[Nicodemus38]

how shiny are we trying to get the inside of the case? is it "shiny like the factory polish on the outside" or "just kill any corrisives in the residue"? i can get the exterior of the just fired cases cleaner then the factory loaded them this summer, but the inside i can only get to a state similar to grungy aluminum.

[dispatch55126]

Tumbling beyond the removal the the carbon fouling is only to make them pretty. If the media is small enough to enter the case, it'll clean them well enough.

[Walkalong]

My brass comes out of the tumbler shiny on the outside and black on the inside. No worries. :)

[Shoney]

Depending on the powder/pressure, over time you willget a small encrusting of powder fouling. Use a 50/50 mix of cob and walnut, and add a tablespoon full or 3 of paint thinner to the mix. Paint thinner is also sold as Stoddard Solvent, which has been used as a powder solvent and gun cleaner for a long time.

[Mark whiz]

Yeah tumbling won't get the inside any cleaner than what you've experienced........and it really doesn't need to be any cleaner.

If you really want to get them cleaner though........................you can soak your brass in cider vinegar for about 20 minutes and then swab out the insides with a Q-Tip - that will make them noticeably cleaner. I do that with pistols cases from time to time.

[icanthitabarn]

I dont have a tumbler, so it works well for me, others, not so much. I just boil em in vinegar, right on the stove. Add a little shaking and a blast or two of baking soda. They come out pretty clean. Rinse well and just let dry.

[chris in va]

Vinegar, water, salt...shake well for a couple minutes, repeat. Rinse well, rinse again. Dry in the oven at 200f for an hour.

It still leaves the black residue but nothing is actually built up that I can tell, and this is range pickup 9mm brass.

[Seedtick]

Use a 50/50 mix of cob and walnut...

+1.

I like my brass to be shiny on the inside because it makes it much easier to see how much powder there is in the case.

I found this out kinda by accident after I forgot to turn the tumbler off and let it run all night. Now I purposely run it all night. :D

ST

[Walkalong]

I too run my tumbler all day while I am at work or all night while I sleep. The last time I forgot it, it ran for several days. I also use polish, but the insides never get shiny clean.

[Lee Roder]

I make mine clean. Plastic blasting media (read about it a while back on Calguns) works VERY well for the insides and pockets (outsides too).

This after only an hour. Let them og overnite and brass is very brite. Doesn't stay that way long though :D

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff325/x97541x/THR-tumbling.jpg

[Seedtick]

Hey Walkalong,
The inside of my cases didn't get shiny until I started using walnut media. With just walnut they got clean but not real shiny so I mix it half and half with corn cobb and add some Nu-Finish and dryer sheets and it does a great job.

ST

[blikseme300]

Lee Roder

Please share:
Where did you get the plastic media from? What mesh size is is?

[Lee Roder]

blikseme300, I got my test batch from ebay.

The original report this summer at Calguns is here:

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=199493

This urea-formaldehyde plastic, grit size stated as 12 to 16, is used for stripping paint from aircraft. For general info, google the phrase ("Mil P 85891A, Type II"). It's not "cheap" but it is washable, and ten pounds may well give me CLEAN brass for the rest of my life before it wears out. Not there yet.