How long do you tumble brass

[swifter]

Guys and Gals. you might want to try this: I have been using the same media for 5 years at least, probably longer. I have 2 containers of media, one for the cleaning, and 1 for the final polish. To the cleaning media I always add a couple of ounces of mineral spirits to cut the lube from the cases. If the cases are really grimy I tumble BEFORE sizing and after. Mineral spirits has a RELATIVELY high flash point and I have had no problems after many years of use. If your reloading operation is inside your house, this is not a good idea because of the fumes, but skipping this part works almost as well. I usually tumble for about 20 minutes in the cleaning media and then vibrate this media out and save in an OPEN container. The mineral spirits will evaporate in time and be dry for the next load. Next, I pour in the final polish media and tumble for 1 hour. I use a timer which you can get at your local home center. The final polish media contains nothing but corncob. The cleaning media would contain whatever agent you already use. I use ordinary car polish in the flat can at Wallys. This product is the stuff they use to polish out scratches from painted surfaces at your local body shop. If you use this make sure you get the fine and not the course. The course is for more aggressive cutting. This compound contains NO wax. Read the label because there may be brands that do contain wax. This polish will not readily mix with the media so you drop in an egg sized lump and tumble for a few minutes then stop and break up the lumps and so on until there are no more lumps. This might seem like a lot of work but I only do it once a year or so. Do this cleaning media operation with NO cases in the tumbler. My tumbler is of the vibratory type. If you also finish wood gun stocks with Tru-Oil, this same polishing compound will cut out imperfections after the last coat has completely dried. Use a small flat. SOFT pad and go slow, keeping the pad flat. If you take care and take your time you can do a professional job that will impress you and everyone else.

[G56]

One of the key things, if you have tumbled brass for 6 or 8 hours and it isn't shiny, it may be too corroded to use, if you're picking up brass, be selective, don't pick up the stuff that's obviously corroded from sitting outside in the weather. Best advice, walnut shell for cleaning, corn cob for polishing, if you want an additive, use Flitz Media Additive, clean is all you need, shiny is nice but not necessary.

I bought some of the Frankford Arsenal brass polish a couple of years ago, I wasted my money, that stuff was absolutely useless.

Mineral spirits, if you try this you might want to have the fire department on standby, this is extremely dangerous, if you insist on trying it, do it outside away from flammables or ignition sources, the vapors from mineral spirits are very volatile, highly flammable.

[swifter]

John, I stand corrected.

[Big Don]

I've been using the Frankfort Arsenal polish in walnut media for several years and have been very pleased with it. At one time, way back once upon a time, I used rock-polishing rouge and it seemed to work fine, other than leaving my media red and a fine red dust on the brass. I fixed that by running it through dry rice for a while to get the red off, which it did.
I have used a variety of other polishes and have found the Frankfort to be the best. Two hours is generally plenty of time. The really stained stuff stays stained but it's polished.

[flintsghost]

One of the reasons it's taking so long is your tumbler has a lot of capacity and the less brass you use means that there is less action in the cleaner. I found long ago to load up the tumbler to about it's max capacity and the cleaning action (agitation) did a better job.

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

I have only been tumbling for a short time. When I started, I did the wash and dry, into the sun to dry, then the cob, the rice the lizzard litter etc. It was taking more time than I thought it was worth. Seems it took 4-6 hrs before I could see any worthwhile results. Last week I had some 9mm to do, decided to dump all 500-600 of them in the tumble tub with the lizzy litter and in 2 hrs, I had some decent looking brass. Today I read about the "flintsghost" method mentioned above. I think maybe flintsghost has a good idea, it worked once for me so I will try it next time.

About grungy black brass.
I had scrounged some from the outdoor range that had wintered over a season or more to use someday if I got desperate.
This is what I did by accident....
I had a bottle of Birchwood Casey concentrated case cleaner that gets mixed with water and then soak the brass in the solution about 2 minutes and rinse. Well this was just another bubble making process that took about 60 gallons of water to clean the soap from a mere 150 9mm brass. But it did a fair job on the blackest brass I have ever tried to salvage.
I had a few more of the same lot to do so tried a 1/2 gal juice bottle to shake them in. I thought it would be easier to rinse them. Well the juice bottle had about 1/3 cup of pink grapefruit juice left in it. I decided to try the juice, had just enough juice to wet the brass. I soakked them a minute, caped the bottle and shook them 15 seconds, repeat about 3 times then a very simple quick rince pooofff...I had brass as clean or better than the bubble maker chemical process that took forever to rince.
Maybe any citrus juice would do this, I don't know, but I was very surprised in how well it worked. Next time I will try this on my usual non-grungy brass and see how it works.
Anyone tried this before?

[Dogjaw]

I'm not sure what affect citric acid has on brass, but it's simply too much time and hassle for me. I buy ready to use corn cob with polish added. $2 worth of media in my Lyman 600 tumbler has cleaned around 1,000 pieces of brass and is still going. It takes 2 hours to clean dull, dirty brass to the point of looking like new. More important to me, it takes only 1 minute of my time.

[Big Don]

I'm curious as to why it's important to get grundgy, dark brass so it shines? Are you talking about rifle brass that, perhaps, doesn't get shot all that often? I shoot combat matches and go through a lot of .45 brass. I reload so I collect it and clean it and it gets shined up in the process. I don't worry about the dark stuff as it shoots just fine. (However, it is harder to find on the range!) I pick up all the free stuff the rich guys leave behind (and I do toss the AMERC junk into the trash can.) Plus, I keep finding brass on my personal range that hid when I was looking for it last season, so both places yield the dark stuff but I don't worry about getting it bright.
Just curious....

[Dogjaw]

Clean brass is easier to resize, and brass and dies don't get scratched up. And it looks pretty too. I don't get obsessed with it pass the point of it being clean.

[Bompa]

Instead of buying all those fancy polishes and cleaners use something that most all shooters have on their benches..I mean Hoppe's #9..Just a couple of cap fulls in your walnut or corncob and you are in business..An hour in this and all is well,clean but not really shiny..Been doing this for years and it hasn't hurt any brass yet..Wear it out or lose it,what ever comes first..
Something els to try,used dryer sheets cut up into strips and put in the tumbler with everything else will help keep the media cleaner longer..

[Dead-Nuts-Zero]

+1 Dogjaw

I clean all brass enough to get the grit and grunge off of it. As Dogjaw, I don't like to run it through my dies and I hate the dirt and spider balls that I find inside them after a season or 6 on the ground. I suppose all of us reloaders are brass hors (yes I know how to spell it) to some degree. Hate to see them go to waste.

In my post, I guess my point of the grapefruit juice was that it's so much easier than any soap type of cleaner to rinse off after a quick bath. The bubbles and soap residue take forever using several gallons of water to get a decent rince. Instead, I tried another method, I add the juice to the brass, a quick shake in the juice jug and in 3 minutes it's a difference of like night and day in the looks and the cleanliness. The grunge is gone but far from a shine. However, I do take some pride in my loading and clean is a must. I can easily go without the spit shine.

I have loaded for about 30 years and until last year, never owned or used a tumbler, just a soap wash and several rinses (and dry them) and into the press it goes. The fruit juice gave black brass that "dirty brass" look, but far from having a shine.

This method works for me and was curious if others had heard or tried grapefruit juice. Does citric acid react with the brass? Don't know but it does react with the grunge.

I hear of some who toss their loaded rounds into the vibrator to get that mirrored polish look. Never tried that, but what an idea eh?

[Mark B]

Ever notice how bright and shinny the case or two that you forgot was in your pocket turns out when they go through the clothes washer?

I wonder how well a batch of 50 tied up in a pillow case with a couple socks, and sent through the wash would turn out?

I put mine in a walnut medium and tumble for 2-3 hours. I dont try to remove the black stains, just get the grit off.

[Bompa]

I always tumble finished rounds when loading cast bullets...Just for a short while,about 15 or 20 min..Just long enough to clean off excess lube..

[Abstract]

I use either Midway case polish or NuFinish. The "bolt thrust" issue is nonsense. I've polished tens of thousands of cases, using cc media and NuFinish. Nothing but clean, shiny cases, so far. I set the timer for three hours, and the brass is perfect when the tumbler quits.

[ShootingNut]

We all like our end product to look nice, seems to me if they are relatively shiny and clean, that's it. Not wearing it as jewelry, just loading it up to blast away and the whole process starts over again, right?