Teach me how to tumble!

[Crawlin]

I have all the requirements to tumble except one. How to?

I have the tumbler, walnut, brass, polish but I don't know how to put it all togeather. How much walnut do I put in? Should I put in about 500 rounds of .40S&W and then fill the rest up with walnut?

My main question is what is the media to number of cases/case size ratio? As far as the components, I know what I am going to use, Walnut with a cap full of Nu-finish.

FYI, Just picked up a Frankford Arsenal tumbler.

 

[Sheldon]

No real right or wrong way to do it. I like about a thrid to half fill of media and then a crap load of brass. I like to do full loads of tumbling as the weight of the cases do a lot of the work in the tumbling.

 

[Car Knocker]

Not too much, not too little, you want it just right.

You should be able to watch the brass surface at the outside of the bowl, travel at the surface (but still partially embedded in the medium) and submerge at the inside surface of the bowl. It will probably take more of the walnut than you think because it needs to fill the inside of the cases as well (although it doesn't do much cleaning on the inside). I would suggest dumping in the cases, adding walnut, turn on tumbler and watch the action. Add walnut as needed for good action.

 

[RustyFN]

I fill 2/3 full with walnut. I add 400 9mm cases. I will turn it on with the lid off. Once it starts to mix I pour all the way around two cap full of Nu Finish car polish then put the lid on. I will let it run for two hours and take it out. My tumbler directions said not to go over five pounds so I guesstimated 400 cases.

 

[Sunray]

The manual that came with your tumbler should tell you how many cases at a time.

 

[Arkie]

Yep do as Medula Oblongata says like this,,, Craaaack


ohhhhhhhh,,, that's not good.

 

[mc223]

I'll just apologize up front.
Kinda scares me to think that you may own a gun.
Everyone was new at some point, so I'll just apologize again.

 

[Crawlin]

mc223,

Hrmm, I guess owning a gun, shooting IDPA/IPSC, taking many classes, being a competent shooter and knowing how much media to put in a tumbler are related some how...
With powder you start 10% less than what the manual said. I didn't know if you do something like this with tumbling media as well. I would perfer to ask a stuipid question to to break a $40 tumber, screw up the media, and/or mess up a few hundred cases.

Seeing as you think I am new, and you add no value to the thread for helping out a "new guy" it scares me that you would go to a range and shoot with new shooters around without taking the time to help them if they were to ask for it (as I did). Instead you would prefer to insult them and laugh at them. Thank you for your contribution to the thread...

But again, I don't know anything about you so I apologize. (Makes it all better huh?)

 

[clown714]

easy,gentlemen.

I'll fill the tumbler about 1\2 full w\ media.turn on.

add brass.then alittle media,alittle brass etc.

as long as everything is moving at a good pace,and you see brass from time to time,you're good to go.

clown

 

[Porky6331]

The forum is like many text books. Some are so old that the information is out dated. Some stay up to date and have the correct information. I get good answers on this forum and some make no sense. When in doubt check it out. This is why I stay with name brands. Can always call the dealer.

 

[Jet22]

I am suprised to see that nobody has pointed out how dangerous tumbling can be. The dust tumbling produces is very high in lead. It is far more dangerous than casting bullets. Read Richard Lee's book. Tumbling put their lead sniffer off the chart! Do it in your garage or outside shed.

 

[Crawlin]

I am suprised to see that nobody has pointed out how dangerous tumbling can be. The dust tumbling produces is very high in lead. It is far more dangerous than casting bullets. Read Richard Lee's book. Tumbling put their lead sniffer off the chart! Do it in your garage or outside shed.

I moved it to my garage, mainly because of the sound. Thanks, this is the kind of info I was looking for. What not to do when tumbling.

 

[RustyFN]

Crawlin a lot of good info here. I'll have to check mine to see how well the cases are moving and if I have to adjust my amount of walnut. Don't worry you are always going to have a certain amount of sexual intellectuals, I have learned to ignore them. Good luck with your reloading.
Rusty

 

[Brian Williams]

I use corn cob instead of walnut, and it can be gotten from a pet store.

 

[RustyFN]

Brian, what is the main difference between the corn cob and walnut? I heard the walnut is faster but the corn cob comes out more shiny. Why do you prefer one over the other?
Rusty

 

[justin_ws]

My friend and I reload with about 2/3 of the tumbler full of corn cob (it's about $3.50 for a huge bag at Wal*Mart), put a few healthy squeezes worth of Frankford Arsenal Brass Polish in there, tumble it for a few minutes to mix it in, and dump the brass in. I can do about 200 pieces of .357 magnum at a time, and in 2 or 2 and a half hours it's fresh and clean. The outside, anyway - the case is too thin to really get the insides clean at all.

Oh, and definitely invest in some sort of sifter - it's a royal pain in the arse to hand pick the cases out of the media, especially when you know you only have a couple shells left in there!

 

[bcurry]

Crawlin,
For additional discussion on tumbler media choices and whether to deprime before cleaning, you may want to check out this link. http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=149368 I get plenty of useful information from both THR and 1911Forum.

Happy shooting!
Bruce

 

[nvshooter]

Corn cob vs. walnut media

Corn cob is soft and will polish the cases as it cleans them, but I should think it takes more time than walnut. Walnut is coarse and gritty. It really gets in there and scrubs the grime off the cases but in my opinion, it doesn't put on so nice a polish. It tends to leave them with kind of a matte finish-- at least mine does, which is criminally dirty...

 

[cabowabo]

WOW That Expains it

I was wondering why I started sneezing my head off when curiousity caused me to open the lid to the tumbler while it was running:banghead:

I started wearing those little cotton masks while dealing with the media rather the tumbler is running or not. I gots some wicked alergies

Guess I should'nt own a firearm or operate heavy machinery either

 

[v65magnafan]

Dryer Sheets

Slice a used clothes dryer sheet into quarters or fifths and add the slices to your tumbler.

At the end of the tumbling, the sheets come out filthy and your brass comes out clean.

Also, since any static is eliminated, the brass comes out dust free and the media drop out of the cases easily.

With Nu Polish, the brass shines brilliantly, but this shine is under a haze that I have to buff off.

With dryer sheets, the brass is shiny with no hazing.

 

[dragongoddess]

So to summerize

1. run tumbler outside
2. use dryer sheets
3. have a sifter to remove brass form media
4. selection of media is a personal choice


Question
Can you use both medias at the same time

 

[Ben Shepherd]

The used dryer sheet thing works well. I cut mine into 1" squres though.

You could use both mediums in a combo I guess, just never have.

How I do it:
All my range load/plinking load brass gets dumped in a bucket when I get home. When the bucket gets full I run all the brass through a walnut medium session for an hour or so, maybe longer. Whatever it takes to get it fairly clean. Then I seperate it into caliber specific containers.

When I'm getting ready to load a buch of range ammo, say 357, I dump a bunch of the 357 brass into a corn cob medium for an hour for a final clean/polish before loading. Then the 'ol 650 gets busy.

 

[highlander 5]

tumbling brass

Walnut is for cleaning if you load rifle brass walnut is very good at getting case lube off. Corn cob is for polishing it will make your brass shine like a new penny.
I have a vibratory tumbler what I do is dump in my brass then fill the tumbler with media run for 2-3 hrs and your done.
Midway has a sifter and bucket combo don't remember how much but it works well

 

[toecutter]

Tumbling; really easy

Tumbling is really simple... take your tumbler, fill it with media. (maybe half way or so). Turn the tumbler on, add about a table spoon of the polishing compound. Let it run for another minute or two (the clumps will disappear). Then start adding brass. Keep adding brass until the tumbling speed slows down. Add about another cup of media close the top, and let it run.

For vibratory tumblers, when you overload them they slow down and become less effective. Generally, this is what happens regardless of the tumbler type.

 

[Bottom Gun]

A wire basket from a deep fryer held over a bucket or tub works great for separating brass from media. Just dump your tumbler into the basket and agitate it over a bucket or tub. It will separate the brass in seconds.

You can pick up a wire basket at flea markets, Goodwill, etc for almost nothing.

I use a Rubbermaid tub which allows me to store the tumbler and basket inside it when not in use.