Cotton balls instead of dryer sheets for media dust

Interesting. I just started using dryer sheets and they make a huge difference compared to nothing.

ive tore up little pieces of neverdull and ran it. i worked plus it left a slight lube on the cases

I just cut up paper towels, 2x2 squares.

I've used paper towels too, as well as cleaning patches. Basically anything similar will pick up a lot of the dust. Some better than others.

FOL4321, why would you desire lube in and on your brass? I like my brass free of anything that may contaminate powder/primers, or prevent the much needed case sieze.

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Usually whats used of course is liquid auto polish ie; Nu-Finish, this deposits a light film of polymer that retards tarnish. And NO it will not contaminate the powder or primers.

On the inside, elements other than powder can begin to vaporize and cause variations in powder burn or foul primers. But more critical is the outside, brass needs to be completely dry and free of anything that could cause the case to slip during the pressure curve. If cases can't sieze to the chamber wall, bad stuff begins to happen to the lugs and bolt face, like set back.

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None of the BAD things have happened to me in the hundreds of thousands of rounds I've reloaded in the last 40 years.

gamestalker said:

But more critical is the outside, brass needs to be completely dry and free of anything that could cause the case to slip during the pressure curve. If cases can't sieze to the chamber wall, bad stuff begins to happen to the lugs and bolt face, like set back.

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Case "slippage" isn't nearly as bad as you make it sound and not exactly easy to achieve, either.

Interesting read on the topic:

http://www.varmintal.com/a243z.htm

Realize that he's using a .243Win in his analysis. With the .223 having roughly 65% the case head area as the .243, bolt loads will scale accordingly. The difference between a sandpaper finish on the chamber and an oiled case with a polished chamber and polished brass is right about the same load that the primer exerts on the bolt face.

I did try paper towels and they do work, just not as good as used dryer sheets with the open weave. With 2 teenage boys, we are never short of used dyer sheets.

Nu Finish does make the bass shiny, but it also traps the dust and soot. That might seem good, except I've noticed that it also keeps that junk in the media and the walnut shells turn a dark brown/black a lot sooner. Some of that stuff is primer dust which is Lead Styphnate which I think contributes more to reloaders' increased lead levels than we think. Probably more so than the lead bullets we handle and shoot.

Now maybe if the stuff is trapped in the media. It's better than flying around freely in the air or in the dryer sheets. The thing is, you are throwing the dryer sheets away each time you tumble instead of trapping it in the walnut.

If "bling" is what you want, maybe you should do the majority of your tumbling with clean walnut/dryer sheets, and a final polish with Nu Finish in a separate batch of walnut. The overall tumbling time would be the same, it's just one more step in the middle of your tumbling routine.

Just my opinion. Remember you get what you pay for and this advice is free.

I use a mixture of corn cob, walnut and white rice. A little polish in the beginning for about five mins and then the brass. Never anything stuck in my brass when tumbled after cleaning. Jim

Paper towel torn into 2" strips and wadded keeps my media much cleaner. Keep my tumbler outside when using it and let it buzz a few minutes w/o the lid before adding brass. Lots of dust fogs out. Would not recommend doing this inside as the dust may not be friendly to your lungs.