stupid reloading question of the week: how much tumbling media?

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1KPerDay

1KPerDay

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I got some lyman walnut media with the rouge added... it says no additives recommended. does anyone use this with car polish or the like?

Also, is it possible to overfill the tumbler? I dumped in a bunch of pickup/washed/sorted .40 and a bunch of media; it didn't look like the cases were moving around too much so I removed a few handfuls of brass. now the cases look to be circulating properly...

is that pretty much the deciding factor or should I watch for something else?
 
I think you got it figured out. I use Lyman corncob because I baby my brass (revolver shooter and I catch the brass from the bolt rifles and put it back in the block so brass almost never hits the ground), but I use about a tablespoon or two of NewBrite about every other load). Can't speak about the walnut media.
 
1KPerDay said:
I got some lyman walnut media with the rouge added... it says no additives recommended. does anyone use this with car polish or the like?

Also, is it possible to overfill the tumbler? I dumped in a bunch of pickup/washed/sorted .40 and a bunch of media; it didn't look like the cases were moving around too much so I removed a few handfuls of brass. now the cases look to be circulating properly...

is that pretty much the deciding factor or should I watch for something else?
Click to expand...

Tumbling media with rouge added does not need anything added to it, at least at first. When the polishing action reduces, then add some polish.

Yes, you can fill a tumbler too full. Sounds like you figured it out.

I probably tumble 100-200 pistol cases or up to 100 cases at a time.
 
I guage mine by how much the machine shakes and from the sound. It should be fairly quiet when you have the correct amount of media in there, and it shouldn't be trying to walk across the bench either.
 
I haven't been doing this long, but my method thus far is this:

I start with the tumbler half full of media. I'm using corn cob, haven't tried walnut yet. I add one capful of polish, and let the tumbler run 5 minutes with no brass in it (distributes polish, keeps from getting a blob of polish in a case).
With the tumbler running, I add brass by the handful. When I notice the media's churning motion just begin to reduce, I stop adding.

There is a point of diminishing return, where putting twice as much brass in the tumbler takes three times as long to reach the same level of shine.
 
I use Cabela's 400 tumber (same as Berry's MFG). I usually fill the bowl with media until it is about one inch from the top and will easily do 1000 9mm cases.

BTW, here's the capacity specs for this particular tumbler (yours may have different capacity, so check):
.38 Spl - 650 cases
9mm - 1000 cases
45ACP - 600 cases
.223 - 450 cases
30-06 - 250 cases
 
thanks. I have a lyman turbo 2500, the non-auto-flo version. supposed to hold 1000 38 spec cases. I doubt there are that many .40s in there, though I didn't count them. :uhoh:
 
Eh, I always overload mine and know it, but I polish longer...After they Lyman media craps out, order some untreated media from eBay or Powder Valley for a fraction of a cost of the Lyman stuff. Put in a cap or so of Nu Finish car polish. It will do a great job.
 
yeah I'm usually cheap, and plan to get the walnut lizard bedding from the pet store when this stuff wears out, but I was at cabela's and needed media and didn't want to wait. :)
 
Get lizard bedding from the pet store, add a little polishing compound and there ya go.

I usually start by dumbing brass to fill the tumbler 1/4 of the way or so, then add media until it starts flowing properly (you can see what is a normal rate by filling the empty tumbler with media slowly till you see the material moving the fastest). You can also tighten/loosen the screw holding the bowl in place to adjust the vibration (only do this when the bowl just has media, no brass in it). As long as it is flowing smoothly without bogging down or media/brass clumping together, you are fine.
 
+1 on cheap animal bedding. I get mine from the local garden/feed store, usually around $20 for a 50 pound bag. Mix in a squirt of NuFinish car polish and good to go. If you go that route, make sure the kernel size is 1/8. There are two sizes available, the 1/8 is the smaller of the two. The larger size will not work for this application.
 
"Also, is it possible to overfill the tumbler?"

Yeah, but don't worry about it. Just pour it into the tumbler bowl and add cases, then turn it on. Any excess will quickly exit and you can then install the top. ;)
 
Chuck Perry said:
+1 on cheap animal bedding. I get mine from the local garden/feed store, usually around $20 for a 50 pound bag. Mix in a squirt of NuFinish car polish and good to go. If you go that route, make sure the kernel size is 1/8. There are two sizes available, the 1/8 is the smaller of the two. The larger size will not work for this application.
Click to expand...
cool... I just almost bought some corncob bedding at wally world but the chunks were about 1/8"... I figured that was too large.
 
Too much brass will still clean, it just will be kind of fine-scratched throughout, not really any shine, and when you look closely, real fine scratches. I guess 500 .223 pieces were too much. After 10 hours, it was clean, just not shiny.

I live and learn the hard way sometimes.:uhoh:
 
I found this link elsewhere - 40lbs free shipping, only $25.88 from DrillSpot. I'll be trying this as soon as I run out of my Lyman stuff. I heard it works well though!

http://www.drillspot.com/products/49...bs_blast_media
Click to expand...

Wow, it was very long ago that the price was just $22.01 on that deal.

Back on topic, I hope you like that red rouge but I didn't. It came with my tumbler and while it does an okay job it sure is messy. I even tried washing it off the walnut but I wasn't very successful.

I am happy it's gone.

Seedtick

:)
 
Seedtick said:
Wow, it was very long ago that the price was just $22.01 on that deal.

Back on topic, I hope you like that red rouge but I didn't. It came with my tumbler and while it does an okay job it sure is messy. I even tried washing it off the walnut but I wasn't very successful.

I am happy it's gone.

Seedtick

:)
Click to expand...
yeah... I was just going to ask whether there's a way to get the rouge out of the insides of the casings. Tumble them in untreated/polish added corncob, perhaps?

Yeesh... this stuff seems to be more trouble than it's worth so far...
 
I just started tumbling yesterday. I bought two tumblers (don't have a lot of time and I travel Mon thru Fri for work so weekends have to be as productive as possible in the shortest amount of time). I also like shiny brass (INSIDE and out) because it makes it easier to peak inside the casing to ensure that I don't have any double charges / squibs.

Because I like shiny brass a buddy of mine recommended 2 hours in Zilla Lizard Bedding and 1 hour in corn cob w/Flitz. The corn cob I bought from Drill Spot. It fills two 5 gallon Home Depot buckets and an initial load in the Cabela's tumbler!!! The Zilla will fill the Cabela's 3 times. Needless to say for a very small investment, I've got enough media to last a good long while.
 
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