When they say use dryer sheets do they mean new dryer sheets?

NO do not use new ones use used ones or just a small paper towel with some liquid wax or mineral spits on it.

New dyer sheets will leave a gunky film on the brass that is a PITA to remove!

Used dryer sheets only!!! Walnut wont clean out your primer pockets very well and depending on the grit size, you may be causing more work by clogging the flash hole with walnut. Generally speaking, there is no need to clean your primer pockets. I've loaded over 50k rounds in the past 4 years without cleaning primer pockets. I tumble cases with the spent primer in for 2 hours. I will add about a half ounce of my polishing solution(3 parts mineral spirits to 1 part nufinish car polish) before tumbling for quick polishing with a lasting shield against tarnishing.

Bexar said:

... Approximately how long to vibrate to clean out the primer pockets do y'all think?

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Oh, about a year might do it ... surely, no more than 2.

In most situations, if the case looks clean enough then the primer pocket is clean enough.

USED dryer sheets only as noted above. A couple of pieces of paper towel works about as well. NuFinish car polish as additive.

What about nufinish car polish makes it better than others?

trackforever said:

What about nufinish car polish makes it better than others?

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Nothing, it just seems to have caught on as cult favorite

Any similar similar space age polymer "polish" will work.

Rumor has it the NuFinish is a polymer and prevents oxidation on the tumbled brass.

trackforever said:

What about nufinish car polish makes it better than others?

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It is probably considered less mundane than regular old "car" wax.

mbopp, "car" wax keeps 'em just as shiny.

Bexar said:

Pulled one of the two new ones out. Thanks. Approximately how long to vibrate to clean out the primer pockets do y'all think?

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Having left one batch of brass in the tumbler for close to two days, I can tell you that the primer pockets weren't noticeably cleaner than when they went in. The inside of the cases were a little cleaner than the my usual 2-3 hour tumbling session. The outside of the cases were so shiny that sunglasses were required to handle them.

Matt

I can't say I've noticed any down side when using new dryer sheets, but then again I don't have a dust problem (I don't stand over my wobblers/tumblers and do deep breathing exercises). When I used them, I would cut the sheets into about 2"x2" squares and drop a couple in a batch, but I found no drastic advantages.

Tumbling/polishing brass is prolly the most talked about and least important part of reloading, and 99% of it boils down to personal choice. Some only use (and swear by) certain chemicals in a liquid with a specific media. Some have their own "formula" for dry tumbling. Most have their "tricks" for additives/helps. Some insist on shiny, virgin looking brass, and some will load "brown" brass as long as it's clean.

Don't beat yourself up on this issue. Experiment with different methods, medias, and time. You probably won't damage/harm any firearm cartridges (unless you use an ammonia based cleaner/polish). Your methods/choices may lead to picking media out of flash holes, or brass that takes "too" long to get your desired results, or you want "clean primer pockets". But don't fret, just find a method you like...

Try some mineral spirits in your walnut hulls to keep the dust down. Works for me. Use The cap That screws on the mineral spirits can starting with just 1 cap full of spirits liquid in your tumbler.

Rule3 said:

NO do not use new ones use used ones or just a small paper towel with some liquid wax or mineral spits on it.

New dyer sheets will leave a gunky film on the brass that is a PITA to remove!

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I once used a new one and it left a nasty hard to remove mess on the brass, I now only use used sheets.


Michael Grace

I agree that tumbling brass is one of the most discussed aspects of reloading and I agree that it is possibly the least important part as well.

When I first started reloading and for several years, I didn't clean my brass in any way. I just loaded it. Now 30 years later I still do that on a regular basis. But, today, this usually just happens because I am loading and I have some brass that I just shot, and I figure, hey as long as I am rolling on this project I might as well load all the empty brass I have: so I just load the dirty brass. The vast majority of it was cleaned but the last 50 or 100 were just shot and loaded dirty (I typically load a thousand or two at a time in handgun cartridges and then shoot that until I am running low, then load everything I have at once).

I have nothing against people who really spend the time to polish their brass and clean it super clean. It looks nice. It gives you a feeling of satisfaction. I just question whether it is really nessessary.

I have tried dryer sheets to keep down the dust, but typically I just use some strips of paper towel. To me, this isn't about keeping dust down in the room or breathing dust, it is about not having dusty cases. The best way to avoid this is to regularly change your media. As the tumbler tumbles, the grains of media grind down producing dust. If you keep your media too long, the cases come out covered in dust. This dust annoyed me to the point that now I mostly use an ultrasonic cleaner. Lately I have been going back and forth trying to see which is easier to get minimally clean cases with the least effort and time. The obvious problem with using an ultrasonic cleaner is that now the brass has to dry.

Primer pockets will not be cleaned with walnut or corn cob media , they will get in the flash hole and plug it.
Best to run through wth primers in place , after they clean, deprime and resize.
I clean my pockets with a little hand tool then prime and load.
I think steel pins and wet tumbling might clean pockets...I use nut shells so can't vouch for that statement.
Gary

I use used dryer sheets. It's cheaper to pull them out of the trash can than it is to buy a box of them and you aren't introducing whatever chemicals are in the anti-static coating of a new dryer sheet. I cut the used dryer sheets up into roughly one-inch squares and throw a few in with the tumbling media. Dryer sheets are a non-woven fabric with a fairly high percentage of open area. That makes them perfect for catching and holding on to dust.

The dryer sheets can also give you a window into the condition of your media because the media generates more "dust" as it wears out. After tumbling, I check the dryer sheet squares and if they are tan, I just throw out the dryer sheet squares. If they come out dark brown to nearly red, I throw them and the media out.

I regularly run my tumbler for 10-12 hours with corncob. It only cleans the primer pocket a little, leaving most of the carbon in there. When I use stainless steel media the carbon is removed completely.

If you use the small grit walnut media you can clean the primer pockets. But it takes a few hours.

Drier sheets. I have a recent package of Bounce sheets that, after use in the drier, will not pick up any dust. They have changed something in the sheet design. I have an old box of generic that has sat open for a few years. The gooey has evaporated, and they work out of the box.

I recently read an article/test about the accuracy of ammo that had walnut bits in the flash hole. They found that unless your bench rest shooting out to 1k it's no big deal. Which lines up with the test I had done when I first started reloading.

I like to tumble after decapping to keep my media a little cleaner. There is a LOT of residual junk in spent primers.

Dryer Sheets

You are absolutely correct. Used sheets with table soon of NuFinish added after about 10 to fifteen uses.

I have always used 1/2 corn cob and 1/2 walnut + strips of dryer sheet. New or old don't seem to make any difference to me - and would NEVER add a liquid polishing agent. The dryer sheets pick up the crud. Before I stated using them my media would progressively darker grey and I would have to change it out. Now, hardly ever. I've thrown out dryer sheets that have turned almost black - they just seem to pick up all the crud. I've done many thousands of rounds of brass in this media, and still looks like new. I've used maybe 1/2 box of dryer sheets in the last year.

I always use new dryer sheets, because I don't use them for laundry and thus wouldn't ever have a used one around. Like wbstx11, I get good results from half-and-half walnut and cob, though I do add a little polish once the tumbler is running. I tear the dryer sheet into strips for better circulation in the media. They come out a lovely dark grey, so I know they're doing some good. Never had the film problem referred to by previous commenters.