Wet Tumbling: Frankford Arsenal or HF Concrete Mixer

[moosensquirrel]

Well, I ran the brass for 1 hour and I am very happy with the results.

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Some lessons learned:
1. Can only run 1/2 the contents of a 5 gallon bucket, still a pretty good quantity compared to my old vibratory tumbler.
2. The post cleanup is a lot more labor than I thought, but it was nice as I did not have to deal with any dust. Rinsing till all the suds are gone and separating the pins from the brass took 3 different containers along with a media separator.
3. Those stainless pins go everywhere, I need to figure a way to separate them with a lot less mess. Maybe throw in some magnets the last 5 minutes of tumbling or acquire some bigger media or maybe not use them at all.

If the media is true stainless, a magnet will have no effect.

 

[madcow]

Also, get a nail magnet from Lowes or Home Depot to pickup any pins on the ground. Make easy cleanup of the ones that get thrown out during tumbling.

Was thinking of heading to the junk yard and picking up around 10 speaker magnets, should be cheaper than buying from the big box stores.

 

[Jackie Graham]

Problem with the dillion is it doesn't have a cover like the RCBS.
It helps keep everything inside and not on the ground.

 

[Jackie Graham]

Nail magnet has an extendable handle and cost around $15

 

[Jackie Graham]

 

[madcow]

If the media is true stainless, a magnet will have no effect.

Tested the pins on a old hard drive magnet, and they stuck to it like hair on gum. Must be some low grade SS pins.

 

[Jackie Graham]

Magnets are cheap. Also, try looking at Harbor Freight

 

[Jackie Graham]

SS pins have low carbon content so they stick to magnets.

 

[usedjean]

Just threw out the last batch of dirty media from my vibratory tumbler and was thinking of switching to wet tumbling. Reason being, less dust, guaranteed to get out that Georgia mud stuck inside cases, should eliminate 9mm cases from getting stuck in .40s which get stuck in .45s.

I looked at the Frankford Arsenal Platinum series which run about $200+ or I can pick up a small HF concrete mixer for $170 but would still have to buy the stainless pins.

Which do you think would be the better way to go? What are the pro's and con's aside from storage footprint and capacity?

I bought the Frankford one from bass pro on sell for 140, don t get the cheaper one, get the one with pins included. Best move since I started reloading, going on 50 years. No dust on press, I use a dillion 650. Also picked up a jerky dryer at yard sell for 10 bucks. a little dawn and 9mm case of lima shine and you have very shiny brass.

 

[Paxdad]

If you are loading on a progressive loader I have found that it’s conducive to dry tumble to allow pistol caliber brass to maintain the carbon. The carbon acts as a lube for the powder funnel and expander. Wet tumbled brass is too clean in some instances and can cause the cases to move around when bringing the ram up and leads to powder spillage etc.