3 options, fine --medium--coarse ( any thoughts)

I use fine .It cleans the primer pockets.

Buy lizard bedding at the pet store

What is that?

It is ground corn cobs,, bedding for lizards and reptiles
I have used it for years. Downside is it gets stuck in flash holes

I use both corncob and ground walnut hulls in Midway vibrator cleaners. Add a healthy dose of jeweler's rouge to walnut and the brass comes out VERY shiny. Corncob with the Midway citrus based polishing compound works faster, but doesn't polish quite as well. Leave the spent primers in the cases when you polish with corncob media, then decap and resize.

I use fine or medium mostly for the final drying process after ultrasonic cleaning. Puts a nice little shine on the brass at the same time. I wouldn't buy treated walnut, that stuff is a pain in the butt.

Not too much of a downfall, as most media gets stuck in the flash holes. I run tuffnut with polishing compound, and it gets the brass very shiny. It also gets stuck in the flash holes. Just something you have to learn to deal with. Wondering if pharmy uses any kind of polishing compound with the lizard bedding?

I have been using it for years, it is a lot less costly than commercial media.

BSA - I use a bit of Brasso mixed with it. Yeah, I know that likely there will be replies that the Brasso will weaken the brass - if it does I have never seen it in the decades that I have been using it.

drover

Lizard bedding works, but is dusty.

Wet tumbling is the only way to go, but shiny brass doesn't shoot any better.

You might also try rice, it works great.
Back in the early 70's, just for schitts and giggles, put some rice and 45 acp cases in a bag made from the leg of an old pair of Levi's then tied it shut and tossed that into the dryer (no heat) along with some towels to help pad things.
I was very much surprised and pleased with the outcome. It works quite well.

Stainless pins and wet tumbling works better, but rice did about as good as any other media in a vibratory cleaner.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Pets Mart.......has it

If dust is an issue I put a dryer sheet in the tumbler.

Stainless pins. Never have to buy anything else or replenish. Doesn't leave residue, either. Brass comes out like brand new. I really don't see why anybody would use anything else these days. Been doing it for years, ~ 200k rounds.

I need it!...my buddies all have the new tumblers and pins, I need dat!

673, I use the double rock tumbler from Harbor Freight, Stainless steel pins, Cheapo Walmart equivalent of Dawn dish soap, and a squirt of Lemi Shine. Rinse well and sift all the pins out. Check cases and flash holes for wedged pins. I get one or two cases like that every once in a while. Very easy to spot when drying. I still have half the bag of stainless pins I bought originally years ago untouched.

152% the truth. Santa brought me a Frankford Arsenal tumbler….man oh man at the results!

Yes........I run mine outside

Tell us of the SS pins

Actually have some but never used it

I like clean brass

I almost bought one several months ago, but didn't because it was a smaller one. I just cleaned around 1500 brass, I need the larger one.
Do you use it after resizing to get the lube off the resized brass?

Can’t speak for him, but I squirt a bit of Nu Finish car polish in it. Throw in a used dryer sheet and it’ll keep the media clean longer. This is a fraction of the cost of anything for sale at the gun store.

Used it years ago. It filled up the complete primer pockets on 223. I never used it again.

Moved to corncob used for blasting media comes in 50 pound size bags.

Buy whatever polish to add if you feel the need, I prefer stuff that adds a bit of something to prevent oxidation but I bought so much and its been so long... maybe it was Dillon....

Taking mental notes on the car polish and the dryer sheet.. never heard of the dryer sheet at all.

Same here. Just bought the big HF vibratory one. The rock tumbler was tiny. Or I would have.

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-St...rds=stainless+steel+media+pins&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-St...rds=stainless+steel+media+pins&psc=1

Yeah. The double rock tumblers are fine, but not that big. I have a routine where I set them and let them run for 4-6 hrs and then pull when the time is comfortable for me. Haven't seen the big vibratory one. Honestly, Haven't been looking. The double rock tumbler is really all I need, although occasionally I pine for something bigger.

Clicked on Local’s link and noticed the stainless ballcone media on the same page. Out of curiosity has anyone tried those?

GreggH

Peppercorns and nutmeg, with just a breath of saffron.

I bought Lizard bedding off the net many years ago.

Can't say what the size is but i have not had any plug the primer hole like the green corn cob stuff did.

I use it to remove the left over lube off brass and sometimes before sizing to remove the normal grit from the rock pits around here,just to protect the dies from scratches.

As for dust dryer sheets cut up into smaller pieces does a good job.

I do add some auto polish from time to time.

I tumble with the primers still in. Don’t care about flash holes.




P

Use Walnut media, I'd gather medium thickness...

I mix in Mineral Spirits when they don't come out as clean as brand new..

I tumble over night in a Cabelas Tumbler I got for like $50, new.

25 pounds of crushed walnut lasts me about 5 years or more. That cost me $10 a container.

One can of mineral spirits costs $10 and lasts about a year, and I tumble quite a bit.. more than most.

I use to buy Walnut Media in 50 pound bags for $12, but the Grange doesn't carry it anymore, so I had to go with the 25 lb bag for $10

The Cabelas tumbler is quiet and IIRC its made by Frankford Arsenal in Utah. Its a real durable sucker. Sometimes I run it for 12 to 14 hours overnight, for weeks at a time..... Only casualty there is the lid finally cracked all to hell. Contact the manufacture and they replaced it at no charge... I bet the unit is close to, if not over, 10 years old.

Its a cheap investment and pays a lot of dividends.. I run brass a lot longer than most do... but I don't load most of them to max capacity and pressure, so that lengthens their service life dramatically Annealing and tumbling also add to the extension of brass life. And most of my brass is range pick up, so I have no real investment in a lot of that either.

I neck size and bump shoulders back with body dies when required.

I haven't, Gregg. Can't wear the pins out. It would take more time than I have left on earth to wear out or lose the modest stock I have. A couple years ago after biden was installed, I went on a campaign to stockpile brass for the calibers I shoot most. Don't see myself needing to accumulate more. Maybe for family, friends, allies. The process is sound.

Do you clean the pins periodically?

Never do, 673. They polish themselves as you're tumbling the brass.

Just wondering, thanks buddy!

No problem, my frozen friend. 🤣

Lots of options there and, like some other activities, its mostly about getting the best friction for the task.

What do you use for soap LD?

I've been using Armorall ultrashine wash and wax. it cleans the brass good and puts a coat of wax on it so it won't tarnish. I'm just wondering if there is anything better.

I also wanted to add for those that don't know is to not use any cleaning products that contain ammonia as it makes the brass brittle.

Used to be, I thought, early use of something steel. Maybe BBs. Turned brass kind of pink when tumbling.

Steel pins do the same ?

Walnut media is much cheaper to buy in bulk at Harbor Freight than the Lizard Litter at a pet store. Local Harbor Freight stores have it in stock.

I add a couple caps of Nu-Finish and a new or used dryer sheet to a batch. Does a fine job. Generally I do not decap first.

Pins do a better job if you’re looking for brass that looks unfired inside and out. Warm water, Dawn and a pinch of Lemy Shine does the trick. Makes belling and expanding tough though without lubing the finished cases first. Dry tumbling seems to leave enough polish or dust behind to act as a lubricant on this stage of my press (Dillon 550).

Once dry I stand my wet tumbled cases up in a shallow box and give them a very light mist of One Shot. Doesn’t take much, just need most of the interior case mouths to get some. I’ve also dry tumbled the processed wet tumbled brass to give it a coating of polish (or dust). This also worked but was extra work. Lately my wet tumbler (Thumblers Tumbler) sits as I’ve been dry tumbling everything.

Left to run for 3-4 hours it’s surprising how good a job the dry tumbler does. Once in awhile I’ll add a shot of Mineral Spirits to the media. This seems to extend its life. When the results become unsatisfactory, discard and and add new.

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.