I'm Working on A New Tumbling Media ... Help me out!

[riverwalker76]

I saw some tumbling media today that blew my mind. My buddy gave me a 3 pound bag of the stuff they use at his plant, but the problem is that this stuff is $80 for a 3 gallon bucket. My brass was clean from dingy milsurp brown to glossy gold in less than an hour.

I've tried dissecting the formula, and it appears that everything in the media is solids. There are no residual liquids.

Help me figure this out.....

There is tiny Corn Cob Media ... probably close to 20/40 or maybe a tad finer.

Fine white sand ...

There are some small flakes of some sort of gray wax...... no idea here ...

the final additive is finely ground walnut ....

They use this stuff to polish brass parts.

What kind of wax could the gray wax be? Any ideas or input would be appreciated.

[Sport45]

The gray stuff could be the polishing compound you would normally use to load buffing wheels. You lost me at the "fine white sand" though. Everything else was good, but there's no way I'd take a chance with sand that might eventually make its way down one of my barrels.

[medalguy]

Sand = very bad idea. It will certainly clean up stuff, and it's commonly used to remove investment from brass castings, but it will ruin a gun if it ever gets into the barrel or even the chamber.

[49willys]

How does sand ruin a gun?I mean,soldier guns are frequently covered in sand and dirt and muck and goop.Those guns last a long time.I know because I have several,and they are not wore out.

[Lavid2002]

Just sift it good and you wont have to worry about what your cleaning the brass with : )

[dahermit]

How does sand ruin a gun?I mean,soldier guns are frequently covered in sand and dirt and muck and goop.Those guns last a long time.I know because I have several,and they are not wore out.

Sand used as tumbling medium may find its way into reloading dies, get embedded in the die and scratch all the cases as they are sized. Sand may embed in the brass case and be transferred to the rifle chamber and become embedded there pitting the chamber. All tumbling media for brass cases take this into account and use media that is softer than the brass and cannot cause problems.
The industrial media as per this thread does not take into account the specific requirements of hand loading. The sand mix is for brass parts that will never see the inside of a reloading die or rifle chamber.

[1911rocks]

I have tried Walnut shells, ceramic media, and crushed corn cobs with jeweler's rouge. The Cobs & Rouge are the best.

Crushed Walnut Shells - don't hold polishing compound well, inexpensive (buy at a bird/parrot store) but I'm terribly allergic to them

Ceramic Media - One bag lasts forever, the smallest bag is 25lb = ~$100.00

Crushed Corn Cobs - No Allergy, holds Jeweler's Rouge very well, and a 100# bag is $16.00 (sandblasting supply store).

[abber]

I agree that the sand is a very bad idea for gun brass. I tumble in straight corn cob media, usually overnight. The brass comes out beautiful.

[riverwalker76]

I examine all of my cases during the pre-sizing routine, so I'm not worried about it making it's way into my dies. Before I resize I clean all of the primer pockets, and examine the case for visual flaws. Then I lube it with Hornady Unique sizing lube, and I feel the case for debris and minor imperfections.

I always deprime using a Lee Universal Depriming die immediately after tumbling.

I seriously doubt the sand would make it's way into my dies. Although, I may decide to omit it from MY formula after I use what's left just so I don't have to worry about it.

Let me ask you all this ....

Has anyone ever tried Flitz or Brasso in their corn cob media?

[rottieman33]

Has anybody ever tried glass beed was thinking about trying it

[Sport45]

Has anyone ever tried Flitz or Brasso in their corn cob media?

I think I've read of people using Flitz or other polishing agents. But check the label before using Brasso. If it contains ammonia you don't want to use it for cartridge cases unless you allow plenty of time for the ammonia to evaporate.

Me, I just use ground walnut (lizard litter) and a splash of mineral spirits for cleaning. But then I'm just looking for clean and don't really need my brass to shine.

Has anybody ever tried glass beed was thinking about trying it

Glass beads would probably clean well but that's just silica (sand) and I wouldn't use it for that reason.