Tumbling Cast Pellets

[RonsPlc]

I have started putting my cast pellets into a rock tumbler to remove the odd flashings and mold marks from them.
I put them in dry after running a batch and let them tumble for about 1/2 hour.
They come out nice and smooth.
They almost feel slippery.

I have been impressed with the results.
Am I the only one doing this?

[Nvreloader]

I do all my Crosman pellets with 10#'s with SS pins, full tub of HOT water, less than 10 minutes,
seems to make a difference for the amount of flyers being reduced.
YMMV,
Don

[triggertreat]

When I have 300 to 400 cast up, I have tossed them around against each other in a t-shirt.  This removes any extras hanging on but can also hide defects more that are harder to spot when culling afterwards.  I mainly focus more on the cast to avoid this step.  It would be nice to have a tumbler of some sort as I have questioned the performance results of my method verses the smooth cast results.

[rkr]

That's interesting, do you size the bullets after tumbling? How's the accuracy? I tend to have some ridges from powder coating at bullet tails as the PC runs down the bullet, I wonder if tumbling would work for that too?

[mackeral5]

I have to admit to using a similar method, primarily when casting pellets.....I will put a few hundred in an old kleenex box and gently swirl them around for a few minutes. 

Pellets are the most challenging to cast, at least to me they are.

[triggertreat]

I can say with the T-shirt method I can see the flakes coming off and sticking to the cotton.  I also am able to change directions variably.  Not a bad way to lube as well.  How much they are tossed around  also gives varying results. 

[pblawler]

I have started putting my cast pellets into a rock tumbler to remove the odd flashings and mold marks from them.
I put them in dry after running a batch and let them tumble for about 1/2 hour.
They come out nice and smooth.
They almost feel slippery.

I have been impressed with the results.
Am I the only one doing this?

I saw this and thought I would give it a try.  I picked up a HF rock tumbler and tumbled around 900 pellets for a little over an hour.   They had just been cast and were wet.  I drop them in a large bowl with a little water in it when casting. They came out dull gray, there may have been some residue in the drums from the factory.   Any who after tumbling I rinsed them out in the drums and dried them on paper towels.   It maybe placebo effect but the pellets look very uniform with no casting marks other than the occasional skirt flashing.   The weights were also very consistent.   I believe the tumbling does a good job of removing loose casting lines, skirt flakes, cut lines, etc....which supports the seemingly more consistent weight.  I sort to the accuracy of my scale, plus or minus 0.1 grain.   I'll be tumbling from now on.  Thanks for the idea.

[Mr.P]

I’ve always wondered about this, as a way to kind of average out all of the slugs, in a particular batch that I have cast.  I believe the longer you do it the more the diameter will increase. I don’t know at what point it will be measurable.

[triggertreat]

One thing to note is that any defects in the cast can become hard to spot after they have been tumbled.  For example, HP points that have not been filled out fully.  It is not a bad idea to inspect for defects first before tumbling.

[avator]

I tumble pellets...
I've tried several ways including adding water, adding a small piece of lubed foam, adding BBs,  nuts and washers and just pellets alone.
Water and lube will darken the pellets for sure. Water will oxidize the inside of the skirts. Both of these will leave you with the need to thoroughly clean the drum out..   
At the end of the day sorting and culling during casting, tumbling without any media, water or lube and another sort when finished gives me the best results... even when I get as little as 50% good pellets.
We shoot 25 - 35 yards and we don't hunt so 1gr +/- works for us but I prefer .20 +/- .

[pblawler]

I tumble pellets...
I've tried several ways including adding water, adding a small piece of lubed foam, adding BBs,  nuts and washers and just pellets alone.
Water and lube will darken the pellets for sure. Water will oxidize the inside of the skirts. Both of these will leave you with the need to thoroughly clean the drum out..   
At the end of the day sorting and culling during casting, tumbling without any media, water or lube and another sort when finished gives me the best results... even when I get as little as 50% good pellets.
We shoot 25 - 35 yards and we don't hunt so 1gr +/- works for us but I prefer .20 +/- .

Yeah tumbling with water is a mess.  I hunt and limit shots to 50 yards so I need squirrel nugget accuracy at 50.

[RonsPlc]

I have been impressed with the results the I have got to this point, so I think I'll continue doing what I am doing.
As I get more proficient at casting, I find that my cull rate has come down A LOT.
But the finished product is proof enough for me top continue doing what I am doing.
I don't use any media, as Bill mentioned, and I keep tumbling until they are all shiny and smooth.
They shoot like a dream for me.
This is the result... the outside circle is 2", the Center is 1/4"
This is 5 shots from 35 yards. I got excited, and pulled the last shot. 

[avator]

Those samples you sent me are really nice pellets.

[RonsPlc]

Those samples you sent me are really nice pellets.

Thank You!
I am VERY happy that you like them. 
I haven't been able to make any more in over a month.
(But it looks like my wife will be coming home tomorrow.)
So I hope to back at it soon.

And as I explained to you when I sent them, I don't cull, other than picking out the obvious short pours when casting.
I do most of my culling when I load the rounds into the magazines, or the rifle.

[pblawler]

I think dry tumbling with nothing but pellets is the way to go.  Use the tumbling to remove any loose bits of lead from casting is the benefit.  It won't remove thick flashing but will remove thin parting lines, flakes, etc.....   for better consistency.  Combine tumbling with weight sorting and head size sorting and I think it will reduce the shot variance/flyers to the maximum extent possible.  My max hunter 22 mold drops pellets that are as consistent as JSB beast pellets with just weight sorting.  Adding tumbling and head size sorting and I hope that flyers will be extremely rare. 

[pblawler]

I tumble pellets...
I've tried several ways including adding water, adding a small piece of lubed foam, adding BBs,  nuts and washers and just pellets alone.
Water and lube will darken the pellets for sure. Water will oxidize the inside of the skirts. Both of these will leave you with the need to thoroughly clean the drum out..   
At the end of the day sorting and culling during casting, tumbling without any media, water or lube and another sort when finished gives me the best results... even when I get as little as 50% good pellets.
We shoot 25 - 35 yards and we don't hunt so 1gr +/- works for us but I prefer .20 +/- .

Yeah tumbling with water is a mess.  I hunt and limit shots to 50 yards so I need squirrel nugget accuracy at 50.

Not sure what opinions are out there but I spray Birchwood Casey Barricade on the pellets and a teaspoon of Tungsten Disulfide and roll them in a zip lock bag before storing.  I especially thought I needed to do that to prevent further oxidation after tumbling in water and seeing how oxidized that made them.  I will only tumble dry pellets in the future.  The above treatment makes them slicker than boiled okra.

[Firewalker]

I've posted this on another thread but Bill inspired me to tumble several tins of CPHP's along with SST pins.

The outcome was so nice I did the same with my cast pellets and the weights tightened up significantly.

I'm going to do the same with a tin of JSB 18gr and hope they tighten up even more!

[avator]

It's a beautiful thing.

[pblawler]

I've posted this on another thread but Bill inspired me to tumble several tins of CPHP's along with SST pins.

The outcome was so nice I did the same with my cast pellets and the weights tightened up significantly.

I'm going to do the same with a tin of JSB 18gr and hope they tighten up even more!

How do you separate the pellets from the pins?

[RonsPlc]

I haven't used the pins but I think you use a magnet. The pins will stick, and leave the lead behind.