TUMBLING MEDIA

[Copskid]

Has anyone tried mixing corncob media and walnut for vibration brass tumbling. I now use the corncob and every 6/7 batches I add a cap of Nu Finish car polish. The reason I ask is I have heard you can get a lot cleaner brass with the walnut but by mixing about 50/50 you don’t get the film and dust like using just walnut plus you can add a strip of dryer fabric static guard to catch dust.

[Sarge]

Mixing equals less than ideal results but it depends on how clean you want your brass. The best dry method is clean with walnut and polish with corncob. 2 hours each.

 

[Steve RA]

Or get a Stainless pin setup and it'll be faster and cleaner, also more shiny.

[Sarge]

2 hours ago, Steve RA said:

Or get a Stainless pin setup and it'll be faster and cleaner, also more shiny.

That's what I have switched to as well.

[AHI]

70% corn cob and 30% walnut is all I use.

Add a little car wax if you need more shine.

Edited March 14, 2021 by AHI

[Kiwishoot]

10 hours ago, Steve RA said:

Or get a Stainless pin setup and it'll be faster and cleaner, also more shiny.

You'll be surprised just how clean you can get wet tumbling without the pins

Been without the pins for @3 years now, works a treat on everything I shoot and that little bit easier to use (for me).

[dannyd]

I switched to brass juice and no pins. Used lyman green for 30 years. 

 

This thing works great with a FART

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0096QXC1S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Steve RA]

I think the pins do a better job of cleaning the primer pockets,  course you have to deprime before tumbling.

[dannyd]

Dryer sheets work, but you still have dust on brass.  Put the used dryer sheets in a bag and put in the outside trash, not in your house. That are pure lead dirt when they come out.   I deprime using water and don't deprime using media.   Use the Nu finish sparingly and add it just to the media run by itself them add brass cleans better for me. 

[Copskid]

Thanks for all the responses. I have been doing it exactly like dannyd for years but had someone tell me that mixing walnut/corncob would give a better job. I have never bought walnut but brass I have seen that was cleaned with it was a powdery mess. That’s why I wanted to get opinions. As stated the steel pins and tumbler are tops, brass I’ve seen looks like new. My problem with that is I don’t have a water source in my shop, heat/ac, two loading stations,  plenty of lighting and bench space but it would really be a pain to bring into my house and rinse. Only loading 5 pistol calibers so I think I will stick with the corncob and a dab of NU Finish as needed.

[dannyd]

1 hour ago, Copskid said:

Thanks for all the responses. I have been doing it exactly like dannyd for years but had someone tell me that mixing walnut/corncob would give a better job. I have never bought walnut but brass I have seen that was cleaned with it was a powdery mess. That’s why I wanted to get opinions. As stated the steel pins and tumbler are tops, brass I’ve seen looks like new. My problem with that is I don’t have a water source in my shop, heat/ac, two loading stations,  plenty of lighting and bench space but it would really be a pain to bring into my house and rinse. Only loading 5 pistol calibers so I think I will stick with the corncob and a dab of NU Finish as needed.

I used Lyman green because of the dust.  

[surgdog]

I agree with the above posters about wet tumbling without pins. The corncob media granules blocking the case feeder did me in.Just one granule between the case and feeder brought everything to a stop.

 

The pins were the frustrating part and a pain to deal with with the wet tumbling. Now I use a squirt of Dawn and a cap of Lemishine and they are clean and shiny. I can't tell the difference between pins and no pins in results except for lack of frustration.

[RePete]

I'm running 60/40 mix of corn blast and Lyman Treated Corn Cob in a Lyman 2500 magnum Tumbler.

 

4 used Bounce dryer sheets and a squirt of Nu Finish/mineral spirits mix.

 

Run the machine for 2 or so hours and the brass is clean enough for me.

[Eric802]

I've always felt that corn cob was dustier than walnut; I get the crushed walnut that's made for lizard tanks and it doesn't seem too overly dusty.  I used to mix it with corn cob but I believe the cob is more for polishing. As far as actually just getting brass clean, walnut alone does fine.

 

Wet tumbling is a whole different level of clean, though.  I tumble my brass when I get home and don't decap until after it's clean, so for me I never saw the point of wet tumbling.  Walnut gets it clean enough that you can inspect the brass and to prevent your dies from getting messed up, and that's good enough for me.

[dannyd]

over 32 years I have tried about everything; best For Me is a Fart, no pins, decapped, and brass juice.   Cleans the brass and easy on me.

[BillChunn]

On 3/13/2021 at 7:01 PM, Sarge said:

That's what I have switched to as well.

 

^^^^ Same ^^^^ about 2 years ago after dry tumbling for 20+ years.

 

The brass coming out of the PCC was coated in gunpowder "soot" from the blow-back operation.  Dry tumbling was taking too long and left corncob media stuck in the primer pockets.  A friend loaned me everything needed to wet tumble and I was sold.  Went with the Franklin Arsenal tumbler kit with the stainless pins.  This is why the change was made:

 

1.  Takes a shorter amount of time (30 minutes tumble, 10 minutes drying versus 2 hours tumble, 5 minutes separating)

2.  Primer pockets are cleaned (as mentioned, deprimed first)

3.  Consistent volume inside the case as it's now very clean, so velocity stays consistent from round to round

4.  Easier to resize when the brass is run through the CasePro, the sizing plates stay cleaner

5.  Happen to have a source for water and a sink in the reloading room.  

 

BC

[md8232]

On 3/14/2021 at 8:20 AM, dannyd said:

I switched to brass juice and no pins. Used lyman green for 30 years. 

 

This thing works great with a FART

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0096QXC1S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I just changed to Brass Juice and a FART.  Very happy with this.  Now to try and sell the pins that came with the FART.

[Farmer]

7 hours ago, md8232 said:

 

I just changed to Brass Juice and a FART.  Very happy with this.  Now to try and sell the pins that came with the FART.

Think I would hang onto the pins for a while in case you get a batch of really grungy brass. But that’s just me. 

[RacerX1166]

Back in the day, all we had was corncob and we liked it! (old man voice activated)

As noted, one errant piece of cob dropping out of a primer pocket would clog the feeder tube.

Now that I'm reloading again, I remain good with corncob for a few reasons.

To me, tumbling time is free; start the machine and go about my business.  So an improvement there isn't meaningful.

Brass comes out nice and clean, using corncob and some polish, like Brasso or whatever else I happen to have on hand.

Checking each case for cob in the flash hole seems like it consume less time than depriming everything up front.

Since I'm doing this casually this time around, dropping money on a new process that doesn't resolve a current issue or make me more attractive to the opposite sex isn't worth it.

Has anyone benchmarked time involved with each of these two activities?

[ltdmstr]

Problem with wet tumbling is the added step of removing primers prior to tumbling.  If there was an automated way to do that, I'd be up for it.  But I load 10-20k at a time and am not going to do the extra work to remove all those primers in a separate step.  I'm currently using a mini cement mixer and corn cob with Lucas polish.  Brass comes out nice and shiny and I can do about 5k pieces at a time.

[Boomstick303]

I never remove primers with Pistol.  I tumble wet, dry and load.  Have zero issues.  I get it, it you have OCD and feel the primers need to be removed I can see how Wet Tumble would be a turn off.

 

With Rifle Primers are removed during process and primer pockets are cleaned when removing the lube before reloading the casings.  At least that is my process.

 

5000K a session is a nice number though.

[Farmer]

I used corncob in my Thumbler for ages but it just seemed like it was taking longer and wasn’t doing the job. I tried new media with all of the wiz-bang polishes and even after 4-6 hours there was always some crud, carbon or tarnish left. Went to wet and whole process takes three hrs and they look like new. I don’t do as much as many of you but when going through all my calibers it could take a long while with the dry. 

[N7VY]

I gave up on the pins and wet tumbling. When I wet tumble in a fart, I use a couple of drops of dawn, a dash of lemishine and a couple of drops of finish rinse aid. Gets rid of the spots 🥸