tumbler media question...

[THORN74]

so the tumbler and media are about the last things i need to buy, thinking a lyman auto-flo.

the media is a puzzle to me right now. which is best and why? does the dirty media get reused? thrown away? how often? does it ever go bad?

[Japle]

Many of the big pet stores have bags of "hamster bedding" or similar stuff that's nothing but ground walnut shells. It's the same as commercial tumbling media, but much cheaper.

You can add a cap or two of "NuFinish" car wax if you want. Throw it away when it gets nasty.

Corn cob media is also available, but I don't like it for anything smaller than .44 and .45 pistol brass. It gets clogged inside bottleneck rifle brass.

[jdillon]

I generally use the walnut media for both rifle and pistol. Haven't noticed much of a difference between brands. As long as it effectively polishes the cases use it. There several pruducts the treat the media and believe Lyman makes a good one. The liquid ones also reduce the amount of fine dust in the media. If you polish decapped cases be sure to check the flash holes before priming.

[THORN74]

i was planning on cleaning the case with the used primer still in, as the lnl ap press i have will deprime them durring the loading process

[oneoldsap]

Walnut cleans better , corn cob shines better !

[4runnerman]

plus one for japle...... 25 LBS for $12.00 and it's very fine media,works faster,cheaper and don't plug primer pocket holes. All around winner in my book. It's actually lizzard bedding, Crushed English Walnut Shells

[jdillon]

Franklin arsenal makes a media that is fine and haven't had a problem clogging the flash hole. I generally polish my rifle brass before and after sizing.

[zxcvbob]

You don't need "best", you just need something that works.

Grainger sells huge bags of 14/20 and 20/40 corncob grit for about $25. (I use 14/20 just because that's what I bought and I'll never use up that whole bag) There's another place I can't think of the name that's even cheaper.

Lyman TuffNut is crushed walnut shells mixed with red rouge. It cleans a lot faster than corn cobs, but they used way too much rouge and it's messy like you wouldn't believe. There's an opportunity there -- buy the cheap corncob grit, and add a little Lyman TuffNut to charge it with polish.

BTW, if you keep the huge bag of corncob grit in the house, it will attract pantry moths. Don't ask me how I know this...

[FIRERESCUEO2]

I've been looking into STM as a possible way to go .......
Stainless Tumbling Media - they have a website all set up with videos.
Your case amount per tumble is lower but it looks like one cycle in an STM process sure beats all of the normal work involved in regular cleaning.

Check it out sometime.

[Ozzieman]

I hate to bring this up every time a question like this one is asked but,,,
Don’t forget to add a dryer sheet to get that nice fresh smelling brass.

Ok, used dryer sheets. Cut up 3 or 4 used dryer sheets into small squares and put them in every time you clean brass. You won’t believe how dirty they come out and they make your medium last much longer.

[Fusion]

Look at Drillspot for the media. I use 20/40 grit crushed walnut in a Lyman Pro 1200 tumbler.

This being said, if you haven't already bought a tumbler, I'd not buy one of these. I'd spend the extra and get a rotary tumbler and use stainless steel media in it. I like my tumbler fine, but I really wish I'd gone the route of the stainless steel media. I've thought about selling mine to upgrade, but I haven't done it yet. The dust from a vibratory tumbler and the issue with the lead getting into the air scares me, and the ones with SS media also clean the primer pockets and insides of the cases which the vibratory tumblers don't do.

[dunerjeff]

I switched this spring to the stainless pins and won't go back to the "normal" dry vibrating or tumbling.It gets brass back to "new" shine and clean(no not necessary),but my preference.You do have to dry the brass though.

[wncchester]

"the media is a puzzle to me right now. which is best and why?"

Well, the reloading companies sell both cob and nut; that's because they both work. Some folk use one, some the other and some mix it - just make sure they get it right I suppose. Anyway, everyone gets cleaned brass.

I much prefer 20/40 grit cob, it's about the size of 'sea salt', because it's cheep and doesn't clog flash holes like the 12/20 grits do.


"does the dirty media get reused? thrown away? how often? does it ever go bad?"

The media itself doesn't "go bad" but it will eventually fail to work well from the added polish most people use far too much of. Most of the 'dust' that frightens some people is dried polish dust, not lead, and we can get trap most of the dust in a few 3" squares of open weave material such as t shirt fabric or used clothes dryer sheets. When it gets really slow to clean it's usually because the surface of the media is glazed over with dried gray polish; that polish can be 'reactivated' by pouring in a couple ounces of mineral spirits/oderless paint thinnner. I'm not a 'spray and pray' shooter so my volumes are lower than some guys but I toss my old media out every two-three years just because it looks bad and I have more, not because it isn't working.

Drill Spot is the ideal source for a lifetime supply of 20/40 cob; cheap to buy and free shipping to your door.


"thinking a lyman auto-flo."

I have two Lyman 1200s; the current models are fine but no better than the Berrys/Cabalas tumblers which sell for considerably less. IF you do get a Lyman, don't bother with the Auto-Flo, it really doesn't work to seperate the brass from the media nearly as well as you might hope. Instead, go to a Dollar Store and find an expanded wire mesh office type waste paper basket to use for a sifter, set it in a large bowl or 5 gal plastic paint bucket and pour the media/brass into the basket, twirl the basket a couple of times and every thing will be seperated - cheep.


IF you want to make the insides look pretty like the outside, wet tumbling with the steel pins is indeed the way to go. But, it's quite expensive to do, it's slow, it's messy and you gotta wait a day or two for the insides to completely dry before you can use it. And no one seriously claims the extra clean innerds means a thing to the performance of the ammo. (Ultasonic cleaning is MUCH too slow and messy and wet too. IMHO.)

[Uncle Buck]

+1 with what wncchester says.

I bought walnut sandblasting media from Harbor Freight and mix it with the corn cob media I have at about 50/50. Works fine for my needs. I do not worry about the flash holes, because I deprime my brass after I tumble it.

Harbor Freight also sells cheap tumblers (vibratory and rotary). Although I do not use them, I have heard very few complaints about them.

If you add a polish to your media, let it run for about an hour before putting your brass in. This will stop the media from clogging your brass.

I also add the small cut up pieces of dryer sheets to help keep the dust down.

The re-activate the media I also add a little bit of mineral spirits. I finally had to dump out my media after two years. I cleaned a lot of picked up brass from a range near me and it was dirty, dirty, dirty. You'll know when to replace it, because it will take longer and longer to clean your brass.

There is clean and then there is clean and shiny. I like the clean and shiny because it irritates my shooting buddy. Shiny to the point it almost looks like it is chromed. I believe my use of wax car polish also assist in the removal of the brass once it is fired. You'll hear different theories on this, but it is my brass and that is what I like.

Keep the questions comings.

[Ozzieman]

I like the clean and shiny because it irritates my shooting buddy.

+1 Uncle Buck

[wncchester]

I got over shiney cases a few years ago. I prefer my reloads to look like factory new and found that using a couple-three tablespoons full of 'diatomaceous earth' in my tumbler gives exactly that soft matt finish. D.E. is sold by swimming pool suppliers for use in "sand filters" and in Lowe's in-home insecticide department.

It's not earth, it's not sand and it's not poison except to small insects who absorb it through their feet. It's the soft white stuff used in toothpaste to clean and polish our teeth; totally harmless to us but it sure cleans brass. A small bag of it from Lowes is inexpensive and lasts a very long time!

[Orochimaru]

I've been curious about the use of DE for cleaning/polish. I have an aquarium filter that is based on DE, and I've been staring at a large bag of it and debating whether or not to try a bit of it in my tumbler.

Now my mind is made up -- I'm going to give it a try the next time I tumble some cases.

[zxcvbob]

I've been curious about the use of DE for cleaning/polish.

I wouldn't. It might scratch your dies.

[jepp2]

I use a Lyman 1200. I converted a normal one to an Auto-Flo. I would never go back. I use fine media (corn cob and walnut) and deprime before I tumble. The fine media flows out through the open flash hole of the brass. Stir it around a bit and I have empty brass left in the tumbler.

I have tried separating the media from the brass using other means, but much prefer the Auto-Flo option. The 1200 has excellent turnover. Watch how the media is turning over and keep adding until it is near the outside top when running. It will be about 2/3 when shut down. Don't overload it with brass. Lyman has a chart showing the amount of media and brass that each model will handle. Doing that the tumbler is very quiet to operate.

[orionengnr]

I mix corn cob and walnut 50/50, add a capful of NuFinish (from WalMart), let it go for 10 minutes, then tear two used drier sheet lengthwise into four strips each and toss them in. Then I add brass, let it go for ~4 hours.

Dump the whole mess into a shallow box, use a kitty litter scoop to separate the brass from the media, throw away the drier sheet strips, keep the brass , dump the media back into the tumbler, shred a couple more drier sheets and toss them in...ready for the next round.

I replace media about every six months, but in all honesty, I could probably get an awful lot more mileage from it. Most folks do.

[wncchester]

I've been curious about the use of DE for cleaning/polish.

I wouldn't. It might scratch your dies.


Seriously? Does your toothpaste "scratch" your teeth?

[CrustyFN]

Grainger sells huge bags of 14/20 and 20/40 corncob grit for about $25.

I bought the 14/20 from Grainger. It filled three cat litter buckets. I mix it 50/50 with the pet store walnut. I add 1/2 cap full of Nu Finish car polish. The cases clean fast because of the walnut and come out very shiny because of the corn.

[vaskeet]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabel...Kit/731769.uts Here is a good kit to start ON SALE! Randy