Drying Brass Methods

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  • GolfR

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 20, 2016
    1,324
    Columbia MD
    I’ve been reloading for a few years now and reload 4 or 5 calibers. I’m looking for peoples advice for drying brass after SS pin tumbling. I’ve had very good luck with tumbling but do get tarnishing of cases during drying and a few pins stuck in 9mm flash holes. I use car wash with wax which has helped with keeping brass shinny. My process right now is to tumble, rinse well, then lay out the brass on plastic trays in my shop. I usually setup a fan to blow over the brass but it often takes 3-4 days to get everything good and dry especially for rifle cases. I’d love to find a tumbling mesh drum that I could put the wet brass in and blow with a space heater. The multi tray food dehydraters really aren’t an option because I’m doing 10-15 gallons of brass (15ish individual tumbler runs) at a time.

    Advice is appreciated!
     

    teratos

    My hair is amazing
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Jan 22, 2009
    59,775
    Bel Air
    I do a final tumble in walnut media with NuFinish car polish. Gets rid of marks and makes the cases slick so no sticking in dies.
     

    85MikeTPI

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 19, 2014
    2,699
    Ceciltucky
    Harbor freight portable cement mixer filled with walnut media. A 5gal bucket fits into the opening and keeps the dust in
     

    cstone

    Active Member
    Dec 12, 2018
    842
    Baltimore, MD
    No help from me. Sorry.

    I dry tumble in lizard bedding. I deprime, sort and inspect before tumbling. The tumbler will run anywhere from 12 to 18 hours depending on what I'm doing that day. The cases come out clean but not overly shiny. I do clean my dies occasionally, but the dry tumbled, clean brass doesn't leave much residue in the sizing dies. It's the sizing lube that has a tendency to foul the dies over time. I lube, size, trim, and then run for a half hour or so in the dry tumbler, just to take off any lube and brass shavings before hand priming. I store most of my brass prepped and primed, ready for reloading. Not shiny but clean enough to reload and shoot good.

    Be safe.
     

    inkd

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 4, 2009
    7,512
    Ridge
    I’ve been reloading for a few years now and reload 4 or 5 calibers. I’m looking for peoples advice for drying brass after SS pin tumbling. I’ve had very good luck with tumbling but do get tarnishing of cases during drying and a few pins stuck in 9mm flash holes. I use car wash with wax which has helped with keeping brass shinny. My process right now is to tumble, rinse well, then lay out the brass on plastic trays in my shop. I usually setup a fan to blow over the brass but it often takes 3-4 days to get everything good and dry especially for rifle cases. I’d love to find a tumbling mesh drum that I could put the wet brass in and blow with a space heater. The multi tray food dehydraters really aren’t an option because I’m doing 10-15 gallons of brass (15ish individual tumbler runs) at a time.

    Advice is appreciated!

    Everything I would advise, you already hit on. Could you build some large wood trays with heavy mesh lining, stack them on top of each other? Then, lay a box fan flat, elevated on some wood blocks. Lay the trays on the fan and let it blow air up through the trays?
     

    hermyjoe

    Active Member
    Feb 5, 2012
    249
    riverdale md
    I use a jerky/fruit dehydrator. works fast and virtually no spots. you can find used ones at yard sales and flea markets fairly cheap.
     

    Flametamer

    Active Member
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 6, 2014
    796
    Frederick County
    Granted I don't run batches as large as you, but before I got a free dehydrator I would tumble them in a media separator to separate the pins (also shook off a lot of solution) and then toss then onto a couple of old beach towels. Roll them around on the towels briefly and then turn the fan over them overnight. No water Mark's at all.
     

    KRC

    Active Member
    Sep 30, 2018
    615
    Cecil County MD
    I dry cases once or twice per reloading.

    Once after SS pin tumbling:
    I use a weak ultrasound cleaner mix to tumble with the pins.
    Sieve out the cases, rinse in tap water. Second rinse with distilled water.
    Place cases upside down in a 50 hole wooden loading tray.
    Heat oven to ~200F. Let cases sit in the oven ~20 minutes +.
    Remove, cool down a bit, flip cases open necks upwards.
    Back in the oven for another 20 minutes+.

    Second time after resizing (with screw type die only and lubricant removal):
    (No lube used with arbor press resized cases.)
    Wash/remove lube by stirring cases in a saucepan with HOT (just under boiling) detergent water heated on the stove-top.
    Repeat the rinsing and drying procedure above.

    Oh yeah . . . make sure the wife doesn't turn the oven on while the cases are drying.
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,278
    HoCo
    I have plastics trays from a broken dehydrator. If I want them sooner, I use the trays With The new dehydrator.

    I do not use pins anymore
    I will vibe clean with walnut then size. Wet tumble if I want it purdy

    Primer pockets come out pretty clean w/o pins



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    Postell

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Nov 5, 2018
    291
    No help from me, 40+ years of reloading and I have yet to have the need to get brass wet when reloading.
     

    md123

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 29, 2011
    2,005
    Franklin Arsenal wet tumbler and their brass dryer work great for me.

    It’s the multi tray UFO looking thing....
     

    midnightSGT

    Active Member
    Oct 17, 2013
    756
    Calvert County
    Wet Tumble. I rinse, blow them out with my air compressor, then place them on a old cookie sheet in place it in sun for a few hours on the front porch while I'm at work.
     

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