Tumbler media recipes.

[Sam Adams]

I've read of some reloaders, mixing corn cob & walnut media 50/50 and then adding a cap of Nu Finish car polish, some cut up dryer sheets and a cup if dry rice.

I mix about 2/3 walnut (which does the cleaning) with 1/3 corn (which polishes). Doing two separate loads is not a good use of my time - I'd rather run the machine a bit longer if needed (and I don't think it is).

Nu Finish - about 1 tablespoon drizzled around the media, run for 5 minutes and then dump in the brass. I do this every 4 or 5 loads, and it makes the brass look a lot better.

Dryer sheets - yup. I don't cut them up, I tear them into 4 strips.

Rice - no. It might work well, but I KNOW that the little things will get stuck in the flash holes.

BTW, either wear gloves, or wash hands immediately after reloading - NO exceptions. There's usually lead in the primers, and that residue contains a bunch.

 

[depoloni]

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...h/search-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

Hell of a link lol... but THAT's the "dry ceramic" i was talking about that my old man uses. KNEW I wasn't crazy.

 

[Samgotit]

I wonder how ball ceramic would work?

http://store.b2bprofessionaltools.com/47801704780160-jpg.html

Too hard on the brass?

@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@

Edit: this is apparently a Lyman product:
http://www.raytech-ind.com/

I can't link it directly, so click Finishing Equipment and Accessories >>> Media/Additives

If you scroll down, there are polishing agents available for brass. Don't know how this would work, but if cuts the time and polishes primer pockets, I give it a go (especially for those weather beaten Lake City mil surp cases).

 

[kelbro]

Wow... I use Lyman Tuf-nut (I think that's it, it's been so long that I forgot) and no additives. It has been in the tumbler for 3 or 4 yrs and still gets my brass shiny. At least 10K rounds through there. I have run a couple of dryer sheets to clean out the dust.

Either you guys have much higher 'shiny' standards than me or you are making this way more complicated (and expensive) than it should be.

 

[rondog]

Where's Otto at? Come on, you showed us the photos, give us the DETAILS!!!!

 

[rondog]

I use ceramic media with a wet solution in a rotary tumbler.
The photos speak for themselves.

I'm still waiting to hear the details about this.....anybody know?

I don't understand why it's such a big secret.

 

[ocharry]

hey otto,,i been using that stuff for a few years now,,,it does work great,,,i started using it for my BPCG cases,,it's all i have now

i have told about it on several occasions and no one seem to notice,,,and then you show them a picture,,,,,lol

one thing you guys should know about it is there are two sizes,,,one is for bottle neck cases and one is for straight wall cases( this one will get stuck inside a bottle neck case )

cabela's sell both size kits that come with a soap that goes in with the brass and water,,it has a defoaming agent,,but simple green works good to and it is way cheaper

my .02

ocharry

 

[rondog]

OK, now we're getting somewhere....is this it? Are you saying the 3mm stuff is better, or the other stuff? http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&parentType=index&indexId=cat20853&hasJS=true

And will this work in a regular vibrating-type tumbler, or do you have to have a rotating drum thingy?

 

[doc busha]

Hey Otto;
That stuff looks great!!!
which is before and which is after??

 

[dmproske]

Going to tumble my 1st load of brass today. How full do I fill the tumbler bowel with media?

 

[ocharry]

rondog that is the stuff,,,i can't say anything about the 3mm stuff because i have the 1/8x11/32......and i know it will get clogged up in bottle neck cases,,a friend tried some 06,,it was ugly

all the stuff i use it for are straight wall cases,,,,357,,40sw,,41,,44,,45acp,,38/55,,444,,45/70,,45/90

so you see i can't say,,but the 3mm stuff came out after the other and i am sure that was the reason for it,,to use in bottle neck cases

i have a thumlers tumbler modle b,,,i have the barrel,,tub,, about 2/3 full of the media(not all of the bucket)

i fill the water level about 3/4" above the media,,,put in 100 45/70 cases and in about an hour it's time to take them out

this stuff is used wet so make sure you use it in a tumbler desighed for wet stuff,,,not sure about the vibrator style case cleaners

all i can say is i don't think i well ever use any of the other stuff again

hope this helps

ocharry

 

[rondog]

Yes, ocharry, thank you! Helps a bunch! I don't have one of those rotary tumblers, and don't really want to buy yet another item....not yet anyway. Unless I stumble across a good deal on a used one.....

How's about some photos of some of your polished brass? Just to make us all jealous, ya know.

 

[John_galt]

OK, nothing personal you guys. I was soaking up your ideas until I seen Otto's pics. I want to do it his way. The inside of my brass never looks that good, I'm not sure the once fired factory new stuff I reload (after I shot it the first time) looked that good.

 

[jjohnson]

Corn Cob, Drier Sheet, Frankford Arsenal Polish

Yep, nothing extraordinary here.

I buy the corn cob media from Grainger's, put in a capful of FA polish I buy from Midway, toss in a used drier sheet. Now and then I put in a little polishing rouge I get from www.powdervalleyinc.com, but I'm wondering whether most of that gets picked up by the drier sheet before it does anything for me. I get pretty good results. Since media is cheap and I can see that it loses its cleaning power fairly quickly with really dirty brass, I usually replace it after maybe 100 hours. It goes into a bucket I keep to spread on my driveway when there's ice.

I haven't started using Nu-whatever it is, but I've tried using Brasso (didn't like it) and Turtle Wax (not enough to have a real opinion).

I'm open to new ideas, so I'll watch this thread with interest. I don't care if my brass is perfectly beautiful, but since I load a lot for autos, I do like it clean enough that I can't blame any malfunctions on dirty brass.

I don't use any soaking solutions. I tried 'em before and wasn't impressed, and it was more time and hassle than what it's worth. I'd think differently, maybe, if I were loading high precision centerfire rifle, but most of my reloads are for handgun, so I load with "quantity" in mind.

I did lose a bunch of Hornet brass in the wife's dishwasher once , just testing to see how clean they'd get. I put them in a colander, not knowing that the water jets would be powerful enough to blow them out of the basket and into the drain. If you try this, make sure you put 'em in a mesh bag or something, and rinse the washer empty to get rid of any lead contaminants

 

[jjohnson]

Where's Otto?

Yeah, I looked at the pics Otto posted and I, too, am impressed.

Come on, Otto - please do post details - weblinks and all that - I know there are several of us who'd want to give a whirl on your method. I'm open to new ideas and yours looks like it has merit.

Please?

 

[Samgotit]

I'm dying for a product like Otto's. That filthy, dirty, once-fired lake city stuff takes eons to polish. I posted this up a ways, but I have found it for a bit cheaper. Does anyone have an opinion on how this might work:

1mm Microbrite Porcelain Balls by Raytech (which is a Lyman company I believe). 3rd product down:

http://www.arrowheadlapidarysupply.com/items.asp?id=151

I contemplating trying it with the Tumble Soap, listed at the end of the page.