How long do you tumble your brass?

50% Corn and 50% Walnut.
Capful of Nufinish and a drier sheet.

Two hours produces some great looking brass.

I try to let it run for a couple hours in 50/50 corn cob/walnut mix. Most the time I get busy doing something with my kids an 5-6 hours later end up turning it off. They do come out shiny though.

2-hours unless they are really dirty, then it's 3-hours.

1. Do you clean in walnut first and then corncob...or is it an either or proposition?
2. Do you usually decap handgun cases before you clean?...resize?
3. Can someone tell me what the dryer sheet does?

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1. most folks just pick one. i've used both. can't tell a difference. some folks mix them together.

2. most folks do not. i do not worry about dirty primer pockets on handgun brass and if you decap before tumbling, some media will get stuck in the flash hole (unless you use a finer grit media that is available).

3. some folks say that is traps dust and reduces dust when you're sifting and such. when i used a vibratory, i would just run it outside with the lid off if dust was getting to be a problem.

i just fill mine up at night turn on turn off when i get up

1. Do you clean in walnut first and then corncob...or is it an either or proposition?

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It's no different than using sandpaper on wood or metal. Courser grits first to remove rough/dirty/stained surfaces and finer grits last to smooth/polish the finish. 100grit is not mixed with 300 grit on the same paper for a reason.

If you mix them, the courser walnut works slower and the finer corncob is less effective as a polishing agent. It does clean some and shine some. Reloader's choice for finished product results.

Cases that have been laying on the ground at the range especially after a rain, can be really "dirty/cruddy". Washing them with a hose in a bucket removes dirt, crud and small bits of rock and elimates the need for dryer sheets that catch the crud. The media also doesn't need to changed as often.

If the cases aren't badly tarnished , corncob with some polish added (like Nu-Finish) will provide a very nice shiny and "slippery" finish on pistol cases in about 3hrs or a little more. My experience with comp. pistols is that they PREFER a "slippery" finish on cases for more reliable feed and extraction and everything else. Just my internet personal opinion.

Many range cases could be used after you shake the dirt out and run them through the press. Again, shooter's choice.

I don't hover over or monitor my tumblers. I plug them in on my front porch and let them run until I get around to them. Usually, that's 4-6 hours.

I use treated red crushed walnut hulls. I don't run the media forever, If it gets nasty or works slowly, I dump it and refill the tumbler.

Flash

The answer yesterday was something like 15 hours. Totally forgot about it yesterday afternoon and "rediscovered" that it was running late this morning.

I usually let mine run 2 - 3 hours, not trying to remove .0001's off of it!

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I use a sonic cleaner after I deprime, I set them out for 24 hr to dry and tumble in corncob for about 30 minutes to get any dis-coloring off.

I always wondered if tumbling in walnut did thin out the brass. I don't know how it couldn't if you leave it in there long enough.

My tumbler is a homemade rotory and is pretty aggressive with wallnut.

With 30 minutes in corncob after sonic cleaning they look better than factoy new, but that doesn't make them shoot any better.

I think it does make it easier to spot defects, like split necks, walls and heads.,

8 minutes in the sonic cleaner, 30 minutes in the tumbler and looking pretty just happens, not doing it on purpose.

Some people throw their brass away after loading them so many times, I don't, I load them till they split.

About 2-3 hours in my home made stainless steel pin tumbler. Dump in a little Lemi Shine & Dawn to make even ugly brass look like new. Best thing I've ever built for my shooting problem.

Does tumbling remove metal?---Yes it does! To prove it, tumble some nickel plated brass for a long time and you will see the plating dissapear! Does the amount removed matter much?---Probably not! It is very likely the brass will fail due to splits long before it will fail due to lost metal from tumbling!

Depends on how old my media is. If I just changed the media a couple of hours is all it needs. Media that has been used a lot normally requires more tumbling time, least thats how I see it.

If I am in the garage I turn off the tumbler at 1-2hr. If I am not having to listen to the noise I will let it run for 6-12hr.

Tumble it till you remember to turn it off.
Mine is on a timer for 4 hours, however, I sometimes forget to unplug it, so it does 4 hours ever 24 hours. Sometimes for several days.

No more than 1 hour.

If we'd have plugged in the tumbler when this thread started. it would sure be done by now.

I just use walnut shell and find 2 hours is fine. The brass comes out with a decent shine but not like new. I have no need for corn cob media because I'm too lazy to worry about the shine on my brass.

I don't need mirror like polish on my brass, just want them clean with a light polish. I have found that mirror like polish on brass don't shrink my shot group size.

For mixed indoor range brass, it takes 15-20 minutes with fine grit walnut media with NuFinish polish. If I want more polish, I will tumble for 30 minutes. For outdoor range brass or brass that has darkened, I will tumble for about an hour.

If I want mirror polish, I will tumble in corn cob media with brass polish/NuFinish until brass attains mirror polish (1-3+ hours).

Of course, depending on how new your brass may be (once fired vs old and tarnished), YMMV.

I use ground corn cob for most of my brass with the polishing compound sold by Midway. I do use ground walnut for 25-20, & 32 cal brass. I polish for 10 to 20 minutes - enough to get rid of the powder fouling. I do not require bright shiny brass to shoot ca. 10,000 rounds per year.

Using a Thumler's Tumbler I tumble 12-36 hours depending on how grungy it is. What can I say, I like clean brass. The Thumler's uses minimal power and is very quiet.

Sometimes I forget it is on and run it for 3 or 4 or 5 days

I don't know how old this Thumler's of mine is, but it's seriously ancient!
And it sounds like a concrete mixer load of gravel when it's running.