Stainless Steel Media availability

[Chuck26287]

Does anyone in Indiana carry the stainless steel media for wet tumbling brass? I see Cabela's carries the 15 lb tumblers, but I didn't see the media. Wondering if I could get the complete setup locally (central IN) vs. ordering it from out of state.

 

[jdhaines]

Get it from the guy on Sniper's Hide. Really nice guy, ships it fast. PM the guy talking a bunch over there for the contact info.

 

[Chuck26287]

Is he in Indiana?

 

[KingWeb50]

no he ships it from South Carolina

 

[tenring]

Pelletsllc.com
1-800-336-6017
SCW-41x.265

Ask for Kathy Reitz

 

[mospeada]

Stainless Steel Reloading Supplies | Tumblers, Seperators, Media & More!

 

[Chuck26287]

Well, I took the plunge and ordered the equipment to change over to stainless tumbling for cartridge prep. I ordered the basic complete kit (Thumbler's Model B 15 lb rotary tumbler, 5 lbs of stainless media and a bottle of lemi-shine) from STM - Stainless Tumbling Media (Stainless Steel Reloading Supplies | Tumblers, Seperators, Media & More!).

Kit cost was $225.95 + shipping of around $25. I considered multiple sources to get the media a little cheaper, but by the time I used separate sources and paid separate shipping, savings wasn't real significant. Now when the one box gets here, it's all here and I'm ready to go. STM already sold the tumbler for about as low as I could find it on the internet, and the Lemi-shine, on sale now, was comparable as well. All in all, I felt it was a fair price for a good package deal.

Any apprehension in paying a few dollars more buying through STM was dismissed after I talked to them when placing my order. When the CS rep went to quote my shipping, he said "shipping would be about $25... how about if I knock $10 off your order since your ordering the package today? Would that be alright?" Just a little unsollicited deal-sweetening by him to help the customer.

I haven't tried this method yet, but I trust my research and I'm confident that it's everything it's made out to be. I'll post some before & after pics of my own from my first run. I've got some real "test case" brass I was going to discard for weathering/staining that I'll try it on (brass the wife didn't realize she should have left on the ground at the outdoor range). I think what might be the biggest problem with this method is that it seems this method may be able to make bad brass that should be discarded appear new and safe to use. Makes inspection even more important.

I was wanting to buy in Indiana, but not possible this time. However, if buying from out of state, I wanted to give an atta-boy to the guys at STM.

More on this after the first run.

 

[Chuck26287]

Well, I took the plunge and ordered the equipment to change over to stainless tumbling for cartridge prep. I ordered the basic complete kit (Thumbler's Model B 15 lb rotary tumbler, 5 lbs of stainless media and a bottle of lemi-shine) from STM - Stainless Tumbling Media (Stainless Steel Reloading Supplies | Tumblers, Seperators, Media & More!).

Kit cost was $225.95 + shipping of around $25. I considered multiple sources to get the media a little cheaper, but by the time I used separate sources and paid separate shipping, savings wasn't real significant. Now when the one box gets here, it's all here and I'm ready to go. STM already sold the tumbler for about as low as I could find it on the internet, and the Lemi-shine, on sale now, was comparable as well. All in all, I felt it was a fair price for a good package deal.

Any apprehension in paying a few dollars more buying through STM was dismissed after I talked to them when placing my order. When the CS rep went to quote my shipping, he said "shipping would be about $25... how about if I knock $10 off your order since your ordering the package today? Would that be alright?" Just a little unsollicited deal-sweetening by him to help the customer.

I haven't tried this method yet, but I trust my research and I'm confident that it's everything it's made out to be. I'll post some before & after pics of my own from my first run. I've got some real "test case" brass I was going to discard for weathering/staining that I'll try it on (brass the wife didn't realize she should have left on the ground at the outdoor range). I think what might be the biggest problem with this method is that it seems this method may be able to make bad brass that should be discarded appear new and safe to use. Makes inspection even more important.

I was wanting to buy in Indiana, but not possible this time. However, if buying from out of state, I wanted to give an atta-boy to the guys at STM.

More on this after the first run.

 

[jdhaines]

Glad you found a good deal on the stuff. I will post from my experience, it takes awhile to pick all the cases out of the stainless media when you are finished with the tumbling. I tried the advice and use a collander, but found this was by far the easiest. After sifting and sorting in about 5 seconds using this rotary separator, I was sold. The link below is the cheapest one I could find. You rinse out the dirty water until it comes clean and the brass and media is clean, shiny, and lots of the water is gone. Then you pour the brass and media into this tumbler. Close the lid, give it a spin and the media goes into the plastic bucket on the bottom, and the brass stays in the cage. No mess, and really fast. Brass dries in the cage, media dumps back into the thumler's for storage wet (since it's stainless anyway). You won't be dissapointed. By the way, this separator is WAY bigger than it looks.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00038502023

You'll have a huge smile on your face the first time you open the lid on that thumlers and see jewelry-like brass, shiny media and blackish brown water! Keep flushing the water until it's clean and your brass will never have looked newer.

 

[Hotwired]

Chuck, I would like to see the results when you get the machine. I am an Anderson local also.

 

[Chuck26287]

Hotwired - Tracking# says it'll be here Friday, so this weekend I'll have results for you to see. Where at in Anderson? I'm out by Highland Junior High School on the north east side.

jdhaines - I have the same media separator STM packages in their largest package, so I figure it'll separate as well as they expect with their method. Seems ensuring the rotating basket is half submerged in water is the key to quick and clean separation/recover of the media. As for drying (I have been cleaning with a sonic cleaner and vinegar solution), I have found a food dehydrator is PERFECT. I have a 5-tray unit that holds a TON of brass on the 5 grated trays, and the heat is warm enough to dry quickly, but not any way near an oven heat.

 

[Hotwired]

Chuck, I used to live out in Killbuck terrace, but now I am on 38th st.

 

[sloughfoot]

Why do you guys bother cleaning your rifle brass? Your dies certainly don't care. Whatever is left in the case after firing has no effect on anything.

Stainless steel media? That seems kind of extreme...

You must not reload in volume to spend all this time on just cleaning cases?

I am curious about the "why" of this process.

 

[jdhaines]

Why do you guys bother cleaning your rifle brass? Your dies certainly don't care. Whatever is left in the case after firing has no effect on anything.

Stainless steel media? That seems kind of extreme...

You must not reload in volume to spend all this time on just cleaning cases?

I am curious about the "why" of this process.

Because it's cool? I had started from scratch so buying the stainless set-up was not much more money. The motor and rock-tumbler with this set-up is practically bulletproof. Some have vibratorys that last a long time and others have them go out here and there. This solution is VERY quiet in that you can have it on in the same room and talk on the phone pretty easily. The brass comes out spotless which looks really cool. It's nice to reload clean brass. The media never wears out, and never needs to be replaced. I only reload 9mm at this point so you are totally correct that it has almost no effect on anything, especially without being a master shooter with race gun, etc. I like the way it looks and the system makes sense to me. I have guys at work asking me to tumble their rifle brass once they deprime because the inside, outside, and primer pocket are all perfectly spotless when they finish. They made fun of it until they saw a baggy full of bright brassy clean brass and they started to dig the idea as well. My reloads are indistinguishable from new rounds, they are so clean.

Your claims are completely true and accurate, but don't capture the feeling when you open the top and you see this.

 

[Chuck26287]

Why do you guys bother cleaning your rifle brass? Your dies certainly don't care. Whatever is left in the case after firing has no effect on anything.

Stainless steel media? That seems kind of extreme...

You must not reload in volume to spend all this time on just cleaning cases?

I am curious about the "why" of this process.

As of yet, I have not reloaded "in volume". However, My father and I have put together a reloading room and the equipment to share since we got into shooting sports as something to do together. We've reloaded for a complete season of Bullseye competition for us at our local club. We have also gotten our wives involved and the four of us love to shoot Steel Challenge. Two weeks ago the four of us put just under 800 pieces of brass in the gravel. So since we are getting to the point that we deplete 800 rounds on an afternoon of shooting fun, I think we're on our way to loading "in volume", at least as I see volume, relative to 4 shooters.

I have been using wet ultrasonic cleaning methods thus far. It works reasonably well as far as function goes, but is far more hands-on than stainless tumbling. This process will be faster than what I was doing before. So, time will be saved, not wasted.

When polishing in corn cob media, I have to clear flash holes of media debris after tumbling. IF stainless media performs as described and clears as well as stated & shown in videos, again, more time will be saved, not wasted.

When this process is over, the brass is visually indestinguishable from brand new virgin brass. That's as good as this component gets.

Like jdhaines said... functionally, the brass is probably not significantly better performing than brass that was not cleaned (aside from the theory of build-up inside the case of smaller pistol cases reducing internal volume, and that could be a debate of its own).

As for dies not caring... well, my equipment is a significant investment, and dirty brass doesn't go into my dies. Why scratch them internally? I think the cleaner the brass, the smoother the progression though the press... easier resizing, smoother and complete primer seating, etc.

As for my real answer to the "why" question... pride in my workmanship. If it's an endeavor I'm going to spend my time on, I'm going to do it as well as I can, and I'm going to pay attention to details. Details are important in reloading. I want my product to reflect my attention to detail in reloading. When someone looks at one of my handloads, I want them to wonder if I loaded it or if it's factory. I can tell you if I picked up a handload from someone else and the case was poorly cleaned/prepped, there's no chance I'd even consider dropping the hammer on it. That's because I have to wonder if they don't care much in their prep work, what other reloading steps do they not care much about? Where else in the reloading process do they feel it takes too much time to do the job well?

I've always liked doing my best in whatever I do. When it comes to case cleaning, and I choose to do it, I think this will do it the best. It's that simple.

 

[sloughfoot]

hey, I won't argue with your decision to do this. It is not like you are trying to get the debt limit raised after all.

It makes you feel good to look at that shiny brass in the box? Who am I to denigrate that? I won't do that, for sure.

Fellow shooter, knock yourself out doing what you want to do.

I believe in personal liberty, above all else.

regards

As