Stainless Steel Media

[Liberty's Teeth]

Who is using stainless steel media for brass cleaning? I bit the bullet and made the change from traditional vibratory with corn and walnut and I must admit, it is one of my best decisions!

[usmcveteran]

I haven't started reloading yet but what is the main advantage you see with the stainless steel media?

[Liberty's Teeth]

First I need to check your age, what did you qualify on?
The stainless is extremely efficient, I can tumble 200 30-06 cases in 45 minutes. The cases come out shinny bright inside and out and the primer pockets are pristine!
I was reading another post in this site that commented that SS is abrasive and causes damage to the cases. Well obviously it is abrasive but there is no, let me repeat, no damage to the cases that I can detect looking at them under a scope. With the ultra clean brass you can easily detect head separation or any signs of cracks which we all know is very important.
One of the other complaints I read about is that the carbon residue left in the ID from the previous firing acts as a lubricant for bullet seating and next firing. This is marginally accurate however, anyone that reloads should be using a container of graphite balls to lubricate the OD and ID of the neck before sizing. This lubricant will remain in the ID and provide plenty of lubricity for the bullet.

[usmcveteran]

Thanks for the info!

I qualified using the M16 A2

[Meketrefe]

I used SS for a while but I don't use stainless steel anymore but sonic cleaning mainly. Now when I use the tumbler I use brass and copper media against brass.
Stainless is great too but I find the brass against brass is somewhat less abrasive and aggressive. hey and it is free! ... as much as one needs.

[dsdmmat]

I am still using corn cob media for cleaning brass. I do have an ultra sonic cleaner and brass cleaner which I found is great for cleaning reloading dies and stainless steel parts. I also found out it will strip the bluing off gun parts in a heartbeat, which is fantastic if you plan on rebluing your parts.

[RandallOfLegend]

Any reason not to use the stainless media in a traditional vibratory tumbler?

[Meketrefe]

Any reason not to use the stainless media in a traditional vibratory tumbler?

IMO it is too aggresive on the cases so one must keep an eye.
I had better luck with just brass against brass and copper clippings... and cheaper!!

[RandallOfLegend]

IMO it is too aggresive on the cases so one must keep an eye.
I had better luck with just brass against brass and copper clippings... and cheaper!!

I can easily get 22lr cases from my local range. Do you drop them in whole, or have you found a way to shred them?

[Meketrefe]

I can easily get 22lr cases from my local range. Do you drop them in whole, or have you found a way to shred them?

I always get a good bundle and save them. If you cannot get them I will send you a good amount so let me know.
For pistol and 30 caliber and up bore rifles drop them whole. But in order to clean the primer pockets take a bundle of the cheapest copper wire they have at lowes
if you do not have some leftovers already an start clipping it. 0.1" or so bits until you have a couple of fist full of them. The issue here is you might want to crash the 22LR
cases so the clippings do not end up inside the 22 cases because you do not need to clean those. The more you can make the better they behave.
It is a bit of work but only a one time job. The 22LR cases fit perfectly though the RCBS rotary sieve so make sure if you crash the tip do it in two directions (axis) so
they will still fit through the sieve. amazing what you can achieve with a couple of pliers and some leftover and many times discarded materials.

[Meketrefe]

Here I created a thread for you...

http://www.nyshenaniguns.com/forum/s...and-it-is-free