Stainless tumbling - I muffed it

[deye243]

i must be missing something

i did my first batch of brass (10lb) and while it was in the dryer some of it has oxidized a fair bit ?

so i must have done something wrong for this to happen.

i rinsed it 4 times when i finished the tumbling so it's got me stuffed .

[brett1868]

I wonder if there was any kind of residue on the stainless that may be causing this...

[deye243]

now that you mention it when i poured it in the barrel there was a lot of dust ?

[brett1868]

I'd be washing the media in water and a little bicarb soda to neutralise any acids. I have been thinking to go down the path of stainless pins and a tumbler so I'm keen to hear how you go with this. Currently I use corn cob media in a Lyman vibratory cleaner which seems to go a good job getting the crud off.

[deye243]

but not on the inside i have been doing that for 20 years and with the wettumbling you get a case just as clean inside as out and a spotless primer pocket

a win win win as i see it .

and with the bigger cases you use i think you better make a big one like mine (or bigger) as you wont get to many in a 15 to 17lb one .

[Tiiger]

i did my first batch of brass (10lb) and while it was in the dryer some of it has oxidized a fair bit ?

Stupid question probably but if you don't ask...

You're not drying them in an oven or anything that hot that would accelerate oxidisation?

[Mich]

I'd be washing the media in water and a little bicarb soda to neutralise any acids.

I did mine with a spoon of a few drops of dish washing detergent and a heaped spoon of bicarb to agitate it.

Worked for me.

[deye243]

did another tumble tonight and rinsed 3 times and then in the metho and in front of the heater and nice clean dry in 10 mins inside and out .

[howtow]

Any pics of the end result?

[deye243]

direct sunlight don't give the aperence any favors

IMG_1939 (Medium).JPG (123.4 KiB) Viewed 9806 times

IMG_1937 (Medium).JPG (81.05 KiB) Viewed 9806 times

IMG_1931 (Medium).JPG (189.04 KiB) Viewed 9806 times

[howtow]

Still looks good

[pracshooter]

I think you have your mix out. I give my larger tumbler with about 8 pounds of pins a really good squirt of dishwashing liquid and about half a teaspoonful of lemishine. The detergent and steel pins do all the cleaning work, not the citric acid. Don't worry about using too much detergent, it is in a closed container and has nowhere to bubble up. The more detergent and pins the better the outcome.

[deye243]

ok but what does the citric acid do ?

[pracshooter]

My understanding is the citric acid assists to remove any slight corrosion on cases. Very mild, not going to eat cases or turn them pink. Lemishine seems to have some additional additive that makes brass extra shiny, but I've also heard a squirt of wash n wax is OK for extra shine. No idea if that is true or not.

[Yelp]

Very mild, not going to eat cases or turn them pink.

A mate of mine did a batch with vinegar and got 100 salmon coloured cases for his trouble

[pawnee]

I use a squirt of washing up detergent and a 1/4 teaspoon of 'Lemi Shine' had to get that from the U.S.A
tumble for 2 hrs all done just like new

[Chronos]

Very mild, not going to eat cases or turn them pink.

A mate of mine did a batch with vinegar and got 100 salmon coloured cases for his trouble

not good, i think the salmon colour comes from the acid stripping the tin from the brass, leaving more copper visable to the eye, i'd be very careful using it if it's possible

Chronos

[Yelp]

The brass had been used quite a bit already and the vinegar was a bit of an experiment knowing he wasn't going to have the brass much longer anyway.

I think he did one more round of reduced loads with them and they got chucked.

[Tiger650]

Very mild, not going to eat cases or turn them pink.

A mate of mine did a batch with vinegar and got 100 salmon coloured cases for his trouble

Not a good thing for shiny brass but if any bugger looks like shooting back I would prefer not to eject reflective things.

[Lorgar]

A mate of mine did a batch with vinegar and got 100 salmon coloured cases for his trouble

Maybe he could have passed them off as a "gift" for the girlfriend or something.

Something pretty to get her involved in shooting.

At least score some brownie points out of the ruined brass so it's not a total write off

[Gun Nut Gordo]

yeah I've got a thumlers tumbler and love it, I use the Lymans brass solution and get great results 1 tablespoon with the water and leave it for a couple hours and yeah like you direct sunlight to dry. Awesome way to clean the brass inside and out

[Usurper]

At least score some brownie points out of the ruined brass so it's not a total write off

As long as one doesn't get accidentally loaded and a pink case pops in her rifle.

They you're really in the s**t