Tumbling Media

[Contender]

Have been using the corn cob media exclusively. Would like to try the Walnut Hulls, any recommendations? How's it rate compared to corn cob?

Thanks

[Walt Welch]

I presume that you put some sort of brass polish, such as that provided by Dillon. This speeds up the process a lot, and leaves a protective coating on the brass. I use walnut shell media.

I hate corncob media, as the particles are just the right size to get stuck in the primer flash hole, and often do just that.

The only real difference, as I understand it, is that corn cob will produce a finer more shiny finish on brass. I think walnut shells do just fine, however, and have used up 30 or 40 lbs. of the stuff.

[Ray VanderLinden]

Contender,
I too was a corncob media user for years. It works ok but seemed to take a long time. I switched to Walnut recently and I've loved the Differance.
Much faster and much cleaner brass. Save your Cob media for final polish but use Walnut to clean.

[Contender]

Thanks for the advice guys. Walt, I'll have to try some of that Dillon polish. I have been recharging my corn cob with a sprinkle of jewelers rouge and a little Hoppes when needed. I think I'll get some walnut media to try.

[Walt Welch]

Contender; I agree with Raymond that the walnut shell media is faster. I have never felt the need to have the brass so shiny that I can see my face in it, so use walnut shells for cleaning (after firing, after decapping/resize, and after reloading).

Crikey; no wonder you have had some problems; you have been putting Hoppe's #9 in with brass cartridge cases? That will corrode the heck out of them. Remember that Hoppe's is supposed to, and does, dissolve gilding metal(a Cu alloy). It will do the same thing to phosphor bronze. Just leave your brush unrinsed after use, and you will see it turn green. You should notice a marked improvement with brass polish. Walt

[Contender]

Actually, It has worked pretty good. I use about a half teaspoon added to the media to bind the rouge to the corncob and let the tumbler run with the lid off for about half an hour to let it evaporate. I have also used the same amount of turpintine.

I had wanted a coarser media to clean some discolored/dirty cases I have. The corn cob works but, takes about 5 years to do it.

Thanks Walt

[bear]

What kind of tumbler are you guys using?
I use the Dillon CV500 (or 300) at work now and I'm bad with numbers, anyway I use the walnut stuff that Lyman sells in the plastic bottle and don't seem to take over a couple of hours to get the brass cleaned, but I'm in agreement with Walt, they are clean and somewhat shiny but thats it, has worked this way for over twenty years for me. fwiw

[rebelcop121]

You can get inexpensive Corn Cob media through your local Pet Store. They make a media for bird bedding (NOT KITTIE LITTER). It works great, even better with a dash of brass polish. The old militry "Brasso" works fine, though you might want to wipe the brass down afterwards.

[Randy 1911]

I too use the corn cob and a little Brasso. I put the Brasso in and let it run for a half hour to let the ammonia evaporate. I have been doing this for over 20 years with no problems. Brass comes out real clean and shinny in about 2 hours. As far as the cob getting in the flash hole, I tumble before I size, that way if there is any cob in the flash hole the depriming pin will knock it out.

[Uncle Buck]

I like the corn cob media, with a little nu-finish car wax and a little bit of mineral spirits. But then again, I like to see myself in the brass when I am done.

I would be very careful using any brass cleaners on my cases. Read the labels of th cleaners and most of them have to be wiped off after use, or you end up with corrosion.

[langenc]

I also tried the pet store corncob-2 different bagsful. Finally set it to the dump and got some from Midway.

The petstore stuff had to be dug out of the 223s w/ dental pick. Wrong size particles.

[CowTowner]

I use a 50/50 mix of lizard litter (crushed walnut shells) and corn cob media.
Add a cap of Nu-Finish every other load and you get the best of both worlds.

[Steeltown Joe]

: :

[gregjc9]

Another vote for the Lizard Litter and Nu Finish. Very inexpensive, and works quite well.

[keebo52]

Another vote for the Lizard Litter and Nu Finish. Very inexpensive, and works quite well.

+1
Also, add used dryer sheets to keep the dust down.

[wncchester]

This thread is pushing 11 years old guys!

[mrawesome22]

Rebelcop also restarted a 2 year old thread. I see a pattern emerging.

[oldNewbie]

Just sharing my experience -

I just started reloading a month ago, and after a couple of sessions wiping individual .38 special cases, I decided to invest in a tumbler, model 400 from Cabela's which comes in a kit with brass polish, corn-cob media and a sifting pan for about $70.

I used the corn-cob media for a trial batch without polish, and got satisfactory results, but I wanted to try walnut shells, so I got a bag of lizard bedding from PetSmart (ground English walnut shells) for the next batch. This time I added the Cabela's polish and let about 200 cases run for a couple of hours. The cases came out very nicely.

BUT, (always a "but") when I started decapping them in my basic Lee 50th-anniversary press I noticed that after a few cases, the primer inserter started gumming up with small particles of media that came out with the primers and got stuck in the lubricating oil on the primer inserter arm. I could see little crumbs of it in the base of the shell holder as well. I noticed no such problem with the corn-cob media.

So, in the future, I'll use a can of compressed air to blow out the cases before I start decapping them. Apparently tapping them on the edge of the sifting pan wasn't enough.

oldNewbie

[Shane Tuttle]

The OP hasn't even been here since May, 2004.

Closed.