ultrasonic cleaning or tumbler?

[stormhawk]

Hi all just starting in reloading, been reading till my head swims. Just wondering which is the best ultasonic or tumbling for cleaning my brass. Any comments or suggestions welcome. I figure the more knowlege i find out before i actualy start the better. Just doing 9mm to start with.

[mmcnx2]

I have both and my take is that the sonic is nice in that you don't have any dirty media to deal with or stuck in primer holes and it is faster. On the other hand dealing with the sonic solution mixing and disposal is a hassle. The end results are a wash, I've run samples in both and can't tell the difference from the outside, on the inside of sonic can at times be slightly better especially for samll bottle neck cases like 223. For straight walled pistol brass either will be fine.

[Rodentman]

I have them both and prefer the dry media tumbler. The liquid is dirty and messy to deal with. Any moisture left on the brass forms a residue. Once I get a sink installed in my basement it will be easier. If I use the ultrasonic, it's before resizing, then I use the tumbler after resizng.

[Erud]

Wet tumbling with stainless media beats dry tumbling or ultrasonic by a long shot. No dust, no mess, and any brass you put in comes out looking like brand new from the factory. Cleans inside cases and primer pockets shiny. I've not turned my Dillon tumbler on a single time since getting the stainless setup.

[SleepingJake]

I have them both and prefer the dry media tumbler. The liquid is dirty and messy to deal with. Any moisture left on the brass forms a residue. Once I get a sink installed in my basement it will be easier. If I use the ultrasonic, it's before resizing, then I use the tumbler after resizng.

+1 This is the reason I didn't go with an ultrasonic cleaner. That and you can't process as much brass at one time as you can with a traditional vibratory tumbler. I would've much rather gone with SS pins but that costs a pretty penny to get set up and once it's out of the tumbler you still have to wash and dry it.

[OldmanFCSA]

Wet tumbling with stainless media beats dry tumbling or ultrasonic by a long shot. No dust, no mess, and any brass you put in comes out looking like brand new from the factory. Cleans inside cases and primer pockets shiny. I've not turned my Dillon tumbler on a single time since getting the stainless setup.

+1000

THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST WAY TO CLEAN BRASS CASES.

I've reloaded and tumble-clean cases now for 40 years. Of all the methods out there, the SS Pin process is the ONLY one to buy new now.
Others use dry tumbling media which polishes the outsides just fine. Ultrasonics are more messy and slower than SS Pins.
I've tried other means as well.

SS Pins is the ONLY way now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jspace]

IMO for 9mm the vibratory tumbler kit from Cabela's is good enough. All you really need to do is get the majority of the grit off the cases and you can do quite a few at once.

[stormhawk]

Okay now I need to do some looking already have a utrasonic from something else I had been using for but would probably be good idea to have tumbler too im hearing.