water. With the case mouth downward so gravity pulls the pins out.

The pin method is a pain so I don't do it all the time.

I've gone full-circle and am back to using all the pins after not using any (well, 5lbs of pins in a 7L drum).

If you're one of the "carbon build-up in the necks = good" types, don't use the pins.

I've decided I'm the "I want the brass to come out the same level of cleanliness every single time" type, so that means using pins.

Most guys skip the pins (or wet tumbling altogether) because the case mouths get all fucked up... but that has nothing to dot with the pins, the SS pins are actually "cushioning media" and don't really damage anything at all, it's the cases bouncing around and crashing into other cases that's the real culprit.

On the advise of a former Navy mechanic who's tumbled just about everything that can be tumbled, and has used just about every method there is, I now use a bunch of cushioning media (pins) and about all the water the drum will take in order to cut down on the free space that allows cases to build up momentum and fly around inside the drum when tumbling.

The "secret sauce" I use (and recommend) is that I cut up some old Pelican foam that I had kicking around, and I add a bunch of pieces of foam to my tumbler lastly before I close it up and start tumbling. The foam floats above the cases and pins and takes up the open space and volume inside the tumbler. The foam stops the cases from building up much momentum and keeps them from crashing into each other as much or nearly as hard... no more fucked up case mouths.

ForgeValley said:

This ever happen to you?

View attachment 7749973

That's a piece of media stuck in the case mouth.

I just started using SS media, and my process was to tap each case to make sure all the media was out. Clearly that wasn't a good process.

Any thoughts on what would have happened if I had loaded this case and fired it?

Click to expand...

I get them stuck like that every now and then in my 300wm. I load several others and it does not happen. after seeing it for the first time, I double check. mostly because I had a case split rite down the side out of nowhere. Primer was normal and base had no ejector mark. I always thought it may have been a wedged(or not) pin in the case, as most people I asked replied with "shit happens". Rarely an acceptable answer in this sport.

In my experience with SS media, this happens all the time, needle nose pliers always at hand. Worse is that two pins will get stuck in the flash hole. This requires the same pliers, but it can be difficult to pull them out. I have never lost a case to damage and the SS media does a really good cleaning job, so I stick with the pins, My $.02.

I use the pins, have had good luck with them, cases come out nice and bright. But I always look in every piece of brass before moving forward..

rustyinbend said:

Started with dry media ... hated the mess.
Moved to wet media (steel pins) ... hated the aggravation.
Went to wet tumbling with no media but good cleaner (I use the Frankford Arsenal Brass Cleaner) ... and have been super happy ever since.

Do yourself a favor ... go wet without the steel.

Click to expand...

I've been through exactly the same process and came to exactly the same conclusion. I clean 9mm, 40SW, 45ACP, 6.5CM, .308 and 300WM .... all with great results. I get the added peace of mind that not using steel pins gives me when using my AMP annealer.

jinxx4ever said:

ss chips works great

Click to expand...

What chips? I bought some and they were the worst so small and thin they would stick to everything.

ForgeValley said:

This ever happen to you?

View attachment 7749973

That's a piece of media stuck in the case mouth.

I just started using SS media, and my process was to tap each case to make sure all the media was out. Clearly that wasn't a good process.

Any thoughts on what would have happened if I had loaded this case and fired it?

Click to expand...

That has never happened to me. Looks to be very easy to dislodge. What’s the issue?

Pins for me but I check inside of each case before I resize them.

There sure seems to be an awful lot of whining about the pins......the extra steps......pins getting stuck.....I guess it just makes me wonder how lazy you want to be about thoroughly cleaning your cases. Personally, I want them as shiny and clean as possible, from the bodies to the flash holes and the necks. If there's a crack or a split I can see it clearly, if the case mouth is bunged up it's obvious. I chamfer the case mouths after every firing anyway, so that part doesn't bother me. If the primer pockets still have a little grit in them I'll clean it out on my RCBS Case Prep machine, it adds a whole second or two to the process.

I shoot everything from 218 Bee to 38-55 to 6BR to 45-70 to 308, and ALL my brass gets tumbled in steel pins with lots of water, a drop or two of Dawn and a half a thimble full of Lemi-shine. Cases come out so shiny it hurts to look at them. Maybe I was a crow in a past life, but I like really shiny brass. I have spent a lot of money on nice firearms over the last 45 years, and I treat them well, which includes not stuffing grungy ammo into them. Call me weird. I can take it.

patriotnation said:

happens to 6.5 cases
not good if you anneal with an AMP and it falls out, expensive mistake that would be.

Click to expand...

ddavis52 said:

I get the added peace of mind that not using steel pins gives me when using my AMP annealer.

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I was just reading through the thread again, and saw this. I also use an AMP, I just anneal first.

Unfortunately I can't remember where I read it, but I believe the AMP folks are perfectly fine with "chamber to AMP". The only thing that sees any grime is the shell holder, the carbon just cooks onto the cases and stays out of the AMP.

That said, if you're going to go "chamber to AMP" and then also tumble without pins: don't forget to brush the inside of the case necks... because now you've got twice cooked carbon goop in there, and while not bad... carbon dust is graphite (muy bueno).

I use the pins (and foam) and try to only tumble 100 cases at a time, and while the outside of the cases come out looking brand new, I don't tumble long enough for the inside of the case necks to get totally squeaky clean (like with an ultrasonic cleaner or virgin brass). The pins remove much of the carbon, but not all of it, and what carbon remains is scratched up enough to where brushing isn't needed IMO.

When it comes to stuck pins, for me the cost-benefit analysis is an easy one: it doesn't happen often and is a non-issue. I'm not concerned with a stuck pin scratching my bore and ruining a barrel or whatever... some people also say you have to break-in a barrel...

ForgeValley said:

This ever happen to you?

View attachment 7749973

That's a piece of media stuck in the case mouth.

I just started using SS media, and my process was to tap each case to make sure all the media was out. Clearly that wasn't a good process.

Any thoughts on what would have happened if I had loaded this case and fired it?

Click to expand...

Go with Southern Shine Media - in addition to totally cleaning the inside and outside of the case it also totally cleans the primer pocket and you only need to tumble for about 30 minutes with it.

kthomas said:

Wet tumbling, especially with SS pins, seems like a real pain in the ass.

Click to expand...

The pins are a pain in the ass which is why I've never used them

Wet tumbling with just hot soapy water gets the cases infinitely cleaner than any sort of dry tumbling ever will and with zero chance that any grains of rice or bits of ground corncobs or walnut shells get stuck in the flash hole.

I've dry tumbled in corncob media, in walnut media, in rice, and wet tumbled without pins.

All I do now is wet tumble without pins because I hate the hassles and filth associated with all the other methods I've used.

I don't give a shit about cleaning the inside of the case or the primer pocket. Both are irrelevant to accurate ammo.

I use the pins and I've found a few cases that had the pins stuck in the neck. I have also found 2 pins stuck in a flash hole. I just make it a point to look closer for this. I use a small pair of needle nose pliers to remove them.

If you had loaded and fired that piece of brass you could have possibly damaged your barrel.

russmass said:

Go with Southern Shine Media - in addition to totally cleaning the inside and outside of the case it also totally cleans the primer pocket and you only need to tumble for about 30 minutes with it.

Click to expand...

Their chips are so small they stick to everything, your hands, inside the case everywhere they are like
pistol powder on static charged plastic.

I started using the wet method with pins. I don’t run more than 45 minutes and so far have been pleased. I do make sure to dry lube the necks before loading.

If you do use pins, a $12 harbor freight pickup magnet will find the pins easily.