you said opinion, but where are your facts that walnut cleans faster than brass???
Don't need facts on this on. I have been reloading for well over 15-years, and this has been experienced personally. Have two vibratory tumblers, side by side. Load one with corn cob, and the other with walnut. If left alone for a day, they will both be "clean"...but the corn cob will have a "shinier finish".
Now do the same, but this time leave the brass in the media for only 1-hour...and now tell me which one cleaned the spent brass better. (The walnut media)
and we are not in the jewelry business, but i do consider brass POLISHED with corn cob not SEMI POLISHED.....so where does that statement come from ??(remember you are on a shooting forum, and polished brass has a meaning here.)
You don't need to be a "gee-nee-ous" to play with words, but this I do know - some folks will clean their brass with specific media, and others will add a polishing compound to their media. (Nu-Finish, Dillon Rapid Polish, etc...). Why?
Duh...because one leaves the brass "shinier". Now, what do you think the word "shinier" means? Polished, semi-polished, matte finish, gloss, semi-gloss...
Ha ha ha.
Just semantics. All semantics. Bottom line, one leaves the surface "less scratched," hence giving better light reflection...or shinier. Call it whatever you like, but there is a difference in "look" when done. They way I see it, one gives a shiny finish, and the other a semi-polished finish. (Kinda like a satin finish).
And "No"...I don't clean brass for a living. I am no "pro-fesh-u-nal". But I knows what I knows, and I sees what I sees. ;)
for your info stick powders often have surface coatings which control burn rates. they will and do come off..the results can be a significant change in burn characteristics. so long term vib tumbling is not reccomended. so if your examples all had used ball powder...it meant nothing.
I hear you, and I come from those same camps. But others have shown that leaving brass tumbling for a short, extended, period of time (2-days max) will show no perceivable difference in performance. Granted, they did it with pistol-caliber rounds - but that was all I was interested in.
If you load with stick powders, and you clean brass for a living...hmmm...try experimenting with it and post your results. Enquiring minds would like to know. :)
i have said it before, but will repeat for you. i am in the brass business. NO ONE IN MY FIELD, THAT I KNOW, USES WALNUT MEDIA IN THIER BUSINESS. the only two methods used in my field that i am aware of is WET or CORNCOB. if better or cheaper were out there we would be using it.
I hear you, brother. I guess there are just "suckers" out there (me included) who are purchasing enough walnut media to warrant a company to invest in this material. (CLICK HERE, HERE, or HERE). I use a 50/50 mixture, and I am happy with it. I came up with this idea YEARS AGO, before ever reading about it on the internet. It didn't leave my brass all spiffy and shiny, but it cleaned quicker, and it made my media last a little longer before being thrown out. (I don't really go by the "color" of the media. I will throw it out when it takes too long to clean my brass effeciently).
ya have a good day
But of course.
mike in co