Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Walnut shell media for cleaning brass?

Just Lyman treated corn cob here. Don't much care how "new" brass looks, but I refuse to run dirty brass through my dies and chambers. An hour or so in the vibratory tumbler does the trick. When the treated corn cob finally won't clean efficiently anymore I repurpose it as oil dry in the garage.

No.

Dawn, or the cheaper Walmart brand. Same stuff, far as I can tell.

No, the pins are real Stainless steel.

Walnut media and Remington cleaning solution, water based. I just vibrate all the ammunition when loaded and it comes out clean as a whistle…

Started out with the rouge infused walnut shell.
Went from that to just plain corn cob. My vibratory cleaner took 2× to 3× longer, so I went back to the infused walnut shell!
Works really well for me. I'm pleased with the result.

I've been using it for years. I have some sort of polishing compound that came with the Dremel which I put a very small amount in with the media.

If you tumble before depriming you don't have to worry about media in the flash holes and (shocking news!) primer pockets don't need to be cleaned.

Actually, the last few years I limit the time cases spend in the tumbler, less than a half hour so as not to clean all the residue inside the necks. Clean necks promote cold welding, bad juju. Shiny brass is of no real value, just cosmetics.

I've posted this pic before, but this is one reason I won't use stainless pins anymore. This was a relatively new barrel on my 38-55 Schuetzen rifle. I thought I was pretty thorough with my process for making sure I got all the pins out of the brass when I was done tumbling, but I missed one. I went from thinking I had a good chance at finishing in the top 3 at that match to not being able to hit the target instantly. The gouge was deep enough to catch fibers from a patch.

Question for those complaining about dust. Do you have a lid on your tumbler?

Unfortunate that happened but the product nor the process can't be blamed.

I've cleaned thousands upon thousands and never had a pin left in the brass.

I won't use any rouge at all it leaves residue in the case and headstamp fug that.
After shooting bp loads I deprime and soak cases in water with a shot of dawn and white vinegar for 15 minutes. Then get after them with a test tube brush on my dewalt drill. When done they go in to the drum with water lemishine, dawn and sss pins for 2 hrs. Rinse and dry. done they are clean. Frankfort Arsenal tumbler and sss pins. Mb

Used to buy walnut media in 50 # bags from a commercial sandblasting supply in Houston called Clem-Tex. They had different size grades so I used #12 grade which was large enough to keep out of the flash holes. Back then a 50# bag was cheaper than the little sack of lizard litter at petsmart.

Same here. Hundreds of thousands.

If you don't want to pay robber baron prices for tumbling media, go to an industrial supply house. Here in Indy we have a places called Sandblast Supply, you can purchase a 40-50# bag of corn cob or walnut shell media for what you pay at reloading suppliers for a tumbler full. Industrial supply houses have a variety of grain sizes and can advise you which best suits your purpose. I buy a 40-50# bag, keep a supply for myself and sell the rest to my reloading buddies. Most time my supply is free and sometimes I even make a little money while saving everyone $$$.

"... If you tumble before depriming you don't have to worry about media in the flash holes and (shocking news!) primer pockets don't need to be cleaned. ..."

I keep an old carpet needle on my bench to remove shell from flash holes....and I still clean the primer pockets. It's my OFS instilled by my reloading mentor!

I just soak a for a bit in water/dawn (loosen any lube residue) and then tumble in plain walnut shell media for a while. That has always gotten it done with no negative results. Haven't figured out how an ultra shiny case helps with shooting, but do give the pockets a quick swipe. I can overdo stuff with the best of them but try to avoid that - time ain't long.