Old tumbler media

[bigjason6]

Hey guys, just wondering what you all do with the old media from your tumblers. Thanks!

[Roundnoser]

Into the garbage my friend!

[Hardcast416taylor]

I use it for sandbag filler. If I don`t have a need to fill bags the Frau mixes it into her flower and into the garden beds. The nitrates act like fertalizer and makes things grow.Robert

[TXGunNut]

Last batch of corncob went into sand bags made from pants legs. Current batch of walnut shells may just last forever, going strong after 10+ years.

[fryboy]

i've even used it as ummm traction enhancer in the winter on snow and ice as opposed to kitty litter or something such , i know a guy who says he washes the walnut in a washing machine ( tied up in a pillow case ( maybe i should of said wired shut lolz ) )

[hiram1]

shells last a long time corn cob dont last as long i put them in my yard spred out helps out to hold water and fill holes in the yard grass will grow up in it

[milprileb]

No ................. that dog don't hunt. Ten yrs walnut hulls have lasted? What? You fire
ten rounds a year or what ? I shoot 1000 rds of pistol alone per month in winter and 800
rds in a week from May to November. I go thru a 25 pound bag of walnut hulls ($22 at Petsmart) every two years.

Come on... its less than $1 per pound, it gets dirty and you don't want cruddy brass going into your dies or having cruddy ammo. You get a lot of "Clean" for that $1 per pound.

If you ain't changing out your media , you are a sloppy reloader and if you are: you take other shortcuts so please..... go to the range on days I ain't there !

[altheating]

I'm cheap! I actually wash my used walnut hull media out, dry it and re use it. I have a mesh bag that I pour it into, rinse it out with as hot of water as I can get, then I wash it with a bit of comet cleanser added to the water, a wash with a bit of Dawn dish soap and a final rinse. Let it drain a day hanging in the mesh bag than spread it on an old dry towel for a week on the basement floor. Good as new for another year of tumbling! Corn cob media, works not so good as it absorbs water.

[TXGunNut]

If you ain't changing out your media , you are a sloppy reloader and if you are: you take other shortcuts so please..... go to the range on days I ain't there ! -milprileb


Knowing how to clean and when to change media makes me a sloppy reloader?:veryconfu I'm no longer a competitive shooter so no longer have the need to load large quantities. Works for me, not trying to impress anybody.

[altheating]

Hey! I can sharpen a hunting knife too! I don't have to buy a new knife after gutting a deer either. Bigjason6 -- If you want to send it to me, I'll wash it out and use it till it ain't no good any more..

[milprileb]

Well, TXGUnNut, you can wear your socks all year long and not wash them too but

..... it don't make a ton of sense.

Free country: stay down wind please.

[flashhole]

When my walnut media gets dusty I take it outside and pour it into another container from about 3' off the ground. I do this about a half dozen times. A slight breeze will take away 95% of the dust and cleans up the media.

[edsmith]

I have some new lyman media, I also have some lyman media I still use, it is at the least 18 years old, takes a little longer to clean, but still works, at one time I was cleaning 500 cases a week.I have no idea how any one can equate getting the most out of your media to being sloppy.just shows that some people are narrow minded, among other things.

[frankenfab]

Something to think about...I think it is in the thread about lead blood levels. Supposedly the greatest concentration of lead dust in a reloading area is in the tumbler area. I just chunk my used media.

[Boolseye]

The media that came with my Cabela's tumbler is still doing a decent job after–oh, I dunno, couple three thousand rounds, mebbe more. Probably a lot more. Anyway...when I'm done with it I will probably eat it over cereal to get a more visceral sense of what it's like to be a boolit....:x:kidding::kidding:

[Dan Cash]

When my walnut media gets dusty I take it outside and pour it into another container from about 3' off the ground. I do this about a half dozen times. A slight breeze will take away 95% of the dust and cleans up the media.

I tried that once but the gentle North Dakota breeze took the media, nuts, hulls, dust and all. Thank God I was up wind.

Dan

[TXGunNut]

it don't make a ton of sense.-milprileb


Makes perfect sense to me. I clean it, I add polish. It makes my cases look better than new. I don't have a problem with that, why should you?

[dromia]

Gentlemen, some of you are starting to get a tad personal here and that is not acceptable on Cast Boolits so please moderate your behaviour.

If writing in jest then be sure to use the emoticons so that people know you are joking.

[KohlerK91]

I suppose you can change the corn cobb as often as you like. But its like changing the oil in a diesel engine. Run it a few time and the oil is black. This doent mean its no good but good for another 15,000 miles. Just add some of that polished additiove (dillon stuf has worked good for me) I do get alot of dust from the corn cob. I use a squirt bottle of water to minimize this.

[Beagler]

I thought about using old cc media as buffer for oo buckshot loads anybody else have same idea

[mmorris]

... its like changing the oil in a diesel engine. Run it a few time and the oil is black. This doent mean its no good but good for another 15,000 miles. Just add some of that polished additiove (dillon stuf has worked good for me) ...

I don't have any Dillon additive, do you think Flitz is OK with Rotella-T 10W-40? :kidding:

[odfairfaxsub]

teehee milpreb. i've used the same media for 2 years with additves added

[mold maker]

Petco has a better price than Petsmart, on the same lizard litter.
A used dryer sheet cut in 4 pieces will remove lots of the dust from cob and walnut while cleaning brass. A tablespoon of MS will cut down on the dust and help cut grime from brass.
If you don't want to save money, why reload and cast? Or do you have too much money and too little time?
They sell new brass everyday for those that don't care to clean and polish. Just tell me where you shoot. I like dirty brass, and will gladly clean up after you.

[fryboy]

I thought about using old cc media as buffer for oo buckshot loads anybody else have same idea

not saying corncob wouldnt work but some fellows do use the walnut to make balloon buster cowboy loads ( the media is the only projectile )


while walnut can be washed and re-used it does after time round the corners over thereby reducing the cutting/cleaning action , i suppose either would make good flux ( but again stay upwind )

[QUON]

I have been using walnut shells for years. They get smaller as time goes on. Also loses some when dumping the brass. Adding ms and such gives a great shine. I add a pint of walnut shells from time to time to replace the lost walnut shells. Works great for me.

[Boolseye]

Sorry 'bout that:kidding:

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Something to think about...I think it is in the thread about lead blood levels. Supposedly the greatest concentration of lead dust in a reloading area is in the tumbler area. I just chunk my used media.

+1 on trashing used Media because of Lead concentrations

I've read several articles about the airborne Lead coming from tumbling fired cases with primers intact...Dust from the remaining residue from the primer compound 'lead styphnate'. I, myself, choose to avoid contact with the dust or 'used' media that's coated with polishing compounds and residue that some of you are washing off to re-use the media...New corncob media is just too cheap for me to take a chance that cleaning the media may expose myself and others to airborne Lead. I can clean the equivalant of a 5 gallon pail full of brass with one tumbler full of corncob media, adding polish about every 3rd batch of brass, before it's no longer effective, then I just bag it and trash it.

For this same reason, when I tumble pistol cases with primers intact, I always add liquid chrome polish and liquid car wax to the corncob media...the media works faster and literally no dust.

thanks my 2¢
Jon

[Sonnypie]

Facts is, (concerning media dust and it's evils) nobody gets out alive.
You probably breath in much worse stuff on your commute, at your job, or on a trip to the big city (for you folks who live out).
If somebody finds that using their media for years and years works for them, that's Great.
If anybody wants to get picky, when you fuss about the contents of the used media, that stuff goes somewhere. But I bet you it is such minute amounts it would be hard to even test for.

Personally, I think I like to change mine out. Recently I got a bag of "Lizard Litter" from Pets-mart. It is ground English walnut shells.
My cases came out of that very shiny and clean, better than the new media I inherited over a decade ago. And better than my "doctored" media with metal polishes in it. But not as clean as I would like. :violin:

You will only get X amounts of reloads from your brass ultimately anyway. I just tossed a few 30-06 cases showing neck fractures from Fridays firing range trip. Stuff does wear out.
My Lyman 3200 tumbler is on it's last legs. I installed a muffin fan in it to try and help cool the motor. It works, but the inevitable is looming.
Replace it with like in kind? (Nobody seems to make one this big anymore)
Or step up to a newer, more modern method? So my "dirt" will be going down the drain in the future. I'm going to STM (http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/?gclid=CIaDws-YiasCFewaQgodnXVf3A) and a tumbler.
At least, until they say we can't put our brass processing dirt down the sewer.... :roll:
I also tried an Industrial ultrasonic tank about a decade ago. I wasn't eggzackary thrilled with that either. The brass came out kinda frosted.
Very clean, but kind of rough looking.

I still have a fine running Midway tumbler I use for smaller batches. So my walnut will come in handy along the way.

Do your brass the way YOU like. It isn't mandated we do it one way. :wink:

[Cowboy T]

All of my tumbling is done outside in a dedicated area. The old cleaning medium goes to the dump in the HAZMAT area, just in case.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I regularly scrounge brass from the desert out here in Las Vegas. This stuff is really fiflthy and difficult to clean. I went the walnut shell media doctored up with Nu Finish car wax. Works OK but it is slow and a PITA mostly.

My shooting buddy has a Thumbler's Tumbler and uses stainless steel tumbler media, water, Dawn and Lemi Shine. He cleaned up some of my 50-90 BPCR cases and they looked better than brand new. I was impressed.

I now deprime my cases and then clean them in the tumbler with STM. The first run thru is to just get the worst dirt and such offa the brass. After an hour or so I take the tumbler into the kitchin sink and I run hot water into the container until it comes out clean and drains over the edge. That water is usually just about black with black powder fouling and such and stinks.

I reload with fresh Dawn, Lemi Shine and water and let it go for another two hours or so.

When complete I decant into my Dillon Media Separator and get all the media out of the cases and then dump them into a collander and give them a few rinses in clean hot water to remove everything.

Then I dump them out on a table on a few layers of old towels and let them dry.

All this handling gives me an ample opportunity to detect and locate any should be culled cases and ones with cracks and or incipient case head separation.

Then I store the brass in zip lock bags until needed to assemble new rounds.

The primer pockets are totally clean and this makes it easier to hand prime the cases prior to inserting them into the press for reloading.

I am always messing with cases or primers every evening whilst watching TV with one eye. It takes the drudgery out of any repeating and boring chore.

[edsmith]

if any one worries about lead from spent primers, they need to get rid of all their faucets, they will get more lead from them, than they ever will from primers, also lead from older water pipes, ect. like sonnypie said, you won't get out alive, besides you have a better chance of becoming road pizza in a auto accident.:bigsmyl2:

[bruce drake]

I think its has been done before (CC media as a buffer). I read in a shotgun digest that it used to be done but you had to ensure the loaded shotgun cases were well sealed. if the CC Media got damp it would swell and not allow the case to be chambered.

Wax dripped over the top or hot glue probably could help prevent that. I'm not a big shotgun reloader but others on the forum are and could provide a bit of data if you put the question out in a separate thread.

Bruce

[RKJ]

No ................. that dog don't hunt. Ten yrs walnut hulls have lasted? What? You fire
ten rounds a year or what ? I shoot 1000 rds of pistol alone per month in winter and 800
rds in a week from May to November. I go thru a 25 pound bag of walnut hulls ($22 at Petsmart) every two years.

Come on... its less than $1 per pound, it gets dirty and you don't want cruddy brass going into your dies or having cruddy ammo. You get a lot of "Clean" for that $1 per pound.

If you ain't changing out your media , you are a sloppy reloader and if you are: you take other shortcuts so please..... go to the range on days I ain't there !

First off I'd say your rude comments are not appreciated or needed. I've been using the same media for over 30+ years. I did take some years off where I wasn't shooting so lets say it's got 15 years of use. It still cleans very well and I haven't seen any need to change it. I don't shoot as often as I used to but I do shoot more than 10 rounds a year. I don't believe I'm a sloppy reloader either as I take reloading serious. I didn't check where you're from but if we're at the same range I'd ask you to be safe and to leave your attitude at home.

[waksupi]

You know, I really don't mind giving people time off from the board, doesn't bother me a bit. I don't care if you don't think someone does something like they say, that is their business, and insults are not needed here, particularly after another staff member has already had to look in on this thread.

[jcwit]

Problems with high lead counts is very possible from shooting at indoor with bad air exchange filters and from lead styphnate in the primers. If you wish not to believe it do as you wish then get your levels checked in a few years.

I've wondered many times those that claim how lead levels are from this or that, how often have they actually gotten their levels checked, mine are checked twice a year now.

[zuke]

I use to just toss it onto the front and back lawn.

[Boolseye]

Problems with high lead counts is very possible from shooting at indoor with bad air exchange filters and from lead styphnate in the primers. and from breathing in old tumbler media. I think this is a very good reminder for those of us that cast. Ventilate.

[Sonnypie]

I think its has been done before (CC media as a buffer). I read in a shotgun digest that it used to be done but you had to ensure the loaded shotgun cases were well sealed. if the CC Media got damp it would swell and not allow the case to be chambered.

Wax dripped over the top or hot glue probably could help prevent that. I'm not a big shotgun reloader but others on the forum are and could provide a bit of data if you put the question out in a separate thread.

Bruce

A very excellent point to ponder, Bruce.
It is, after all, an organic media. I too would suspect it could swell up with humidity changes or dampness.
Probably why manufactures use plastic as a buffer media in buffered shot loads.

I do usually add a drip or two of candle wax to my shot shell reloads. Just to seal up the tiny hole in the crimp.

[hornady]

Back in the late 60s early 70s I had just gotten out of the army. Not a lot of money on hand, but I reloaded a lot of cases, and they never saw a tumbler, they were reloaded with the old steel pistol dyes. I would just wipe them down with a rag.

As mentioned earlier I have walnut shells that are 10 years old and still going strong. I toss a dryer sheet in about every 3rd or 4th time. The dust and crud sticks to them like a magnet, I add regenerator now and then or a cap full of Nu-finish car wax. My brass is shinny enough for me.

My main reason to tumble brass is for inspection, I look for results at the target, not just pretty brass, but if you want new looking brass every time that’s good too. But maybe one of the new sonic cleaners would be a better option, like everything in reloading, if its safe and works for you why change

[colt 357]

Petco has a better price than Petsmart, on the same lizard litter.
A used dryer sheet cut in 4 pieces will remove lots of the dust from cob and walnut while cleaning brass. A tablespoon of MS will cut down on the dust and help cut grime from brass.
If you don't want to save money, why reload and cast? Or do you have too much money and too little time?
They sell new brass everyday for those that don't care to clean and polish. Just tell me where you shoot. I like dirty brass, and will gladly clean up after you.

I'll take the old brass too. call me a cheap *** but I recycle my walnut shell media with blue shop paper towels soaked with mineral spirts tumble for a while then add a tea spoon or two of turtle wax rubbing compound aka red rouge. after a 6 or 8 time of refreshing it I make new with crush walnut shells (from pet store) then add turtle wax rubbing compound. same as the stuff in the gun store. Or it works the same

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Beagler,

it works very well. I wash mine first, Mamma is at the j-o-b (us retired guys can't even say THAT WORD!) so I just put it in a mesh bag, let the gentle breezes here in SW Idaho sift it for me, and then hang it from the glass/cup rack.
I bought a pound bag of fletchettes from Hi-Tech Ammo and use it in them to. Makes a lot of difference at 25yds with either.

Rich

[WickedGoodOutdoors]

pour the Media into Wax Paper Cups and then ladle over a mixture of Parifin & Beeswax and old Hippy Candles.

They make great wood stove fire starters and will sparkle with the metalic copper colours when they burn.


http://www.candlewiz.com/images/CW-hippy%20012a1.jpg


If anyone needs me to dispose of the old media and candles just pack them up and ship them too me. I need some fire starters.

because. Im in Maine.
Its not just Cold, Its a DAMP COLD!

[G__Fred]

In the S-Can man!