D.I.Y. Wet Tumbler
The Range Squirrel
I’ve been dry my brass since I started reloading, with decent results. All my brass is range pick-ups, I make it my goal to leave the range with more brass than I took, so much of what I end up with is tarnished and some downright dirty. So, being cheap budget minded, and having a few slow days at work, I set about building a wet tumbler from mostly on-hand parts.
What I ended up with works OK, the result could be better, and will probably be a stepping stone to buying a proper wet tumbler. Different detergent may be the trick for better results, maybe longer tumble time; it’s still a work in progress. So here is my homegrown tumbler, a batch of really dirty pick-ups, a bunch of mental and verbal ‘uhs’ and poor camera work, then the results.
My cellphone camera doesn’t do justice to the different shades of brass shine. The wet tumbled pieces are cleaner and shinier, it’s just hard to tell from the pictures.
I owned a Marlin 60 since 1987, but never really got ‘into’ guns until 2011 when I bought my first 9mm pistol. That was soon followed by a .380 and a 12 guage pump, and I was all in. I had done some 20 guage reloading growing up, and threw myself into 9mm and .223 reloading in 2017, .380 in 2019, 7.62×39 in 2020 and my first revolver in 45 Colt in 2022. It is so satisfying to go to the range and string together ever improving groups with ammo I loaded myself; it doesn’t hurt that I’m a little OCD about technical things, the tangible/visible rewards are really gratifying.
I have a nagging but as yet unattained ‘want’ for a .358 Yeti unloader, it just looks like a really cool caliber. My next learning curve, space permitting, is casting and coating.