tumbling media

[105gr]

I have tried the rouge treated walnut and the untreated corncob and I'm reading about the newest craze with the stainless media. I wont use the stainless and I'm not going into conversation why but has anybody tried regular sand blasting cabinet media? The rouge treated walnut does good but it leaves behind that nasty oily residue and I dont have the patience for that. The corncob media is alot cleaner but seems weak. If I DO try regular sandblasting media, does anybody have any suggestions on what kind?

[Stavman11]

I personaly dont like the red Walnut stuff.. leaves the Red dust on everything

I use basic white cornCob mix... works well for me

[tobnpr]

Way too abrasive for soft brass.

The "usual" corncob and walnut works fine.

It doesn't matter how "shiny" your brass is...long as it's clean.

[William T. Watts]

I use a 50-50 mix of corncob and coarse walnut with nufinish car polish, dryer sheets cut into strips (remove and replace them every hour or so), they removes most of dust that is generated with the cleaning process. William

[rclark]

I use the walnut media (Zilla Desert blend for Lizards) with no polish. Works great to clean the cases if and when I need to run 'em in the tumbler. I use 'used' dryer sheets to to remove 'some' of the dust.

[boondocker385]

I use corncob but I put the vibrator in a pan and leave the lid off outside....the wind carries off the dust.....nothing behind my house but fields.

[Nick_C_S]

I'm not sure what cabinet sandblasting media is. But I would definitely stay away from anything that is small enough and hard enough to potentially damage gun barrels. Sand-like substances seem to find their way into just about everything.

[Real Gun]

I found that it doesn't work well to expect too much from a single media and a single run in the tumbler.

I have two tumblers but it could as easily be done in one, since I have to empty it anyway to retrieve the brass. I run a first batch with coarser, treated media to clean and apply additive.

They do not come out polished but are the right color. I then do the brass in near virgin, plain corncob with a little NuFinish and get the shiny, new looking brass that I hoped for.

In this way I can use red media if I want on occasion, having some to use up, because it still gets another run in the plain media, which strips off the red residue. I usually reserve the red stuff for loaded lead bullets. I clean off all the lube mess this way. The brass is actually getting another two runs, but nor nearly as long.

When I do two batches for clean shiny brass, the batches run for two hours at most. Having to run several hours or overnight is too inefficient and unnecessary for me. Cleaning loaded ammo is no more than one hour in each media.

[Gunnels]

I use a 70%/30% mixture of crushed walnut and crushed corncob with a small squirt of car wax. It works great and it is cheap.

[reynolds357]

I like Corn Cob with the green additive Lyman makes added to the cobb.

[Valornor]

+Lyman with the Green Additive

I used the stuff impregnated with rouge for a long time, and then I did a detailed cleaning of my press and found the stuff every where. It makes a mess. I now use the Lyman with the green additive and will retreat it with polishing compound every so often.

[markm_04]

+2 for the Lyman corncob media with the green additive.

I tried using the ground up walnut media and found that it left almost like an oily residue on the cases. I started using the Lyman corncob media and have enjoyed the results by adding a little polishing compound in with it.

[105gr]

I'm thinking white beach sand with tobasco sauce

[Eppie]

The objective of the cleaning brass is not to get it shiny, but to clean it so that the resizing die doesn't get too dirty and interfere with it's function.

Actually too shiny or polished brass can be detrimental because it may not grip properly the chamber walls during firing and slip , transferring some of the pressure back to your bolt head. Not a desirable outcome at best.

[Real Gun]

New brass is shiny and attractive, so I see no reason why used brass can't be as well. I clean and tumble to look and perform like new.

[jcwit]

Actually too shiny or polished brass can be detrimental because it may not grip properly the chamber walls during firing and slip, transferring some of the pressure back to your bolt head. Not a desirable outcome at best.

Not an issue in my 50+ years of reloading.

[AL45]

I have cleaned brass by hand using a scotch brite pad and also with never dull wadding. I have also cleaned it using a couple of gallons of boiling water with about a teaspoon of citric acid and stirring it in a bucket for about 5 minutes. It doesn't look as good as new but the brass performs as good as new.

[Eppie]

I said: Actually too shiny or polished brass can be detrimental because it may not grip properly the chamber walls during firing and slip , transferring some of the pressure back to your bolt head. Not a desirable outcome at best.

Should have been:

Actually too shiny or polished brass can be detrimental because it may not grip properly the chamber walls during firing and slip (that's why we remove sizing wax) , transferring some of the pressure back to your bolt head. Not a desirable outcome at best.

[serf 'rett]

The blasting media used in our shop would be far to aggressive. Vinegar is cheaper than Tabasco sauce and can be used for cleaning if exposure time is limited and the cases are washed throuroghly afterwards.

[masseyman]

I have tried the sand blasting media. Used when I was messing around to see what would clean the brass just using cheap to find media.
I agree with Nick, the sand was just too time consuming to clean off the brass completely. It gets, AND STAYS, in all the small places. Plus it left the brass a with a very dull look, no shine.
Now I use the stainless steel media, Yes, I know what you said, to each his own. But it does a great job. I do a quick wash to remove dirt and grit, lube, resize, and deprime. Then about 2 hours in the stainless steel, and even though I don't have to, about an hour in my tumbler with treated corncob + walnut for a nice shine.

Other things I've tried, for the heck of it;
Play sand (larger than sand blast media) - Dull appearance - gets stuck in primer pockets
Baking soda - didn't do very well
Lizard bedding corn cob - shines just like regular Lyman media but too big - gets stuck in primer pockets
Lizard Bedding Walnut - Works great - cheaper than Lyman, I use it now.

[WESHOOT2]

When commercial, I regularly received samples of cleaning media to test.

I still use corncob media and Dillon Rapid Polish.
My cases are shiny and squeaky-clean.

[105gr]

what about the insides?....im having trouble getting the insides clean

[Valornor]

Even with my ultra sonic cleaner it really depends on the brass. Often they will clean up to almost new, especially if I let them soak in the solution over night and then run it. However I also get a alot of cases where its pretty much stained black and theirs not much I can do...not that I really try that hard. For me as long as the primer pockets are clean and the cases are pretty clean on the inside its good enough.

[Real Gun]

For me as long as the primer pockets are clean and the cases are pretty clean on the inside its good enough.

I don't believe clean primer pockets are at all necessary on handgun cases. Some of these "truisms" can bleed over between rifles and handguns.

The insides of tumbled cases are "clean". They just aren't shiny.

[105gr]

i have quite a bit of carbon buildup stuff on the inside of my 243 cases....thats why i started the thread...i dont understand how guys are getting the insides clean...ive tried walnut and cob and niether one seem to touch it...do tumblers work better than vibes?