Lyman Tumbling Media

The green is walnut for removing gunk & corrosion fairly quickly.

The Red is red rouge treated softer corn-cob for final finish.

The Brown is untreated corn-cob and you add your own polishing compound to it.

I bought the green a couple of years ago, and I really don't like it much.
It is too course and gets in flash-holes at about a 90% rate.

rc

Nothing to add to RC's post except that there are cheaper and better options for media. I use Corn Cob bought in bulk from Graingers. the 20-40 grind is small enough to never stop up flash holes. I split an order with a friend, and cost was $12.50 a piece. This is 40 lbs worth...so 20 lbs a piece. Hard to beat that price, especially if you have a Graingers close enough to drive to. If you order it "will call" there is no shipping. (I use Dillon's polish, or just Blue Magic at Auto Zone for compound.) Left for 12 hours I have mirror brass. I use Lyman's 2500 tumbler.

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

This is for Graingers media as mentioned by GW Staar. no shipping charge.

I bought the green a couple of years ago, and I really don't like it much.
It is too course and gets in flash-holes at about a 90% rate.

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Yup. It's like those things have flash-hole homing systems. It also doesn't do a terribly good job.

http://www.drillspot.com/products/52...bs_blast_media

This is for Graingers media as mentioned by GW Staar. no shipping charge.

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I was actually just googling for cheap tumbling media and came across a thread on the 1911 forums for that same deal and ordered some. $22 for 40# with free shipping is a pretty good deal. Quite a bit cheaper than buying it from Grainger even.

I really like the red stuff in the plastic jugs. It makes the brass nice and shiny and it feels slick when you handle it.

??

ok stupid question number 1.... brand new to reloading (so new all I have is brass) would it be better to tumble your brass before you knock the primers out so the media you are using to clean the brass would not get into the primer pockets? Don't flame me.... I am just asking and I know very little...

I tumble my brass before resizing for that reason and I dont like putting dirty cases in my dies.

I use the finest grit blasting corn cob I could find to clean my cases, no polish. I just can't get excited about plasticky looking glittery brass.

I decap with a universal depriming die, tumble, lube, size, in that order. Any bits stuck in the flash holes gets punched out during sizing but the fine grit stuff I use rarely sticks anyway.

I don't think there's enough difference ineffect between cob and nut to make a difference but some folks use a 50:50 mix of the two. Guess they want to make sure they get it right?

lizard litter (fine crushed walnut) from petsmart I tumble 20 minutes before i size cases then punch out the primers and tumble 20 minutes again to clean the primer pockets. Never have a problem with clogged primer pockets. also use used dryer sheets cut into 1" strips to keep the media lasting longer. I change it about every 6 months.

I change it about every 6 months

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The important bit is missing. How much do you shoot in a month?

I just can't get excited about plasticky looking glittery brass.

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Maybe I'm alone here, but I've never seen glittery plastic before.

Hondo 60 said:

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

This is for Graingers media as mentioned by GW Staar. no shipping charge.

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Drillspot isn't Graingers, but they obviously sell the same product (Econoline) and for a few bucks cheaper, even!

The other nice thing is you obviously don't need a Grainger Store nearby to be free shipping....that's a plus too.

Thanks for the link!

Point is do you want 6# for $14.80 (Lyman plain corncob) or 40# for $22? ($2.46/lb. vs. $.55/lb) and it works better, if you choose to remove primers first.

Drillspot isn't Graingers, but they obviously sell the same product (Econoline) and for a few bucks cheaper, even!

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One user on 1911forum.com said his Drillspot order was drop shipped by Grainger.

Walnut media and Flitz for me

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=816895

I didnt like the red lyman, it got all over everything.

While drill spot & Grainger may not be the same, when I ordered, via drillspot.com, the invoice did say Grainger on it.

Between 800 t0 1000 rounds a month.

"Maybe I'm alone here, but I've never seen glittery plastic before."

Yeah, you have. A bunch of it. Just glittery plastic, imitation stuff tho.

Lots of automotive trim "chrome" is just plated plastic, lots of kids toys and electonic stuff too, etc. I don't need that look on my ammo.

For me:
Shiny brass is easier to see when picking range mushrooms
If it ain't shiny...it ain't mine

Every one has to decide just how clean they need their brass to be.
I used walnut and found that it produced a LOT of dust (great for making a walnut stain) and the dust packed into the brass—meaning I had to pick it all out by hand.
I use 20/40 corn cob and the brass comes out shinier than I need. Since I decap first, there is an occasional fleck of media (sort of a sliver/straw stalk) that is easily knocked out, blown out, or left in for the decapping pin to knock it out.
The primer pockets come out cleaner, though I don't really care about that.
I am completely content and just wonder about the time and money some people spend getting shiny brass.

I like the 20/40 versus the 14/20 - doesn't get stuck in the flash holes. I add polish (either Dillon or Midway) to some if I want that glittery plasticky look but mostly I leave it as is. Walnut is a little better for cleaning up dirty stuff and I tend to use it for first tumble, then polish if the mood strikes me. I have bought two 40 lb bags from Drillspot and both were drop shipped from Grainger: marked as sold to Drillspot, delivery address was mine. $22 for 40 lbs, free shipping and got here in 2 days (yep - 2 days) from order to delivery. Hard to beat...

noyli said;
"I am completely content and just wonder about the time and money some people spend getting shiny brass."

I don't think "some people" spend any more time or money than you do.
Maybe just more time in the tumbler which costs near nothing, using the same "turn it on and walk away" methods as you
I do know adding Nu Finish car wax, while tumbling, greatly reduces the effort needed to resize pistol brass for me.
And who here doesn't have some liquid car wax, drying up, in the garage somewhere?
Give it a try...you don't have to tell anyone

I do think wearing white cotton gloves while loading to avoid brass tarnishing would qualify as too much time and money though
Does this thread qualify as the weekly tumbling thread?
...I hope so
YMMV

I do a little mixing and adding with the three mediums, only because i didn't know which would work best. These are some great ideas you guys are putting out.

noylj said:

I am completely content and just wonder about the time and money some people spend getting shiny brass.

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Had to smile at that one. Not that I think you're funny. Just that I don't spend much money or time at it...except for the price of the Lyman Turbo 2500 that I bought on sale at Midway 2 years ago. Before that for 36 years or so, I made ugly reloads...and I never was completely content.

Finally, I am completely content in buying a 3 year supply of corncob from Graingers, for $22 to $25.. And I'm also completely content to start a batch tumbling before I get in the shower in the morning, knowing that it's making shiny brass for me all day while I'm at work....and I'm also perfectly content in reloading that shiny clean brass in the evening. Oh, and I like it when people at the range say, "those are reloads???"

BTW, I stopped tumbler crawling, by buying the non-slip rubber shelf liner at Walmart. Works really well...used to have to put the tumbler on the floor...now I don't have to give it a thought.

"Oh, and I like it when people at the range say, "those are reloads???""

Not that it matters but I suspect that's 95% of why some people want 'plasticy' looking brass.

I just tumble them because it makes it easier to spot issues with the cases. A little crack/split could go unnoticed if you have brass that is filled with firing debris. So I tumble them for an hour or two to get them clean. Not really a lot of work or money to do it. Maybe one less box of primers or 1lb of powder being traded in the name of safety every six months. Is that really a big deal?

Damian