Tumbler question

[tt0511]

I just got my tumbler and corn cob media in from Midway. I was about to embark on my first brass cleaning adventure and realized I didn't have any brass polish to add to the media. Is the polish a requirement or can I clean without it this time and add it next time? Hopefully if I have to have it, someone local like Bass Pro or Guns and Leather has it?

[USMCJG]

You can clean without it. It may take a little longer and not be as shiny, but it won't hurt a thing.

[xd shooter]

What "corn Cob" media did you get from Midway?

If it is Lyman it is pre treated, as goes for most of the store bought media out there for cleaning brass.

Realoaders bench has treated media & other polish you can add to it.

But like USMCJG said you can clean without polish.

Corn cob litter from Petsmart will clean it but not polish.

Also If you plan on cleaning .22 caliber brass (.223, or 22-250) or smaller like .204 you will want som Walnut media as well.

Edited November 20, 2010 by xd shooter

[gregintenn]

Squirt some liquid car polish in your media while the tumbler is running. It'll work as well as brass polish.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I cleaned for years with only Lyman rouge walnut. It cleaned great but didn't make em shiny. Also, the rouge left coating the inside of the cases was slightly annoying.

Lately been using a capful of Flitz Tumbler/Media Additive (think I bought it at Sportsmans Warehouse) in the walnut and it makes the brass much shinier.

Then tumble in corncob after the walnut, which gets most of the rouge off the cases and makes the cases really sparkle. Dunno for sure, but it even seems to hide some of the scratches on the brass.

[kb4ns]

Squirt some liquid car polish in your media while the tumbler is running. It'll work as well as brass polish.

Funny you mention that. I was using some Berry's Mfg. brass polish yesterday for the first time and remarked to my wife how much the smell reminded me of liquid car polish.

Lately been using a capful of Flitz Tumbler/Media Additive (think I bought it at Sportsmans Warehouse) in the walnut and it makes the brass much shinier.

Flitz is awesome. I've used some other polish that worked nearly as well as Flitz, but I've never used anything better. I've noticed that Flitz can actually cut the amount of time you need to tumble as well. I've had some 9mm brass come out sparkling like new after about an hour in the tumbler.

[tt0511]

I stopped by G N L and picked up some Flitz. Tumber has been running 1 hr and 15 min. How long should I let it cook?

[Guest Lester Weevils]

An hour or two with walnut and flitz works fine for me. Dunno if corncob only will take longer or not. Never tried only corncob. I ought to try that sometime. Maybe I'm doing one step too many.

[tt0511]

So, I stopped it at 1hr 15min. Brass is clean and shiny. The only mistake I made was dumping 9mm and 45 into the same batch to clean. A lot of the 9mm cases got stuck in the .45 cases and were wedged in by the cob material. I got em all separated and let the 9mm run another 45 minutes or so and it came out nice after that.

Do you guys run through the de-prime and size die before tumbling? Looks to me like that would be the way to go if it won't ruin the die. It will allow the tumbler to clean the primer pocket too.

[Dolomite_supafly]

+You need to noramlly tubmel before depriming to clean the cases. If you have crud on your cases it can scratch your dies and ruin them.

There are very few ways for the tumbler to clean the primer pockets. Stanless steel media is about the only reliable way. I normally don't worry about cleaning the pockets on pistol brass. On rifle brass I do a lot of prep work that included uniforming the primer pockets so they are clean at least once.

I posted it on here a few months ago and others on another board are having great success with it but I added 6mm airsoft BB's to the mix. Seems to work really well even without any type of polish. I have been doing a lot of brass lately and it does make the brass come out cleaner as well as more polished, all without any additives.

Dolomite

[Trekbike]

It's best to tumbler before you de-prime and size since it's easier on your die. For the primer pocket I just use a primer wire brush tool since it gets the corners of the pocket clean.

As for the amount of time to tumble it depends on how many rounds you have in the tumbler. When I've got 200 - 300 .38's or .40's I run it about 3 hours.

I use Nu Finish car polish and it works great for me.

Edited November 21, 2010 by Trekbike

[Westwindmike]

+1 on the Nu Finish car polish.

[analog_kidd]

Another reason to not deprime before you tumble is that you will spend an hour after tumbling poking media out of the primer hole. I made the mistake once, and the media was packed in there tight.

[USMCJG]

Another reason to not deprime before you tumble is that you will spend an hour after tumbling poking media out of the primer hole. I made the mistake once, and the media was packed in there tight.

This^

If you deprime before tumbling you will spend a lot of time digging media out of the primer pocket and flash hole. Plus the media isn't going to do much cleaning in the primer pocket anyway. I clean my primer pockets with a primer pocket cleaner(Hornady is the best Ive found) after tumbling and depriming(I use a Lee universal decapping die for all calibers I reload, even handgun).

[SpacemanSpiff]

I use a Lee Universal Decapping die to deprime all of my brass prior to tumbling. I find that with corncob media and Flitz the brass comes out great, even the primer pockets are fairly clean. I don't find media packed into the primer pocket, but sometimes one piece in the flash hole which isn't a problem since I have to size it anyway so the decapping pin in the sizing die takes care of it.

[Kenstaroni]

I'd recommend walnut media over the corn cob.....you can pick it up at petsmart in the bird section. You can use some liquid metal polish as it does help, however it will sometimes cause the media to stick inside the case....I've broken a die before because of this. I now only use the walnut media with no polish unless I'm re-tumbling after loading.

+1 on do not tumble after de-priming. Also do not tumble after re-priming and before loading. Either as a first step, or a last step, or like me....both....just depends on how dirty the brass is.

Edited November 21, 2010 by Kenstaroni

[Dolomite_supafly]

The Zilla brand Lizard Litter Desert Blend is walnut media that is small enough to fall thru the flash hole. It is $10 for 7 pounds at Petsmart.

Dolomite

[SonnyCrockett]

The Zilla brand Lizard Litter Desert Blend is walnut media that is small enough to fall thru the flash hole. It is $10 for 7 pounds at Petsmart.

Dolomite

I use that stuff,as per your advice - I can clean all my handgun brass in about an hour or so and it comes out pretty nice,maybe do a small squirt of Brass polish too if you really want to shine

I also noticed the more brass I load into the tumbler the better and faster it works,in other words Load er up !

I Never decap before tumbling though - I do not see the point or advantage.....

Edited November 22, 2010 by SonnyCrockett

[Worriedman]

I have gone to using stainless steel media (pins) in an aqueous solution with a little dish washing liquid soap and a touch of Lemishine. It cleans the cases inside and out, removes all powder and primer residue. I always deprime prior to cleaning, as it get the primer pockets really clean as well as the inside of the cases, especially the necks.

The system requires a Thumlers Tumbler, but to me is worth the quality of brass I have after cleaning with this method.

Pic of a batch of .243's recently done. This was some of my Dad's last year deer hunting, varmint brass, been sitting up all summer.

There is a site that shows the steps and results, and gives you a place to buy the necessary equipment here:

Stainless Tumbling Media, reloading supplies, reload brass