Corn cob sizing? Bit of a pain right now!

[broomhandle]

Hi Fellows,

Bought a new bag of corn cob polishing media for whatever reason, some of the pieces are bigger then the last bag. I had a problem with .223/5.56 brass only, not a issue with other sized cases.

I did manage to break two pins before.....:oops: I REALLY looked in all the cases.:cry: They do come out easy, with a slightly flattened & bent coat- hanger wire.

Have any of you had this issue & what did you do to the corn cob to stop the problem?
My thought was to look for some fine screen & sift all of it ? Cut it up the larger pieces ? Best way?
Any help is welcome!

Thanks,
broom

[LUBEDUDE]

Wow, I've never broken a pin due to media before.

Now I have had brass that I bought from a guy in FL that had shell rock plugged in the flash holes that did not come out with the tumbling process.

Now THAT did break a pin! I then had to inspect each case before loading.

[noylj]

I use 20/40 corn and it all comes out using an RCBS media separator. Smaller media packs in the primer pocket.
Likewise, all my stainless steel pins come out if I fill the media "catch tray" with water so the pins "float" out of the cases.
Then, I use a rare-Earth magnet to check that no pins are in any cases.

[Ickisrulz]

Get a smaller media. Lots of people use this, and have no problems with clogged primer holes. I bought 40 pounds years ago and I think it will last me for decades.

http://www.drillspot.com/products/499763/econoline_526020g-40_40_lbs_blast_media

[gwpercle]

I use ground and treated walnut hull media. I don't know if it is because of the size or hardness of walnut hulls but I have never experienced a broken pin or a piece stuck in the flash hole. Sounds like something harder than a piece of corn cob was lodged in there. corn cob is rather soft, at least from the corn we grow in Louisiana.
Gary

[mdi]

I too, use the 14/20 corn cob blast media. I haven't had any problems but I agitate the cleaned brass in a wire waste basket when I separate it from the media, and I have a habit of tapping the case, mouth down, on the bench when I pick it up (old habit from 28+ years ago. Pick it up, tap, tap, glance inside, size/deprime).

Ickisrulz, I got my bag of cob media when it was $25.00 with free shipping, and I have a couple pounds left...

[dudel]

Were you using lizard/pet litter for polishing media? I made that mistake one. I also had to pick media out of .223 cases. I tossed the rest of the bag away, and went back to media designed for polishing cases. It's much finer than the stuff you get at Walmart or PetSmart. Drains out of cases very easily.

[Tackleberry41]

Last media I bought, is of a larger size that now instead of just a piece in the flash hole, will clog the whole primer pocket. Its the lyman stuff. Its visibly bigger grains than the last stuff I bought from them.

[broomhandle]

Hi Fellows,

Thanks for the reply's from all of you! I guess I did not properly state the problem correctly.
Dudel & Tackleberry seem to understand my (badly stated) problem.

The corn cob was the low cost pet bedding variety. Do to the shape of the cob some of the larger pieces went into the case neck during tumbling... BUT... they lodged in the case neck or at the base of the case. The few I saw, at the neck were removed with a tweezers.
I dug out some big pieces! Apparently, I missed a few clogged at the base of the cases & broke the pins!
I did a quick sifting job with a colander & chopped away with a sharp knife on the larger remaining grains!

The wife just gave me " The "OMG what the heck are you doing look!!" & walked into the other room. She did mention that the colander & cutting board had better be CLEAN!

Problem solved for now, I'll look for smaller cob next time, all my local reloading sources were out of stock.

broomhandle

[dudel]

I generally got the Frankfort Arsenal stuff.

http://www.midwayusa.com/case-tumbler-media/br?cid=19907&sortBy=3&itemsPerPage=20

All that said, I've mostly moved on to Citric Acid cleaning (there's a sticky at the top of the Cast Boolits forum). A $3.00 bottle of Citric Acid (in the Walmart canning section), a plastic container and some water (hot/warm works faster). 15 minutes later, it's all clean. A quick rinse, and out to dry. Done. No dust to worry about. If you deprime first, the pockets come out pretty darn clean also.

[salpal48]

I only use Media to Polish. I foud there is a Lot of discount pushing Media for Loaders. i think this is Diverted pet litter repacked because it's Cheap.. I purchase some Pet corn cob. from pet smart. it packed so dense in the case i needed a pic to remove.. Cramer Industries sells commercial tumbling equipment and has a size chart. . I use ZILLA name brand a lot. flow nice and is smooth Handling. . Harbor Freight stuff is inconsistent but the Fine stuff is Ok

[M-Tecs]

A buddy works for Federal Cartridge. They use 14/20 corn cob so I started using that size. In comparisons smaller sizes don't polish as fast and larger have more sticking problems.

The only times I ever had case clogging problems was when I did not run the tumbler empty long enough after adding liquid polishing compound. Used to use Dillon but I have switched to ISSO case polish http://www.iosso.com/MivaStore/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=A&Product_Code=00017&Category_Code=GunCleaning

If you add the polishing compound the same time as the cases you will get media clogging in some of the cases.

20/40 is great for delubing cases after sizing since it is small enough that it does not normally get caught in the flash holes.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I use the cheapest corn cob media I can find, bought in large quantities. I mix it 50/50 with crushed walnut shell. Since I started doing this, my cases are cleaner and I've experienced little to no issues related to the corn cob media. I use a bit of Nu Finish car polish with this and it's worked the best of any other combinations I've found with the least amount of headache.

[RogerDat]

I use Zilla lizard litter for crushed walnut which works fine with Nu-finish. I also use corn cob from Cabela's and have used some of their polish. I do find that citric acid wash to clean brass and vibrator to polish works best. Much less time in the media required with the citric acid wash first, results are better too. Especially cleaner inside the case.

Have a bag of corn cob from a gun show that is a little courser, stopped using it after a piece of corn cob wedged in the flash hole shoved my decapping pin back out of the die. Lee dies use a collet so the pins don't break but they do get shoved up in the collet which then has to be loosened and the pin reset before tightening the collet. Tends to move the die adjustment when doing it. A hassle easy to avoid when the fine corn cob pours out like water.

[Pee Wee]

Harbor freight, crushed walnut 25lb. Box. $19.95 with 20 percent coupon. Shine is impressive and reduced time in vibarator. Get the fine grade and no issues with flash hole.

[kywoodwrkr]

I use 20/40 corn and it all comes out using an RCBS media separator. Smaller media packs in the primer pocket.
Likewise, all my stainless steel pins come out if I fill the media "catch tray" with water so the pins "float" out of the cases.
Then, I use a rare-Earth magnet to check that no pins are in any cases.
Plus 1 on the 20/40.
Citric acid bath(hot), wash in baking soda solution, drain and bake at 170 degrees for an hour or so and into vibrator.
Use Lyman large vibrating system.
Use stainless pins(in tumbler) for jacketed(and discolored) projectiles only, as I consider it a pain in the burro with brass.
Think drillspot raised the price some since I bought mine! $22.01 Delivered!

[RogerDat]

There is a post on the best process for using crushed walnut. Involved a couple of ounces of mineral spirits that gets vibrated for a few minutes to pre wet the media. Then some polish. Remove and add brass and media back in tight layers. Avoids dust and the brass pressing the media against the other brass is beneficial. Also the mineral spirits helps avoid the tendency for the polish to clump in the fine crushed walnut shells.

Wish I could provide a link to that post. Printed it and followed the suggestions, got much better results, lot less dust too.

[2011redrider]

I use the 20/40 corn cob, its fine enough where it doesn't clog. Got it from Zoro.com for 30.00 and 5.00 shipping. http://www.zoro.com/value-brand-blast-media-corn-cob-20-to-40-grit-526040g-40/i/G2165387/
Drillspot is 37.00 plus shipping came to 72.00.