OK, I have received conflicting answers on this. Some say corn media cleans and polishes, some say walnut cleans better but does not polish.

I have been using the Lymans treated corn media and it seems to work just fine. It does get dark after only a few batches of a a couple of hundred cases. But I think that is due to the chemicals in the media. Like when a cloth darkens when cleaning anything brass.

As I pick up brass at the range with all kinds of sand and crap, I "wash" it first in a bucket with some dish soap first.

Anyway, whats better corn or walnut? Or is a combo mix better?
Should I get some walnut and mix it?
What do you use?

Never tried corn. Walnut isn't so costly that I need a substitute. I add a couple cap fulls of Dillon Brass cleaner when the media is fresh and perhaps 1/2 way through and dump it all out once a year, start fresh.

Why bother washing brass? I don't think it's helping anything to be honest.

Walnut will clean dirty brass better than corncob media. If I want a really polished looking piece of brass I will use the corncob after the walnut but I don't need my brass to look that good. I use the walnut media until it gets really dirty and dark.

I use half corn and half walnut, with nu finish, cleans and polishes all at once.

quote:

Why bother washing brass? I don't think it's helping anything to be honest.

It gets the sand and dirt off along with a lot of carbon. The water turns brown/black so it is less the media has to remove. My main concern is the sand. After a rinse and dry on the hardware cloth mesh box I made, it is pretty clean to begin with.

Never worried much about sand or the like as I would suspect that it comes of into the media and helps later on. Like sand blasting sort of!

I use a combination of treated walnut and corn cob media. About 50/50, although it ain't real scientific, and it doesn't need to be. I can take some of my 45ACP brass that has been fired several times between cleanings and loaded with Bullseye, you know, one of the real "dirty" powders and loaded with lead bullets, throw them into the tumbler and forget about them for a couple of hours and viola, clean brass!
I need more than that? NOT!

I've found walnuts will clean the brass faster than corn because it's more abrasive. I've also found corn will shine up the brass a little better because it's a finer material.

I have settled upon using half crushed walnut shells and half corn media in my tumbler and it seems to work just fine.

To answer your question if you should add some walnut shells to your corn media, I would say yes since that's what I did and I'm happy with the results.

I tend to agree that walnut cleans and corn shines. Right now I am using corn with car polish added.

I have used both walnut and ground corn cobb. Some years ago I managed to buy a rather large supply of a special corn cobb mix marketed by Gil Hebard's Supply. It is "corned" (shaped and hardened) compared with "normal" ground corn cob. It lasts MUCH longer and does a fine job. I have what appears to be a lifetime supply.

I DO add a couple of caps of Dillon polish from time to time. It both cleans and polishes well.

Dale53

So, after using the corn cob medium, do any of you recycle it as grits----mmmmmm, good!

Or, maybe, just maybe, bleagh!

I agree with ArchAngel. I use the walnut to clean my brass after shooting. IMHO it is more abrasive and does a good job cleaning inside an out. With finished loads, I use the the corn media because it polishes better. I like pretty boolits when I shoot them. They got style going down range.

Mark

For me, it depends on the brass I'm cleaning. If it is my revolver brass, which is already pretty clean, I use the corn with a little polish. If I'm doing auto brass, which tends to be range pick-up, I'll usually clean with walnut for a couple of hours first and then do a polish with corn. The range pick-up stuff usually consists of both my own fairly clean brass plus whatever is on the ground as well. I use Dillon polish with both medias.

I have used several different combinations of walnut , rice, walnut and rice, corn cob, etc. I have found that Lyman Tuff Nut walnut shell media does the best job for me. I might be accused of being fanatical about my brass, but I want my brass clean and shiny because it is easier on the reloading dies. I usually load my tumbler with brass that has been rinsed to remove dirt from our dusty Idaho desert range and let it go overnight. The results are very clean shiny brass. I don't normally decap my brass first, I have found no difference in performance. Another advantage to really clean brass is that it is easier to find.

So it seems that the prefered method is a mixture of the two or one or the other plus or minus some of this or that.

I think I will add some walnut (I like the wood anyway)

The used drier sheets cut in half really works keeping the media clean and the cases dust free. Folks will complain that it just clumps up at the bottom of their bowl, so? As long as the media and brass is passing over it the sheets will pick up the fine crap out of it. I agree with the nu-finish or mother's. Works better than what you can buy. I also put a handful of 22 rimfire brass in with everything because it seems to help get the insides of the brass cleaner.