Tumbler media question

[Pighunter]

I just tumbled a bunch of 7MM Mag. cases in corn cob media. Every case is packed with media. I've been using this stuff for years with my pistol brass (straight wall) and haven't had this problem. Should I be using a different kind of media?

[Winger Ed.]

I use corn cob media and have had that happen when the media was damp.
Either high humidity, the polish media had gotten 'greasy' for lack of a better word, or the liquid additive didn't fully absorb & dry.
(Be glad you didn't find this out on a few hundred 5.56)

Once in awhile I wash & rinse my dry media in gasoline or Lacquer thinner to wash the oils and excess waxes off of it
then lay it out on newspaper to dry in the sun.
That cures it.

[jeepvet]

I use Lizard Litter from the pet shop. It is walnut hulls ground small enough that it does not hang in the flash hole. To that I add one cap full of a car polish and one cap full of mineral spirits. Let that shake until all clumps are gone before adding brass. If I am doing several batches on the same day, I can usually get two or three batches before adding more liquid. The cases will fill with media, but it dumps out easily.

[Old School Big Bore]

I keep corncob media with Lyman Turbo polish in one tumbler and walnut hull media with Dillon blue polish in the other, depending on what sort of cleaning job turns up. I use the corncob for normal light soot and the walnut for tarnish. When either media gets cloggy, I agitate them in acetone or mineral spirits, sun dry them, then load them with polish again and buzz 'em til they absorb the polish. If a particular loading had to be lubed (One Shot) before sizing, the ammo gets shaken in a damp towel and then a dry towel before boxing. That way the residual lube doesn't get into the boxes, chambers, etc and is not on the fired cases to contaminate the media again.

[CrystalShip]

You should be using a different mesh size Or grit size . Corn Cob is usually a Course mesh. Walnut has a Finer mesh . Walnut can be in Extra Course to Flour Grade. I use a fine to extra fine . This will not stick in primer Pockets. Lizard Litter can be used but it is the Bottom of the barrel with No mesh size and Not ground to a specific size
My suggestion Is Kramer Industries for proper sizing and quality

[15meter]

Harbor freight pedals walnut polishing media, $25 for 25 Lbs. With the 20% off coupon it's $20. I started using it this spring and have been pleased. It is fine enough that rarely to I get anything in the flash hole. I use NuFinish car polish, about a 2 capfuls put in after I run a batch of brass, let it run for a couple of minutes to mix and then put the polisher on the shelf. Next time I polish brass the Nufinish has dried so there is no problem with plugging up cases. Right down to 204 Ruger. I tried corn cob media once, didn't like it. I load too many bottleneck cartridges for a coarse media.

And a 25 Lb. box of media is going to last me for years, filled up gallon milk jugs with the excess. Just hope I remember I've got it when it comes time to change media.

[M-Tecs]

I use corn cobb in the 14-20. That is what Federal Cartridge uses in production. Never had an issue with plugging cases with any grit unless you add polish after adding cases. Always add polish first and let the tumbler run for at least 5 minutes before adding cases.

https://catalog.precisionfinishinginc.com/item/organic-abrasives/corn-cob-grit/item-4220

[Pighunter]

Thanks everyone, I think I'll try the Lizard mix. The stuff I used was a corn cob mix for cat litter. I can't believe how plugged these cases are, I soaked them in a bucket with hot water but I think I made them worse.

[country gent]

A lot of cat litters have clumping additives so urine and such can be removed. any poish mineral spirits or moisture will activate this additive causing it to clump. A lot of the animal litters have this as a plus for polishing it causes issues;
I use corn cobs for blasting media I believe its 20-40 grit small enough to pass thru flash holes. To this I add a small cap of nu finish polish, a cap full of Iosso polish and 40unces of mineral spirits. Polishes as needed mineral spirits every batch. No clumping. Walnut hulls work as well. The corn cob I buy was $20.00 for 50 pound bag. Look to grainger McMaster Carr and MSC

[Life Member]

I use Lizard Litter from the pet shop. It is walnut hulls ground small enough that it does not hang in the flash hole. To that I add one cap full of a car polish and one cap full of mineral spirits. Let that shake until all clumps are gone before adding brass. If I am doing several batches on the same day, I can usually get two or three batches before adding more liquid. The cases will fill with media, but it dumps out easily.

Lizard Litter is great and lasts a long time.

[TNsailorman]

Another vote for lizard litter. I haven't used anything else wince someone told me to try it some years ago. Last a long time and polished better wit a little less run time. It is a little dusty but take it outside when the wind is blowing light and pour it from one bucket into another a couple of times and dust will blow away leaving the litter all by itself. If you try it, I think you will like it. james

[Dimner]

how do you guys avoid dust with the lizard litter?

I tumble in the workshop in my basement, I drop in 3 or 4 used dryer sheets each tumble and I still get dust everywhere. Do I need to swap the litter out more often? It still polishes very well, just dusty. I dont put in the Nu Finish but every dozen tumbles or so... basically when the polish quality diminishes. Does the Nu Finish help with dust as well?

I'm basically at the end of my patience with the lizard litter. Don't get me wrong it works great, but coats my workbench and shelves in dust.

[ReloaderFred]

The OP may want to peruse this thread in the stickies above: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?168359-Tumbler-Media

As for me, I use ground corn cob from zoro.com in the 20/40 grit, which is very fine. In fact, all four of my tumblers are running right now with it in them. A forty pound bag is something like $35.00 or so, and orders over $50.00 have free shipping.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[The Dar]

I use the Harbor Freight fine walnut media. Sold in a 25lb box which fills a five gallon bucket nicely. All my tumbling is done outdoors with the lid off the tumbler. Slightest breeze takes the dust away. I have ran my tumbler in an outside access storage closet with the lid on. I was surprised how everything in the closet got covered with dust.

[GWS]

The OP may want to peruse this thread in the stickies above: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?168359-Tumbler-Media

As for me, I use ground corn cob from zoro.com in the 20/40 grit, which is very fine. In fact, all four of my tumblers are running right now with it in them. A forty pound bag is something like $35.00 or so, and orders over $50.00 have free shipping.

Hope this helps.

Fred

I'm with Fred on corn cob 20/40 from zoro. Cheap lifetime supply and it's never stuck on me or my brass.

249164 I add a teaspoon of Dillon polish in a large tumbler to speed things up....never noticed moistness
but then I live in New Mexico....

[15meter]

I use the Harbor Freight fine walnut media. Sold in a 25lb box which fills a five gallon bucket nicely. All my tumbling is done outdoors with the lid off the tumbler. Slightest breeze takes the dust away. I have ran my tumbler in an outside access storage closet with the lid on. I was surprised how everything in the closet got covered with dust.

With the NuFinish, I've never had a dust problem with the harbor freight walnut media, generally a capfull or two every run or every other run and have had no dust. A couple of times I've had a buildup of what appears to to coagulated dust and NuFinish on the bottom of the polisher. I just chip it out with a putty knife when it builds up, and continue running as before.

[ReloaderFred]

I'm with Fred on corn cob 20/40 from zoro. Cheap lifetime supply and it's never stuck on me or my brass.

249164 I add a teaspoon of Dillon polish in a large tumbler to speed things up....never noticed moistness
but then I live in New Mexico....

Yep, that's the stuff. I use Berry's Brass Polish in mine, but I buy it by the quart bottles, usually a case at a time. Zoro has the best prices on media, and what's not to like about free shipping on a heavy package? They're owned by Grainger's, but seem to have better prices and better sales.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Pighunter]

OP here, I went to a major pet store today, The didn't have anything that said "Lizard" bed. They had a lot of reptile bedding that looked like beach sand?? I went to the second store and it was the same result. But in the bird section they had a 10# bag of "GROUND" walnut shells. So I bought that for $11, I have some cases in the tumbler now. It was a sand texture also but it was a little bigger than beach sand.

[15meter]

Did you add any polish compound? If not there are multiple suggestions here on what works, NuFinish car polish works for me, cheaper than the commercial rifle brass polish that is marketed. I'm sure there are other car polish brands out there that will work.

[JBinMN]

Capful of NuFinish & a capful of Mineral spirits with walnut media, has been working for me right fine.

As well, every so often I also put a couple of strips of Mineral Spirits soaked strips of paper towel about 2 inches wide & 6" long in as well & they pick up any real small dust created from the vibrations & breakdown of the walnut shells pieces.

Most of the time I do a shake up/rinse of Mrs. Wares citrus acid powder/dish detergent/hot water, then dump into a collander & shake it to get the liquid out of the cases, then rinse in the colander, shake again & then put into a towel like a hammock & swish the cases arounf BEFORE I even put them in the tumbler. Keeps the media cleaner that way.

In regard to the primers, I generally leave them in & clean later when I deprime.

YMMV of course, but that is how it works for "me", anyway...

BTW... I tried the corncob from Lyman with the polish already in it & I had the same trouble with the stuff getting into the primer pockets on a lot of them, so I just went to the walnut stuff...
I mixed the corncob stuff in with the walnut stuff until I got rid of the corncob. Won't be buying it again, I am thinking..
;)

G'Luck! in figuring out what works for you...
:)

P.S. - I am another who bought the H. Freight box of walnut shell blasting media & have no complaint what so ever...
;)

[lefty o]

I use corn cobb in the 14-20. That is what Federal Cartridge uses in production. Never had an issue with plugging cases with any grit unless you add polish after adding cases. Always add polish first and let the tumbler run for at least 5 minutes before adding cases.

https://catalog.precisionfinishinginc.com/item/organic-abrasives/corn-cob-grit/item-4220

where does federal cartridge use corn cob media? i made brass in that plant, and never seen anything resembling a dry media anywhere.

[M-Tecs]

where does federal cartridge use corn cob media? i made brass in that plant, and never seen anything resembling a dry media anywhere.

That I can't answer. I have never been in the Anoka plant. What I can answer is where Federal purchased it from. That was US Abrasive System's which is now United Surface Preparation also in Anoka. Friend of mine was a sales rep for them.

[lefty o]

That I can't answer. I have never been in the Anoka plant. What I can answer is where Federal purchased it from. That was US Abrasive System's which is now United Surface Preparation also in Anoka. Friend of mine was a sales rep for them.

they may use some somewhere for who knows what, but its not used in the actual manufacture of any ammunition.

[M-Tecs]

they may use some somewhere for who knows what, but its not used in the actual manufacture of any ammunition.

Per the sales rep they did. That would have been in the early 90's. He did in plant visits. That's how I got to know him. What years did you work at the Anoka plant?

[lefty o]

Per the sales rep they did. That would have been in the early 90's. He did in plant visits. That's how I got to know him. What years did you work at the Anoka plant?

2011-2104. so lets put it as maybe they used to. now wet tumbled in baird drums is how things are cleaned/polished using primarily sodium bisulphate.

[Bwana John]

how do you guys avoid dust with the lizard litter?

I tumble in the workshop in my basement, I drop in 3 or 4 used dryer sheets each tumble and I still get dust everywhere. Do I need to swap the litter out more often? It still polishes very well, just dusty. I dont put in the Nu Finish but every dozen tumbles or so... basically when the polish quality diminishes. Does the Nu Finish help with dust as well?

I'm basically at the end of my patience with the lizard litter. Don't get me wrong it works great, but coats my workbench and shelves in dust.
The Nu Polish works much better than dryer sheets to keep dust down.
And it polished better.
And it keeps the brass from oxidizing.

[mdi]

You can shortcut a lot of experimenting with dry media and go directly to ground corn cob blast media. 14-20. Blast media is better quality controlled, harder than pet litter and designed for cleaning metal. After a few years of trying different media from lizard litter (dark ground walnut shells), beach sand, cob pet bedding (fluffy, more like flakes), wood chunks, dried beans, peas, rice, cat litter ("Good Mews" worked well), and maybe a dozen more. The dark ground walnut I got at Petmart worked fine (not the "Zilla" stuff) and most others did a so-so job, but the best all around media I found was the cob blast media. I bought a 40 b. bag for around $40.00 a few years ago and still have about 10 lbs left.

The only time I've had any "clumping" or clogged cases was when I inadvertently added too much auto polish to older media.

[gwpercle]

Thanks everyone, I think I'll try the Lizard mix. The stuff I used was a corn cob mix for cat litter. I can't believe how plugged these cases are, I soaked them in a bucket with hot water but I think I made them worse.

That's the problem with using media not designed for tumbling reloaded cases . A 50 lb. bag of corn cob pet bedding isn't worth doodly squat if's the wrong size and packs up in the cases ...now you have to dig the stuff out. That's no savings.
Washing tumbling media in gasoline so you can dry and reuse it...that just sounds so dangerous to me.

I'll just order the Midway ground walnut treated media...it's not that expensive .
Gary

[M-Tecs]

You can shortcut a lot of experimenting with dry media and go directly to ground corn cob blast media. 14-20. Blast media is better quality controlled, harder than pet litter and designed for cleaning metal. After a few years of trying different media from lizard litter (dark ground walnut shells), beach sand, cob pet bedding (fluffy, more like flakes), wood chunks, dried beans, peas, rice, cat litter ("Good Mews" worked well), and maybe a dozen more. The dark ground walnut I got at Petmart worked fine (not the "Zilla" stuff) and most others did a so-so job, but the best all around media I found was the cob blast media. I bought a 40 b. bag for around $40.00 a few years ago and still have about 10 lbs left.

The only time I've had any "clumping" or clogged cases was when I inadvertently added too much auto polish to older media.

You are spot on. Like you I have tested a bunch of different products. My friend that was the sales rep would give me damaged bags of blast media. The 14-20 corn cobb blast media performed the best. He told me that it would but I had to see for myself. It was the quickest cleaning of the corn cobb blast media but you do get some that sticks in the flash hole. Finer grits like 20-40 did not stick in the flash hole but they toke long to clean.

[Tom W.]

Having been a member her for a few years , plus on other sites, I've seen where people are always espousing different things to use for tumbling media.
I've tried a whole lot of different suggestions, and to start with, if it works for you that's great!
But I've always ended up with either treated corncob media ( if it was on sale ) or just get a bucket of untreated corncob media from Midway and add some NuFinish to it.
Once at a gun show in Dothan I did buy something that treated the corncob media and cleaned the brass so that it looked better than new. But that was maybe 20 years ago and never saw that stuff again. I thought it might be something like rouge that's put on a buffing wheel, but it wasn't. I'm going to try a few of those ceramic looking things that Harbor Freight sells if they are not a strange size and lodge in my .30-06 a.i. and 30/30 a.i. brass....

[Pighunter]

Well the "Ground walnut shells" worked great after only about 2 hours, I've never had my brass look so shiny.
I'm going to use a little Nu Finish on the next batch.
Thank you all

[1hole]

Lyman was the first to market vib. tumblers, their 1200, to reloaders and it started a new fad - not just clean but glittery cases! They offered both cob and walnut media so I soon got both with my new tumbler (it's still going but I've replaced the motor twice).

First thing I learned is both cob and nut media are sold because they both work. I also learned the 14/20 grit stuff would plug at least a quarter of my flash holes; fixed that with a bag of 20/40 grit blasting media. (Cause that's the grit I could get easily).

After the fasination of jewel-like brass wore off I decided I prefered my cases to look like new factory, i.e. a soft matt finish, so I dropped the various polishes I'd accumulated.

I now add an occasional spoon full of diatomacious earth. It's the same stuff that goes into white toothpastes to help clean teeth, and gives me the very clean matt finish cases I want. Most big box stores that carry gardening supplies sell D.E. as an insecticide, the fine powder particles choke up bugs on floors and plants and it kills them. It's a low cost, very fine and soft powder that is totally harmless to people, pets ... and guns, but it really cleans cases!

[Winger Ed.]

spoon full of diatomacious earth. It's the same stuff that goes into white toothpastes to help clean teeth, and gives me the very clean matt finish cases I want. s!

The life long friend that got me into reloading back around 1982 used toothpaste as polish.
He had a large size rotary drum rock polisher he used.
He'd grab a handful of paper out of the company shredder, put it in there with a squirt of cheap tooth paste on the sides of the drum.

I wouldn't call it a fast process, but it did a good job for him on 9mm & .45ACP.

[1hole]

I never thought of using (Colgate) toothpaste itself in a tumbler but it would obviously work just as well as the powdered white stuff I use. (IF the user runs his tumbler long enough for the paste to dry, breakup and spread thru the media.)