Media

[bigcim]

*I don't think I like the cob media I bought. I ran it for a whole day and my 45 acp brass still has black smudges inside and out. I haven't tried the nu finish and dryer sheets yet but do plan to. I think Ill scrap the cob and try the walnut shells instead.

*How do you know when to discard the media?

*Do you guys tumble with the primers in, deprime then tumble again?

 

[scrat]

primers in primers out doesnt matter. As for the media. it really depends on how you treat it. If this was your first time then it should be good. Same time it depends on where you got the media.

Example.
Corn cob media from petco. (just regular media nothing else)

Lyman corn com media. (special blend of media and cleaners and polish)


Regular media. will do nothing if not treated.

Treated media will do a lot. Then it really depends on how black your cases are. Same time if you have some with Stain looking marks. Your not going to get that clean thats in the brass.


If you have regular media you need to treat it. With mineral spirits, polish, like nu finish or brasso. something other than just plain media. use the search feature in this thread. There are a bunch of media formulas. Best advice. Us used dryer sheets, baby wipes or paper towel during tumbling. This will remove a lot of the dirt and harmfull contaminants from yo9ur media

 

[bigcim]

So your not suppose to use media by it self. Its needs some kind of treatment, makes sense

 

[Sunray]

"...use media by itself..." That's how I've been tumbling brass for 30 years or so. Brass needs to be clean. Not shiny.
If you tumble after depriming, be sure to check the pockets for stuck media.

 

[ReloaderFred]

For shiny brass, you need to add polish, but don't use Brasso, as it has ammonia in it. Ammonia makes brass brittle and ruins it for reloading. You can get polish from Midway, Berry's, Lyman, Dillon, or several other sources.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Idano]

bigcim,

Plain corn cob will clean your cases, it just takes longer. I prefer a 50/50 mix with corn cob/walnut. I treat my media with Nu Finish at least a day before I tumble and I add a used dryer sheet cut into 8 pieces. By brass comes out clean and shinny inside and out in 2 hours. To me shinny is the highest grade of clean.

 

[HeedJSU]

I second Idano, but without letting the nu-finish dry first. (I'm less patient) untreated media will clean brass; don't worry about that, treated media just works slightly better. It also depends on your brass. My old "ill repute" (I think is how it was referred to) brass range pickups have taken me tumbling overnight and longer to get clean (like Idano said, shiny inside and out) MY once fired (winchester whitebox from wallyworld) came out clean in two hours. It mostly depends on the shape of your brass.

Justin

 

[mek42]

I tumble all cases for at least two hours with primers in for initial cleaning. Bottlenecked cases get about a half hour of tumbling after resizing / decapping to remove the lubricant (this is in fact why I bought my tumbler - case lube removal - initial cleaning is an added benefit ). The paper towel strips do work great. I haven't experimented with additives yet - so far I'm looking to clean the cases primarily to prevent damage to my dies.

Good luck!

 

[Walkalong]

Stained cases that have been laying out on the ground for a long time are hard to get "shiny", but they will shoot fine.

 

[Matt Dillon]

I tumble in corncob before depriming and in walnut shells after depriming, which helps to clean out the primer pockets.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Don't worry about the inside of the case. What it takes to clean the inside of the case to new shinny condition may also damage the brass or take too long and be labor intensive...

 

[357mag357]

I bought some plain corn cob media from a pet store. I ran it for a few hours and it did not work as good as the Lyman CornCob. What should I add to the plain corn cob to increase its cleaning ability? Thanks.

 

[USSR]

Walnut shell for cleaning, corncob for polishing. If you have stained cases, spray them and the walnut shell media with non-ammonia Glass Plus glass cleaner.

Don

 

[HeedJSU]

357mag, a lot of people on here use nu-finish. (capful or so in a tumbler full of media) lyman also sells some media recharger (or something along those lines)

experiment and find out what works best for you.

Justin

 

[357mag357]

Hello USSR,
I always thought corncob was for cleaning a walnut was for polishing?

 

[357mag357]

A cap full of Nu-finish to the Corncob or to the walnut?

 

[RustyFN]

I use walnut from the pet store. I add 1/2 cap full of Nu Finish car polish and a cut up used dryer sheet. In two hours they look like new on the outside. I like my cases to look new because it is easier for me to find them in the gravel at the outdoor range.
Rusty

 

[Zippy06]

I have been using corn cob, polish(capful every so often), and a handful of walnut. Wow.
The walnut really helps. I switched to Titegroup. It leaves a burn mark. About 1/3 of the case.
The dryer sheets, made the last batch, last about 2x as long.
The polish is nice with the carbide dies.

Rusty.
Good point.

 

[stevekl]

I am using Lyman's media, I think it's called "corncob green", or something like that.

Does this have polishing additives in it already, or do I need to add something to it?

 

[ReloaderFred]

The Lyman green media is already treated, but will eventually need to be recharged. They sell their Turbo Charger for that. It cleans fast, and will take off a lot of stains, but it doesn't polish as bright as some of the others.

Hope this helps.

Fred