Best tumbler media?

Thanks boys.....
Just went to the pet store and got a big bag of lizzard litter/walnuts and the cases are coming cleaner already. What is the name of the polishes you guys use???
 
I like the ceramic stuff for rifle cases or large pistol cases (45 ACP and up). It saves you a ton of work and results are way better than the dry stuff. The pet store walnut bedding (Lizard Litter) is the way I go otherwise.

I'm actually thinking of selling my 1mm media. The whole idea behind the 1mm stuff was that it would be better for smaller cases like 223. I only reload 308 and 9x19 now and don't see myself getting anything new in the dear future. And not that I've found success with the angle cut stuff...
 
A few cut-up pieces ( say 2" x 2" ) from one sheet of fabric softener ( the kind you throw in the dryer ) helps cut down on dust from the crushed walnut lizzard litter.

Walnut works good for the initial cleaning, corn cob for final polish.

Some find a capful or two of "Nupolish" to work well.
 
Alright then ,I just got back from Petland (I hate that place....too expensive)and bought a 5.5 Ltr. bag of ground "English"walnut shells $9.00. But I got to thinking ,did I not read something about ground corn cob bedding used for birds and if so, does it work as well as say ,RCBS CC media ?
What am I looking for in particular?

BB
 
I also use a sheet of fabric softner, I put it in for maybe 15min at the end, helps cleanup the dust. I found if I left it in too long it kinda gave the brass a waxy feel. I didnt know if that was good or bad, but felt it was probably more bad then good so I only do it at the end now.
 
ive only used the ceramic? i belive it is stuff that came with my lyman turbo tumbler it works well, i also bought a bottle of lymans corn cob media with red polishing rouge added that i will try next....


btw the "crushed asteroids" idea the OP had sounds interesting:cool::cool::cool::cool:
 
Reading the above you guys are paying way to much, try an industrial supply store, $15.00 for 50 lb. of crushed walnut, body shops also use it for sand or walnut blasting. Its dusty but cheap.
 
BlackBrant said:
...did I not read something about ground corn cob bedding used for birds and if so, does it work as well as say, RCBS CC media ?
Click to expand...

I think you'll find pet store corn cob to be too big for anything other than .45 acp or large (44mag+) straight walled brass. It's cheap but of limited use. The stuff I've seen has pellets about 3/8 of an inch in diameter, the Lyman stuff tends to be cut much smaller, like grains of rice.
 
I'm a newb reloader. I haven't even received my XL650 yet, but thanx to my friend Druker I've got around 5-6k cses in 38/357, 9mm, .40 & .45ACP to clean. Went out and bought a Lyman 1000 round tumbler with Auto-flo separator.
Anyways, the point is that I'm using corn cob purchased from Higginson's (great bunch of people, btw). I ran the cases for about 2 hrs thru the machine. They came out clean(er), but I wasn't too impressed with the finish. I read the manual which reccommended 3-4 hrs. Tried running the next batch for 3 hrs and added a capful of Nufinish (which had been sitting in my cupboard for years) for the last 15-20 minutes as was reccommended by someone on this site. The cases are maybe a bit nicer-looking but still nowhere near new-cartridge looks.

Am I expecting too much?
 
peter2772000 said:
They came out clean(er), but I wasn't too impressed with the finish. I read the manual which reccommended 3-4 hrs. Tried running the next batch for 3 hrs and added a capful of Nufinish (which had been sitting in my cupboard for years) for the last 15-20 minutes as was reccommended by someone on this site. The cases are maybe a bit nicer-looking but still nowhere near new-cartridge looks.

Am I expecting too much?
Click to expand...

I have used Nu Fisnish and was not impressed with the results. It might work on relatively clean cases, but not on older tranished brass. I have been using the Lyman Tumbler additive (not the regenerator stuff). It is a cream with an abrasive in it. Yes, it does really blacken the media, but the cases sure do come out clean.

I accidentally left the tumbler on for the better part of a week and it pretty much took the nickel plating off some of the cases.

Really tarnished cases can take a day of tumbling, even with additives.
 
I know some will pooh-pooh the idea, but Brasso works good for heavily tarnished brass. I've used it lots with no problems.

Maybe one cap full every 2-3 loads of brass, use dryer sheets to remove dust & grime... brass comes out real shiny!
 
I put a load of 9mm brass into the tumbler last night. Installed a timer and set it for 4 hrs. Checked 'em this morning and still wasn't impressed, not at all. I threw in 1-1/2 capfuls of Nufinish (figured that maybe my tumpbler was too big for just a capful) and set the timer for 20 minutes. I'll see how they look when I get home, but I'm not optimistic. Mebbe I'll try some of the Flitz that's been sitting in my cupboard. If that sucks as well, then it's up to Brasso (also in my cupboard).
One thing, though. Residual dust on the cases doesn't seem to be the issue as it is for others here on the site.
 
peter2772000, put them in and run them overnight. Put in the nufinish and let the tumbler run for a few minutes to mix in. Don't put too much brass in or they scratch. It all depends how dirty they are. I find if they are fairly dirty, overnight will work OK. If really dirty, they'll need 24 hrs. The walnut shells clean better, and the nufinish helps clean them, but gives a nice silky shine. And use bits of USED dryer sheets to absorb the nasty dust and dirt in your tumbler. New sheets are sticky, make your brass sticky too.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. The 9mm casings look a bit better after the NuFinish, but I'm not bothering with that stuff anymore. I'll try the Flitz (simply because I have alot of it and never use it for anything else.
The Vim sounds like a great idea as well, though I imagine it's use is more for cleaning than shining/polishing...?

I'm gonna go back and check the posts, but someone had mentioned ceramic media? Sounds like this stuff would be dust-free and might be the shiniest solution?

EDIT; Just realized that ceramic is used in wet-tumbling. Which my Pro-Magnum 2500 Super-Duper tumbler's warranty will be voided if I use
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the suggestions. The 9mm casings look a bit better after the NuFinish, but I'm not bothering with that stuff anymore. I'll try the Flitz (simply because I have alot of it and never use it for anything else.
The Vim sounds like a great idea as well, though I imagine it's use is more for cleaning than shining/polishing...?

I'm gonna go back and check the posts, but someone had mentioned ceramic media? Sounds like this stuff would be dust-free and might be the shiniest solution?

Hei Peter2772000
next time use braso and a piece of clothing, it's a long process but made a very good jobbb. LOL

Boomboom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom