Sarge Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Didn't seem to do much at all. Left some white powder on everything and really did not even shine, let alone clean the brass. I think I'll stick to 2 hours of walnut and two hours of corn cob with a dash of polish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sc0 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Could try the stainless steel media... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Corn cob and polish is really all you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anachronism Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 And it's cheap too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UW Mitch Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I tried rice a few years ago. Besides being weird taking something out of my pantry to clean the brass, it didn't work terribly well. I think I read some guys are getting their walnut or corn media from sandblasting suppliers as opposed to pet shops to save money. ~Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I definitely want to go back to corn cob. Walnut cuts faster but corncob looked nicer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calishootr Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 save money??? my last pet shop buy of crushed walnut hull media cost me 14 bucks for 50 lbs of the stuff...cant get much cheaperthan that i would think???? finally got to the bootom of that bag here a couple months ago, even selling off some here an there that bag must have lasted me 4 or 5 yrs??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franklin SR Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I used rice & Nufinish, what a waste of time and money. "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety"- Benjamin Franklin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andoy Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 how often do you guys replace the corncob media? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdm74 Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 how often do you guys replace the corncob media? When it turns real dark. I got a bag of corn cob to last a life time, from tractor supply store. They use it for horse bedding. Only thing is you have to crush it up some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 how often do you guys replace the corncob media? Like mentioned already, when it starts to turn dark. Seems like it starts to turn a shade of ugly green maybe then it starts taking longer to get the desired finish. Same if you try walnut. I keep a little sample of fresh on the bench. It has really sharp edges that clean the brass. When walnut loses its edge it starts taking longer to clean. I grab some and roll it around in my fingers and compare it to the fresh sample to see if it is getting dull. Either seems to last for several uses, thousands of rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirveyr Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 You guys need to stop cooking the rice first... I've been using rice for years and it seems to take the gunk off of the cases but not really shine it. I'm fine with the lack of shine. I may go buy some corncob media today when I pick up some fuel for my furry son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polizei1 Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I just use crushed walnut's from the local petstore. Seems to work and is pretty cheap. Not the most shiny, but I don't really care about that anyway. Haven't tried rice, but I wouldn't expect it to clean much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWFAN Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Corn cob for less than 2 hrs (1-1.5 usually) and the brass is clean enough for me. Its just going to get dirty again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I have a mix of media in my tumbler currently. Little bit of walnunt and little bit of treated corncob. Been in there for months and still cleaning pretty well. Every few batches, Ill throw an old dryer sheet in there and let it roll for awhile. Does a good job collecting dust and crap from the media. I'll also throw in some brass polish every few batches just for the fun of it. Gives my brass and reloading room a nice citrus smell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterready Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I've been using rice as well. Works OK and is pretty cheap. Takes a little longer for the polish to soak in than corn. Have to be careful not to put brass in to quickly until the polish is distributed a bit throughout the rice. If not, you'll gum up a few cases inside. I had a piece of rice break one of my decaping pins as well. It was on a .223 case after sizing and tumbling the lube off. Instead of throwing them back in corn I tried rice. Big mistake. Piece of rice was wedged pretty hard in the primer flash hole. Ended up breaking my universal decap pin. Had some spare pins so no biggie. Definitely like corn for getting things really shiny. I've never tried walnut. I'm due for more media. I'll give that a try for the really nasty cases throughout the winter months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlockCanMan Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I get mine from Drillspot.com They will have it shipped right to your door. It actually drop ships from Graingers. If you have a business you can buy it direct from them. a 40lb bag cost me just under $30 delivered to my door. It will last a long time. I use the 20/40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 I get mine from Drillspot.com They will have it shipped right to your door. It actually drop ships from Graingers. If you have a business you can buy it direct from them. a 40lb bag cost me just under $30 delivered to my door. It will last a long time. I use the 20/40. You don't have to have a business. Quite a few of us use Drillspot. A few times a year they ship for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g56 Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 People have been trying rice for a very long time, and the vast majority of them come to the same conclusion, mediocre performance at best. Walnut is best for cleaning Corn cob is best for polishing, add a little Dillon Polish or Flitz for a better shine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Well, I tried the rice thing for cleaning.... Didn't work well at all, in fact was more of a PITA than anything else. Maybe i'm doing something wrong. How long do you guys cook it first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Taliani Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Maybe i'm doing something wrong. How long do you guys cook it first? I was also pretty unimpressed with rice. It worked okay for me, but it took twice as long and didn't clean or polish as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeeZer Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 (edited) My 0.02: Quick and 'dirty': The media one uses has to be somewhat abrasive, have polishing properties AND be able to ABSORB dirt and grime that brass has on in/outside. I use 30/70 mix of crushed walnut shell and corn cob, respectively. I get both at local pet store (media meant for pets is dust-free; and cheaper than gun store media). Either NuFinish or Turtle Wax Chrome & Metal Polish is added to media for cleaning, polishing and lubricating reasons. I usually run 300-500 cases at a time, for 1hr with fresh media and then add another 30mins every next run. I discard media and replace it with new after I tumble 5-6 loads. Cases get scrubbed with walnut media, polished with cob and cleaned (by active ingredients in wax) AND covered with thin layer of wax for oxidation protection; that also helps in reloading process as cases get very 'slick'. Reloaded ammo retains nice shiny yellow brass for years (if it comes to it). Perfectionists can follow this: One can run 2 tumblers where first has walnut media and Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound is added to it. And, second tumbler running cob with Turtle Wax Polishing Compound. See the pix: Edited August 22, 2011 by CeeZer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpenDot Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) 10,000 rounds on the same corn cob media...i've added Dillon polish it to it twice...been over a year sinse i've changed it, still hasn't turned black yet..still works. When it stops cleaning and polishing...i'll change it then. Edited August 23, 2011 by OpenDot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentG Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I get mine from Drillspot.com They will have it shipped right to your door. It actually drop ships from Graingers. If you have a business you can buy it direct from them. a 40lb bag cost me just under $30 delivered to my door. It will last a long time. I use the 20/40. How fine is the grind? I bought a bag of the pet stuff at wallyworld and the stuff is way to big. I cleaned some 223 brass and it stuck full on a lot of cases. If its not fine enough like what you buy specificly for reloading I wont buy it anymore. Considering how small an expense decent tumbling media is in relation to the overall cost unless I KNOW its a fine grind like the good stuff I will just stay away from pet bedding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlockCanMan Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I get mine from Drillspot.com They will have it shipped right to your door. It actually drop ships from Graingers. If you have a business you can buy it direct from them. a 40lb bag cost me just under $30 delivered to my door. It will last a long time. I use the 20/40. How fine is the grind? I bought a bag of the pet stuff at wallyworld and the stuff is way to big. I cleaned some 223 brass and it stuck full on a lot of cases. If its not fine enough like what you buy specificly for reloading I wont buy it anymore. Considering how small an expense decent tumbling media is in relation to the overall cost unless I KNOW its a fine grind like the good stuff I will just stay away from pet bedding. 20/40. Here is a link to the website My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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