Tumbling media

I use plastic beads I got from one the plastic molding companies in town. It works great, very fast, and can be cleaned and reused for a good long while before they get too smooth from all the wear. Been 2 years so far and have not wore out any yet. There was a post about plastic media here that got me going on it and I never looked back!
 
I just picked up 50lbs of walnut sandblasting media, threw it in my tumbler with some .223 brass and a used bounce sheet on top. The result was the brass COVERED in dust, inside and outside of the casings... am I doing something wrong here?

What is the grit size you bought?
 
Well, it's been a while since we had a "don't use Brasso" post. Could someone please post a link to John Y Cannuck's experiment/post that he did a year or two ago that disproves this myth ? Thanks.

It's odd that a product that is marketed to clean brass, and in fact is named 'Brasso', actually 'corrodes copper and brass into a blue-green salt'.

just sayin'
 
T
That's why I previously cautioned against the use of ammonia on your brass cases and instead suggested the use of Nu-Finish car wax.

I hope that helps.

No, doesn't help, just confuses people for nothing.

The amount of ammonia in Brasso is first diluted by being dispersed in the media, (by what 1,000:1 ? ) and then the ammonia dissipates in a few minutes.

The experiments you note is constant immersion in ammonia of that concentration. So, what happens to your hand if you put it into media covered with Brasso? Does your skin peel off the way it would in 10 or 20% ammonia? And the link you noted was Anhydrous Ammonia, meaning 100%......

End result => Ammonia in Brasso has NO EFFECT whatsoever
 
I agree!

Brasso works GREAT - and doesn't do anything to harm brass. It does help clean and polish very well!!!

All you need is a little bit - and make sure you run the tumbler (with media and Brasso only) before adding brass to ensure the Brasso is well dispersed.


No, doesn't help, just confuses people for nothing.

The amount of ammonia in Brasso is first diluted by being dispersed in the media, (by what 1,000:1 ? ) and then the ammonia dissipates in a few minutes.

The experiments you note is constant immersion in ammonia of that concentration. So, what happens to your hand if you put it into media covered with Brasso? Does your skin peel off the way it would in 10 or 20% ammonia? And the link you noted was Anhydrous Ammonia, meaning 100%......

End result => Ammonia in Brasso has NO EFFECT whatsoever
 
Could a fellow use staples instead of stainless media?

what about airsoft bb's?

You could get a roll of stainless wire and cut it into 1/4" or so pieces. This is how they make the pins its just time consuming.

BB's wouldn't clean the primer pockets or the case very well since they wouldn't provide the abrasion required.
 
You could get a roll of stainless wire and cut it into 1/4" or so pieces. This is how they make the pins its just time consuming.

BB's wouldn't clean the primer pockets or the case very well since they wouldn't provide the abrasion required.

hmm i thought so but wasn't quite sure.

I just can't bring myself to pay shipping on a 5 or 10 pounds and no shops in the area have anything like this. So I'm looking for options and substitutes. haha.
 
hmm i thought so but wasn't quite sure.

I just can't bring myself to pay shipping on a 5 or 10 pounds and no shops in the area have anything like this. So I'm looking for options and substitutes. haha.

I'm in the process of switching over to wet tumbling (my tumbler is a small homemade rotary one) and I've tried using spent .22 Long cases as tumbling media instead of SS pins. It works ok, they do clean out the insides somewhat, but obviously not the primer pocket. Still, I like it better than walnut so far - less dust and mess, and shiny brass (on the outside). The insides aren't gleaming bright like with SS media, but much cleaner than with regular media. Just make sure not to tumble any 270 or 7mm brass with them - they get stuck in the neck. Anything 30 cal or bigger is fine.

Yes, I'm cheap. :)
 
SS media work's on all size's of brass also!

DSCF1760.jpg

Ummm you forgot to deprime first! :D


Once you go stainless you never go back.
 
I'm in the process of switching over to wet tumbling (my tumbler is a small homemade rotary one) and I've tried using spent .22 Long cases as tumbling media instead of SS pins. It works ok, they do clean out the insides somewhat, but obviously not the primer pocket. Still, I like it better than walnut so far - less dust and mess, and shiny brass (on the outside). The insides aren't gleaming bright like with SS media, but much cleaner than with regular media. Just make sure not to tumble any 270 or 7mm brass with them - they get stuck in the neck. Anything 30 cal or bigger is fine.

Yes, I'm cheap. :)

I'm very cheap as well, I'd rather put the funds towards brass and bullets.
hence looking for substitutes.
 
The insides aren't gleaming bright like with SS media, but much cleaner than with regular media.

I would bet dollars to doughnuts that your target can't tell how clean the inside of your casing was when the bullet left it.

And I don't think the bullet cares one way or the other whether the case was shiny inside either.
 
I would bet dollars to doughnuts that your target can't tell how clean the inside of your casing was when the bullet left it.

And I don't think the bullet cares one way or the other whether the case was shiny inside either.

Oh how true these words are!!
Shiny brass looks fine, but contributes not one iota to accuracy.
I have a tumbler, but am hardly anal about how shiny my brass is.
Regards, Eagleye.
 
I throw my brass in the tumbler with some soot one them, and they come out covered in red dust. I'm sure neither contribute to or detract from accuracy of the loaded rounds. I find with the lyman crushed walnut, i can tumble maybe 300 rifle brass before the media turns from red to brown and becomes a dusty mess. adding nu-finish, sievign out the dust, and putting used dryer sheets in the tumbles is all well and good, but i spend more time "reconditioning" my media than I do actually tumbling. I haven't switched over to a rotary tumbles with ss media because it seems liek it will take MORE time with drying afterwards. Half the time, i just reload without tumbling, only cleanign the brass when they get really grungy.
 
I would bet dollars to doughnuts that your target can't tell how clean the inside of your casing was when the bullet left it.

And I don't think the bullet cares one way or the other whether the case was shiny inside either.

What about case capacity?
 
I use plastic beads I got from one the plastic molding companies in town. It works great, very fast, and can be cleaned and reused for a good long while before they get too smooth from all the wear. Been 2 years so far and have not wore out any yet. There was a post about plastic media here that got me going on it and I never looked back!

I can get a hold of lots of different resin from work, maybe I will try this out and see what results I can get. Do you know what resin you have? ABS, PP etc?
 
Another thing you can use if you are cheap is good ol' Silica sand. Used for sand blasting OR if you are REALLY cheap, go to any beach or playground and grab a shovel or two of sand. Dry it and screen the chunks out and you are good to go
 
I would bet dollars to doughnuts that your target can't tell how clean the inside of your casing was when the bullet left it.

And I don't think the bullet cares one way or the other whether the case was shiny inside either.

Oh, I know it's of no importance to the reloading process, but I thought I'd put the info out there for folks looking for alternatives. 22 casings are free and readily available for most folks. I tried tumbling with them as a way to see if my homemade tumbler could handle wet tumbling. I'm trying to get some SS media for it now that I know it works.
 
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