Tumbling time.

[Hornsmith Brad]

How long do I need to tumble my spent .44 mag. brass before they get shiney and clean? I'm reloading with winchester 296 powder and it seems to really tarnish the cases! I've tumbled them for up to two hours already with new walnut media WITH polish solution mixed in and after two hours they hardly look like they were even tumbled at all!! I'm using both Federal and Winchester brass and both are tarnished about the same. I've been told to tumble the cases anywhere from an hour up to a day!! ??

 

[lgbloader]

I've been told to tumble the cases anywhere from an hour up to a day!! ??

Sounds about right. I know of people here on THR Crew that have tumbled for a week although I do think that this is a bit excessive. actually they forgot the tumbler was on or left for the week or something like that.

Seriously, Try walnut media and corn cob media mixed together with a capful of Nu Finish car polish and a capful of mineral spirits and cut up a used dryer sheet into 4 pcs and tumble for 2-3 hours and see what that does.

I do this and i get shiny'er than new brass - BLING !!!!!

LGB

 

[The Bushmaster]

lgbloader has it. Though I use a very fine ground corncob and aluminum oxide. Tumble until you are happy with the shine and reload them. Sometimes I tumble for an half and hour. Sometimes as much as 5 hours. It all depends...

 

[Bailey Boat]

Personally...... I tumble until their CLEAN, that's all I'm trying to accomplish. CLEAN brass is easier on the dies......... Make sure that you're not overloading the tumbler bowl, that will extend the time required by a large margin.......

 

[bullseye308]

Try washing the brass first. Mix this up:
1C water
1C white vinegar
1Tsb dish soap
1Tsb salt

Mix it up and throw in your brass. Agitate every 3-5 min for about 30 min and rinse with fresh water. Dry then tumble for 2 hours in walnut with Nu-Finish and you should be happy.

I pick up outside range brass and around here if it sits long on the ground it will have brown stains on the side that contacted the ground. The above fixes it for me and I have BLING!!!

 

[TX1911fan]

3 to 4 hours works for me.

 

[ARTinCT]

I have been running my RCBS Sidewinder with 4 hours, walnut media and a cap full of Dillon brass polish. Everything seems to get quite clean on the outside of the cases in that time frame for me.

 

[sargenv]

Seems that with fresh corn cob and one of the polishes (either flitz, the Blue Dillon polish, or midways's polish) it takes maybe an hour to two hours. When the media gets loaded up with crap, it might take an extra hour or so..

I dislike walnut shell, it never really worked well for me. Corn cob has always been my go to. I just bought a 50 # sack. Should last me quite some time. I think the last 30 pounds lasted me.. 2-3 years and I use one of those large Dillon tumblers.

 

[ranger335v]

"How long do I need to tumble my spent .44 mag. brass before they get shiney and clean?"

It's not a time thing, it's a results thing. Tumble until you like them.

 

[GP100man]

as long as it takes.
gotta go i think i forgot to check a batch i put in the tumbler monday nite!!

 

[Walkalong]

I routinely tumble brass all day while I am at work or all night while I sleep. That will get the dirtiest brass clean, except super stained range brass.

The cleaner your brass, the less tumbling time is needed. I can tumble my .357 light target load brass for two hours and it will be super shiney. Some loads which dirty the brass more take longer. The loads that don't get enough pressure up to expand the case enough to seal the chamber, thus "scorching" the brass, take a good bit longer. (Think Cowboy loads in .45 Colt )

 

[evan price]

I've left brass running for days before when I forgot them. Wow, were they shiny.

 

[GP100man]

i`ve reread this thread & have a ?? for hornsmith brad, are you useing a load of 296 below suggested starting?
if so stop , not good , warnings & threads all over to not do this!
sounds as if low pressure not expanding cases??