Pet Smart for Crushed Walnut Media

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loose noose

loose noose

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Had to go to Pet Smart yesterday to get some vittles, and shampoo (anti shed) for my lab. While there I remember reading somewhere here where "lizard scratch" works really good, for case polishing, but it is really dusty. Well low and behold, I found some Walnut Kitty Litter, with "no dust"
for just under $6.00 and I got 6#s of the stuff. I'll have to try some of it and I'll report back with my findings. The brand btw is "Blue Naturally Fresh". Naturally I had some explaining to do to my Lab, he don't have much use for cats, and I'm sure he thought we were about to get one.:rolleyes:

Has anybody tried this in there tumbler?
 
Nope but let us know how it turns out. Sounds like a bargain if it works.
 
I read the same thing here on THR, and you just reminded me to go try it! FWIW I tried some lizard stuff a long time ago, corn cob stuff but it was just a little too large to work well and got lodged into the inside of cases. Im writing it down and going to get some tomorrow if they have it.
 
I've been using it for the past few months. It doesn't seem as aggressive as corn cob but works just fine. I switched because corn cob was too big and was always getting stuck in case necks and flash holes.
 
I use some mystery media I bought from the pet store. It gets stuck in the primer holes. Make sure your media is small enough to avoid this.
 
It does appear a lot more course than the stuff I usually use, but should be fine if I don't de-prime first, as I can see where it could get stuck in the flash hole. I'll let ya all know in a couple hours as I've got about 500 rounds of 9mm brass going right now, with just a spoonful of Midway brass polish mixed in. Note I've got a Thumblers Tumbler with dual drums.
 
Try some 24 grit crushed walnut from Harbor Freight and a cap of NuFinish. That's the best combination I've used. Keep the other stuff around and say "nice kitty", that'll drive the lab nuts :D
 
Yeah the fine grain of the Walnut shell is awesome! I use it with a dash of polish. I use it til it gets dark grey, then add either a dryer sheet and or a few small swatches of damp towel 2"x2" to pick up the dust and some of the grey.

When that stops working, I put an old pillow case in a 5g bucket, add the dirty walnut shells, some water and low sudsing soap (woolite). Stir it around, lift the case out of the bucket, drain and rinse a few more times til clean.

Take the pillow case and lay it on the concrete driveway and smooth it out to drain and dry, flip several times and you have fresh shells to use again.

I bought one bag along time ago, still have it. Walnut shells just dont wear out. NOW I know it is inexpensive to just get more, but if it is cleanable and reusable, why not?

be safe.
 
bds, the only bad thing about Harbor Freight is they get an arm and a leg for shipping and handling. I do believe they have a Harbor Freight in Las Vegas which is only 100 miles away from here, so I may have to check that out. I hate going into that city with the traffic the way it is out there.
 
"Pet Smart for Crushed Walnut Media"

Ive been using it for the last 4 months. Id say only slightly more dust, but cleans as well. I cut up small dryer sheets into squares the size of a 50cal ML Patch and toss in there, seems to knock the dust down pretty good. I dont know what size it is but it doesnt get stuck in flash holes for me.
 
The media gets stuck in deprimed brass and in the dead primer in unprimed brass. It is annoying because it makes a mess and sometimes sticks in the hole after depriming. Therefore, each case must be inspected and the piece popped out of approximately 5-10% of the cases after depriming.
 
Some of the Kitty Litter Corn Cob and Walnut based litters has added scenting which is small crystals in the mix. I made the mistake of buying some Corn Cob base with the added scent control and it didn't work, no good for tumbling brass.

The beast I've found has been the "Zilla" brand Walnut Lizard litter. It works fine.
 
tomrkba said:
I use some mystery media I bought from the pet store. It gets stuck in the primer holes. Make sure your media is small enough to avoid this.
Click to expand...
The Lyman media I bought (the one with no additive) at Gander sticks all in my SPP pockets, but the lizard stuff is so fine, that i dont have any trouble with it. Nor did I have dust trouble. Needless to say, Im going back to the lizard stuff. I think it must vary though, lot to lot, even from the same manufacturer, because some people have bad experiences with it. I guess lizards arent to picky about their bedding material.



Like said above- "Zilla" worked well for me.
 
I just checked one drum and it seems to be cleaning the brass fairly well after just 2 hours tumbling, usually after I get done tumbling I use two colanders with the casings between them and rotate the colanders around getting out the excess media. So far I haven't seen any excess dust, will find out when I start to de-prime them whether I have a mess or not.
 
Here is what I use: http://www.zoro.com/g/Blast Media/00054305/

It doesn't stick in flash holes and it cleans shiny bright with a little polish added to it.

It comes in 40 pound bags, delivered to your door for free if your total order is over $50.00, and they sometimes run specials where the shipping is free for $25.00 orders.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
Below are my 9mm brass in the colander I was talking about, note I didn't see any media in the spent primers btw. It came out fairly bright as far as I'm concerned.

DSCN1052.jpg

DSCN1053.jpg

Note that's 4 hours of tumbling.
 
zilla is the stuff! small like large sand, .5mm at the largest grains. works awesome, can be found at any pet store, no need to go to Harbor Freight. AND whether it gets in the primer or not it gets cleared out when run thru my Blue xl650.

be safe.
 
I wonder if the Lizard people have any clue that a bunch of crazy handloaders love their product for making their ammo shine! They probably could care less as long as we keep buying it I guess.
 
The PetSmart and/or Petco lizard walnut media works fine for me in my HF tumbler. I put a used dryer sheet, torn into pieces, in with it to pick up the dust. About 1 1/2 to 2 hours and my brass is shinier than an old goat like me needs.
 
I wonder if the Lizard people have any clue that a bunch of crazy handloaders love their product for making their ammo shine!
Click to expand...

I'm sure they do. Check out the online reviews for the product on whatever website you order from; mostly lizard-less guys like us raving about clean our brass is.:)

Don
 
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