Better case cleaning medium?

[sniper]

I like good-looking brass, so I use a 50-50 combo of Lizard bedding from the pet store, and some fine corncob I bought what seems like a lifetime supply of a couple of years ago. Then I add a capful or Mineral Spirits and some sort of polish. When I run out of case polish, I may try Mother's. But...a question I have... does the Mother's mag polish leave a coating, and will that make brass more slippery, increasing thrust/pressure on the slide or frame of the revolver?

[kevin c]

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

I can't say that this shows that the Dillon's are leak proof, but I have put citrus based liquid cleaners in mine to soak overnight, to get built up dried polish and other crud off, and didn't see any leaks.

The wet tumblers I've seen (I use a FART now, and my club has just invested in a small HF cement mixer) or heard about all rotate to agitate the brass. I'm not sure a vibratory brass tumbler meant for dry media would work with liquid media, whether leak proof or not.

[tankgunner59]

I use a Lyman 1200 Turbo vibrating tumbler with reptile bedding walnut media. I put a little Nu Finish car wax and a little mineral spirits after about three runs. Get an occasional grain stuck in a flash hole, but the brass comes out clean and bright. For the dust I have my wife give me her used dryer fabric softener sheets, cut them in three and put them into the tumbler. They collect the dust and I just throw them away after use. Works great for me. The reptile bedding is really inexpensive.

[gwpercle]

After trying just about every home made case polish, grits, rice , sand , kitty litter, pet bedding, various blasting medias , lizard bedding, with and without nu-finish, Turtle Wax Chrome Polish and Rust remover and other liquid wax products added to the beddings, Lyman's green and red treated media's ........The Best Is,,,drum roll please......

Midway's Frankford Arsenal Treated Walnut Brass Cleaning and Polishing Media .

It's ground to the proper size and comes altreated with the correct type of brass polish...
For the money it's the best deal and it just works ! Lyman's media's didn't do as good a job or last as long as the FA medias.

Gary

[greenjoytj]

I used my RCBS tumbler with Lyman green corn cob media, I was never happy with the results vs the time it took. Yes the outside of the cases got perfectly cleaned. The carbon coating inside the case was just polished shiny, I was expecting the carbon to be removed. I cut up a drier sheet into 1” squares to mix with the media to control dust and I added some Dillion blue case polish.
I always push out spent primers and clean the pocket prior to the cases going into the tumbler.
I do this to reduce the amount of fouling entering the media and it speeds up the tumbling.
I still had to separate the cases from the media and wash the cases to remove a greenish slime then dry the cases. That’s the way I cleaned my cases for about 6 years.

I read about cleaning with stainless steel pins (SS) so I gave it a try and have been very happy with the results. Only the 22 Hornet case fail to be cleaned inside (cases are too small pins can’t move about).
My cleaning solution is: 15 ml powdered “Cascade” dish washing machine detergent. Plus 15 ml of TSP. Plus 7.5 ml Lemi Shine detergent booster. The 3 chemicals get mixed with 1 L of hot tap water.
These cleaning chemicals are low suds. Liquid Dawn made too much suds that could support and float away my SS pins. 2 hours in the tumbler then check the level of clean, usually 2 hrs is enough. A large plastic “Pan” sieve placed over a ~3 gal bucket catches the pins.
I do the sieve work in the laundry tub with the short hose from the tap rinsing the SS pins out and soap off all the cases. I punched a line of small holes on one side of the bucket to keep the in flowing water just below the bottom of the sieve.
If I want to add wax I do that by soaking swirling 50 cases in Simonize car wash & wax in a 2 pound margarine tub.
I have 2 large baking sheets I line with cheap Walmart cotton towels to dry the cases on.
To speed up the drying I twist a half sheet of paper towel into a rope and twist it into the cases, cut off a ½” of wet towel rope every 3-4 cases. Case dry overnight or if I ‘m in a hurry
I’ll use the clothes dryer I put the stationary rack inside, towels on top, cases spread out on the towels. I have used the oven to dry the cases on the baking sheet (no towels).
I dry the SS pins on the baking sheet in the oven on 300*f temp.
A telescoping pick up magnetic wand is a must have. Being super careful not to drop or spill any SS Pins a few pins always get into the laundry tub and or down the drain or on the floor.
All are retrieved with the magnetic wand.

I also have an Hornady ultrasonic cleaner it works. Not quite as well as the SS pins.

[Bama]

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

The course will bridge flash holes and requires punching out but the fine does not usually bridge the flash hole. Fine is less aggressive but this can be off set with a little Nu finish

[hpbear101]

Bon-Ami cleaner makes an effective additive for tumble media. I use a spoonful added to rice.