Tumbling Brass with treated Shell media

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I usually use the treated corn cob media to clean my brass and it worked fine but didn't give the brass a really good shine. I just tried some of the treated crushed nut shell and it leaves a red 'dust' inside and outside of the cases.

I have wiped off the 'dust' from the outside of the case and they shine really nice but the build up inside the case is another matter. Also the prospect of hand buffing 40,000 assorted pistal brass is less than attractive.

Does anyone else use the nut shell media and how do you overcome the 'dust' residue? Will the dust inside the case effect the power burn, pressure, or accurracy?
 
I've been using the Lymann Tufnut media lately and yes, it really cleans the brass well and quickly, but the trade off is the red dust. I just wipe it off the brass, but I'm not doing 40,000 pistol cases! The dust doesn't effect anything from what I have observed, other than it's kind of a pain to wipe off.

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember someone using Bounce fabric sheets in their tumbler and it helped keep the dust off the cases. I haven't tried it myself though.
 
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Why dont you just run it under a tap for a minute or two, throw em in the oven and bake em dry.


*runs down stairs to check on 9MM brass in the oven*
 
corncob

I use the corn cob media in my polisher and it works very well, when it takes longer or the brass is not super shiny I add some lyman turbo charger reactivator. This also keeps the dust down. As for the dust you are getting inside your cases with the nut shell, get a can of compressed air from a computer shop and give all of your cases a little blast of air. That will blow out the dust and possibly that piece of media that always manages to get itself lodged in the flash hole.
 
I clean my brass with plain walnut. I polish with cob and Peek polish. You can also use Turtle wax, Nu-finish, etc. If you have really dirty brass use turtle was chrome polish, it has a courser grit. Forget the red death. I have never had dust with my stuff. Also, use a used dryer sheet to keep the media dust down.
 
I use this combo:
4 parts corn cob to 1 part Tuff Nut. Add a used cut up dryer sheet and tumble. For that extra shine, a bit of Nu-Finish polish.
The corncob will pick up the jewellers rouge and help polish, the reduced amount of Tuff Nut will cut down on the dust in the bowl and the dryer sheet means your brass smells meadow fresh and is pillowy soft :p :D .
(it actually collects dust and crap)

(E) :cool:
 
I have a clean 5 gallon bucket in the garage (where I do all my brass cleaning) That I pour my cleaned cases after they come out of the tumbler then I open the big door and stick the air gun from the air compressor in and shake the bucket a bit.
Really helps with the dust.
I will be trying the bounce sheet next time though...
 
Long grained rice with nu finish polish. You can buy it in any grocery store, is dirt cheap and does not dust up (I hate walnut - once had to clean the dust out of 500 38 spl casings....). I just rip up 3 or 4 2x2" squares of shop towel, and throw them in with the casings, and throw them out after every use - keeps the treated rice clean
 
CanAm said:
I clean my brass with plain walnut. I polish with cob and Peek polish. You can also use Turtle wax, Nu-finish, etc. If you have really dirty brass use turtle was chrome polish, it has a courser grit. Forget the red death. I have never had dust with my stuff. Also, use a used dryer sheet to keep the media dust down.
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Just getting into the brass cleaning & polishing and I have recently picked up an RCBS Sidewinder Tumbler. The wife has been saving dryer sheets for me. A container of liquid cleaner, in addiion to some Walnut Shell Dry Media, came with it but it's the Walnet Shell that I plan to use. A packet of polishing compound for use with the Walnut shell media was also included but I see you use Turtle Wax, Nu-Finish and in some instances, Chrome Polish. For a rough idea to start with, how much of it would you use with a given amount of Walnut Shell??
 
I just picked up a Frankford Arsenal vibrator tumbler along with some Lyman crushed walnut media. Had some very dirty brass and cleaned them up just like new in a few hours. Nice and shiny, and a great way to check for any case defects!
Used to have a Thumbler tumbler years ago, and used the treated media. Made a terrible mess. My vote goes to untreated walnut now.
 
I picked up a Lyman Turbo 1200 Tumbler and some Tuf Nut from LeBaron along with some case cleaning stuff. While it does leave some dust with watter and a rinse they are clean and shiny. I cleaned about 300 .223 casings in two and a half hours and they came out damn clean. Makes reloading much more enjoyable and relaxing not having to shake it with viniger, water and soap.
 
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