Crushed walnut residue inside case

[Joe216]

Hey guys, I noticed after Im done cleaning my brass in a lyman tumbler with crushed walnut theres some left over crushed walnut residue inside the case even after blowing it out (wished I had an air compressor).

Will this be an issue?
Is it a bad idea to rinse off the brass in water?
Ive noticed yellow discoloration of the brass, could this be from the oils on my hands?

[JeffinNZ]

Are you referring to the 'fines'? Very fine dust material? If so you could sieve it out.

I use fine walnut and have no problems with dry cases. I have added some Ed's Red to the media also for more effect. Works well.

[Joe216]

Yes I believe you would refer to that as the fines. Even after brass has been sifted there's still a fine residue of power inside the case. Ive been wiping the inside of each case with a damp wrag, buts its time consuming.

[williamwaco]

Some people add paper towels during the tumbling to absorb the dust. It does work but I prefer to take it outside in a lite breeze and pour it from one container to another several times. The wind will blow away the dust and you will wind up with much cleaner media than using paper towels.


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[Blammer]

I have some of that in my cases, looks like dust, I just ignore it and load and shoot, no problem.

[SlowSmokeN]

you can ad dryer sheets or used dryer sheets while tumbling. It never bothered my so I just ignored and loaded.

[Joe216]

ohhh ok now I remember reading about guys adding paper towels, dryer sheets etc, just didnt realize why until now you all mentioned that. Thanks a lot I'll give that a shot.

Blammer, glad to youve tried shooting with the light dust, that makes me feel better. At least I dont have to be so critically and will save a lot of time from not having to wipe out each case.

Thanks a bunch guys.

[Ford SD]

you will be surprised with the amount of dirt the drier sheets pick up

cut each used sheet in to about 8- 10 pcs use 2 sheets for a med size tumbler

pull them out in about a hour(toss in garbage) and then try 1 sheet cut up and see how it goes (you do not need to do every time)

if you put full sheets in it will only sit on top and not tumble/mix with the brass to pick up the most dust

it will reduce the about of dust , I only do it when dust starts to form up on the center cone excessivly

If you were wondering about case lube,
I wash it off with water and then tumble for a hour to dry brass and give the cleaner a chance to clean out the primer pocket, but I am using the fine crushed walnut (that does not stick in pockets)

[lavenatti]

A few oily used cleaning patches in the tumbler really pick up a lot of dust also.

[winelover]

The only thing you must watch out for is the fine pieces of media plugging up the flash hole, if you deprime before you tumble your brass. If that is the case, use a bent paperclip to clean the flash hole before repriming. Don't sweat the dust.

Winelover

[Jim]

I ran into that problem when I first started with walnut media. Somebody here mentioned putting a coupla' tablespoons of mineral spirits in the media. It has eliminated the dust and it seems to make the brass shine better.
As for the media plugging the flash holes, I went to tumbling with the fired primers still in the cases. When I deprime, I'm left with a shiny case and nothing in the flash hole.

[milprileb]

All walnut media is not the same. I once bought 25 pound bag of it which
did a great job but size of the media would lodge inside rifle cases and I had
to be sure to use a probe and gouge out any such media lodged in cases.

It was a PITA but had to be done. I now use a finer grade of walnut media which
pours out of cases w/o this wadding effect.

Dryer sheets and paper towels do nicely on collecting up dust.

I am more concerned now about some media which is labeled as "fine" being
that but includes some sand in the mix. If that is in fact the case, I can see
dynamics to sizing dies that I don't want any part of.

[Reload3006]

Yep I use my universal de-prime die chuck them in the vibrator with walnut hull media a dryer sheet and a table spoon of Case polish (usually Cabelas) pull them out and load them if I have light dust inside its sure not noticeable on the target or chronograph.

[milprileb]

if I have light dust inside its sure not noticeable on the target or chronograph.

Exactly my experience with media and tumblers for 40 years now.

[rsrocket1]

+1 on the dryer sheets.
Mine often come out very dark brown/gray if cleaning a large load of cases. The dryer sheets keep that junk off the walnut and makes it last a lot longer before turning black and needing to be thrown out. Mineral spirits or NuFinish help cut down the dust but coats the walnut with it instead.

Most of that black stuff is simply soot, but some of it is also primer residue which includes lead styphnate which I think is more of a factor toward increased lead levels in blood tests than casting or handling lead bullets.

In my situation, with 2 teenagers I never have a shortage of used dryer sheets. I could run several batches a day every day and still accumulate more dyer sheets than I use up. :)

[Lizard333]

As to your other question about rinsing your brass. It's perfectly safe. I used to use walnut or corn cob media. Got tired of removing the media from the primer pockets so got got a SS tumbling set up. It uses Stainless Steal pins, a gallon of water, dish soap, and an 1/8 teaspoon of lemishine. Cleanest brass you'll ever see. Inside and out.

[williamwaco]

I ran into that problem when I first started with walnut media. Somebody here mentioned putting a coupla' tablespoons of mineral spirits in the media. It has eliminated the dust and it seems to make the brass shine better.
As for the media plugging the flash holes, I went to tumbling with the fired primers still in the cases. When I deprime, I'm left with a shiny case and nothing in the flash hole.


This REALLY helps with mild handgun loads with conventional lube that blow wax, grease, and soot, back all over the outside of the case.

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[lead-1]

I tumbled some brass today that actually had a coating on it afterward that resembles a thin coating truck bed liner. Wow this stuff sticks, I had to really rub it off with a piece of scotch brite.
I kind of believe that my problem is with the tumbler bowl itself, I had forgot about mixing mineral spirits and Nufinish to that bowl and it actually broke down and softened the plastic bowl, the bowl has the same coating in the bottom of it. Same media works fine in my Frankfort tumbler.