Polishing media for tumbling brass

Besides using walnut or corncob media while tumbling brass what other "stuff" have you used with good results? I have read that rice works well too but haven't tried it yet. This subject came up on the old forum and there was a lot of talk about adding Nufinish car wax to the media since it contains no ammonia. I have used this with good results but looking for something that works quicker. The walnut and corncob plugs the primer pockets so I tried using 100% baking soda since it works good for polishing----a big "no-no". It turns the brass black. I use both a horizonal tumbler and a vibrating type tumbler. My problem is (besides the primer pocket getting plugged) that on tarnished brass I need something more abrasive since tumbling overnight does not always clean the brass enough.

If your walnut shells clog the primer pocket it's either a screen size too small or it's used up. I only use walnut shells with a 12/20 screen size. I add a little Dillons case polish and some alcohol to the walnut shells. Adding too much alcohol makes the media wet and the dust will clog the primer pocket. When it takes too long to polish the brass I throw the stuff away and put in fresh.

Thanks, I used sand once for the tarnished brass. It was too abrasive on the brass and thus wouldn't polish out afterwards. Have you ever used red rouge? The thing about Nufinish is that it adds a wax finish and keeps the cases from tarnishing for a long time. The downside is that it is made for car paints that have the clearcoat finish so there is no abrasive particles in it. I will try the Dillons and alcohol.

With the horizontal tumbler, best results will be the wet method with stainless steel pins.

I have both types of tumblers. The rotary one are slower but turn out a nicer looking case. The vib jobs are faster but noisy and I can see the difference in case finish. Thumblers brand are very quiet and I run them overnight. As far as the wet method goes, I don't want to take the time to dry out the cases. A friend uses a ultra sonic cleaner but he has to dry his cases before loading but they look like brand new.

Once I learned how, drying cases is a snap. In the summertime I put it in a mesh brass bag an put the bag on top of my A/C condensing unit. The hot air moving across them drys them much faster than an oven.

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Originally Posted by PhillipM

Once I learned how, drying cases is a snap. In the summertime I put it in a mesh brass bag an put the bag on top of my A/C condensing unit. The hot air moving across them drys them much faster than an oven.

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What do you do in winter? Use the oven?

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Originally Posted by joem

What do you do in winter? Use the oven?

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If you have a heat pump like I do the compressor is used year round. In the winter the exhaust air may not be very warm but it will still be dry.

Stainless steel BBs.

Broom and Phillip, I'll try the SS shot/BB's. I see ebay has a lot of listings for such----new to me.

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Originally Posted by PhillipM

Once I learned how, drying cases is a snap. In the summertime I put it in a mesh brass bag an put the bag on top of my A/C condensing unit. The hot air moving across them drys them much faster than an oven.

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I thought about buying an ultrasonic cleaner but figured the brass would look clean, tarnish gone but not shiney. Is this the case? Don't you still need to tumble afterward to get a shine? I'm comparing to the use of Tarnex cleaner. It cleans brass but leaves it very dull.

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Originally Posted by Allen

I thought about buying an ultrasonic cleaner but figured the brass would look clean, tarnish gone but not shiney. Is this the case? Don't you still need to tumble afterward to get a shine? I'm comparing to the use of Tarnex cleaner. It cleans brass but leaves it very dull.

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I don't know about ultrasonic, but stainless steel makes them look brand new. In the wintertime I put the brass bag over a floor vent. I have a shoe rack for my clothes dryer I was thinking about trying one day.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/635...-pins-5-lb-bag

OK, I see that you use water and some type of soap when tumbling with the SS pins. When you mentioned drying I thought you had used the ultrasonic. I suppose these pins almost last forever?

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Originally Posted by Allen

OK, I see that you use water and some type of soap when tumbling with the SS pins. When you mentioned drying I thought you had used the ultrasonic. I suppose these pins almost last forever?

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Yes, you are done buying media. I strongly suggest you purchase a magnet and a Frankfort arsenal media separator. You fill the separator with water and crank it and the pins fall to the bottom of the bucket. Before I bought the separSator I would just pick them out of the tumbler by hand and shake them out. Every now and then a pin would stay in the case so after drying I would put them in my vibratory tumbler with no media. A neat thing about this process is the cases will align themselves mouth up. I'd wait till the cases were all vertical then grab a handful then invert and hold against the inside rim and once in a while a pin would fall out. This has not happened since I started using the media separator.

I know this is starting to sound like a PITA, but if you like your cases and primer pockets spotless, it's the way to go.

My process uses my RCBS sidewinder case tumbler. RCBS thinks too much of one for me to buy one now, Thumlers is the way to go, but I work with what I have. The RCBS has a friction fit lid and if I use a sudsy soap, the lid will blow off and I'll have to break out the mop! Therefore I use about 3 tablesoons Cascade and a teaspoon of Lemi-Shine. Most often two hours are enough to clean the cases spotless unless they are black range pickups. If the brass is really dirty, I run it for an hour or so then change the solution then run it for another couple hours. After that I decant off the nasty water then run fresh water into the drum until the water is clear. Next I fill the frankford media separator bucket nearly full of water and add the contents of the drum into the separator and with just a few revolutions all the pins are at the bottom of the pail. I collect the brass in a brass bag and dry. I pour off the water out of the media separator bucket and scoop out the media with my hand and put it back in the drum then use the magnet wrapped with a plastic bag to collect the errant last few pins. I hod the magnet inside the drum, peel off the bag thereby dumping the last few pins.

I mainly shoot semi auto's that fling brass off into the sandy loamy soil and get somewhat dirty. In all honesty a soap and water bath in the sink is just as good as far as the rifle is concerned, but sometimes I like my brass to look new. This method does that, it's for vain cosmetic reasons rather than rifle function.

On edit: Use cold water for shiny cases, I figured hot may be better, but they were dull.

I use this liquid concentrate brass cleaner. I add a couple ounces to a quart bottle or half gallon jug to dilute it, tumble for a few hours and the brass comes out new looking.

I have a common Thumlers Tumbler model B and a Frankfurt Arsenal vibrator tumbler. How many pounds of SS pins would you recommend for the model B? The link for the pins from Midway is for 5#, to me that seems to be more than needed. Perhaps I could put half of a bag in each tumbler.

I use walnut in a vibrator cleaner with two or three capsfull of mineral spirits and a heaping tablespoon full of BonAmi poslish. Works well even with my black powder cases and only requires one or two hours unless the cases are really badly tarnished or corroded. The bits in primer pockets don't bother as I inspect every case before reloading and a toothpick takes care of any problems. Even so the bits are loose and will dislodge when seating a primer and the primer flash isn't going to be bothered by such a slight obstruction. What the walnut doesn't do is clean the primer pockets as clean as the SS or ceramic media.

Jerry Liles

Wet tumbling with SS pins in a Thumlers Model B has gone mainstream enough that there's probably a reason the pins come in 5lb bags :icon_wink:

But since you don't really need the full gallon of water listed in the normal recipe maybe you don't need the full 5lb of pins recommended either :icon_e_confused:

I don't know how well pins will work in a vibratory tumbler. Being heavy I suspect they'll just sit in the bottom of the bowl. Even if they move around I doubt they'll be very effective without the soap and water to wash away and suspend the crud. If you try it and it works let us know.

Wet tumbling gets cases as shiny as new but mine don't stay that way long. I've tried various things and techniques but I think it's the local water. Since dull brass really blends in with the desert landscape I've started to do a quick tumble in corncob and NuFinish as a final step. That way they stay shiny and are easier to find. Any media in the flashhole gets punched out by the universal decap die in Station 1 of my Dillon 550.

Overall for me, wet tumbling really only has one thing going for it: clean rifle primer pockets. That's enough of a labor and tedium saver to justify the additional rinsing and drying time it takes. I still dry tumble all my pistol brass.

Maury

do you de cap them first if so that will plug the pocket . i clean them first then start the reloading process

I purchased some plastic "pyramids" tumbling media (used for commercial parts cleaning) but it was a bit too aggressive and left the brass with a matt finish. I now use 10-1 mix of corn cob blast media and the plastic media. Cleans fast, gives a fairly good shine, and does not need any additives...

Berrys makes a product you put in with your media, it is a liquid that shines the brass up like new