Stainless media with walnut/corn instead of water?

[Shmackey]

I'm tempted to try this, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask how dumb an idea it is. Might it work to replace the water in the usual stainless-media cleaning routine with dry media like corncob or walnut? Perhaps the dry media would hold on to the crap dislodged by the steel, playing the role of the water.

I don't have a convenient water source near my reloading bench, and I don't want to have to dry my cases. I wouldn't mind having cleaner primer pockets, though.

If it sounds like a totally absurd idea to replace the water with dry media, consider it augmenting the dry media with stainless.

 

[rondog]

I've never tried the SS media, yet, but my understanding was that the LemiShine is a big part of the success of the process. I'd just use it wet if it were me.

 

[GLOOB]

Can't help you on that one. But drying cases isn't really that bad. I hated the idea, myself. But I didn't find any other reasonable way to remove the case lube.

I read of how easy it is by simply spreading the cases over a cookie sheet and baking them in the oven. Leaving in the sun for a few hours. Or even putting individual cases on a rack to dry. Sounded pretty horrible. But it doesn't have to be that bad.

What I do is drain the water. Shake around real well in a colander to rid the excess water. Then immediately put in the tumbler with clean corn cob. (I usually have to add a fair bit of water to my media each time I run it, anyway.) Doesn't take long to dry them out, and they come out highly polished, rather than spotted with water stains.

The lemishine can also turn the brass pink if you use too much. Leaches the zinc, or something. A quick tumble will restore the color, and a bit of nufinish with keep the cases shiny. And the wax will also reduce friction in the flaring die when sizing pistol cases. So a tumble in dry media isn't necessarily a bad idea, anyways. Of course, if you could combine the two, maybe that would be even better. Try it and see?

 

[GIJOEL]

if you rinse brass or anthing metal for that matter under really hot water untill the brass gets hot the water evaporates much more quickly.

 

[ranger335v]

It might work but not as good as in a liquid bath. The liquid/soapy bath softens the carbod deposits so the metal pins can rub them off, done dry it will take MUCH longer.