Tumbler media

[daengmei]

I have pulled LC 14 LR .308 brass I've deprimed. I've used corn cob and now walnut hull, over 5 hours tumbling. These spots still remain and I'd like a nice shine. What could be added to produce the shine, and is that something that won't need removed before firing, don't want very slick cases do I? Using now 18/40 med walnut and have fine 35/60 if needed. What removes these spots, more tumbler time or different media or additive. This is my first try polishing brass.306037

[ReloaderFred]

Are you using plain media, or adding a polish? I use Berry's Case Polish for my tumblers, but other manufacturers market their own brands. My cases come out shiny bright.

https://www.berrysmfg.com/product/brass-bright-polish

Hope this helps.

Fred

[ShooterAZ]

I add Dillon's Rapid Polish 290 to my polishing media. Same results as Fred's, just another option for ya.

https://www.dillonprecision.com/s000256

[barkerwc4362]

I use Iosso case polish added to my corn cob to get clean shinny cases. If they are real nasty I run them through the case cleaner and rinse before drying. Then they get the vibration treatment in corn cob.
Bill

[daengmei]

Just media without additives, I will try adding to it and it has to improve. I picked the smaller walnut media to keep from picking out the mess. Corn cob was too much, spent too much time pulling it out.
Thanks

[BLAHUT]

I use lemei shine ( spelling ) simple green and SS pins in water bath, then rinse and dry, then into corn with polish. Come out all bright and shiny.

[Minerat]

I use a cap full of Cabela's Brass Case Polish ($13.00) with corn cob media. Nice and clean and stay that way for a while. I add it and let the tumbler run for 10 min or so till it distributes then add the brass.

[ReloaderFred]

If you use 20-40 grit corn cob, it won't stick in the cases or the flash holes. It's very, very fine and provides a high luster when combined with brass polish, but don't use anything with ammonia in it, as ammonia will make the brass brittle. I buy my corn cob from Zoro.com, in 40 pound bags. With 4 tumblers, a 40 pound bag lasts me about a year.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[dverna]

If you use 20-40 grit corn cob, it won't stick in the cases or the flash holes. It's very, very fine and provides a high luster when combined with brass polish, but don't use anything with ammonia in it, as ammonia will make the brass brittle. I buy my corn cob from Zoro.com, in 40 pound bags. With 4 tumblers, a 40 pound bag lasts me about a year.


Hope this helps.

Fred

You recommended that a while back and took your advice. It is good advice. I cleaned some terribly tarnished cases. Some took a long time but it worked.

[ReloaderFred]

You recommended that a while back and took your advice. It is good advice. I cleaned some terribly tarnished cases. Some took a long time but it worked.

I try really hard to not give bad advice.......:drinks:

[Winger Ed.]

Some sort of a fine abrasive polishing compound is almost necessary.

Pretty much anything will work. NuFinish from the auto parts store is a favorite.
Anything at the parts store that says 'polish' or 'rubbing compound' will work.
I use whatever is laying around, even chunks from old dried out cans of paste cleaner wax will work.
I had a buddy that swore by the white kind of tooth paste.
He'd draw a couple of lines on a piece of paper, let it dry out, and toss it in the tumbler.

[tja6435]

Meguiar’s car polish or NU-Finish will do what you want to your cases.

[Soundguy]

Start with nufinish and straight coarse walnut..then finish with corncob.

[45_Colt]

Crushed walnut shells (from pet store) with some mineral spirits and polish added. Cleans up the cases real nice. Add enough mineral spirits to dampen the media and prevent any dust. Be sure to tumble the additives with the media until well mixed. Then add the brass.

45_Colt

[lightman]

When I dry tumble I put a splash of mineral spirits and a cap full of some type liquid automotive polish and run it until its mixed. It doesn't seem to matter what brand polish I use but NuFinish seems to be a favorite. Oh yeah, I use 20-40 grit Corncob from Granger or Zoro.

[CastingFool]

I have a midway vibrating tumbler, and I like to use the Nufinish. Make sure you run your tumbler for 30-45 minutes before you put your cases in the tumbler. Otherwise, if the unfinished doesn't mix well enough with the media, it may cake up on the cases.

[gwpercle]

Keep the plain media you have for cleaning ... For Polishing the best , most cost effective is the Frankford Arsenal Brass Polishing Media - Treated Walnut Hull as sold by Midway USA .
It isn't dusty and is treated with the proper brass polishing agent and more impotanat it is the correct seive size . Product #2124331177 . And it's not too wet ... too much liquid polish and the shell gets sticky , cakes up and doesn't flow right . You don't add anything to this ...just polish as is . It's on sale and in stock ...
All that adding automotive car finishes and liquid waxes ... just don't go down that rabbit hole ...it leads nowhere ! Trust me the Frankford Arsenal Treated Walnut media beats all the other stuff ... I've tried it all ...
Liquid additives just mess up the treated media , Trust Me !
Gary

[super6]

Just cut to the chase, SS pins and some limi shine + dawn soap = shiney brass, Like new, Just dry them good and tumble in your dry media with some wax and your good to go!

[Walter Laich]

Just cut to the chase, SS pins and some limi shine + dawn soap = shiney brass, Like new, Just dry them good and tumble in your dry media with some wax and your good to go!

I'm close to this:
use SS chips rather than pins, quicker and don't get stuck in cases https://www.facebook.com/southernshinemedia/
instead of soap, cheapest wash and wax at wally world. leaves wax film that keeps from tarnishing
Lemi-Shine ¼ teaspoon

all this in Rebel 17 wet tumbler

[15meter]

I use Harbor Freight walnut media and NuFinish car wax. The 25 pound box is a multi year supply for me. First charge of NuFinish is probably 4-5 ounces of the polish added over a day. 1/3 poured in and tumbler run outside in the sun with the lid OFF for several hours than another 1/3 and repeat. Then one more time. If the media feels even faintly damp, continue to run it with no lid until it's dry.

Add the polish SLOWLY to the running polisher, dripped from a foot or more above the polisher. Little drops, not big globs.

I throw a single dryer sheet in when I polish brass to absorb the dust. Cheapest dollar store sheets you can buy.
Replace dryer sheet every time you tumble a new batch of brass.

When the brass comes out and I'm done for the day, I'll run a couple of capfuls of polish into the media. It's now ready for the next time and no damp clumping media.

If your media is damp and clumping you've added too much polish and not allowed enough time for it to mix and dry. You can have that happen with the stupid expensive cartridge brass polish just as well as the $8 delivered to the door by amazon NuFinish. For a bottle that's 5 times the size of the Cabela's $12 bottle.

I use NuFinish, but I suspect any of the car polishes will work. I like it because it cleans well and leaves a protective finish that keeps it from tarnishing. Last night I loaded a batch of.223's with brass that had been polished 2 years ago and still looked good.

My reloads generally draw compliments on the range. Is polishing necessary for good shooting ammo? Absolutely not. And there are more than a few here that will go out of their way to point that out.

For me, it's the pride of workmanship.

Experiment, nothing is carved in stone here.

Read about the citric acid wash also, I've done that in conjunction with the polishing with grungy range find brass.

[15meter]

And for me, a full to over full tumbler seems to polish the best. I'll combine several calibers to fill it up. Just make sure the cases won't telescope together. 45 ACP and 50-70 is not a combination you want.

I have stuck with dry tumbling because a lot of times I polish over night when I don't have to listen to the polisher. It's on a timer that I set depending on how cruddy the cases are. Next day they are ready to load. No drying required.

Plus I don't have water in my shed. I'd be hauling water from the house in old milk jugs. October in Michigan no problem, December not so much. And the 300 H&H's I shot yesterday were from last new years eve reloading party.

What else ya gonna do? Too cold to ride motorcycle, too warm to sail.

[daengmei]

I am going to order the treated media, but I added a few squirts of auto rubbing compound to the media itself, took a while to get it to seperate out, I fingered the clumps quite a bit, not ideal. Ran the brass for several more hours and it did remove almost all of the specks of whatever that is, still need another round to fully clean the primer pockets. The fine dust and I suppose the darkened polish itself consolidates along the center stem and bolt area. It's working but awfully slow and I will use the pretreated media from now on after this batch.
Thanks.