Tumbler media

[abunaitoo]

Has anyone tried red granite sand blast media for cleaning cases????

[lightman]

No, but I have used masonry or playground sand. It cleaned some really grubby brass but did not get really shiney. I also tumbled some pulled military bullets that had sealer on them.

[abunaitoo]

I wonder if it would work in a vibrator????
Seems like it would clean tarnished dirty brass really fast.

[Stan_TN]

I may try it this week. Sounds like it may work.

[WheelgunConvert]

Try using ground walnut lizard litter. $10 a 10# bag at most big box pet stores. Just make sure that the primer hole is clear afterwards. I deprive before and size after cleaning so not an issue for me when I use it.

[EddieZoom]

The crushed walnut at Harbor Freight is tough to beat for the cost. Always on sale or on a coupon (like everything else at Harbor Freight) Treat with mineral spirits and NuFinish.

https://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs...dia-92155.html

[mdi]

The granite blast media will "work" as in clean the brass, in a rotary tumbler. I'm sure the brass will be clean, but won't be shiny, probably a matte finish. I tried beach sand in a wobbler and there wasn't much "action" or flow of the media/brass.

[Larry Gibson]

Try rice, I've been using it for years.

I get the cheapest long stemmed rice at oriental food stores. Works great in a vibrator or in a Thumbler.

I usually clean cases before sizing depriming but always check the flash hole and case for other debri.

[dbosman]

Once upon a time I tried every media I could get from pet shops, "sand blasting" supplier, masonry supplier, wood shop, and SS pins.
I finally settled on SS pins for serious dirt - and the shine it created, followed by drying, then dry tumbling with crushed nutshell doped with mineral spirits and NuFinish for sealing that shine from humidity.

[Walter Laich]

after SS pins I went to SS chips

seem to cut time in half

get it from guy on FB IIMC have to message him to get cost and such

https://www.facebook.com/southernshinetumblers/

[greenjoytj]

The only gripes I have with SS pins are: they don’t clean inside of 22 Hornet cases very well.
I suspect there’s not enough room for movement in the small case.
Sometimes I find a pin wedged sideways in a case, that must be pulled with needle nose pliers.

The weight of 5# of SS pins is a bit hard on my RCBS tumbler. I see granuals of plastic under the machine that have come from the large driven wheel rim that glued to the tank.

[mdi]

Jes wonderin', what's the need to polish/clean the ID of a 22 Hornet case?

[Oily]

I'm too cheap to buy media. I also use mainly rice as my neighbor is on the indian roll and gets a 20# bag every couple of months and she keeps me well stocked. Pain for 22 cal as it is time consuming to empty cases but as I said I'm cheap. The good thing about rice is no dust.

[Grmps]

drier sheets cut into strips help remove dirt from the media

[mdi]

During my early use of tumblers I tried everything I could think of (beach sand, glass beads, wood chips, pet litter [Good Mews] charcoal chunks, BBs, rice [didn't work for me, the long grain white rice turned to dust after an hour], dried peas/beans and mebbe a dozen others) and settled on corn cob blast media, 14-20 as the best all around media for my use...

[Tom W.]

I saw some ceramic blast media @ Harbor Freight yesterday, I believe it was about $18 or so. I didn't get it, but am thinking about mixing some with my corn cob media I get from Midway. I've tried a lot of things, including rice, and wasn't pleased with the results, so I went back to corn cob and a squirt of Nu Finish. At a gun show one time many years ago a man sold me some green stuff to mix with my media and it did wonders! unfortunately I don't remember what it was. I know it wasn't rouge, because I tried some of that once too. It did make the stamping on the case head stand out and easy to read.....

[Kraschenbirn]

+1 on the corn cob media...but, then, I've got a cob processing plant about five miles down the road where I buy it off the dock in 40# bags for less than half pet-store retail.

Bill