Drying Some .223 / 5.56 MM Brass

[TAB]

i installed a dishwasher in my garage ( used I pulled out of a kitchen remodel)   I put it in bags and throw it in... same with boat parts.   works great, just never ever do it with the one in the kitchen unless the wife is out of state...  just saying.

[PegLeg45]

This is my method for once fired brass.

1.) Soak, wash and rinse.

2.) Spread out on towel to air dry.

3.) Lube, resize, and deprime.

4.) Trim to length, and chamfer inside and out. (Giraud Power Case Trimmer does it all in one operation).

5.) Swage out crimped in primer pockets. (Dillon Super Swage 600).

6.) Tumble and polish. (Dillon FL-2000 using ground corn cob and Dillon Rapid Polish).

7.) Run through the Dillon progressive.

I use a decapping die in place of the resizing die. (They have already been resized). This assures the flash hole is clean and free of any polishing media. A decapping pin passes through the flash hole just before repriming.

Right now I'm not set up to do Stainless Steel Pin Media tumbling in high volume. All I've got is a Thumlers Tumbler with Stainless Steel Media. It does a fantastic job, making once fired brass look like never fired, brand new brass, both inside and out. But I need a bigger tumbler so I can do it in larger volume.

http://www.arrowheadlapidarysupply.com/catalog/item.php?unid=8734&prodpa=0

This is the tumbler I want. It has an 8 gallon barrel, and would be perfect for large volume Stainless Steel tumbling. It's just really hard to justify spending $722.00 on a tumbler. It is a commercial grade model used mainly for rock tumbling. It has a 65 pound capacity. That's a lot of water, pins, and brass.

I thought of going with a cheaper alternative. Like one of those small electric cement mixers from Harbor Freight. But I've heard they don't hold up to long hour usage. They're meant for small, occasional jobs. Not to be run for hours on end, like in a tumbling operation. And they're too big. I'd have to keep it on the back patio. Then your house starts looking like a hillbilly stronghold. (I would have to get a few junk cars to park in the front yard, and a couple of old washing machines).

Bill, I saw several guys on a reloading group I'm in on the "book of face" that went to Harbor Freight and bought a small portable cement mixer to wet tumble brass.

Hey, it works for Jerry Miculek......

I'm still gathering parts here and there to build a wet tumbler similar to one I posted about last year on the reloading board here. It's just too danged hot to get in the shop and fool with it until fall.

[billt]

Bill, I saw several guys on a reloading group I'm in on the "book of face" that went to Harbor Freight and bought a small portable cement mixer to wet tumble brass.

I'm tempted for under $200.00!

[billt]

i installed a dishwasher in my garage ( used I pulled out of a kitchen remodel)   I put it in bags and throw it in... same with boat parts.   works great, just never ever do it with the one in the kitchen unless the wife is out of state...  just saying.

When we were both Trapshooting every week, we were going through about 250 rounds of Trap Loads every week. I would wash the empty 12 ga. hulls in the dishwasher. I would put them in the zippered mesh bags, and put 2 in the top rack, and 2 in the bottom. Then run it on the pot scrubber cycle. They would come out spotless both inside and out.

I would then spread them out on towels and let them dry. It took off all of the carbon around the crimp area. Your hands didn't get dirty handling them, and it didn't allow carbon and crap to pack up inside the crimping dies on my loader. My shells always looked like factory new, and not reloads. All the guys at the gun club asked me how I did it, and they all started doing the same thing.

Someone mentioned how we were all going to die from lead poisoning from washing our dishes in the same machine. That won't happen because the shot sits inside the wad cup, and never touches the inside of the hull except the small area at the very front of the crimp. And even that is protected by the sides of the wad as it exits the hull on firing. Besides, the pot scrubber cycle uses several rinses. You just have to make sure YOU HAVE THE DRYING HEAT OFF! Otherwise you'll have a giant glob of melted plastic in the bottom of your dishwasher. 

[TAB]

you would have to consume a lot of lead to effect you.   raw lead is not that harmful actually.   its the lead (III) oxide that they used in paint that is dangerous when inguested by the very young.


the highest group of people that test positive for lead are actually latin americans recently immigrated to this country.   its used in a lot of candies and cookware in latin ameracia ( in the glazes, its the 2nd whitest substance on the planet.) 

you were most likely exposed to more lead shooting then you had on the shells.

[Sponsor]

[PegLeg45]

its the 2nd whitest substance on the planet.) 

Right behind these folks......... 

Sorry....couldn't help myself......you may now return to normal thread dynamics.

[Timothy]

That is not that easy, Peg!

Never cared for Bon Jovi but I was a dancing fool in my day...

My ma was a pro, not the exotic kind...

[PegLeg45]

That is not that easy, Peg!

Never cared for Bon Jovi but I was a dancing fool in my day...

My ma was a pro, not the exotic kind...

Oh I know...it's just funny to that music.......believe it or not I was a quite the rug-cutter in my juke-joint roamin' days.