Tumbling media options? Or ideas?

Brass is a Very soft metal. I know people experiment. Pins and Chip can cause more damage then what its worth. . i found just a Good quality Walnut or corn cob is all you need . with no additive. . . if you prefer washing with Pins. thats ok . But be careful not to get aggressive
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Benchrest guys wouldn’t even like them crashing into themselves with corncob.

It’s another one of thoes “different strokes” things in reloading. I have used all the methods and have found, with most firearms and uses, there isn’t a lot of difference between any of them, in final results.

If you wet tumble and get the cases surgically clean, there will be more friction than other methods if you don’t lube. Most take into account the outside because they feel that sizing some do on the inside as they stick to the expander, it will have an effect on neck tension too.

I can clean the most cases, the quickest wet though. Under two hours and they will be clean inside and out, undamaged. 24 hours and they will be forever changed, OD green but still function fine.

Cleaning/polishing cartridge brass is the most talked about, but least important part of reloading. Nearly every reloader has his "formula" and method which, for him at least, is best. I have been a machinist/mechanic all my life and started working with metals when I was 12. My machine shop experience taught me a lot about metal and how it's processed. The only tumbling I saw on a commercial basis was usually in a 500 gal wobbler with water and ceramic media. For my brass I use what cleans well and does a decent "shine" job (but I only shine 30-06 and 45 ACP brass. They are much easier to find in the dirt, rocks, trash at my "range"). There are a lot of "old wives tales" about tumbling brass (some of the above responses may fit this category), and a little common sense goes a long way...

What vendors sell isn't necessarily the best, but what is high in sales. Many, many new reloaders think they need a certain product and buy it, whether it is in fact the best or not (commercial "brass tumbling media" with abrasives and all kinds of additives may work but far from best)...

mdi said:

For my brass I use what cleans well and does a decent "shine" job (but I only shine 30-06 and 45 ACP brass

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And that would be?

Dry: I've only used 20-40 corncob with a little Dillon polish added, except for one batch using walnut....I didn't care for the scratches....too rough for my taste.....not enough bling. I also like the white "dust" left on the brass. It lubes a little. I don't think it harms the dies any more than any other lube. Time....2 to 6 hours depending on the brass. Separate outside to save your lungs.

Wet: These days dimmer eyes appreciate brighter brass. (notice, I didn't say a word about superior reloads, just better looking ones) Stainless pins, Lemishine, and Dawn and a nut jar full of brass for about 2 hours in cold water in my Thumblers makes me happiest. It's way less trouble than steel wool, ever shine or any other method to hand polish. The best part.....zero dust.

jmorris's comment about more friction is very true. My first personal experience with LC mg brass and Imperial lube was not fun. Happy days returned when I went back to a green lube pad and white powdered mica lube inside the necks.

BTW, the reason I mentioned glass beads, is that unlike sand, and well, ss pins, there are no sharp edges. But I've been waiting for someone who uses them in a mechanic shop to comment on any pluses or minuses. It's another form of blast media, and I'm sure they get blasted to dust....and glass dust can't be good on lungs......yet wet tumbling with it may not have that negative.....but would it clean?...that's the question.
and what grade....

Could you use it dry???? Back to the dust factor. Not sure vibrating would turn them to dust, though.

I used corn cob media for years, worked pretty good when new but seemed to wear out quickly. I heard about crushed walnut media and tried it, cost me 25 bucks for 25 pounds at Harbor Freight, I find it polishes quicker and lasts longer than corn cob media. hdbiker

jeeptim asked:
Rooting around my local internet and came across resin and ceramic media. Anybody have an idea if it would work well in our tumblers?
Maybe a mixture?
Also what else have you tried or considered?

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I've tried pretty much everything and the answer to your question depends on what is your objective? What are you trying to achieve?

1. Are you trying to achieve the shiniest brass?
2. Are you trying to remove corrosion?
3. Are you simply trying to facilitate inspection of the cases?

If you want the absolute shiniest brass, then wet tumble using bronze (not stainless steel) pins in a solution of oxalic acid. Anything else will give you less than an "ultimate" shine.

Just want clean brass? Wash it in hot water, a little detergent and citric acid (a tablespoon per quart of water) for fifteen minutes and then rinse throughly in hot water. Use any fat-based resizing lubricant and then tumble it off in walnut or corn cob media.

For cleaning rusty tools I use hard resin media from HF. Used alone it is good for steel parts and not as aggressive as ceramic tiles, and both are too aggressive for cleaning brass. Brass cleaned in 100% resin media is cleaned quickly, but left with a matte finish, sorta dull. I use a mix if corn cob blast media 14-20 and about 25% hard resin pyramids. I occasionally add a bit of auto cleaner polish and my brass is clean and shiny (although shiny, polished brass is not my goal, except for my 45 ACP brass and 30-06 brass because they are fling outta the gun and are easier to find in the dirt, rocks, trash at my "range"). I have worked in a machine shop that tumbled parts but mostly ceramic tiles in a solution were "tumbled" in a huge (500 gal?) wobbler. All the glass beads I used or have seen used was for bead blasting, in a contained air blaster, none used in a tumbler or wobbler.

Last week I had my rotary going and didn't care to get out my Lyman wobbler so I went with a method I used many years ago; 1 gal. water, a few drops of dawn, and a tablespoon of lemishine/citric acid. Slosh and soak for a half hour and rinse. Very clean brass...

After years of experimenting/playing with every kind of media I could find (from beach sand to pet litter, wood chunks, rice and dried beans/peas, and mebbe a dozen other "media", I settled on corn cob blast media, 14-20. Blast media is much better quality controlled and lasts much longer than any pet litter. If I want shiny, high polished brass I just leave it in the tumbler longer.

https://www.harborfreight.com/520-lbs-rust-cutting-resin-abrasive-tumbler-media-63672.html