Brass polishing...I am confused

[KeithK]

I am looking for a routine to follow for polishing my loaded rounds, I tumbled some just finished 223 rounds tonight and I tumbled them in my rotary tumbler in corn cob with a capful of nu finish. My question is how often to add the capful, every new load of brass which I did today, or another timeframe. If I put a capful in the media every new load of brass will it eventually have too much polish or does it come out with the brass.

I believe I will eventually have to replace the media and start again but was wondering if anyone has any insight when and what to look for. Or am I wrong and there is no need to add this much polish. I wet tumble brass before working it, and I want to put the loaded rounds away with some protection on them. My hands sweat a lot and I hate wearing rubber doctor gloves, but I can stand it for 5 minutes to take the polished rounds from the sifter to the ammo box.

Appreciate any thoughts or insight,

 

[Rodfac]

I have used Lizard Litter from Pet's Mart, with a cap full of NU 2000 car polish for years with good results.

Same for me. Rod

 

[westernrover]

People are getting the polishing media mixed up with the auto polish. Two different things; two different jobs. ....

Right. Mothers Aluminum and Mag polish is an abrasive metal polish that contains aluminum oxide (the abrasive). It is similar to Simichrome, Flitz, Iosso, etc. They will either be aluminum oxide or silicon carbide.

The auto 'wax' polishes will either be a natural wax or a synthetic polymer protectant. This is what Nu Finish, Meguiars, Turtle Wax (the car 'wax' products anyway) will be. They are non-abrasive and they function to protect and shine. The product I currently favor is Griot's Garage 3-in-1 Ceramic Wax -- it's a hybrid polymer/ceramic protectant. I found that it truly lasts 3 or 4 months on my vehicles, most of which are parked outside, whereas previous favorite Meguiars Ultimate Wax would last a 5 or 6 weeks, and a legacy polymer product like Nu Finish would last perhaps 2 weeks. I never tried to measure how long they last on brass since my brass is either stored in protected conditions or fired and cleaned again too soon to know or care.

As for the abrasives, I don't use them for brass. I use SS pins. I prefer Simichrome as a metal polish for other jobs unless it's something more delicate for which I might use Flitz. I might use Mother's in lieu of Simichrome if I needed to polish some Alcoa wheels on a big rig -- no way I'm using that much Simichrome.

 

[tjmga]

Just a question from someone that doesn't use anything but media in my tumbler to clean/polish brass. I thought it was important that the brass sticks to the chamber walls a little during firing. Ackely seemed to think so. Why would I want to leave polish on the walls of my brass?

 

[Mk-211]

There's not enough polish to cause issues with the firing process of ammunition.

Think of how thin of a layer is left on your car when you polish it. There's even less on your brass.

It also helps to keep your brass from tarnishing over time if in storage.