Better case cleaning medium?

[MIEagle]

I clean my BP brass in small rock polishing size tumblers using ceramic media and a soap/water combo. Does a great job. I also have a Lyman Turbo 2000 that came with a green colored kernel medium that I run my old multi-sourced .30 cal brass in. It does a so-so job but is very dusty, most all of the brass has a kernel stuck in the flash hole, and I just don't like using it. Is there better media that I can use in the Turbo that doesn't have these disadvantages? Thank you.

[dragon813gt]

Harbor Freight fine crushed walnut blasting media. W/ their coupon it’s $1 a pound. It doesn’t get stuck in flash holes. Cleans faster than corn media. But it doesn’t polish as well as corn media. I’m not one that needs bright and shiny brass so I don’t care about the duller polish.

[Hossfly]

Harbor freight has listed 2 diff. Grades fine and course. Is fine better than course? Dragon813gt

[Hossfly]

Going to try in large batch with concrete mixer about 30 # brass.

[country gent]

Graingers MSC Mc Master Carr or local shop supply stores have corn cob and walnut in various grades by the 50lb bag. The last bag I bought was 20 years ago 20-20 grade corncob. small enough to flow thru the flash holes. I believe it was around $15.00. I got this at the Andersons in Maumee Ohio. It can be treated with the case polishes available, nufinish works also. I keep 3 loads going, new untreated for removing the residue of treated media and case lubes. 2nd is treated for polishing and cleaning 3 rd is the number 2 batch that's really cruddy. Thisis used for range brass and really dirty corroded brass.

[dragon813gt]

Harbor freight has listed 2 diff. Grades fine and course. Is fine better than course? Dragon813gt

Yes, I listed “fine” for a reason. It’s small enough to not get stuck on flash holes. I’ve used this media in a concrete mixer plenty of times. If you want your brass super shiny then you want another type of media. If you simply want it clean then it’s exactly what you want.

[JSnover]

If you can't get satisfied with dry media there are a few things you can add to it; mineral spirits, Iosso case polish (I've had really nice results with both), plus a bunch of others.

[billyb]

I use a mix of 50-50 fine blast media from Harbor freight-walnut hulls and the fine corn cob from Grangers and Nu finish. Fresh corn and the walnut is full of fine dust that raises up out of a uncovered tumbler. Used dryer sheets in the tumbler helps capture a lot of this dust. Like Country Gent I use the grungy media to clean brass before I size and after sizing to remove the lube from the cases.

[retread]

I mostly wet tumble with SS pins but I do on occasion dry tumble with walnut shell media. Dust can be a problem but I put in about a teaspoon of paint thinner and it keeps the dust down and seems to make the media work better.

[asmith80]

Crushed walnut lizard bedding also works well and you can get it in any pet store or big box store that sells pet stuff

[lightman]

When I polish with corncob I add a cap full of mineral spirits and a cap of automotive polish. The mineral spirits cuts down on the dust and the car polish leaves a protective coating.

There are several threads about wet polishing using stainless media. It does a great job but it has a small learning curve. Mixing the correct formula, separating the media from the brass and drying.

[cajun shooter]

I've been using the SS media for several years now and it's the best thing I've ever used in my 50 years of loading. There is a slight learning curve with the SS but it's nothing that any loader can't do. The biggest thing is cleaning your pins when you first open them and then again every three or so uses. If not you will do a load of brass that will have a dirty, greasy coating. I use mineral spirits to clean my SS pins and they will last forever.
I purchased a large magnet to pick up my pins and a media tumbler to get them out of my brass. I use Dawn w/oxy soap as my cleaning soap and my cases come out looking as if they were just made including the primer pocket which i not cleaned this bright with any other method. The pins are the only way to do brass!! Take Care

[Schreck5]

I've been using the SS media for several years now and it's the best thing I've ever used in my 50 years of loading. There is a slight learning curve with the SS but it's nothing that any loader can't do. The biggest thing is cleaning your pins when you first open them and then again every three or so uses. If not you will do a load of brass that will have a dirty, greasy coating. I use mineral spirits to clean my SS pins and they will last forever.
I purchased a large magnet to pick up my pins and a media tumbler to get them out of my brass. I use Dawn w/oxy soap as my cleaning soap and my cases come out looking as if they were just made including the primer pocket which i not cleaned this bright with any other method. The pins are the only way to do brass!! Take Care

Where do y'all get the ss pins?

[Rcmaveric]

Surprised no one mentioned used driers sheets to control the dust and prolong the life of your walnut media. Dryer sheets trap the dust and just toss then after a few runs. Wife keeps them for me after the laundry.

I just tried the lemmi shine stuff for the first time and i was quite pleased. Just let it soak over night and brass was quite perty and patina/tarnish free. Its drying now on a towel. I do like to tumble with Nu-finish. I haven't done any official test but it seams that brass i tumble with Nu-finnish doesn't corroded on the shelf. Once a piece of brass starts to rust, if you don't get it out in time it will eat the whole bin. Living on the salt water swamp doesn't help.

[GARD72977]

I have started wet tumbling my 9mm without media. I run it once with a couple drops of Dawn 1hr and rinse. I run it again with Lemishine 15-20 min and rinse. Brass comes out very nice.

I have let the Dawn run for a couple hours before. It cleans the inside almost as nice as S/S media.

[billyb]

Where do y'all get the ss pins?

I bought mine from Orisolo here on the board. Midway has them, as most of the reloading supply mail order sites.as well as STM at the top of the page.

[abunaitoo]

Throw some fresh orange peels, or any other fruit skin like it, in when vibrating.
Keeps down on the dust, and the acid helps clean.

[Walter Laich]

I started with SS pins and moved on to SS chips.

get them from a guy on Facebook--I had to send a message and got a reply on cost. They cut the time in half compared to pins.

My entire contact with him is a happy customer--not in anyway part of the operation

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

[Thumbcocker]

Can you wet tumble in a Dillon vibratory tumbler?

[lightman]

Can you wet tumble in a Dillon vibratory tumbler?

Probably not. I doubt that it would hold liquid without leaking. They were designed for dry media.