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Old January 14, 2010, 06:41 PM   #1
theBIGone2087
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Tumbler media life?

SSSOOOOO my brother and I just got into reloading. I was just curious as to how long tumbler media (corncob) can be used before it needs to be replace? Like, how my cycles?

Thanks
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Old January 14, 2010, 06:45 PM   #2
wncchester
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Like, about ten times longer than you may think.
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Old January 14, 2010, 07:11 PM   #3
madd0c
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Well I did wear some out after about 6 months of weekly use on about 200 cases at a time. I used Flitz in the media and would add a capful about every other use.

At the end it was pretty dark even with the dryer sheet trick to get out particles. I tossed it when it wouldn't clean the outside necks of cases in 3 hours.

The new media showed me I had probably used it too long by about half.

So, my new routine is to replace about every 3 months or so.

Hope this helps.
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Old January 14, 2010, 07:25 PM   #4
theBIGone2087
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Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate it.
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Old January 14, 2010, 09:56 PM   #5
Don P
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I'm at 10,000 plus rounds on the same media. 2-3 hours and the brass is shining like new. Walnut works best in my opinion
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Old January 14, 2010, 11:31 PM   #6
madd0c
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Something I am a little concerned with is that I throw my sized and trimmed cases back into the tumbler to clean off the lube (either one shot or imperial depending on the case). Does cleaning the lube off shorten the media life?

I do not doubt your 10,000 case media life, but mine sure wasn;t cleaning after about 4,000 cases. Could it be all the lube it had soaked up?

And yes, I use walnut.
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Old January 15, 2010, 06:14 AM   #7
Dannyl
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Hi,
every few months (I shoot almost every weekend, hundreds of rounds at a time) I take my corn-cob media and wash it with dish-washing liquid, after rising and drying thouroughly in the sun it is as good as new.

For an added shine I throw in a teaspoon of car-polish and mix it well. I let it dry before tumbling cases so there is no contact between the brass and the solvents they put in the polish.

Brgds,
Danny
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Old January 15, 2010, 10:46 AM   #8
MADISON
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The life of Tumbler Media

It lasts until it gets dirty.
I shoot a lot and change it once a year.
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Old January 15, 2010, 06:33 PM   #9
80viking
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''Something I am a little concerned with is that I throw my sized and trimmed cases back into the tumbler to clean off the lube (either one shot or imperial depending on the case). Does cleaning the lube off shorten the media life?''

It shortens the media life bigtime.

I used to do that on a regular basis until I figured out what was happening. Why was my media getting greasy? Dhaa

Now I use two batches of media, one to knock off the lube, and the other to polish and brighten. When the 1st batch gets too greasy, I toss it and use the finishing batch for delubing, then use new media for final finishing.

Something that may disturb some people.
I load .223 on a progressive press in large quantities and they all need to be delubed when they fall out of the press. I slowly tumble them for 30 min. in a large drum type of tumbler. I never put them in a vibratory tumbler. I feel that the vibrating action is too violent and may break down the powder, and increase the burn rate.
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Old January 15, 2010, 08:37 PM   #10
Don P
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Quote:
I do not doubt your 10,000 case media life, but mine sure wasn;t cleaning after about 4,000 cases. Could it be all the lube it had soaked up?

And yes, I use walnut.
It's possible the lube was soaked up. What I have done is use Brass Polish from Frankford Arsenal ( no ammonia ) and now with info obtained here on TFL I am using dryer sheets. They seem to collect a lot of dirt and since using the sheets there is virtually no dust when I empty the tumbler. Any brass polish will work but remember no ammonia products.
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