Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Tumbler Media: uncook Rice?

I just bought a Graf Tumbler and thought I tried cleaning some 30-06 and 308 once fired brass I had with uncook rice (I had some old blue ribbon uncook rice). It worked out pretty well, about the same as walnut, not as good as corn cob. Price is right though... 25lb for $8. I just have a hard time using food as media, doesn't feel right..but it's right for the pocket book. The other benefit: since the rice is larger than the walnut media, it does not get airborne and get all over the place. you actually see the white turn dirty. Going to try on some 40S&W pistol brass next

If you want them clean in a hurry try glass beads (available at most welding supply houses)

Ground, treated corn cobs give an excellent "polish" to the cases... I've used mine for YEARS... and it just keeps right on working and working and working and working, etc., etc., and so forth. (LOL)

There are valid technical (well, sorta technical) reasons the tumbler makers only supply us with ground cob and walnut media. And, even at their "high" prices, considering how long it lasts, seems it's cheap enough.

Most users add FAR TOO MUCH polish, FAR too often. They get lots of polish dust and clogged media because of it. After adding a few capfuls of polish once or twice, adding a few ounces of mineral spirits from time to time will "reactivate" the polish quite well.

For corn and walnut, how many cycles or how long before you would have to discard?

No hard and fast answer to that question, mainly because we all look at these things a bit differently.

I change out corn cob media when it gets dark enough for me to think it needs changin' out.......don't wait till it gets black, but perhaps about 1/2 way between that and new looking media.........IMHO.

OK..I know this Q will be good for a horse laugh but here goes. How about mixing a small amount of sand with the media? Too aggressive? Done it? I've thought about it but always resisted temptation.

I've heard people using glass beads, i think it's a little extreme

"How about mixing a small amount of sand with the media? Too aggressive? Done it? I've thought about it but always resisted temptation"

By all means, continue to resist.

The main reason we tumble is to remove grit, etc., the shiny polish job is trivia. Every think of what a few grains of sand clinging inside case and fired down your pet barrels would do?

I toss media when it quits working, that's long after it gets dark.

Since this thread, I found a feed store that sales corn clb media for $19 for 40 lbs

Feed store media is usually ground to a much coarser size than what is sold to reloaders.


Here's another trick... Take your used dryer sheets, and toss a couple of them in your tumbler with your brass. They're a dirt and grit magnet. If you don't have dryer sheets, you can use strips of paper towel.

For real shiny brass, you can add some jewelers rouge in with your corncob media. a google search should turn up a supplier. Thats pretty much what Lyman does to their "turbo media"

i have found rice leaves a starch powder on the brass that when damp works like glue.
now i use lizard litter. 100% ground walnut from petco for $10 for 20 pounds.

When my supply dries up, I'm off to the pet supply for lizard litter myself.

Someone told me once Cat Litter worked great, so I tried some...

Let me pass on, that my source was totally WRONG....

so mark that one off of your 'to try out' list...

personally, corn cob media and walnut have been cheap, last a long time and do a good job..

for tumbling, I normally turn on the tumbler when I go to bed and turn it off when I get up the next morning...

I use a Cabela's tumbler which I highly recommend!

I have heard stories about un monitored tumblers, like fire....

Gets to hot, and poof.... Granted could have been cheap tumbler, but....

Lizard litter is what I use now, too.

good stuff.

I would be a bit concerned about the "grain dust" issue that would be generated in a "rice mill", I don't think that brass on brass would cause a spark. If it did I guess rice dust might rate as a low grade explosive. I can find out from my wife. I am not sure I would use rice, because if this concern.

Now, this is what I do.

With new brass after sizing, trimming, and a good wipe down I polish them with fine untreated corn cob to remove any traces of lube.

If I buy the once fired brass from Blue Star, I use the RCBS tumbler polisher with four drums. (1)I use crushed walnut hull for clean up (removes fine grit), (2)green treated medium corn cob for a service finish, (3)lizard litter to clean off any traces of cleaner (green color), and (4)fine untreated corn cob for a fine finish.

If the cases are really tarnished I use a 1/4 hp rock polisher with red heavy duty corn cob to polish the hopeless cases, then go to the walnut hull media (parrot litter), move on to green corn cob, lizard litter, then the fine untreated corn cob to get a better than new finish.

Thanks for the dryer sheet info! I am going to try this on the next round of polishing.
Good shooting,
Marcus.

Bongos...I purchase ground corn cob in 40lb bags for $4.30! I think you are spending way to much for what you are getting. I use this in my kennel for dog bedding and in the bird houses on the floors, as well as in my tumbler too. I just sift to the bottom of the bag to get the smaller pieces.