Walnut media - coarse or fine
- Thread starter super7
- Start date
Really? Why would asking a question about cleaning brass be in the wrong section? This is reloading....right?
Anyway.....i like fine media. The coarse stuff may get stuck inside the case or in the flash hole (depending on neck dia). I also find that I don't need to add brass polish. I just let tumble overnite.
heavyBullet
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I use the fine, though it used to leave walnut dust on the floor until I got a solid lid for my tumbler.
I accidentally bought a 50lb bag of the very fine (40-60?) walnut shell. While it is very good for polishing, it sucks for cleaning.
I bought another bag of the proper stuff (12-20 I think) and does a much better job of cleaning and lasts 3 times as long in the tumbler.
Extra Fine 40/60
Fine 20/40
Medium 12/20
Coarse 8/12
Extra Coarse 4/6
12/20 is the same coarseness as the retail boxes/bags sold by the various reloading companies (Hornady, Lyman, RCBS, etc...) as well as the Lizzard Litter sold at many pet stores.
I bought another bag of the proper stuff (12-20 I think) and does a much better job of cleaning and lasts 3 times as long in the tumbler.
Extra Fine 40/60
Fine 20/40
Medium 12/20
Coarse 8/12
Extra Coarse 4/6
12/20 is the same coarseness as the retail boxes/bags sold by the various reloading companies (Hornady, Lyman, RCBS, etc...) as well as the Lizzard Litter sold at many pet stores.
blacksmithden
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I've used the stuff that they sell in gun shops as well as what the abrasive industry calls fine. The fine stuff has slightly smaller grains the say Lyman puts out. I don't really notice much of a difference. The both do a good job. I don't think I'd want it any smaller though.
Actually walnut course is still pretty small (fine) as we relate to tumbling media.
Course,medium and fine are the mesh sizes in relation to its use in oilfield drilling mud.
Fine is basically powder while course and medium work great in tumblers.
Course,medium and fine are the mesh sizes in relation to its use in oilfield drilling mud.
Fine is basically powder while course and medium work great in tumblers.
I tried the real fine stuff and my experience echos yours. Too dusty and polishes but doesn't clean real well. Found the 12/20 stuff and it does a better job cleaning.
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I bought a bag of this...it works fine but it is a bit more dusty.
The plastic pellets work pretty good. When they get too dirty, just wash them with soap and water and they're good as new again. There are two things to watch out for, though:
1. The pellets lodge themselves in the primer pockets of deprimed brass.
2. They tend to bridge in the necks of bottleneck cases. A crank type media separator will knock the pellets out of most of the cases, but you will get a few cases in each load that will have to have the pellets picked out by hand.
I think that the foibles are worth living with considering that they don't have to be replaced, they're non-dusty, and they're less messy to load and unload from the tumbler than walnut or corncob media.
I had the same question when I was talking with the folks at Manus Abrasives out here, from whom I bought a 50 lb. bag of medium (12/20) walnut media. It's fairly complicated, as you can see here.
I think that the Mill Grade scale (under Commercial Mesh, down the page) is the one used for walnut media. So the particles in 12/20 would be between .065 and .036 diameter. This seems to work OK for me, although it can get stuck in flash holes, so I don't deprime first. No problem with small bottleneck cases, though; I tried it on .222 Rem. and had no problems.
StuartI have used Lizard Litter from the pet store for quite a few years now. Works great for cleaning, and polishes to absolutely sparkling, if you want that, with a bit of Nu Finish from Can Tire added to the litter.
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