tumbling polish

[coloradokevin]

Okay,

So I am sort of up and running as a newbie (and mildly incompetent) reloader here.

I'm trying to tumble brass now... I bought a tumbler, and media seperator, and cleared some space in the garage for the task. I am currently using untreated walnut media (err... bird cage litter).

Do you guys recommend a liquid brass polish or not?

My tumbler's owner's manual says that I should tumble once to clean first, then size and decap the brass, then tumble again to polish and remove case lube.

I know that commercially made reloading-specific polishes are made... But, can you guys recommend anything else that works just as well, at perhaps a lower price. I always like to know when something is available at Wally World that works just as well (particularly since I work strange hours, and they are open 24-7-364

I've already been warned not to use Brasso due to the ammonia issue, which is sad since I have a healthy supply of brasso around here for my duty gear. Still, I'd love to hear any suggestions that you folks could provide on polish, or even tumbling in general!

As always, thanks for the great advice!

 

[Iron Sight]

If you find something better than this let me/us know

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=816895

 

[threefeathers]

Mike Chasse at Thunder Mountain Custom Rifles makes a concoction that smells awful but is the absolute best cleaner, polisher I've ever used and I've been doing thos for 30 years.

 

[gunman42782]

I agree with Iron Sight, Flitz is the best stuff I ever used.

 

[Uncle Chan]

I use Nu-Finish liquid car wax/polish. A capful will do thousands of rounds. I've not found anything that works better.

 

[evan price]

I tumble in walnut now, and except for the dust, there's nothing better for shine. I tumble pistol rounds before processing, and not again. That way I don't have to clean the primer pockets.

A dash of Nufinish is all you need. Anything more is just extra.
Plus, some torn up used dryer sheets to trap dust.

 

[hddeluxe]

Walnut media (I also use the bird litter) and nu finish gets my vote.

 

[coloradokevin]

Thanks again for the great advice folks! I'm glad to hear the Nu Finish advice, because I know I have a bottle of that around here somewhere (and based on the last time that I washed my car, it it probably pretty full!)

I may have actually spoken too soon on this issue. I put 150 .223 casings in my tumbler right before I posted this message, and I just pulled them a couple of minutes ago. These were once-fired range pick-ups, and I tumbled them in untreated walnut. Despite the dirty appearance going in, they look better than a lot of my factory ammo now!

Thus, I'm impressed with tumbling so far!

Unfortunately, every time I think I have all of the tools to get up and running with the reloading hobby, I find something else I need... I apparently have military crimped brass, so now I'll have to get some sort of tool to remove the crimp (I didn't think this stuff had a crimp until now, when I googled the headstamp).

Guess I'll just lube/resize/decap in the mean time... and try to convince my wife that I need just one more tool

 

[coyotehitman]

I agree with Iron Sight, Flitz is the best stuff I ever used.

The best I have found, I buy a case at a time.

I tumble in plain walnut to clean, then use corncob and Flitz to polish.

 

[flynlr]

for polish corncob and flitz
I have used Nu-finish and cabelas polish but Flitz beats them hands down.

 

[ricciardelli]

I recommend both Lyman treated walnut media and Lyman treated corncob media.

1 hour in the walnut and then 1 hour in the corncob.

http://stevespages.com/cleancases.html

 

[mkl]

I've tried a bunch of different polishes, but so far Flitz gets my vote.

I use the cream, which also contains an anti-tarnish formula which is absent in the liquid version. From the Flitz web site re the liquid:

The same formula as the original creamy paste but in a more economical, easy to use liquid, without the Anti-Tarnish formula.

The paste is a pain to mix into the media however. It will ball up if you just squirt it in. I fill a measuring cup about half full of walnut/corncob, and then squirt in a teaspoon or so of Flitz. Using a spoon, I mash/stir the Flitz into the media. After a couple of minutes of this, it will be fairly well mixed. I then add the contents of the cup to my tumbler and run about ten minutes to distribute.

The paste version is more work, but you do get the tarnish protection additive.

A week ago, I found the two pound can of Flitz paste on Amazon.com selling for $29.00, which is about 60% of the regular price.

 

[scrat]

Nu finish and rice. during the summer my media was pretty much out. so i put in some rice. ended up filling 1/2 the tumbler with rice. it works so good. Just remember to put in some dryer sheets and cut up pieces of paper towel. they will absorb the dirt that gathers in the media, rice.

 

[Otto]

...can you guys recommend anything else that works just as well, at perhaps a lower price. I always like to know when something is available at Wally World that works just as well...

Nu Finish is a good polish, available at Wal Mart and far less expensive than Flitz.
I've used both extensively and could find little difference between the two.

 

[mkonops]

I use the Frankford Arsenal Brass Case Polish with good results. I have recently switched to walnut media from corncob. I found the cob bits would always annoyingly wedge themselves into flash holes. Walnut media with a little polish has no such problems, cleans well, and virtually no dust.

 

[kestak]

Greetings,

I use nu-finish with corn cob too with good results...

BUT....

The cases will tarnish after a few month in storage. So, anyone knows what I could add to the mix to add an anti-tarnish ingredient to it?

Thank you

 

[tding]

Question to you guys using the Nu Finish - I get lots of "waxy" spots that I don't get with Flitz. What am I doing wrong?

 

[kestak]

Greetings,

- pour the corn cob
- pour a cup of nu-finish
- tumble with no case for 5 minutes
- put the paper towel cut in 2x2 inch with the brass
- tumble as desired.

Thank you

 

[zxcvbob]

Lyman "tufnut" (messy red stuff) is good, and it's a lot less messy if you cut it about 50% with untreated corncob or walnut media. And it's cheaper to use that way.

Lately I've been just using walnut Lizard Litter from the pet store, with a little TurtleWax Chrome Polish added.

 

[kennedy]

one half corn cob, one half walnut, one half cap of nu vinish. takes care of all my cleaning and polishing needs, don`t need to change media between cleaning and polishing, it does it all at the same time.

 

[DUCKNDAWG]

try fast orange hand cleaner

 

[jcwit]

Nu-Finish, corn cob, cut up paper towel--works great.

 

[Flash!]

how often do you replace the corn cob or walnut media in your tumbler???

 

[ozshadow]

One thing I have noticed is that my tumbler works faster and makes brass far shinier if it is very full. Not very full seems to take forever and is duller.

I use Pet store walnut with a dab of Nufinish every now and then.

 

[kestak]

Greetings,

OzShadow, I noticed the same thing. I put corn cob 3/4 of the container, then I fill up with cases. I shake for a little, then I put more cases, shake a little and put some more.

to answer a previous question, I change the media when it is very dark or when it takes a lot more time to clean the cases. Rule of thumb: 1 load of media cleans about 5k cases for me.

Thank you