How To Clean Brass Tumbling Media
When I first started reloading I decided to save some money by not buying a tumbler to clean my brass. I loaded for several years before buying a tumbler. Now that I have been using it for awhile I really enjoy having clean, professional looking brass. Once you start using the tumbling media, it will get dirty quickly. As the media got dirty I started looking for alternatives to buying new media.
After doing some research online I decided to try my own method instead of what I had found. To clean your own tumbling media you only have to buy one piece of equipment. I went to Walmart and found a laundry bag for underwear. Make sure that you get one that has fine enough mesh that you won't lose you media through the holes.
The first step is to fill up the bag with you tumbling media. As you can see, the media starts out extremely dirty. I probably waited a little too long to clean this batch. The last group of 308 brass that I tumbled let off a cloud of dust as I dumped the media into the sifter.
Once the bag is full and you have sealed it up tight, start running water through it. You will notice the water coming out really dirty to start. Keep rinsing until the water comes out clear or nearly clear. Knead the bag to work the dirt loose When I've done it, I'm usually not patient enough to wait until the water is completely clear. The picture below doesn't show the dirtiest water that I got out of it, but it does give you an idea of what it can look like.
Once you are done rinsing, find something to hold the media while it dries. I dumped mine into a 5 gallon bucket to allow for a larger surface area. I agitated the bucket every couple hours to mix up the wet and dry parts. You can also set a fan to blow over the top of the bucket to speed up the process. You don't have to blow the fan directly into the bucket, and you will still have to agitate the media to make sure it dries thoroughly.
While your media is drying, make sure you clean out the tumbler. You don't want to put clean media back into a dirty tumbler.
Now you tumbling media is clean and ready to tumble a few thousand more rounds. As you can see, the photo I took here still has some wet media in it.
Hopefully this tip will help you save some money on media, which you can spend on components. Tumbling media may not be the most expensive part of reloading, but I would much rather save a little money here and buy some extra bullets or powder.
Do you have any money saving tips? Share them below!
After doing some research online I decided to try my own method instead of what I had found. To clean your own tumbling media you only have to buy one piece of equipment. I went to Walmart and found a laundry bag for underwear. Make sure that you get one that has fine enough mesh that you won't lose you media through the holes.
The first step is to fill up the bag with you tumbling media. As you can see, the media starts out extremely dirty. I probably waited a little too long to clean this batch. The last group of 308 brass that I tumbled let off a cloud of dust as I dumped the media into the sifter.
Once you are done rinsing, find something to hold the media while it dries. I dumped mine into a 5 gallon bucket to allow for a larger surface area. I agitated the bucket every couple hours to mix up the wet and dry parts. You can also set a fan to blow over the top of the bucket to speed up the process. You don't have to blow the fan directly into the bucket, and you will still have to agitate the media to make sure it dries thoroughly.
While your media is drying, make sure you clean out the tumbler. You don't want to put clean media back into a dirty tumbler.
Now you tumbling media is clean and ready to tumble a few thousand more rounds. As you can see, the photo I took here still has some wet media in it.
Hopefully this tip will help you save some money on media, which you can spend on components. Tumbling media may not be the most expensive part of reloading, but I would much rather save a little money here and buy some extra bullets or powder.
Do you have any money saving tips? Share them below!
I've done the same think. However, I must be more frugal than you. I used a pair of longjohns with the ends tied shut.
ReplyDeleteThat would have definitely worked, unfortunately I didn't have any around the house.
ReplyDelete10-4, I've been wrestling with this same challange for some time. Today, I decided to give my proess a try. Bottom line, I put the media into an old cotton pillow case, mixed up about 3 gal of water w/ a little Dawn dish soap (to cut the oil/grease) in a 5 gal paint bucket and proceeded to immerse the pillowcase, kneading and immersing repeatedly. As the water got really dirty, it looked like time to dump the filthy water and commence the rinse process. I used the 5 gal bucket filled w/ 3-4 gal of water several times, kneading and imersing intil the water was much cleaner (and the soap was rinsed out). Pillow case w/ the media was hung up to drain for a while then kneaded around a bit from time to time to allow the cotton to pull the water out and transport to the air. I hope this adds a liittle enrichment.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to comment about something I had seen maybe on a youtube video and warn everyone against it. The video claimed that you could throw a couple used dryer sheets into the tumbler as it was running. Either with or without brass in it. I tried this and it was a big fail! I have no idea what the chemicals are is fabric softener, but it was a bear to get rid of. It quickly coated everything! The media had to be thrown away. The brass that I had in it at the time I used Dawn to cut through a little bit of it. The only way I was able to rid the brass was to bake it in the oven and roll the hot brass with paper towels, (several times). I still feel a greasy coating on my tumbler, after two years of use. At least it doesn't seem to effect the brass or the media anymore. I just wanted to pass the awful experience along so anyone else didn't have to go through it. Thank you for sharing this info also. Being frugal is the biggest reason I got into reloading in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting that you had such a negative result with used drier sheets. I actually use those quite frequently and have never noticed an adverse affect. I usually through one in every second or third tumbling to keep the media a little cleaner.
DeleteI wonder if your issue was with a specific brand?
I also use USED dryer sheets with out a problem . I cut the sheet into app 1" squares and like I said no problems so far for the past 2 yrs
DeleteI think he missed the sheet part and just poured in fabric softener. That is the only thing I can deduct from what his results were
ReplyDeleteI’ve used all sorts and brands of drier sheets and never had a problem. Sounds like the sheet part was missed and you poured fabric softener in to the media
ReplyDelete