Calling all ammo reloaders

[gm280]

I have been seeing and reading a new way to clean fired empty brass for reloading. And I looked at lots of tumblers that a lot of folks built. So only having a mere small tumbler from years ago that I used to clean brass cases, I decided to make a new larger machine. Well I did and here is that new tumbler. It still needs to be painted for the final finish, and that comes shortly as well.

Seems the new method to clean empty brass is to use stainless steel pins. I know, that doesn't sound right, but you will be a believer shortly. These pins are about .047" in diameter and about .250" long. They are sold by the weight. And you put them in the tumbler with water and some detergent. But not just any detergent. They recommend Lemon Shine (actual brand name). So here are the before and after pictures of the first batch in the new tumbler I built.



This is the tumbler. It is built out of 1.25" square tubing with 3/4" pillow bearing and 3/4" black iron pipe and a 1/2 HP motor. It is sold as a rock and can tumbler anything you can throw at it.





A few pictures of the tumbler. Now lets see how well it works.



These are 223 cases sized, deprimed and even the military primer pockets swagged if needed. You can see they are pretty cruddy and stained. The first batch was 500 cases. Not even a half filled tumbler, but I wanted to see how well this thing worked. This load weighted in a just a little over 25lbs.



Same case after only an hour and 40 minutes. Usually you tumble for 2 to 3 hours, but I couldn't wait.




They look like new inside and out. No dirt, stains or any discoloration now. Even the primer pockets are cleaned as well. A task I hated to do by hand. So now a new primer, some powder and a bullet and we are ready to rock and roll. I had to show this for other reloaded that I know a lot of iboats do as well.

I will never reload dirty ammo case ever again. These will rivil new ammo without any problem.

 

[Boomyal]

You should post a picture of the media.

 

[Tnstratofam]

That's a nice setup gm.:encouragement:

 

[gm280]

Thanks guys, Here is what the actual media looks like. You can buy them in different size bags. We bought two 5 pound bags, but have only opened just one to use.

There are a lot of manufacturers now selling them because it has hit the reloading world like crazy. The absolute best cleaning media ever found. And the best part is, it last forever. No need to throw out after usage. You will loose a few here and there and will need to replenish them eventually, but they never wear out. And an interesting feature about them is they are mildly magnetized as well. So we use a powerful magnet inside a zip-lock bag to reclaim the pins from the ugly looking dirty water after you dump everything out of the tumbler when polished.

 

[MTboatguy]

I use walnut/corn cob media in my tumbler.

One thing you need to make sure of, is every once in a while, you need to clean the stainless pins or as they age and are used, they will start turning you're brass black because of contamination.

 

[gm280]

I use walnut/corn cob media in my tumbler.

One thing you need to make sure of, is every once in a while, you need to clean the stainless pins or as they age and are used, they will start turning you're brass black because of contamination.

Yes MT, I used to use walnut and corn cob media as well for decades. But with a small rock tumbler I received when I was decades younger. I did some rock tumbling back then and then started using that little tumbler for cleaning brass as I got into reloading. But both corn cob and walnut would take a lot longer and would eventually stop really polishing the brass anymore. Even with added polishing agents it would wear out.

I have already cleaned over 2000 rounds of 223 and they all come out looking amazingly bright and like new. This newly built tumbler can tumble 35 lbs easily without any hiccups. That is a lot of brass at one time, and every cartridge comes out cleaned inside, outside and even the primer pockets cleaned. You use some cleaning detergent with the stainless steel pins. We are using both the supplied detergent and bought the Lemon Shine that others are using. I can tell you, I don't see me going back to corn cob and/or walnut again. And the best part is, it does all that cleaning in about an hour and a half to two hours. I have tumbled with corn cob and walnut for 12 to 24 hours before as the media got worn.

It is amazing to see totally black brass now look brand new in less then two hours. I will post the final finished tumbler after I get it primed and painted. I have to prime and paint it to make it look store bought. :joyous:

 

[gm280]

Well there was an update to this tumbler build. Glad I waited to see how things worked for a while before priming and painting. Seems the hose clamp that hold the rubber cap on was hitting the pillar bearing casing and actually wore a little area off. Nothing big but I made a couple free spinning wheels and mounting brackets to keep the tumbler(s) from hitting either side now. So after a few more tumbles I will paint. We have easily tumbled well over 2000 round of ammo thus far and I still get excited when I see the results of each batch. I never had brass come out that clean ever. The last batch weighed a little over 35 pounds. But it could do a lot more without issues. :thumb:

 

[thumpar]

I have thought about making one like that after people started using the pins. They sure come out clean. I would have to keep the regular tumbler for using on finished ammo though. I don't know how well it would turn out to tumble loaded ammo with pins.

 

[MTboatguy]

I know a lot of guys that are using Harbor Freight rock tumblers which are inexpensive with steel pins and they are seem to be happy with their efforts.

 

[msouthern]

Just curious what speed this setup runs at... maybe a parts list? Motor rpm or part number?

 

[gm280]

Just curious what speed this setup runs at... maybe a parts list? Motor rpm or part number?

Well first of all, :welcome: to iboats. Seems you are a new member and I would like to welcome you to this iboat forum.

I have plans that I will be posting as I get everything worked out perfectly. And that seems to be real soon since it is running flawlessly now. I will say that I went on the over-kill end with the motor.

Most large tumblers use 1/4 HP or way less. And they offer upgrades to a 1/3 HP motor for a nominal few. But I went with a 1/2 HP motor to start with. And that reason is because between a 1/3 HP to a 1/2 HP is merely about $15 to $25 dollars. So I went large. However, the 1/4 HP and 1/3 HP share the exact same frame size as the 1/2 HP, that being a 48 frame size. So going bigger was just a natural to pick. I will never have any problems turning any weight tumbler with it now.

I can tell you when you tumble 500 plus 223 cases and add in the stainless steel pins and water and detergent, it adds up quickly in weight. The last batch weighed in at 35 lbs. But it wasn't even close to being full. So it is totally capable of more and the larger HP motor will not have any issues turning it. JMHO

I will post everything in the very near future. All the plans, cut part sizes, hardware and even where I bought everything as well. So just keep watching. I did look at commercial made tumblers similar to this one. And they start a $460 dollars plus shipping, and go way up from there. I don't have even a third of that in this unit. Clever searching for parts kept the cost very low.

 

[MTdeepC]

Nice, I'll have to get some of these. What are the chances of them getting stuck in small cases like a 22 hornet?

 

[gm280]

Nice, I'll have to get some of these. What are the chances of them getting stuck in small cases like a 22 hornet?

MTdeepC, that is an excellent question. There are lots of different types of stainless steel pins on the market now since this is a latest and greatest new idea in cleaning brass. And some are bigger in diameter and some even are shaped like little footballs. However, the size I selected are mere .047" in diameter and will easily go through any primer flash hole in any cartridge. The large diameter types will easily get stuck in the flash hole. And I have no idea about the football type. Most folks go with the .047" size so it will go through the flash hole and clean the primer pockets too. So there is really no issue with 22 hornet cases using the .047" size. And remember, unless you loose a lot of them here and there and need to replace some, they last forever.

 

[Bob_VT]

I use the pins, water and lemon shine and it is a great method but...... reserved for better weather. I can spread everything out in the sun to dry and the weather right now is not good for that here.

A few hints about building the tumblers....... pvc glue some strips inside the pipe to create disruption. A great source of motors is an appliance store. When people purchase new washing machines normally the motor in the old one is salvageable and makes an excellent tumbler motor.

A paint store sells large cloth filters which help to separate the pins and brass.

If you want to see something impressive......... put your car keys in with the brass cleaning (w/o the remote of course) and look at the results!

I used to sell allot of brass on gun broker but the market fell apart ........ I probably have 30-35K of 40 brass cleaned and sold twice that. Reminds me ..... I need to set up my dillon and get some reloading done.

 

[gm280]

I use the pins, water and lemon shine and it is a great method but...... reserved for better weather. I can spread everything out in the sun to dry and the weather right now is not good for that here.

A few hints about building the tumblers....... pvc glue some strips inside the pipe to create disruption. A great source of motors is an appliance store. When people purchase new washing machines normally the motor in the old one is salvageable and makes an excellent tumbler motor.

A paint store sells large cloth filters which help to separate the pins and brass.

If you want to see something impressive......... put your car keys in with the brass cleaning (w/o the remote of course) and look at the results!

I used to sell allot of brass on gun broker but the market fell apart ........ I probably have 30-35K of 40 brass cleaned and sold twice that. Reminds me ..... I need to set up my dillon and get some reloading done.

Yea Bob_VT, I started out reusing a little motor that was in the attic for an attic vent fan. But it didn't work well and you had to hand start it when you just put the empty tumbler on. So I bought a brand new one from a guy on EBay in the box for a great price. It is 1/2 HP and it won't stall regardless what I load it to. I take the brass out, rinse it well and then spread them out on a towel and dry them with another towel and then turn a fan on across them. So far no problems.

When I think the amount of money I've spend on corn cob and walnut media over the years, I could have bought a lot of these tumblers, or a least a new rifle or three.

 

[gm280]

Here are a couple semi-technical drawings for anybody interested. I am making true scale drawings but that will take a little while longer. But this gives an idea how it is built. And the basic dimensions are 14" wide by 20" deep, the main platform section without the motor section. I used 1.25" (1-1/4") square tubing because...well...I had it laying around. I always try to build around what I have laying around. IDK







These are certainly not to true scale, but pretty close. But it gives you an idea how I cut and built my tumbler. You will make adjustments for your setup and needs I'm sure pending material you have laying around. With that stated, the use of a 1/2 HP motor makes it very user friendly and strong enough for anything you could possible throw at it.

Commercial tumblers, with 1/2 HP motors, run in the $500 to $800 dollars range easily. I made this for well under $150 bucks including buying a brand new motor. How this helps some.

Oh one other thing. When even possible I weld the nuts in place so you don't need two wrenches to tighten or remove anything. I weld on three segments of the nuts after drilling the pass-through hoes in the metal. Just something I like to do with things like this. :noidea:

 

[gm280]

With the exception of the tumblers themselves being painted, here is the final finished case tumbler now.







Some of you may recolonize the paint finish. And that is because it is some left overs from the trailer project I did. I had just enough to paint this with a little left over for touch ups both on the trailer and this tumbler frame. I even added some nice end caps on the square tubing for a nice finished touch.

I still need to paint the tumblers themselves and I have some ideas for them as well. But for the most part, this is finished now. It was a really fun project and it does the job beyond anything I could imagine. Hope you all like it! :smile:

 

[Tnstratofam]

Very nice GM. :thumb:

 

[gm280]

Very nice GM. :thumb:

Thanks tnstratofam, I actually painted the two tumblers now with some hammer tone silvery gray paint and then clear coat over top. So I am now just going to use the tumbler(s) and move to the next project. And I think I will finish the sanding of the hull now. :thumb:

 

[gm280]

Okay, I just had to post this for those that could be interested.

A few days ago I found a 5 gallon bucket in the attic that was partially filled with lots and lots of bolts and nuts from old engine projects from years past. And for the most part, they were totally greasy and even some rust on them to the point that the threads were pretty much plugged with grease, dirt and rust. Well I thought I would put them in the tumbler with the Stainless Steel pins and Lemon Shine and Dawn detergent and see how they come out. If they still looked bad, they were going to the trash.

After two hours tumbling, I was amazed to the point of unbelievable. They actually looked pretty much like you just bought them at a hardware store. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. So I thought I would post the findings just in case others were interested in such things. I still can't believe how nice they looked. :thumb: :joyous: