Rice as a tumbling media for .223

[dcmdon]

Hi all. I'm getting ready to begin loading .223 for the first time and the first order of the day was to clean all the lake city brass I've scrounged over the years.

I dumped a batch into my tumbler with my standard media, corn cobs, and ran it through.

I ended up with a hell of a project. The corn cob is just big enough to get into the neck of the cartridge and just large enough to not easily shake out. So I need a smaller media.

I was thinking that try rice might work. Have any of you tried this? Can you suggest anything else that might be smaller so it doesn't stick in the neck of the case?

Thanks,

Don

[DinosaurMikeGolf]

With bottle necked cartridges, any media will usually end up accumulating in the case. I use Lyman's Tufnut media, which is crushed walnut, and it accumulates in both .223 and 30-06 cases. I end up tapping the cases mouth down on the media separator pan to get the media out before decapping. Hope this helps.

[g56]

Rice has been tried, it really doesn't work well, you just need to get some smaller media. From your description it sounds like you are using pet litter, and the main problem with those is exactly what you have experienced, its too big, get some fine cut walnut or corn cobb and you will be set.

On the subject of rice as a media, just wait for a good humid day and it sticks to your brass, after you spend several hours trying to get it off you will be adverse to the very thought of using a food product as a media.

Edited May 10, 2011 by g56

[anachronism]

Go to the pet store and get a bag of Lizard Litter. It's finely crushed walnut hulls, used to line reptile cases, kind of like a cats little box. I use a little car polish with mine.

[raz-0]

Rice has been tried, it really doesn't work well, you just need to get some smaller media. From your description it sounds like you are using pet litter, and the main problem with those is exactly what you have experienced, its too big, get some fine cut walnut or corn cobb and you will be set.

On the subject of rice as a media, just wait for a good humid day and it sticks to your brass, after you spend several hours trying to get it off you will be adverse to the very thought of using a food product as a media.

I've used rice on pretty humid days, without problem. Granted, it's NJ humid, not Alabama humid, so mileage may vary on both sides of the suggestion. Rice has worked great for me with .223 so far.

[Duane Thomas]

Here's a link to a thread that discusses rice as tumbling media pretty in-depth (granted it's focused on pistol casings, not rifle):

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19211&hl=rice&st=0

Short form, it tends to work really well, though as has been pointed out I'd be worried about it getting stuck inside the casing on a bottlenecked .223.

[dcmdon]

Thanks for all the input. I think I'll go give some walnut / lizzard litter a try.

My corn cob stuff is sold as bedding for some kind of animal, its a bit large as far as media size. It works great for pistols.

As we speak I have a test run of some .223 with a pound of Carolina short grain going in my little lyman dome top.

(which , by the way, is 21 years old and still going strong, they don't make them like they used to. )

[Glockman1000]

Just a suggestion, try googling "citric acid brass case cleaning" Citric acid is the active chemical in citrus fruits and Kool-Aid mix. It is also used to passivate metals to prevent corrosion and a rust remover. I use Lemi-Shine to clean all my pistol & rifle brass. If you decap all the brass it can help clean out the primer pockets and inside of the cases too. If you can find straight food grade citric acid in bulk, you have a cheap cleaning solution that will last a long time.

[dcmdon]

Interesting, thanks.

My brass came out nice after tumbling in rice. Unfortunately its almost as much of a pain to get out of the cases as the corn cob.

The cob media required me to use a needle nose pliars to occasionally pull a piece out. The rice just requires about 10 seconds (infuriating) of shaking and tapping per round to get it out of the case.

An ultrasonic cleaner with maybe some citric acid in it is starting to look better and better.

Don

[Vlad]

I've used rice last time I cleaned up a few 1000's of 223 cases. Rice came out of the cases just fine using the Dillon separator thingie. Basically I kept rolling them in the cage until no more rice came out of it, 30 or so spins.

[dcmdon]

I haven't actually dumped it out of the tumbler yet. I should do that before I complain.

Don

[cardiackid]

For what it's worth I've found that the very small metal punches work great for popping media out of the flash hole of .223s as well (I was using the Lyman Corn Cob stuff before I turned to stainless). I forget the size of mine, but I want to say it's 1/16" or 1/32" - just small enough to fit into the flash hole and force the media out. I got mine from sears for putting in roll pins and when I snapped it a while back I found this other use for it.

Edited May 11, 2011 by cardiackid

[BBBB]

There's another thread that discussed media in depth and mentions the fact that you can get 40 lb bags of corn cob sold as blast media from grainger. It comes in 2 different sizes. I got the smaller size. I have only used it for pistol cases but it is pretty fine. I would think it might be a good option for the 223 cases.

[Loves2Shoot]

There's another thread that discussed media in depth and mentions the fact that you can get 40 lb bags of corn cob sold as blast media from grainger. It comes in 2 different sizes. I got the smaller size. I have only used it for pistol cases but it is pretty fine. I would think it might be a good option for the 223 cases.

+1

Finer blast media comes out of the case nicely and is cost effective.

[CocoBolo]

I never needed a media separator till I started loading .223. The RCBS is one of the best, I had a Dillon I sold it.

After sizing and trimming I throw it in for the final cleaning. Of course it comes back out with corn in the flash hole. After I ream the primer pocket I clean the flas hole out with a lee decapping pin. I ream all of them since it is faster than looking at it to see if i needs reaming, same with trimming, just trim all quicker than check them.

When you get done with the rice rinse it before cooking it up.

Good Luck.

[dcmdon]

I've used rice last time I cleaned up a few 1000's of 223 cases. Rice came out of the cases just fine using the Dillon separator thingie. Basically I kept rolling them in the cage until no more rice came out of it, 30 or so spins.

I just ran it through the separator and it DID come out of all the casings.

I'm now pretty satisfied with the results. The cases are clean and were pretty easy to get emptied of the media.

Cocobolo - I have the same separator, except its sold under the Cabela's name also.

I like how it works, but hate the fact that the hinges come apart when you pick it up to dump the media out. Have you found a solution for that?

Thanks all for the additional info. When I need more media I'll probably give some of the suggestions presented here a try.

Don

Edited May 11, 2011 by dcmdon

[calishootr]

probably redundant...but i got a 50 lb bag of crushed walnut hulls at a feed store(they use itfor pet bedding) and here in northern cali minus tax...was 14.95 for 50 lbs ofthe stuff.....you could tumble andtoss a big dillon tumbler ofthe stuff per load and still be money andtime ahead

[Ben Diss]

Have been using 3mm ceramic beads with Citronox. Clean inside and out in about 30 minutes. Use the separator shown above and nothing gets stuck anywhere. Rinse them in clean, fresh water, lay them out to dry and done.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=230805501

[dcmdon]

Have been using 3mm ceramic beads with Citronox. Clean inside and out in about 30 minutes. Use the separator shown above and nothing gets stuck anywhere. Rinse them in clean, fresh water, lay them out to dry and done.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=230805501

Do you use it wet or dry?

If wet, can you give details?

Thanks,

Don

[jdknotts1]

Have been using 3mm ceramic beads with Citronox. Clean inside and out in about 30 minutes. Use the separator shown above and nothing gets stuck anywhere. Rinse them in clean, fresh water, lay them out to dry and done.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=230805501

That sounds like a serious PITA. I debated on getting a stainless steel tumbler. Only reason I didn't is I really dont feel like rinsing, then letting dry after everything else.

[Ben Diss]

Not really. They get much cleaner with no polish residue left on the cases and the time in the machine is significantly reduced. I also don't miss getting little bits of corn cob in the primer seating hole in the press.

If you're a little OCD about how clean your brass is (like me), then ceramic or stainless media is the way to go. If it just has to be clean enough to function, then corn cob is fine.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Ben Diss

[supreme135]

I use very small corn blast media with liquid car wax. This has been the best combination I have tried