damn media!

[deemus]

100% crushed walnut hulls.

Add a little polishing compound now and then.

Lasts a long time.

+1. Petsmart sells it in a 20 lb bag for really cheap. Still have over 15 lbs after over a year.

 

[AKM]

I met some one else

He don't hate Glocks

Could be tha real thing

<sorry kid, I may as well clear this up in public>

Id like to point out that "Real thing" ISNT me...lol

 

[daddySEAL]

Stainless steel media (got it yesterday, and will try soon) in a 15 lb. thumlers tumbler that I have from when I used to polish Texas quartz rocks.
I'm looking forward to shining my brass inside and out.

 

[ROGER4314]

I use crushed walnut hulls with red polish rouge in it. The red dust is a problem and I've tried wetting the media down to reduce the dusting. Lately , I've been putting some polish from Frankfort Arsenal into the media and the brass comes out with a nice shine. I tumble my brass for long periods of time and 6 hours isn't unusual for me. I want the grit off of the brass so it won't get in my dies so I just let her run!

I have two of the Lyman Turbo tumblers and not long ago left one running in the garage when I went to bed. Big mistake! In the morning, my white Harley-Davidson had a heavy coating of red dust all over it. That pissed me off highly so now, I run the tumblers on the front porch. I don't care if they make dust, now.

Flash

 

[shortround]

The way to deal with dust is just deal with it.

Be sure to put the tumbler away from any sort of ignition!

With walnut media, I let the tumbler run at least twelve hours.

Brass comes out bright and shiny.

If you want that "factory" look, put brass in a pan of water up to 1/2" from the mouth of the case, blast with a propane torch until the brass just begins to change color, then tip all the brass over into the pan of water.

I think they call that "annealing" and makes the brass more malleable and resistant to splitting.

It's a PITA, though.

 

[stx kid]

so I went to wally world last night and when I was pricing dog food I noticed the word "corn cob" out of the corner of my eye... $5 and I had a 8 lbs more of or less of media that worked like a charm

 

[ROGER4314]

I am of Scottish ancestry and how do we say this.........careful with money. Don't get me wrong, I spend money but it damn well better produce some good results when I spend it. If not, I go on the warpath!

One thing we have not discussed is how long to use the media. I use crushed Walnut hulls and there comes a point when the media has absorbed enough grit, dirt and oil that it puts as much crap ON the brass as off of it! I've tried tons of additives and polishes but when the results go south, the media goes south, too. I'll just dump it and start over. Working that dirty media is a lost cause and it's just better to toss it than to keep trying to make it work.

How long is that service life? Man, I load my tumblers up big time. They are just filled with brass and the amount of dirt getting into the media is mind boggling. If I've done some huge loads and the results are marginal, I'll add some polish. If that fails to perk up the results, I'll just dump it and refill. Results tell the tale.

Flash

 

[deemus]

You may be over-filling your tumbler. I only fill mine half way. It doesn't take as long that way.

 

[Dawico]

Tear some paper towels into strips and throw them in. They will absorb the dirt and dust and your media will last much longer.

 

[jbcalhoun]

Tear some paper towels into strips and throw them in. They will absorb the dirt and dust and your media will last much longer.

Thanks for the tip. I will try this on the next batch.

Brad

 

[stx kid]

Tear some paper towels into strips and throw them in. They will absorb the dirt and dust and your media will last much longer.

Ive had good luck with used dryer sheets for collecting gunk

 

[Dawico]

Ive had good luck with used dryer sheets for collecting gunk

I tried them but didn't like the smell. They also seemed to make my media moist.

BTW I prefer the scent of Hoppe's #9 to (insert your favorite cologne) any day. Something about pretty smelling media just isn't right.

 

[Pappy]

I use the corn cob media I got years ago, something like $10 for 25#.

Anyway, I tumble with the primer in and when I de-prime, out comes the primer and any media stuck in the flash hole...

 

[Deavis]

I read that I could use rice. Is this true?

Yes you can, but you are in for a long wait. You need something aggressive and rice doesn't work all that well IMHO. Walnut works well for removing dirt and grime. A dash of paint thinner helps on the worst cases. After loading, if you want a shine, toss it in corncob for a few hours with either wax or kerosene and it will come out gleaming. Then again, ugly brass shoots as well as pretty brass

 

[Don]

I mostly use walnut media for everything with a little Nu-Finish car polish added. I use to use corn cob media for brass that was not too tarnished or dirty, but got tired of changing it out...so just use the walnut/nu-finish on everything.

I also use a Burr-King 150 vibrating tumbler. That sucker is big and does a great job in short time.........
After time, I throw some cut up dryer sheets in to pick up the dust, can also use cut up paper towels too. Plus that material that is used on bottom of couches or chairs that look like dryer sheets works great too. My wife had a bolt of it and I "Borrowed" some..!!! Don

 

[medalguy]

If you have really dirty brass, wash it with a garden hose before you tumble it to remove any mud and really bad dirt. Dry it in the sun a few hours, then put it in a tumbler with old media that doesn't clean or polish very well, along with some dryer sheets cut up, and let it run an hour or two. That's how I clean up really dirty brass. Then you need to run it through regular clean media with Nufinish polish or whatever your favorite is. No point in getting your good media dirty unnecessarily.