Everything’s Better When Wet

Growing up in a family of gunsmiths naturally means I also grew up in a family of reloaders. Obviously case prep goes hand in hand with reloading. It’s part of the process. Back then there was really only one way to clean your brass. A vibratory tumbler.

I can remember hearing this thing run all day long as a kid. I used to love when Dad would lift the lid and I could watch brass circulate to the surface and then disappear again. With each lift of the lid, the brass became more shiny.

This was the norm for cleaning your brass for decades. Basically, you only  had two types of media. Walnut media for that really dirty brass. It did a great job of cleaning but not so great in the shine department. Obviously, shiny brass isn’t necessary but you can’t deny that it looks a hell of a lot better. For the shine, the common go-to was corn cob media. While it wouldn’t clean off the stains and blemishes as well as walnut, it’d make your not so dirty brass come out looking brand spanking new. 

Later in life, I was introduced to another great way of cleaning your brass, the ultra-sonic cleaner. The first time I used one, I was hooked. After running my first batch, it’s cleaning capabilities was evident in the dirty solution alone. Sonic cleaned brass then needs rinsed and dried. My go to was my wife’s oven on the lowest temperature for about an hour. As you can imagine, she loved the process.

One thing a sonic cleaner won’t do is give you that desired shine everyone wants. You can also end up with water spots from baking your brass in the oven. Naturally, I would resort to my trusty vibratory tumbler and some corn cob media. (I’ve found the Hornady brand to work the best for me.) 

This process worked well for me but it just seemed like a lot of steps to get to your end result. I thought there has to be a better way. So I started searching other methods of brass prep. I came across another type of tumbler but I guess you could say I didn’t really read far enough into it to fully understand  and left it at that.

 

Fast-forward to last week. I had a Brownells Inc. giftcard to use and finally decided to bite the bullet (no pun intended) and order a rotary tumbler and case dryer. And boy am I ever glad I did. Absolutely zero regrets with these purchases.

I went with Frankford Arsenal not only because of the good reviews but because I already had their vibratory tumbler and dry/wet media separator. I also purchased a transfer magnet because this type of tumbler utilizes stainless steel pins and a solution to help clean and shine the brass. 

The tumbler came with a trial pack of their brand cleaner so I added it to the drum along with the pins and some really dirty brass. I then filled it up with distilled water as directed and set it to run for 2 hours. It has a max of 3 hours but I wanted to see the results after 2.

And all I have to say is WOW. This thing makes your brass look like it’s hot off the assembly line. The only thing left to do after tumbling is rinse and dry. Just like you do after the sonic cleaner. 

The case dryer is essentially a repurposed dehydrator. The fact that it heats and circulates air prevents most water spotting and also prevents an angry wife. I was on the fence about getting the case dryer because I figured my oven would suit well enough. But I must say it’s so nice to be able to work on your brass all in one place and the spot free brass is an added bonus.

In conclusion, I can honestly say the switch to wet tumbling is the best decision I’ve ever made and something I’ll never go back from. Some think it’s more time consuming, but if you’re already sonic cleaning your brass before dry tumbling it’s actually less steps. The wet rotary tumbler can essentially replace both your sonic cleaner and vibratory tumbler in most scenarios. And the icing on the cake for me was when I found that I don’t even need to buy the wet tumbling solution. Some Dawn Dish Soap, Lemishine and a spoon of Cream of Tartar does wonders.