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Post by glenr on Jan 20, 2017 11:18:48 GMT
Part one Now before I start I will clarify that this is only one way of staring to prep the fired brass. So if somebody does some step or procedure, that is fine.  A tray of fired brass I use the dry vibrating tumbler method for most brass that I shoot as it isn't that dirty since I shoot at an indoor range only. There are the ultrasonic cleaner method which I use when I purchase brass from a vendor. There is also a wet stainless steel pin tumbler, is popular with some folks. That are really picky about the way their brass looks,  This is a Horrible Fright 5 pound tumble for the money I had one I used for years for cleaning parts, I had it6 on the bench and it walked off and broke,I kept all the non broken parts. The next one I got died in less than a month took it back to HF and got this one, you can't bet the no quibble guarantee at HF. Notice the section of the floor mat it sits in this has held down the walk about of the tumbler, Some put it a plastic milk crate to keep it corralled.  I use the ground walnut shell media, Now others use plastic beads,glass beads, ground corn cob, and paper or wood pellets. The ground walnut media I use is from the big box pet stores it is used as lizard or small animal bedding. DO NOT USE THE MEDIA FOR BEDDING AFTER CLEANING BRASS! As the older media wears down and gets dirty I remove some and add fresh media to the mix.  Some of the branded media by the reloading brands contains cleaners/polish in it. I use this  Mostly because it was what I had on hand, I have tried turtle waxes polish but it contains to much water and condensation forms on the inside of the drum. I put some of the new finish into the media and mix it up after I am finished for the day let it dry in the media overnight or so.  Here it is loaded with the brass,media and used dryer sheets cut into strips, the sheets collect the most of the dust and curd from the brass.  After 1 1/2 hours of tumbling this is what the dryer sheets look like after use. It doesn't help to use fresh dryer sheets plus you throw the used ones out after each  end of part one |
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Post by American Deagle on Jan 20, 2017 12:13:36 GMT
I have never had that good of luck with my tumbler. It's a frankford arsenal, and even after running 10 hours it never got my brass that clean. I don't know why, ive tried all the things you have, maybe the tumbler just doesn't get the right motions down or something. I have wishful thinking for my new sonic cleaner but we shall see. But good walkthrough excited to see part two.
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ronj
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Post by ronj on Jan 20, 2017 14:52:07 GMT
I have every thing to reload with just never had the time. Just went to buy a box of Weatherby 300mag ammo. $78.00 for 20. Check price tag on an old box I had in safe. You know I will be reloading now. |
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Post by glenr on Jan 20, 2017 21:52:33 GMT
I have never had that good of luck with my tumbler. It's a frankford arsenal, and even after running 10 hours it never got my brass that clean. I don't know why, ive tried all the things you have, maybe the tumbler just doesn't get the right motions down or something. I have wishful thinking for my new sonic cleaner but we shall see. But good walkthrough excited to see part two. That is new brass it has been loaded 3 times, it was never on the ground or exposed to the weather.  I have bars of buffing compound differing polishing grits the green is generally for stainless, Brown Tripoli, White Rouge then the Red Rouge they are coarse to fine. You can use the drill rasp like in the photo to grind the bar into a powder or a coarse sanding disk like a 60 or 80 grit would take it off faster To keep it from flying everywhere I have did it with both drill and bar in a plastic bag. I then mix it with the media and brass. Have you looked in the bowl of the tumbler with the lid off to see if the media and brass is moving around it should be moving pretty good . I do know that some times if the bolts loosen uo on the mounts the bowl isn't moving fast enough. If you have ran it for 10 hours and it didn't clean up good my money would be on the tumblers mounts either being too tight or loose. I have only seen there tumbler in pic's on line. |
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Post by glenr on Jan 20, 2017 22:00:18 GMT
I have every thing to reload with just never had the time. Just went to buy a box of Weatherby 300mag ammo. $78.00 for 20. Check price tag on an old box I had in safe. You know I will be reloading now. Yep it does get expensive, But so can getting the items for reloading. depending on the number of calibers one will be doing a single stage press I have a Lee breech lock press. Which I like the quick change features for the dies. I do about 200 .50AE's or the SW500's or the .50 Beowulf in a session spread over a day or two. I have two Dillon's one new and one used the new one is set up with a case feeder and man can you crank out the .45's on that baby. I'm setting up the used one so I can do the large bore pistol and 5.56mm on it. |
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Post by ronj1 on Jan 20, 2017 23:34:31 GMT
I just got the lee classic torrent press kit. Got carbide dies for all cal. I own. Big order coming from starline brass. Already got H110 and tight group power. Just need some time.
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Post by American Deagle on Jan 20, 2017 23:45:01 GMT
glen, what bullets do you use 50 ae, Ive been trying to determine a affordable option for plinking you try plated stuff?
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Post by glenr on Jan 21, 2017 2:27:54 GMT
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Post by glenr on Jan 21, 2017 2:32:54 GMT
I just got the lee classic torrent press kit. Got carbide dies for all cal. I own. Big order coming from starline brass. Already got H110 and tight group power. Just need some time. Got to love them carbide dies,I too only have them for all calibers well worth the extra money.I still use a little microcrystalline wax on every 4th casing or so it does lube the dies and make it easier pulling the handle. Mostly the large cal straight walls in addition to the 5.56 bottle neck cases. |
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ronj
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Post by ronj on Jan 21, 2017 2:53:32 GMT
Wife's best friend owns a gun store. He lets her have every thing at cost. I have 500 Hornady300 gr. xtp mag bullets. but I still have a lot of underwood ammo that I got when it was very cheap. They were 50 rd. boxes for about $30. I think I still have 20 box of that and a lot of 500 mag. They came in blue plastic boxes. Dave my wife's friend is a great gunsmith. He glass bedded My Weatherby 300mag and set up the scope. Went to TN. bear hunting and shot a Russian wild boar. 1 shot dropped in its tracks. About 100 yards.
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ronj
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Post by ronj on Jan 21, 2017 3:41:33 GMT
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ronj
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Post by ronj on Jan 21, 2017 3:43:06 GMT
Late and nothing is working right. |
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Post by American Deagle on Jan 21, 2017 3:49:32 GMT
Thanks I was looking into them, also rainer's, but ive used berrys in in 10 mm and had good luck so Sounds like I have my bullet choice. I havent gotten my dies for 50 ae yet, got a bunch in other calibers not 50 ae yet. |
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Post by glenr on Jan 21, 2017 11:22:21 GMT
I picked up a couple boxes of the Hornady 300gr from Midwest USA when they had them on sale. But I figured that since currently I'm only punch paper@ an indoor range that's about 50 feet. It is less than 10 minute drive from the house. I would go with the berry's since they are cheaper and they work in all 3 of my .50's
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Post by glenr on Jan 21, 2017 12:32:48 GMT
The subject of using an ultrasonic cleaner. I don't want to sound like a shill for Horrible Fright. I have spent time in a number of hobbies that require assortments of tools. In dealing with the suppliers one can come to the conclusion that whether it is HF's grizzly's or any of the auto tool supplies they are made in the same factories off shore. Other than the brand and paint color about the only difference is the price. If I was using the tools 8 hours a day and daily I would buy better tools. I have had this HF larger ultrasonic cleaner for a number of years. It has a heater which helps speed up the number of cleaning cycles that may be needed. Go to the HF site and find the tool you are looking for and down load the instruction booklet for it you can check out everything about it or compare it to other importers. Although I don't think you can beat HF's no quibble guarantee, or with the 20% off coupons including the sale prices. Here is a link to the HF coupon wiki slickdeals.net/f/1276399-Harbor-Freight-Coupon-Thread It is filled with Simple green 2/3, 1/3 water, the timer is set at the maximum 480 seconds. I use it when I'm in the area so I can reset and run it  This is the plastic tray that comes with it for making parts removal easier, I have attached some threads to the sides so I can lift it out. Since it does get hot Here it is with the lid on it you want to keep the lid on it when it is operating since it tends to get the area wet around it. I also have an extra kitty litter scoop to fish out the brass if it comes off the plastic basket  I use the heavy duty Meat tray's to hold the brass and rinse it off and out well Then comes drying the brass, If you live in an area of the country that has the temps and sun year around out side on an old cookie sheet covered with a old towel.Some use just a couple of towels and move the brass around. others use an inferred heat lamp bulb, in the showers. You just have to remember that the brass will be HOT. Bottle neck cases take the longest to dry inside which is a must before reloading I use one of the HF food dryers.  I generally only use one or two of the trays depending an the number of calibers or amount of the brass. I was thinking of adding a fan to the lid forcing the air up passed the heating coil and out to the lid. I have some old PC cooling fans 12 volt, but so far they do dry pretty quickly. The bottle necks do take longer, I have found to avoid problems that you should deprimer before running thru the cleaner so people do some don't but they have to be dried again after depriming. I have a great hand held deprimer, but that's another post. The finial type of cleaning is the stainless pins and water.  It was borrowed from the jewelry casting trade, it is used to clean flashing from the castings and harden the silver and gold the stainless pins as in the above pic were mixed with a little water and soap to act as a lubricate. It is run with more water and liquid soap in a closed drum in what was borrowed for the rock polishing crowd.  Here are the pins in a magnified pic  Here is a garage sale pick up, it is very small to use for brass but I'm not a fan of the extra work the stainless pin cleaning requires. You have to keep the pins clean as they do develop black curd on them. After use some either keep the in water or dry them completely. Since these pins are slightly magnetic and real stainless is not. These pins will rust, some deprimer before cleaning some after. Due to the fact that some pins are too small for the brass they do get stuck in the primer holes. And you still have to rinse and dry the brass out. Now some that do a lot of brass use the small cement mixers electric, or build their own closed drum rolling style Here are a couple of do it yourself styles www.miim.com/thebside/tumbler/And my favorite the fifty pound truck tire one www.scribd.com/document/26632626/A-Fifty-Pound-Truck-Tire-Rock-Tumbler-Specifications-and-Experiences You can google for more and other ideas a favorite is using pvc sewer pipe as the drums. |
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