Oats is good for ammo too!

[telewinz]

I've been reloading for over 25 years now and as most people do when I started I wanted the brass to shine like new. I got a tumbler which worked OK and then after time resorted to the "chemical treatment" since it was faster and less trouble. For about the last 20 years I haven't polished my brass at all and seldom bothered to clean it. My carbine brass needless to say looks like it came from a vomit machine rather than a reloading press so for the heck of it I pulled out my rusty old tumbler. A little oil and wiping off and it still worked! I used to use corn cobb media but none was on hand but I did have some "Quick Oats" (I hate the stuff) in the cub board. In the tumbler went the quick oats and 200 rounds of vomit carbine ammo. Forty-five minutes later (expecting nothing) I opened the tumbler up and WOW! Brass was all cleaned-up and 90% polished! Now I know something useful to do with oats other than horse feed. Its cheap and good for you too Mom was right! Hmmm I wonder what creamed wheat woud do?

 

[Blackhawk]

Almost anything like that should work, but nut shells might work even better since they don't have oil in them.

We used to spray walnet shells in the intakes of running aircraft engines to clean the turbine blades.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I believe it was Dr. Johnson who referred to oats as fodder for English horses and food for Scottish people.

I happen to like oats, but won't take offense.

I've heard rice works well in tumblers. As soon as I exhaust my current supplies of tumbling compound and polish, I'll give rice a try.

 

[pax]

Rice works really, really well and leaves a mildly slick coating on the brass too.

pax

Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three categories-- those that don't work, those that break down, and those that get lost. -- Russell Baker

 

[telewinz]

I've went back to rice. The oaks did well but you have to dust off each cartridge because the powder gets into everything. The rice burnishes the brass but you don't get that mirror shine. I get at least 3000 rounds out of a load of 3 lbs of rice. I apply a little auto polish to the rice to give the cases a lite protective coating. No matter how tarnished it take no more than an hour.
Maybe I'll try cornflakes next.

 

[BigG]

The Joy of Reloading. by Betty Crocker.