Bullseye Smith
Member
What is it that you can add to your mix to help clean the brass? My corn cobb needs replaced but no one around me has any, guess I could use rice.
Cleaning Brass
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Bullseye Smith
Member
What is it that you can add to your mix to help clean the brass? My corn cobb needs replaced but no one around me has any, guess I could use rice.
NFrameFred
Member
Dillon (and I'm sure others) makes a polish that will rejuvenate your media a few times.
I've used rice - it's a bit extreme in a rotary tumbler and would eventually probably destroy the brass if left in there long enough. When I tried it in a vibrating tumbler is seemed to not 'cut' as bad and actually 'polished' more.
Oxidized range brass cleaned up like coarse steel wool had been used on it when tumbled in the rotary. Came out burnished down to clean brass, though it was not 'polished'.
Walnut hull always worked good for me.
I've used rice - it's a bit extreme in a rotary tumbler and would eventually probably destroy the brass if left in there long enough. When I tried it in a vibrating tumbler is seemed to not 'cut' as bad and actually 'polished' more.
Oxidized range brass cleaned up like coarse steel wool had been used on it when tumbled in the rotary. Came out burnished down to clean brass, though it was not 'polished'.
Walnut hull always worked good for me.
TSQUARED
Member
I purchase a 50 lb bag of ground corn cobs from a pet supply store. When it gets slightly grey I reoplace it with new media - it's very inexpensive.
You can add any liquid car polish. I have used Turtle Wax and others recommend Nu-Finish.
tbury
Member
Stay away from brasso. It is ammonia based which will make the brass brittle. I use the media renew from Lyman.
NFrameFred
Member
Yeah, I was warned about the Brasso years ago. Ammonia based and not good for firearms brass.
James57
Member
The use of brasso has been overstated in my opinion. I clean my brass with IOSSO or KABOOM before I tumble polish it with either brass treated corn cob or crushed walnut. I then size and prep it and then more often than not, I tumble it again for an hour or two with untreated corn cob media or crushed walnut material. I think the brass failure sited by people are failures because of brittleness brought on by work hardening of the brass during the repeated resizing operation. After brass has been sized several times it really needs to be annealed again. My experience anyway. James
Skip Sackett
US Veteran
Bullseye,
Are you a JIW? I am!
At any rate, the Pet Smart crushed walnut is lizard bedding. It is really fine compared to Lyman's. Here is what I have started doing to get more mileage out of my media.
40% Lyman Treated Corn Cob, 40% Lyman Treated Walnut Media and 20% Pets Smart Lizard Bedding. I also started to use the Dillon polish. One caution, if the smaller media gets too wet it will end up stuck inside of cases with small mouths, 223 for example, and wreak havoc on your resizing dies. Don't ask how I know!
Other than that, the stuff from Pets Smart is cheap and seems to work very well.
Are you a JIW? I am!
At any rate, the Pet Smart crushed walnut is lizard bedding. It is really fine compared to Lyman's. Here is what I have started doing to get more mileage out of my media.
40% Lyman Treated Corn Cob, 40% Lyman Treated Walnut Media and 20% Pets Smart Lizard Bedding. I also started to use the Dillon polish. One caution, if the smaller media gets too wet it will end up stuck inside of cases with small mouths, 223 for example, and wreak havoc on your resizing dies. Don't ask how I know!
Other than that, the stuff from Pets Smart is cheap and seems to work very well.
R-Tex
Member
For polishing, I've been very happy with a 50/50 mix of Nu-Finish car polish and mineral spirits. I shoot at least 300-400 rounds per month and still haven't emptied the 16-ounce container of Nu-Finish that I bought over 3 years ago.
OP
Bullseye Smith
Member
Originally posted by smith crazy:
Bullseye,
Are you a JIW? I am! <span class="ev_code_RED">Yes I am, out of 683 Columbus, OH</span>
At any rate, the Pet Smart crushed walnut is lizard bedding. It is really fine compared to Lyman's. Here is what I have started doing to get more mileage out of my media.
40% Lyman Treated Corn Cob, 40% Lyman Treated Walnut Media and 20% Pets Smart Lizard Bedding. I also started to use the Dillon polish. One caution, if the smaller media gets too wet it will end up stuck inside of cases with small mouths, 223 for example, and wreak havoc on your resizing dies. Don't ask how I know!
Other than that, the stuff from Pets Smart is cheap and seems to work very well.
Skip Sackett
US Veteran
Me too, only 153!
Skip Sackett
US Veteran
That's not a problem if you don't resize them before you clean them.
Not only do I use the Pet Smart "Lizard Bedding" mixed 50/50 with Lyman Corn cob, living in Florida I throw in a few Lizards (Anoles) just for fun. Gets them nice and clean and then slip them on the BBQ!
blueswarrior
Member
I've filled my wife's panty hose with dirty media, tied it off and put it in the washing machine when I knew she wouldn't be home for awhile. Cleaned the media well enough to reuse it a number of times. I stopped doing it because I was scared she would catch me.
You can add some used (or new) drier sheets, cut in strips to the media and it will help keep it clean. I have used rice, which did ok, but prefer to use walnut (lizard litter)to clean and corn to polish. I add some Dillon rapid polish to both. I have also used the Lyman green stuff. It seems to work well, also. If you don't have dryer sheets. some strips of paper towel will work better than nothing. The drier sheets work better. Keep changing them out pretty regularily and they will gradually clean up your media.
NFrameFred
Member
Nice tip on the dryer sheets - I'll have to try that.
Always something new to share and learn on this board, that's why I like the place.
Always something new to share and learn on this board, that's why I like the place.
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