another tumbler media question

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gpwelding1

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when i got my tumbler it came with 1 lb of corn cob media.
which is better for handgun brass,corn cob media or crushed walnut?
and does switching from handgun to rifle brass require going to a diffrent media?
 
Brass is brass, you don't need to change the media for rifle or handgun.

Crushed walnut shells will clean faster than ground corn cob, but corn cob will polish better than walnut. Take your pick.
 
What I have found is that if the brass is really dirty I will use walnuts to clean it. The finish will be a bit duller. Then I will put them in the corn cob, when they come out they will have a bright shine on them.
 
the first batch i cleaned was 9mm.they were fairly clean to begin with and came out nice.i just tumbled a batch of .243 win that was realy dirty.they didnt come out quite as good.i'll order some crushed walnut today.
thanks for the help.
 
No need to order some, just hit your local pet supply place. They sell crushed english walnut as lizard bedding.
 
Brass is brass, you don't need to change the media for rifle or handgun.
I guess you haven't yet tried to dig corn cob out of small bottle neck cases.

Use walnut for rifle rounds, especially smaller calibers like 223.

Had a couple of used dryer anti-static sheets to the mix - they absorb significant crap and dust as well as extending the life of the media.

If you use mineral spirits, let it mix into the media for a few minutes before adding brass - otherwise it'll just make a lump and stick into a couple of cases, doing none of them any good at all.
/Bryan
 
I guess you haven't yet tried to dig corn cob out of small bottle neck cases.

Use walnut for rifle rounds, especially smaller calibers like 223.

Had a couple of used dryer anti-static sheets to the mix - they absorb significant crap and dust as well as extending the life of the media.

If you use mineral spirits, let it mix into the media for a few minutes before adding brass - otherwise it'll just make a lump and stick into a couple of cases, doing none of them any good at all.

If you use the correct grit of corn cob media there is no worry about "digging media" out of flash holes or primer pockets either. The corn cob media I use flows like sand and will not clog in rifle brass or flash holes or primer pockets or anything.

Check out this site, less than $27.00 and free right to your door
http://www.drillspot.com/products/521055/econoline_526040g-40_40_lbs_blast_media

Hope this helps someone out there.
 
One more time for this tip. Use a teaspoon or 1 1/2 teaspoons of liquid auto polish/wax, many folks recommend Nu-Finish, which works very well, but any liquid auto polish will work just fine. Actually so will the paste cleaner polish/waxes but they have to be broken up and the tumbler run till they are intirelly broken down.

One plus to the above is the polishes/waxes put a coating on the brass retarding tarnish whereas just a polishing compound does not.

This only needs to be done every 5 to 10 tumblers. This is a case where less is more. To much just clogs up the surface of the media.
 
+2 for the corn cob stuff from drillspot. Use Nu-Finish half-cap (not cup) and let it mix in for 10 min before adding brass.
 
after i do the nu finish ,is there any other prep i need to do tothe brass before loading it?
For handguns, generally no, if you're using carbide sizing dies. Bottlenecked rifle cases will need to be measured, trimmed/chamfered if necessary, and lubricated for sizing. Crimped military primer pockets will also need to be reamed/swaged after depriming. Primer pockets may need to be cleaned/uniformed and depending on how anal you are, you may want to uniform flash holes.

FYI I use both walnut and corn cob media, and nu-finish. Both have worked well. Walnut seems to take less time on grungy cases, but as has been noted, corncob polishes better (takes longer though).

I've mixed them also with good results. Just make sure you don't overload the tumbler with brass so it can't move around. start the tumbler with media in it, then add brass handfuls at a time until you see the movement start to slow down. don't add any more than that IMO.
 
re dust, dryer sheets, etc.: I'll probably catch flack, but I don't have noticeable dust in my tumbler media.

Worthwhile or not, I bring brass home from the range and throw it into a 2 gal bucket and blast it with the garden hose with the nozzle on the stun setting until all the dirt, small rock and grunge is washed away. I then put the brass in a coffee container with liquid laundry soap and some white vinegar for 15-20 mins. I dump my cleaning solution out into another coffee container for multiple re-uses. I blast the cases with the hose again again to rinse and then dump them out to dry. They are mostly shiny inside and out and are fully reloadable at this point. All this is done "outside" in the back yard.

I then tumble with corncob and Nu-Finish and store in the garage for later reloading. I have tried mixing in walnut, but saw no decrease in tumbling time.

It's may seem like a lot of extra work, but it takes very little time to pre-clean 500 pieces of 9mm brass with this method.

There is insignificantly little dust generated by the tumbler. The brass is very clean and shiny. The media lasts a loooong time.

I'm retired, have the few spare minutes needed and like the benefits of this method. YMMV
 
Maybe I'm alone here, but after I tumble it I always get dust in the cases even if I use dryer sheets or torn up paper towel pieces. So when I'm done tumbling, I take the cases and blow them off inside and out with compressed air just to get the dust off. Then I prime them, check them for signs of cracks, or wear, and load them.
 
Hope you're using that compressed air outside wearing a mask approved for lead. That dust is loaded with lead compounds from the priming, even if you deprime first.

If you're getting that much dust change your media and do not use so much compound, or you can try adding some mineral spirts.

If you only have a small amount of dust, don't worry about cleaning cases further, just begine reloading, be sure to wash up after.
 
+3 or 5 or whatever on drillspot!

A 40 lb bag will last a looooong time.

Canuck-IL- I never even thought of .223 case necks getting clogged.
The media I got from drillspot is so fine that even with polish they don't clog.
 
i saw this in 1SOW's post ,
i have tried mixing in walnut
.
i didnt know you could mix media.that probably sounds dumb,but it never occured to me.
is there a specific walnut to corn cob ratio when mixing media?
 
OK - I'll allow that there exists corn cob that won't plug a 223 ... I've not had the issue in a while as I switched to wet tumbling with SS media.

When I was using dry media, I still preferred walnut as all I cared about was clean enough to spare my dies any abuse - - never really worried about shine.
/B
 
I've only tumbled a couple hundred cases so far, but Zilla lizard bedding (crushed english walnut) was a good tip I picked up somewhere. Less than $7 for a bag at my local pet store.
 
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