For way to long I’ve used crushed walnut sold by Harbor Freight as blasting media. Very dusty and the pieces were stuck in most of the flash holes after tumbling.

Very glad I decided to try this from Amazon. Very minor amount of dust and fine enough not to stick in flash holes.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OVGPH6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks Ned, I just ordered a bag.



P

Same stuff I use.I bought mine at the local Petsmart.Works great.Doesn't stick in the flash holes like other walnut hulls I've used in the past.

Yep, I've been using the Petsmart stuff for quite a while too. Definitely low in dust.

Add a squirt of liquid car wax and a cap full or two of oderless mineral spirits

No dust

I have not tried the car wax but have been using a small amount of mineral spirits when running my RCBS vibratory case cleaner and not only is there no dust but the media lasts longer as well. Before I started using mineral spirits I was contemplating Thumlers and SS pins. Not a consideration now.

Good luck and shoot straight y'all

Pet store crushed walnut hulls is the way to go. A 20 pound bag is half the price of that sold by Lyman or Hornady. I toss in a bit of liquid polisher whenever the media begins to get a little dusty.


Uncooked rice works well too.

Thanks for the Amazon tip, just ordered a bag. Always added the Dillon liquid to the walnut in the case cleaner. It always made clumps but I would mash them down with my fingers to get consistency in the mix. Never thought of car wax, probably cheaper than the Dillon stuff.

The clumps go away in no time....just let it roll

Walnut cleans fantastic but corncob gets a better shine

I use pet store crushed walnut hulls along with a little mineral spirits, a few pieces of used dryer sheet and a touch of Nu Finish.

This combination works very well. I end up with clean brass and very minimal dust. I tumble outside under my back deck near my walk out, but I wouldn’t hesitate to tumble this way in a garage or indoor shop area.

The lizard bedding i bought years ago is small enough to pass in and out of the primer holes.

The dust is the only thing that has been bad at times.

On the bench.

What's up with folks not wanting to inspect their
cases after cleaning and before loading?
I've been inspecting each case individually ever
since I started reloading decades ago.
I do find tumbling media in flash holes from time
to time and it takes less than a second to clear
it out and go to the next one.
I also occasionally find a case that won't pass
muster and needs to be scrapped.

I certainly inspect them. It just gets old knocking that debris out of the flash hole. The media I had been using was stuck in at least 25% of the cases and it was really stuck not just lying in there.

I guess it depends on what a fella finds inconvenient or annoying. Cleaning flash holes or a little dust never bothered me much.

I agree with ranger99. OP, How do you remove the media from the flash hole? If you are literally "knocking the debris out", like you say, that could be part of the issue. Like ranger said, it only takes s second to clean that out and it should be inspected anyways. Seems like theres a lot of guys loading lazy. Why load your own, if you arent making a precision, reliable, accurate load? I load to save money, but i also load because its better than anything you can find in the store. I cant stress enough, how important proper brass prep is. Its something you dont want to cut corners on.

I push it out with a punch. No kidding brass prep is important, headline new. How about you worry about your reloading and not mine.

Thanks for the tip. Will get some when I run out. Have been using Lyman media enhanced with the occasional squirt of Mother's Metal Polish. Been using the same batch of media for years and it has yet to wear out.

I tumble multiple loads of various brass every week, snd I’ve found tug at while heavily used media will still work to clean brass, replacing it once a year or so means the media is more efficient at cleaning.

I actually save my “old” walnut nexus in a deist are container that I use to tumble really nasty range brass. When this media turns a sold black, I toss it.

My theory is new walnut media is microscopically tougher than used media, as while the pieces of media polish the brass they are also “polishing” themselves.

This wasn't necessarily directed at anyone here,
it's just a general question since I see on every
site and forum I visit that there's someone
that doesn't like to handle or inspect their brass
and more or less really doesn't care for reloading.

I blow off my brass with my air compressor
Never any crud in the flash hole after blasting them with air

I used a file wooden handle and put a welding rod in place of file.

Cut to length then shape end with bench grinder.

That was used back when i used corn cobb from Lyman.

I have a similar doo dad made from about an inch
of broomstick and an inch + of brazing rod. Ground
down to a taper like a small scratch awl or a
miniature brass ice pick.
I've had and used that for more years than I
can remember. Early 1980's sometime.
Made it as a temporary measure and still
using it

I have cleaned media out of primer pockets since I started reloading some forty years ago, using a really small Allen wrench. I use a circular motion which ends up with the Allen wrench sticking thru the hole. I then spin the brass on the wrench which cleans out the hole itself. Works for me!

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Went from regular walnut to lizard bedding to SS pins, all had their own problems. Now I tumble with hot water, Dawn dish detergent and Lemi-shine, tumble for 3 hrs. dump out and rinse with hot water and let dry. Cases are plenty clean, don't need the jewelry like bling the SS pins produce and don't have to dump pins out of cases, inspect and pry pins lodged crossways in the primer pockets out. KISS principle applied to the tumbling process, works for me.

It depends upon what I'm loading for as to how lazy I get. When I'm loading 20 rounds for an elk hunt you can bet the brass gets prepped and checked carefully. When I'm loading 1500 rounds for a prairie dog hunt my standards get a lot more lax and picking media out of flash holes becomes a giant pain in the butt.

perfect reason to tumble with hot water, Dawn & Lemi-shine. Result is clean brass with no hassle with pins or media in cases or flash holes. Try it, you'll like it !

Which Lemi-Shine are you using? I've had good results with shine and dry rinse,

I don't even know why people bother tumbling in the first place. All this talk about knocking stuff out of primer pockets only taking a few more seconds and fingering every case, are obviously people not loading 2000 rounds of 223 at a sitting .


Good luck