Tumbling media?

You can find numerous threads on this topic by searching. As for me, I use Lyman Corn Cob media.

Another one here using corn cob media

Get 14-20 corn cob from a vendor that carries blasting media. Grainger comes to mind, also Northern Hydraulics. I mix that 50/50 with pet store ground walnut shells and use a couple of caps of NuFinish car polish. Works great!

I just buy the Dillon media by the box and add in some Flitz tumbling media additive. I clean with walnut and then polish off the resizing lube with corncob either after resizing or after rounds are loaded, depending. Comes out very shiny in the end.

The pet store options etc are probably a little cheaper, but the Dillon stuff is cheap enough, lasts long enough, and works well enough that I never bothered looking into the other options.

Stainless is an entirely different business.

-J.

Cob and nut are dry process media, both are sold because both work fine. Some like one, some the other, some mix 'em just to make sure they aren't too far wrong. A 20/40 grit works quite well and won't clog flash holes. Pick one and go with it. Adding polish for glittery cases is eye candy.

Steel pins are a wet process; it's messy and cases have to dry before use. Does get cases surgically clean tho, that matters if you're going to do surgery with 'em but otherwise it doesn't matter.

I use walnut hull in a dry vibratory for smokeless brass.
Ceramic or steel in a wet rotary for black powder cases.

9453 said:

So what is everyone using? I see things from corn cobb, walnut hulls, to stainless steal I'm confused, what do you recommend?

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Corncob media seems to make the brass shine more than other media does.

Crushed Walnut Shells seems to be more abrasive than Corncob so it will clean faster and remove heavy soiling.

I use a 50/50 mix of Corncob and Walnut media in my tumbler and throw a used dryer sheet in the tumbler every 3rd load to keep the media clean.

Stainless media is a totally different way of cleaning. You need a different "tumbler" and the stainless media is used in conjunction with water and cleaning solutions. It's more expensive to setup because everything involved costs more but your brass will look as good as new or better within a very short cleaning time.

I'm happy with dry tumbling and don't mind it takes longer to work. (I'm cheap lol)

Welcome to the forum.

One more time

http://www.drillspot.com/products/521055/econoline_526040g-40_40_lbs_blast_media

20/40 corn cob, 40 lb bag shipped right to your door, no gas expense on your part, all for less than $35.00. Enough to last for years.

Buy a bottle of liquid auto cleaner/polish to add to it, Nu-Finish is one of the favorites here. A capful or 2 to start than maybe a capful every 5 or 6 or 10 loads later.

corn cob, polish, and a dryer sheet. dryer sheet collects alot of the dirt. works pretty good.

Hold on a minute.....Use white rice !

I use white rice ! Thats it ! The trick being is DONT use a liquid cleaner or liquid polisher.....turns to goooo if you do. Just white rice.......cheap and does quite good ! WalMart.....1.96 for 2 lb bag ! Oh....a dryer sheet cut into 4 pieces helps keep things clean too

I use this tumbler
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/158440/lyman-turbo-1200-pro-sifter-case-tumbler-110-volt

And I use this corn cob media (small enough to not stick in flash holes)
http://www.drillspot.com/products/521055/econoline_526040g-40_40_lbs_blast_media

I use the corn cob but I had some pecan hauls ground up to mix in with it.

I generally use corn cob, however I recently cleaned a batch of korean war era .06 military brass that looked like it had been dipped in tar. Soaked it in vinegar, then tumbled in a mixture of baking soda and birdseed. Followed it up with the corn cob. Came out really shiny. A lot of work yes, but it was 300 casings I got for free. I am also a cheapskate.

"One Fish" Bainter

I am using walnut shell with a little Nu Finish polish and a dryer sheet.

I use walnut because it harder and more abrasive to start and my brass is usually pretty dirty. I finish it off with Corn and some polish.

I use Frankford Arsenal ground walnuts from Midway or my local gun shop.
I buy the treated ones & when they get tired I put in a capful of Flitz Or Frankford Arsenal media polish. Shines like crazy in my vibratory tumbler

Hold on a minute.....Use white rice !
I use white rice ! Thats it ! The trick being is DONT use a liquid cleaner or liquid polisher.....turns to goooo if you do. Just white rice.......cheap and does quite good ! WalMart.....1.96 for 2 lb bag ! Oh....a dryer sheet cut into 4 pieces helps keep things clean too

Click to expand...

How clean does it get it? I do not mind having some brass that is not the shiniest in the world but, rice is cheap!!!!!

Bulk corn cob and a capful of NuFinish works for me. The last box of cob I bought held enough to fill refill a 1200 bowel 20+ times. It cost me about 20 bucks shipped from some eBay vendor.

Corn cob.

I use a 40 dollar rock tumbler from Harbor Freight. Fill 1/2-3/4 full with brass that has been rinsed and decapped/deprimed. A squirt of Cascade dishwashing detergent and a small handful of stainless steel pins. Run it for 2-3 hours and it looks great. Cleans the primer pockets like new.

When done, pop the top, dump everything in a strainer in the slop sink, let it dry for a day or so.

It works for me. I like wet tumbling as it has no dust and gets everything really clean. I'm also not in any kind of rush, so a couple of days processing time is no big deal. And, the brass really does look like new.

Good luck.

C

First Cleaning with Walnut...Prep...etc etc
Second Cleaning with Corn Cob, NuFinish, and some cleaning patches made for a 50 BMG or something....too big for my guns

Ground up walnut hulls from the pet store with a dab of polish. It gets cases clean in a hurry. I don't care about shiny.