Walnut media left in brass...

[Crawlin]

I reload .40S&W and 45ACP and its a pain in the ass to get the small 2 or 3 little kernals of ground up walnut out of each case with a que-tip. So I have a few questions until I switch to corn cob:

1) Will it hurt anything (pressure, powder, anything) if a few kernals of walnut are left in the case?

2) If no, what little tips does anyone have to get all of it out.


In case anyone needs to know, right now, I use a media seperator and a 5 gallon bucket.

 

[scooterthegreat]

The two things I have been told is:

1 - quit complaining and use a paper clip

2 - tumble before you decap and size

 

[revolverman357]

I use a paper clip and sometimes I tumble before decapping and sizing.
No way around getting a little stuck in the case that I know of.

 

[WayneConrad]

If it's in the flash hole, don't worry about it.

I don't think anyone has demonstrated pressure or velocity differences with media in the flash hole. Could be wrong, but I haven't seen it.

 

[Crawlin]

Hold up!

Guess I left out that part, this is not media left in the primer pocket or anything. I always tumble before I Decap and Size. Maybe one or two small little kernals sit down in the bottom of the case and wont come out. :banghead:

 

[DogBonz]

needle nose pliers

havent done this my self, but if you can get a thin, slender pair of needle nose, you might be able to pluck'em out

 

[Arkie]

You can pour out the media out of your tumbler and put the brass in and run the tumbler for a few seconds.

That will take what is left out of the brass.

But it's Noisy!!!

 

[Crawlin]

You can pour out the media out of your tumbler and put the brass in and run the tumbler for a few seconds.

That will take what is left out of the brass.

But it's Noisy!!!

PERFECT! Who cares about the wife trying to sleep, right!

 

[Stinger]

Cut up a dryer sheet into 1 inch squares (little bigger even), and throw them in with the cases. Static is the likely culprit, unless you are running something wet in with your media.

Don't believe me, well, at least you'll have nice smelling media.

Regards,

Stinger

 

[RustyFN]

PERFECT! Who cares about the wife trying to sleep, right!

Well now that you have gone and woke her up you may as well teach her how to run the press.

 

[gwalchmai]

Perhaps a rotary media separator would solve the problem. I use one and don't have any media in my cases.

 

[Third_Rail]

You have to clean brass?

 

[cabowabo]

what about air

what about a can of compressed air, or using a air shooter from a compressor?

 

[Cowboybootnut]

I clean my brass with a Dillon vibratory case cleaner. After I am done cleaning, I remove the brass by hand, while the cleaner is still running, with the lid off. I usually pick up 4-5 cases, place the necks of the cases on the center bolt of the cleaner, and the vibration empties the media out of the cases. I have never seen media left inside.

 

[The Bushmaster]

OLSEN'S Tumbler Media

Have you tried Olsen's Media? It is fine enough to pass through the primer hole and does not get stuck in there. I recommend it.

Olsen's Media
5040 Cornell Road
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
818 706 1710

Otherwise...Pluck it out...Wake up the wife...or don't clean your brass.

 

[jwharris]

Dryer sheet?

Stinger's solution sounds plausible to me?

When/where are you putting the dryer sheet in? In your bucket of brass before it goes into the tumbler? In the tumbler with the media and brass? In the tumbler with just the brass once you've taken most of the media out (except for the few pieces stuck in the brass)?

 

[Mark whiz]

I routinely use dryer sheets in my tumbler. I really don't think it does much for static (mainly because I use the sheets that come OUT of the dryer once the laundry is done), but it tremendously cuts down on the dust in the tumbler.
I just cut up up about 6, 1 to 2 inch squares and toss them in the bowl on top of the media and cases and let it tumble together.
Even with the sheets, I still get the occasional chunk of media in the flash holes. That's no problem for rifle cases since Resizing them will clear the flash hole, but for pistol cases I break out the trusty straightened paper clip to clear the holes.

 

[dragongoddess]

why can't you decap first before tumbling.

 

[The Bushmaster]

You can decap/resize before tumbling, but you will be running a dirty case through the die and, maybe, scratching the die. Tumble for at least 15 minutes. Resize/decap and tumble for an additional 30 minutes to an hour.

 

[dragongoddess]

Ahhhh

 

[Cheeseybacon]

I've run into this problem before as well and noticed something. It appears to me that if you attempt to empty the tumbler immediately after turning it off that more cases are clogged with small bits of media in them. I've noticed that if I turn my tumbler off and walk away from it for a while (10-15 minutes usually) before emptying it, that I have significantly fewer clogged cases, and the ones that are clogged are easier to clean. This made somewhat of an improvement for the .45 ACP that I load, but when I suggested it to a friend of mine who loads .357 mag (and has nearly every case packed to the brim with media) he confirmed that it definately was an improvement.

I have no know why that works, but it seems to make a difference. Perhaps the media heats up slightly and expands inside the case during the tumbling process?

 

[The Bushmaster]

By the way...The media that I mentioned above creates less dust then other media. And I, absolutely, have no case clogging. Primer pockets or otherwise. The stuff is deffinately worth a try. No...I get no kick back for this comercial. I used to use corn cob and kitty litter and I doubt that I will ever go back to them unless this guy goes out of business. (Famous last words. )

 

[Deanimator]

I have a Vibra-Shine case vibrator. It came with two tops, the normal solid top and a top with slots cut in it to allow media to escape from the vibrator when it's held upside down. When I'm done cleaning a batch of cases, I switch tops. Then I hold the vibrator over a large flexible plastic bowl. The media starts flowing out by itself, then I turn the vibrator back on. This shakes the cases enough to get rid of most of the remaining media. I never have a problem with media remaining in the cases that won't fall out by itself when you invert the cases. I'm currently involved in a large project, loading all of my available .38 Special cases. I bought a bunch of cardboard boxes and foam blocks from Midway to sort and count my cases. Any remaining media fall out of the cases into the blocks as a natural result of turning the cases upside down to put them in the blocks.

 

[Dark Helmet]

Try an empty ballpoint pen refill.