How Often Do I Change Tumbler Media?

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RedlegRick

RedlegRick

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I don't know if this has been addressed, but when should I change it? Just got into reloading (9s & 38/357), and I'm using what my friend gave me with the loaned unit. Thanks in advance.
 
Buy a Frankford wet tumbler, your brass comes out like new and you will never have to buy media again.
 
Fair enough. For clarity, I dry clean the cases with white rice and baking soda before using the walnut media. They're still coming out nice and shiny, but I'm going to get some fresh stuff anyway. Just did about 2k cases that way.
 
RedlegRick said:
Fair enough. For clarity, I dry clean the cases with white rice and baking soda before using the walnut media. They're still coming out nice and shiny, but I'm going to get some fresh stuff anyway. Just did about 2k cases that way.
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How does that rice and baking soda thing work?
 
I use to love the way that media & rouge left brass sparkling like jewelry. But as time went on I got tired of the dusty stuff that got dirty very quickly. Media without rouge lasts longer, still cleans brass and is much less messy. Brass shouldn't be dirty but there is also no need to polish it. It's not that hard to tell when it should be discarded and replaced with clean media. If cleaning is taking much longer than usual or if it's dusty - and maybe the cases, too - it's time to retire it.
 
It cleans them really well, but leaves them a little dull. The walnut shell seems to shine them up nicely.
I used two pounds of rice and a couple shakes of baking soda and it's good for about 500 before it looks like kitty litter and I toss it.
 
I'd run about 12k cases through my walnut media and noticed the media was a lot darker than when new so I changed it. Can't say I've really noticed much difference in the way it cleans. I just run the walnut with nothing added and it cleans the cases well enough to suit me. It's on a timer and I usually run them about 2 1/2 hours. I noticed it cleans better when there's a lot of cases than it does with a small load. I'm guessing the cases banging into each other helps with the cleaning.
 
RedlegRick said:
I dry clean the cases with white rice and baking soda before using the walnut media ... It cleans them really well, but leaves them a little dull. The walnut shell seems to shine them up nicely.

two pounds of rice and a couple shakes of baking soda
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There's no reason to "pre-clean" the brass before tumbling with walnut. While I have used rice with "dull" results, I never used baking soda. We had many discussions on using various media for cleaning/polishing brass and walnut/corn cob seem to work the best and fastest.

In general, walnut cleans brass better/faster and corn cob polishes brass better and some mix 50/50.

I prefer to use fine grit walnut media from Harbor Freight as they won't clog the flash hole and no dust issues that others have using ground walnut lizard bedding.

I add couple capfuls of NuFinish or Turtle Wax liquid polish to treat the media initially (stir with stick to distribute polish faster before adding brass) and add additional capful as needed every few batches while running it on "dry" side as getting media wet will gum it up. Adding cut up used dryer sheets or paper towel will collect black soot and extend the life of media.

In general, walnut media will last me like a year before I have to change it out.

And walnut is very hard and really don't "wear" the sharp edges rather get dirty from tumbling brass. In my early reloading days, I took almost black dirty walnut media and cleaned with dish washing liquid and air/sun dried in the driveway. After drying, it was like new to be used again.
 
LiveLife said:
There's no reason to "pre-clean" the brass before tumbling with walnut. While I have used rice with "dull" results, I never used baking soda. We had many discussions on using various media for cleaning/polishing brass and walnut/corn cob seem to work the best and fastest.

In general, walnut cleans brass better/faster and corn cob polishes brass better and some mix 50/50.

I prefer to use fine grit walnut media from Harbor Freight as they won't clog the flash hole and no dust issues that others have using ground walnut lizard bedding.

I add couple capfuls of NuFinish or Turtle Wax liquid polish to treat the media initially (stir with stick to distribute polish faster before adding brass) and add additional capful as needed every few batches while running it on "dry" side as getting media wet will gum it up. Adding cut up used dryer sheets or paper towel will collect black soot and extend the life of media.

In general, walnut media will last me like a year before I have to change it out.

And walnut is very hard and really don't "wear" the sharp edges rather get dirty from tumbling brass. In my early reloading days, I took almost black dirty walnut media and cleaned with dish washing liquid and air/sun dried in the driveway. After drying, it was like new to be used again.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. Didn't think to look at Harbor Freight for media. I'll also try to wash it too and see how that goes.
 
In general, walnut cleans brass better/faster and corn cob polishes brass better and some mix 50/50.
Click to expand...

That works real well for me; a little Nu Finish added in and they come out looking like new.
 
does anybody else not like the layer of dust that gets left on all the cases after tumbling in walnut? I've tried adding paint thinner and polish to cut the dust down, but it persists.
 
It really depends on the media and use.

Clean cases, knocking off lube with corncob, never.

Stainless media, never.

Regular range brass using walnut or corncob and polish on a regular basis, an 11 lb bag will last me about 4 years, give or take.
 
greyling22 said:
does anybody else not like the layer of dust that gets left on all the cases after tumbling in walnut? I've tried adding paint thinner and polish to cut the dust down, but it persists.
Click to expand...
Harbor Freight walnut media is dust free and treated with NuFinish/Turtle Wax, do not leave layer of dust after tumbling, just clean and shiny brass.
 
LiveLife said:
Harbor Freight walnut media is dust free and treated with NuFinish/Turtle Wax, do not leave layer of dust after tumbling, just clean and shiny brass.
Click to expand...
Do you have to add anything to harbor freight walnut media if it already has wax treatment?
 
+1 on the dryer sheet trick. I use HF walnut with NuFinsh, but was getting that layer of dust on the cases after running about 2k cases thru. Now I'm up to about 5k cases without the dust sticking to the cases and still going. Brass is coming out looking factory fresh
 
I use dry tumbling primarily to clean lubricant off the cases and to get a little shine. I generally let it run all night but of late, I've added a timer to shorten the run time.

I change media when it begins to leave black streaks on the cases. These are primarily dust and lubricant.

When I'm shooting regularly, I shoot about 5000 cartridges per year. The media begins to poop out after about a year.
 
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