Excellent video. After doing a quick search, this is the only video that came up for wet vs dry tumbling. I currently do ultrasonic cleaning (harbor freight model) and I get really good results with the Hornady liquid that you put in and after about 8 minutes you have pretty clean brass. You may still need to scrub out the primer pockets on some. A second run with fresh cleaner will likely do the job. Thank you so much for the video
I forgot to add that I vibe clean with general purpose cleaner, dry off, decap, then vibe clean again. I don't want to ruin my dies by shoving dirty brass into them.
Thank you very much! I have definitely tried just about every method of cleaning brass over the past several years, and there are definitely pros and cons to all of them!
I’ve been reloading for a few years. You have convinced me to switch to wet tumbling. Plus my Harbor freight dry tumbler keeps breaking down on me anyway.
You should try the different methods is same machine. So that way the difference between the dry and wet process would be more clear. Try wet process in a vibratory thumbler and try the dry process in a rotary thumbler too. :)
I would try it, but each machine is made specifically to do one task or the other. The vibratory tumbler might not even hold water because it isn't made to have a water-tight seal. In which case, that alone could potentially break the tumbler. Whether it does a good job or not, I don't really want to find out if I could lose the tumbler in the process, lol. Thank you for the idea, though!
Both methods have their advantages. If I want to "polsh" I will use dry tumble. To "clean" I will wet tumble. I use both methods depending on what I want to do.
The residual material in the primer pockets is not carbon. It is ash from the lead styphnate primer burn. It is well known as the primary source of lead contamination in cleaning brass. It is best to remove the spent primer before tumbling to reduce this source of contamination. Otherwise the liquid residual of the wet tumbler is a toxic soup consisting of chelated lead in solution, with water and carbon and other materials. Dry tumbling does not generate this effluent. Although there may be some lead contamination from the primer in the dry tumbling media, it is dispersed in the dry media. Responsible reloaders should determine if tumbling waste effluents are harmful to their neighbors or the environment in general, and that disposal pathways are legal.
Dry tumbling releases the toxins into the air we have to breathe. I started wet tumbling in the FART machine two years ago and the brass is much cleaner. I flush the toxins down the drain and not into my COPD lungs.
I dry tumble mine in walnut and Meguiars Ultimate Compound (yes, for cars), anneal, deprime, swage primer pocketsz form and trim, then wet tumble before loading. Trust me. It makes a difference. Especially next loading session.
Excellent video. After doing a quick search, this is the only video that came up for wet vs dry tumbling.
I currently do ultrasonic cleaning (harbor freight model) and I get really good results with the Hornady liquid that you put in and after about 8 minutes you have pretty clean brass. You may still need to scrub out the primer pockets on some. A second run with fresh cleaner will likely do the job.
Thank you so much for the video
I forgot to add that I vibe clean with general purpose cleaner, dry off, decap, then vibe clean again. I don't want to ruin my dies by shoving dirty brass into them.
Thank you very much! I have definitely tried just about every method of cleaning brass over the past several years, and there are definitely pros and cons to all of them!
I’ve been reloading for a few years. You have convinced me to switch to wet tumbling. Plus my Harbor freight dry tumbler keeps breaking down on me anyway.
There are pros and cons to each, but I certainly feel like wet tumbling does a better job of legitimately "cleaning" the brass.
You should try the different methods is same machine. So that way the difference between the dry and wet process would be more clear. Try wet process in a vibratory thumbler and try the dry process in a rotary thumbler too. :)
I would try it, but each machine is made specifically to do one task or the other. The vibratory tumbler might not even hold water because it isn't made to have a water-tight seal. In which case, that alone could potentially break the tumbler. Whether it does a good job or not, I don't really want to find out if I could lose the tumbler in the process, lol. Thank you for the idea, though!
Both methods have their advantages. If I want to "polsh" I will use dry tumble. To "clean" I will wet tumble. I use both methods depending on what I want to do.
There are definitely pros and cons to both 👍.
The residual material in the primer pockets is not carbon. It is ash from the lead styphnate primer burn. It is well known as the primary source of lead contamination in cleaning brass. It is best to remove the spent primer before tumbling to reduce this source of contamination. Otherwise the liquid residual of the wet tumbler is a toxic soup consisting of chelated lead in solution, with water and carbon and other materials. Dry tumbling does not generate this effluent.
Although there may be some lead contamination from the primer in the dry tumbling media, it is dispersed in the dry media. Responsible reloaders should determine if tumbling waste effluents are harmful to their neighbors or the environment in general, and that disposal pathways are legal.
Dry tumbling releases the toxins into the air we have to breathe. I started wet tumbling in the FART machine two years ago and the brass is much cleaner. I flush the toxins down the drain and not into my COPD lungs.
Awesome video!
Thank you sir!
2 hrs seems to be sufficient, dry or wet.
Why is everyone obsessed with ultra clean primer pockets? Witch doctor did a video amd found it statistically insignificant.
Precision reloading is a constant chase for consistency, so naturally, it's just another point of conversation.
Stainless steel pins deteriorate and scratch brass. It's blatant. Dry Tumbler advantage.
Sorry but it doesn't make sense to tumble all of them dry and then follow up with all of them in a wet tumbler. It's not a comparison
Do you think the outcome would have been different had I done otherwise?
I dry tumble mine in walnut and Meguiars Ultimate Compound (yes, for cars), anneal, deprime, swage primer pocketsz form and trim, then wet tumble before loading. Trust me. It makes a difference. Especially next loading session.