Walnut vs CornCob

[lar45]

Hi, what's everybodies opinion on tumbling media?
I've always used Walnut shell, but from looking at the descriptions it looks like Corncob may last longer. It also says Corncob is better for absorbing oils and moisture, plus with it's porous surface it can hold a polish treatment better than Walnut. Makes me wonder why I was useing Walnut.
So what are the pros and cons?

[RobS]

I use walnut but use to use corn cob. I like the wulnut as it is finer and is easier to work with regarding different cartridges (especially the smaller calibers). As for holding more polish I wouldn't say one way or the other is better in my opinion. I use turtle wax's polishing compound cut with 91% rubbing alcohol. The rubbing alcohol simply to thin it out and to help with evaporation. I do believe the corn cob media does last a bit longer though.

[oneokie]

Dust is less of a problem with corn cob. The size I use does not plug flashholes or primer pockets.

[Shiloh]

Price.

A 40 lb bag of 14/20 corncob around $25 out the door. Get a couple of buddies together and have media for a long time. http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2MVR4?Pid=search This grit won't stick in flash holes

I used to use walnut, but I get tumbled brass faster, with a higher polish, than walnut media. It does hold your brass polish better.

Use Nu Finish car polish from Wal-Mart. Very economical. Iosso works well also, but is a good bit more expensive.

Shiloh

[Ohio Rusty]

There was a thread on this list maybe a year and a half ago about Walnut vs. Corn. One poster was saying that the corn cob media clogged up the empty primer holes too badly, and was a pain to remove. He used walnut media after that.
I have had no issues with walnut media, and bought a big 20 pound bag of it in the pet section at Wally World for 5 dollars.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[Bill*]

I bought walnut when I first started and since it worked OK I've never tried corn cob

[oksmle]

I've used both & prefer corn cob but now use only "Pureed" rice. I steal some of Mrs. oksmle's dry, long grain rice & run it through her blender set on "Puree" for about 10 seconds. Sift the dust & larger grains out & puree the long grains again 'til they are of a size that won't clog my flash holes & won't log jam in bottle neck cases. Don't use polishing compound & have very little residue left on the cases. The same load has been in my tumbler for a couple of years & I noticed the other day that it needs changing.

[Jim]

..... One poster was saying that the corn cob media clogged up the empty primer holes too badly, and was a pain to remove.

Not fer sure, that mighta' been me. I once posted that I used corn cob media and made the stupid mistake of tumbling .223s in it. Took me a coupla' hours to pick that stuff outa' those liittle case mouths. When I got it out, it went in the trash and I've been using walnut media ever since.

[jtaylor1960]

I started with corn cob but switched just to see.The walnut seems to work much faster.It does put a red film on the cases that can be easily wiped off.As for the primer pockets I deprime my cases after cleaning to make sure that doesn't happen.I'm afraid I might miss one and cause a missfire.

[putteral]

I like corn cob with NU FINISH or Cleaner wax. I only tumble pistol brass and they come out nice and shiny in about 1 1/2 hours.

[jcwit]

I would say it all depends on if you only want cleaning, walnut. For a high polish better looking than new ammo use corn cob with polish, just about any kind even auto cleaner wax works wonders. Stay away fromany that use amonia unless you let the amonia evarope before putting the brass in.

For those that have trouble or want to use a cob media that doesn't clog flash holes My I suggest 20/40 grit corn cob blasting media available from Graingers Industrial Supply. Its fine enough to flow thru the flash hole and not clog the primer pocket.

[Marlin Hunter]

I like the corncob better: They get shinier. I have tried several types of walnut shells. The fine one works better than the large chunks.

[theperfessor]

I use corncob with a splash of acetone in a home made tumbler that uses sealed one gallon metal paint cans. Gets off old lube, light tarnish, etc. Lasts a long time. Dump brass in right from range, no clogged primer pockets that way.

Coarse walnut media does seem to work good for badly tarnished cases.

[helg]

I use both. First I tumble in walnut with mineral spirits. This gets all dirt out to matte yellow surface. Then I decap and tumble in corncob with brass polisher. This makes brass, including primer pockets, looking shiny.

I doubt that this is an overkill, and does not increase accuracy. However, I enjoy the reloading process more when I handle perfectly clean brass.

[Ken O]

I use both also. Walnut for cleaning out the powder/lube fouling, then after resizing I use corncob to absorb the lube and put a nice shine on them.

[MtGun44]

Walnut shell dust is irritating to the nose and eyes. Walnut trees are biowarfare
experts. Many folks are severely allergic to walnut wood dust, the roots of the trees
will kill other trees and shrubs nearby. Walnut works OK, but the dust is mildly
irritating to me and I don't want to become more allergic to it from exposure. That
would be very bad when I want to rework or build a stock from walnut.

Bill

[cheese1566]

I have used both, but prefer corn cob in my Hornady M2 tumbler with a polish; come out nice and shiny!

My thoughts: walnut for scrubbing; corn cob for polishing

I just got done building a homebrew rotary tumber that uses up to two 5 gallon buckets at the same time. I am using my old stash of walnut media and an old bottle of Finish 2000 liquid car wax I found buried in a garage cabinet. I just cleaned up a gallon ziplock bag of dirty and tarnished 223 casings in about an hour. It will work good for my range brass and bulk lots prior to sorting headstamps and case prep work.

I'll then do my final high polish just prior to reloading using my vibratory/cob/case polish. I buy my stuff from the local sandblast shop in 50# bags and split it with friends. They have several grit sizes to choose from.

[mike in co]

Invalid question.

They have two different specific uses.

Walnut to clean dirty brass

and

corn cob to polish.....


There is no "better"


mike in co

[troy7769]

Walnut with rouge on it.
Troy

[S.R.Custom]

I use a 50/50 mix of both. Cleans and polishes. And I keep the mixture on the damp side with mineral spirits to speed the process up.