Tumbler Media additives

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I just recently read about adding Hoppe's to walnut or corncob media to scrub rust off of reloading dies, but what about brass?

Will it help clean off the hard carbon in the primer pocket, and inside the case?

Will it weaken the brass?

The latter question is more important to me, as I can scrub off the hard carbon in the primer pocket if I have to, but since I am lazy, I want to know if it will hurt the brass to add Hoppe's and subtract labor.
 
Hoppes has ammonia in it to clean copper fouling.
Brass is copper and zinc.
Hoppes may weaken brass by attacking the copper in it.
residual carbon in primer pockets has never been a problem, in my experience.
 
All I add is a little NU Finish car polish. I have read on here that many use mineral spirits....


I dont know of much that will clean the primer pockets in the tumbler. My ultra sonic does ok when I run it through there. I usually put a Lee pocket cleaner in my drill and it makes short work of the primer pockets. I think they cost about 5 bucks if that.
 
Sooo.... if I put a solvent in it that doesn't take out copper fouling, it should be okay, right?
Does anyone know of a solvent that doesn't take out copper, but takes out carbon?

It isn't the cost, it is the time; reloading a zillion pistol cases, it is going to take me a long time, just to clean the primer pocket. I don't mind much when I am doing rifles, but...
 
corn cob or walnut in a vibratory tumbler would never clean my primer pockets. ultrasonic cleaning in all sorts of solutions would get them almost totally clean, but not completely. only way i've found is wet tumbling with stainless pins in a rotary tumbler.

but i admit that clean primer pockets aren't necessary for the vast majority of shooting applications, especially handgun ammo.
 
Sooo.... if I put a solvent in it that doesn't take out copper fouling, it should be okay, right?
Does anyone know of a solvent that doesn't take out copper, but takes out carbon?
Click to expand...

i have used a lot of things (mineral spirits, simichrome, frankford arsenal polish, jewelers rouge, nu-finish car wax, and several more) in my tumbler, but i have never found anything that will dissolve carbon. i use the RCBS wire brush primer pocket cleaners for that. they work extremely well, and only take a couple of quick back and fourth twists to accomplish clean pockets. if you want brand new looking brass, i think the only way possible is the stainless steel pins or an ultra-sonic cleaner. both are to expensive for my wallet.
 
I've used Flitz, Lyman turbo brite and currently Nu-Finish. Stay away from anything with ammonia in it! Ammonia cleans brass great but weakens it.

I'm finding out more and more that MY labor is cheap! Cleaning primer pockest by hand allows me to inspect every case for problems. As I have just started to load for long range precision, I am learning that there are NO SHORTCUTS! The extra 10-15 minutes it takes to use a primer pocket cleaner doesn't ammount to much lost time compared to the possibility of screwing up a tumbler load of brass or a piece of equipment! On the other hand if all you're doing is cranking out 9mm range loads on a progressive, you don't need to scrub the primer pocket in the first place!
 
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I tried the jewelers rouge with fine crushed walnut and an eighth cup of mineral spirits and the cases were not just a sparkling gold color, but the primer pockets were completely clean after about two hours. The cases were very filthy range brass though and they received an initial cleaning in birchwood casey's brass case cleaner and although it wont clean the primer pockets it may have had something to do with the mineral spirits and walnut getting them clean.
 
I use Nu-Finish and walnut media. Never worried about clean primer pockets as I don't deprime until I'm reloading in my 550B.
 
I add NuFinish and Mineral Spirits. The latter helps keep the dust down a lot. Primer pockets are never clean. That's what my UltraSonic is for. And even then they only have it done once after sizing and chamfering. After that it's just normal trips in the tumbler and I don't care about the pockets.


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Too much Nu Finish added to the Walnut will make the brass dirtier, not cleaner. The Nu Finish can still like glue to Walnut or brass.

Be cheap with the Nu finish, and let it vibrate for a while before adding the brass.

Get it stuck to the Walnut before the brass is added.

I put in strips of paper towel. The paper towel comes out dirty, and the Walnut and brass come out clean.
 
Okay, since I don't have the money for an ultrasonic cleaner, I guess that I will just use a wire brush on my long range rifle stuff, and just not worry about the handgun stuff...

Where do you get finer crushed walnut? And where do I get NuFinish car polish? Is it just a Wal Mart thing?
 
there's a user on here who posts a link to a 40 lb bag of walnut shell that's finer than the usual stuff and won't get caught in flash holes if you tumble after depriming. i think it's jcwit. apparently it's affordable and delivered to your door. i'll search and see if i can find it.

nu-finish can be found at wal-mart and most any auto parts place.

i think this is it: http://www.drillspot.com/products/521055/econoline_526040g-40_40_lbs_blast_media
 
The nu finish is in an orange bottle so it's pretty easy to locate on the shelf. It works pretty good, but nothing like the jewelers rouge and mineral spirits. The nufinish does leave a protective coating though.
 
Mauser lover,
I just took a drill bit that was one size smaller than the primer pocket and touched the end on a grinder to flatten the angle off the tip.

It will clean out a primer pocket very easily and because it is a little smaller than the primer pocket it doesn't enlarge it any and being ground flat it won't try to cut the brass as long as you also touch the edges on a grinder also.

I just spin the drill bit in my fingers to clean a primer pocket. With all the gadgets out there this is all I have ever used since 1970 for primer pockets.

Just a thought
 
Just a drizzle of Nu Finish with drillspot 20/40 corn cob does the trick.
(see link in post #15)
For my subsequent batches I add a used dryer sheet.
The dryer sheet comes out dirty, so I guess it leaves the media just a bit cleaner.
 
I do not get into mortal combat with reloading, I use corn media and nothing, when ‘BLING’ is required I use a case spinner. Anxiety? When anxiety starts to set in I can spin 20 cases is less time than is required to tumble.

Media in the flash hole? I check every case, I also have a flash hole diameter gage, like everything else, measure before and again after.

F. Guffey
 
If I am just going to do that, a screwdriver bit that I grind down will work just as well... Or if I get a small enough one, I won't even have to grind it.
 
I use lemon shine disolved in warm water.let the brass
soak for 30 to 60 minutes sturing occasionally. You can
get it at wally world in the dishwasher cleaner section.
Then I tumble in corncob . If the primer pockets are still
dirty I use my primer pocket cleaner .
 
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