Beating a Dead Horse: Tumbler Issues

[fireflyfather]

OK, I know the tumbler/media/polish thing has been done to death, but I just made an impulse buy on a frankford arsenal tumbler at my local store (they actually had tumblers in stock for a change, which was shocking!). I'll be using it mostly for straightwall pistol cases, with a few medium-large bottleneck rifle cases. The reason I made the jump into tumbling is the build up of lee liquid alox on the outside of my cases and inside my dies.

So here they are (The questions):

1. I'm thinking of using pet bedding walnut and corncob 50/50 at the same time, as I have heard of others doing this. Are there any issues with the 50/50 mix?

2. Also, is the stuff they store at the local petmart okay? The walnut seems to be ground pretty fine compared to the corncob, which is considerably larger. Should I worry about clogging primer holes?

3. I've heard LOTS of recipes for polish. I'm mostly interested in getting the gunk off the cases, but if I'm going to go to all the trouble to tumble them anyways, I feel I might as well polish/shine them a bit too. I've heard lots of stories about flitz, brasso, and nufinish car polish/wax. Which flitz product? Is it one of the reloading-specific products, or will any old bottle from walmart do?

Thanks.

 

[rfwobbly]

F Cubed -

Here are some opinions from a tumbler...

1) I don't know. I never got past using corn cob by itself.

2) I'm working through 2 bags from Wal-Mart pet litter myself. Yes it does tend to clog small primer holes, so tumble before decapping is the simple answer. If you insist on decapping, and a chunk-o-cob gets stuck in there, then the decapping pin will certainly remove it for you. Or you can get the small cob from Grainger's, which is where I'm headed.

Just don't use the Wal-Mart pet litter to do 223 !!!

3) The best polish I've found by far is the Nu-Finish liquid car wax in the orange bottle, also from Wal-Mart. Just pour a cap-full in with every batch. You'll love it.

Hope this helps!

 

[ar10]

1. I'm thinking of using pet bedding walnut and corncob 50/50 at the same time, as I have heard of others doing this. Are there any issues with the 50/50 mix?

I don't know of any. But why? cheap walnut and rubbing compound works fine and is cheaper around here.

2. Also, is the stuff they store at the local petmart okay? The walnut seems to be ground pretty fine compared to the corncob, which is considerably larger. Should I worry about clogging primer holes?

Sure it is, it also creates more dust. Dryer sheets gets rid of it. About 40% of mine get clogged, just use an old de-capping pin.

3. I've heard LOTS of recipes for polish. I'm mostly interested in getting the gunk off the cases, but if I'm going to go to all the trouble to tumble them anyways, I feel I might as well polish/shine them a bit too. I've heard lots of stories about flitz, brasso, and nufinish car polish/wax. Which flitz product? Is it one of the reloading-specific products, or will any old bottle from walmart do?

Pick you're own recipe. I did and most everyone else does too.

 

[edelbrock]

I use a 50/50 mix of Corn Cob from Grainger and Walnut from the pet store + NuFinish car polish. Works great and it is cheap.

 

[mongoose33]

I do about 60 percent corncob, 40 percent walnut. The more corncob, the better the polish; walnut is a little more aggressive cleaner. I like a little brighter finish.

I also use NuFinish; I can get it at Wal-Mart, don't see any reason to go to anything else.

As far as dust, you'll find that if you use NuFinish (or equivalent) the dust problem disappears. I separate media in an RCBS separator, the one with the lid so as to keep dust down. Dust was always apparent when separating before I started adding polish. Never since.

Whatever you end up using will probably work fine. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

 

[ranger335v]

"1. I'm thinking of using pet bedding walnut and corncob 50/50 at the same time, as I have heard of others doing this. Are there any issues with the 50/50 mix?"

IMHO, those who mix both don't quite know which is "best" so they cover the bases. There isn't enough difference between them to make any difference. Just use the finist grit you can find to keep from clogging in the cases and/or plugging the flash holes.

Polish is polish. There's no magic in that either, NuFinish is simply the least expensive and commonly available. Add maybe an ounce to the first batch, run the tumbler until it's well mixed before adding the cases.

Only add more when you note that it actually takes longer to get where you want to stop.

Part of the carrier in most polishes is mineral spirits. You can add an ounce or two of that to your media from time to time to "rejuvinate" the polish. MS evaporates fairly fast so you will need to replace it at least every few days if you do use it.

Adding too much polish only creates a dry powder dust. (That dust frightens some, thinking it's, "Oh my God, LEAD dust that will kill me!" Not.) If you do see dusting, add a couple of 3" sqares of used dryer sheets, it will trap the dust so you can toss that excess polish out.

 

[jcwit]

Polish is polish. There's no magic in that either, NuFinish is simply the least expensive and commonly available. Add maybe an ounce to the first batch, run the tumbler until it's well mixed before adding the cases

Not quite right, polish is not polish, no more than oil is oil. Car polish ie: turtle was "Liquid", Nu-Finish "Liquid or Paste", or most any other auto liquid polish also puts a film of protection on the cases preventing tarnish. Same as the protection they put on the paint of your car. Call it wax or syn. polymers or what ever its not the same as using jewlers rouge or polish.

One of the secrets of using liquid auto polish is using it sparingly, using to much will gum up your media, and will require a change.

Can't understand the idea of using pet litter ground corn cob from W/M. Most every city and town of any consequence has an Graingers Industrial Supply outlet here inthe U.S. and 40# age sell for only $25.00 approx. If you order the 20-40 grit there's none to dig out of the flash holes, and it lasts and shines just as good.

 

[fireflyfather]

jcwit, to explain the walmart fixation: I live in southern california. Industrial/feed supply places are usually a good distance away. Walmart is convenient. I suspect it's the same for many folks who don't live in the midwest. We're stuck with pet stores and the pet section in walmart, unless we want to order over the internet. I'd like to see the expression on my wife's face when a 40# bag of corncob was delivered by fedex to our condo. It would be priceless to see. Priceless in the sense that I would never figure out exactly how much the alimony and child support would add up to.

Seriously, though, thanks for the replies. I'm probably going to stick with a bag of corcob for $3.50 and a bottle of turtle-wax for the same (they were out of nufinish at walmart).

Gotta find some way to dampen the sound of the tumbler, though. That thing is LOUD, no matter how little or much I load into it. Maybe I can pick up some styrafoam and build a tumbling box.

 

[fireman 9731]

Gotta find some way to dampen the sound of the tumbler

In my experience, the fuller it is, the quieter it is. A good thick piece of industrial rubber floor mat underneath it would probably help a lot too.

 

[unclesam099]

Someone on here also suggested adding a touch of mineral spirits every couple of times. I do that and my brass has been coming cleaner and shinier, faster than before with just the NuFinish (100% walnut).

 

[jcwit]

Priceless in the sense that I would never figure out exactly how much the alimony and child support would add up to.

If 40# of corn cob at only $25.00 is going to give you that much problem with your wife you have much biger problems than I can even imagine.

to explain the walmart fixation: I live in southern california. Industrial/feed supply places are usually a good distance away.

Graingers Industrial Supply is just what the name implies. Its an industrial supply house, if you have mfg. in your area, its VERY likely you have a Graingers Supply House. It has nothing to do with the midwest or feed supply. Try a very simple Google search.

Best way I've found to dampen the sound is to get a 12" x 12" cement paving block to set the tumbler on. Also if you fill it to full with empty cases it will rattle instead of just hum. I wouldn't built a box around it as you want air flow for the motor, keeps it cooler, which is good.

Hope this helps a little, jcwit

 

[jcwit]

Just did a quick Google search for Graingers in just one zip code area of southern Kalif., here are the results.

Branch # 469
5900 Rodeo Rd.
Los Angeles, Ca. 90016
phone # 866-486-7865

See there even a hay seed from Indiana fly-over country figered that out.

 

[DoesItMatter]

Question: This is more for looks than functionality correct?

I reloaded 90% straightwall cases, 357/38, 44 mag/spl, .45acp, and then occasionally 30-30 and soon some 7.62x54r

Since most of it is straight-wall, I don't lube any cases at all, so the only dirtiness comes from the powder.

But I haven't noticed any functional/feeding issues with dirty reloaded cases.

 

[jcwit]

A lot of people say also that clean/polished cases will not cause as much wear to your dies. This may be so, however I doubt that regarding pistol cases using carbide inserts it means much, carbide is almost as hard as a diamond, I doubt there would any wear detectable at all, but I might be wrong, howsomever, how many 100's of thousands would one have to reload to detect any wear?

One argument that comes up regarding wear is scratches on the brass as being a worn out or wearing out die. Wrong, scratches are something imbeded into the die or a built up of material "more likely" on the dies inner surface, causing a scratch. Think, a scratch is below the surface of the case, not a higher bump which would mean a worn spot in the die.

With all this being said, yes I polish my brass, it looks better, just like a polished handgun looks better than an old rusty clunker that looks like it had spent most of its life under the seat of a P/U.

Just my 2 cents jw

 

[Faitmaker]

Mostly just to be clean and pretty. But no self-respecting reloader would show up to the range with dirty brass.. would they?

 

[Tim the student]

I've heard lots of stories about flitz, brasso

IIRC, Brasso will weaken your brass.

 

[bullseye308]

If you just want to clean the brass and don't care about a mr clean shine, walnut and car polish will do that very nicely. I use lizard litter and nu-finish and it works very well for me. Seems it works for many others as well. If you want it super shiney too, follow it up in a bowl of corn cob after the walnut. The walnut is more abrasive and cleans it well, the cob polishes it.
Turtle wax should work just fine. One capful the first time and let it run with no brass for 10 min or until you see no lumps, then add brass. You may need to add more about every 5 bowls or so, you may not. It will depend on how much longer it takes to get the brass where you want it, if it takes too long, add a little more.

 

[NotSoFast]

OK, I know the tumbler/media/polish thing has been done to death, but I just made an impulse buy on a frankford arsenal tumbler at my local store (they actually had tumblers in stock for a change, which was shocking!). I'll be using it mostly for straightwall pistol cases, with a few medium-large bottleneck rifle cases. The reason I made the jump into tumbling is the build up of lee liquid alox on the outside of my cases and inside my dies.

So here they are (The questions):

1. I'm thinking of using pet bedding walnut and corncob 50/50 at the same time, as I have heard of others doing this. Are there any issues with the 50/50 mix?

2. Also, is the stuff they store at the local petmart okay? The walnut seems to be ground pretty fine compared to the corncob, which is considerably larger. Should I worry about clogging primer holes?

3. I've heard LOTS of recipes for polish. I'm mostly interested in getting the gunk off the cases, but if I'm going to go to all the trouble to tumble them anyways, I feel I might as well polish/shine them a bit too. I've heard lots of stories about flitz, brasso, and nufinish car polish/wax. Which flitz product? Is it one of the reloading-specific products, or will any old bottle from walmart do?

Thanks.

I've not had issues with a 50/50 mix - in pistol loads. The corn cob gets into my small rifle brass and seems to fill up then jam inside. And corn cob does tend to get stuck in the primer holes occasionally.

I buy my media in the local feed and farm supply store by the 50 lb. bag. I've not had much problem with it at all. If I get dust, I just throw a used fabric softener sheet into the tumbler.

I buy my polish from Walmart and throw in a capful every two loads. My brass comes out clean and shiny. When it gets to taking more than two hours to polish a load, I change the media.

 

[jcwit]

I've not had issues with a 50/50 mix - in pistol loads. The corn cob gets into my small rifle brass and seems to fill up then jam inside. And corn cob does tend to get stuck in the primer holes occasionally.

The very reason to use the 20/40 grit size. It will not clog up in rifle brass ie: bottleneck cases, it also will not plug up the primer or flash holes.

I buy my polish from Walmart and throw in a capful every two loads. My brass comes out clean and shiny. When it gets to taking more than two hours to polish a load, I change the media

Way to much polish IMO, a capful of polish with a tumbler 2/3rds full of corn cob should clean/polish doz.s & doz.s of tumbler loads. At least mine does. This equates into 1,000 of rounds of .45 ACP.

 

[fireflyfather]

If 40# of corn cob at only $25.00 is going to give you that much problem with your wife you have much biger problems than I can even imagine.

It's not the $ that bothers her. It's the "huge bag of reloading/shooting crap". We have a pretty decent marriage, but this is one of a very few hotbutton issues.

As for Graingers, there is one about a 35 minute drive away from me. Walmart is more like 7 minutes. I'd spend more in gas than I'd save unless I bought several thousand pounds. The only advantage is the smaller grain size, and I can deal with it for my pistol cases and loaded ammo. I'll be using walnut on the rifle ammo anyway, so it's a moot point. Still nice to know they have the stuff, though.

 

[Larry Burchfield]

Polishing brass

After having reloading and polishing so many cases that I have lost count if I ever new that number I use only corn cob and nufinsh car polish as a polishing media. I used to buy untreated corn cob by the 100 lb sack to get the best deals. I kept what I thought I need and sold the rest to members of my gun club.
You can't use just any car polish because some of it has ammonia in it which will eat your brass up.
I polish my brass before every loading because most of it has been fired through auto loading pistols. I thank the lord of revolvers and moon-clips. I guess I've also lost count of the tumblers that I've had. The newest I bought from Harbour Freight for under $45. It looks like it might work. I didn't see any corncob at my store but the deal from grainger sounds great.
One last thing that I do with my auto fired brass is to run it through my case/media seperator to get all of the dirt and grit out of the brass before putting it into the tumbler.
Although I use carbide die to load my pistol brass in my dillon 650 I spray the cases to be loaded with Hornady one shot case lube. It just helps the process.
Larry Burchfield
SEABEES/VIETNAM/67/68/69:banghead:

 

[ulflyer]

+1 on the Hornady One Shot. Good stuff. Or if you're on tight budget, ( I didn't say cheap), buy the small bottle of RCBS case lube stuff made to put on a pad, mix it with lots of achohol in one of those tiny spray bottles sold at Walmart. You'll have to judge the proper mix...but it doesnt' take much and works about as good as One Shot. I use one or the other and it makes the cases slide much easier even in carbide dies.

2 oz bottle about $3.50 or so, prob last you a lifetime.

 

[jcwit]

You can't use just any car polish because some of it has ammonia in it which will eat your brass up

Ammonia in car polish? Have never seen or heard of that, I wouldn't even think of using that on my clear coat. I can just see some dude polishing and waxing his Corvette with ammonia polish. Something to consider in regards to polishes with ammonia ie; Brasso, is the ammonia is allowed to evaporate, the danger is gone.

Another good case lube I've found is Blaster brand of teflon spray. I usually have my cases in a butter tub and give them a squirt or two and slosh them around some, its not for die protection, its to lesson the work. Blaster teflon spray can usually be picked up on sale at Menards for a $1.00 a can.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

I use corncob for pistol and walnut for rifle. Some corncob is to corse for rifles and will plug cases, especially small ones like 223s. I used a small amount of brasso in my media for 30 years and never had a problem doing it. The small amount you add to the media doesnt have enough amonia to hurt a thing. Although a little liquid car was does about the same thing. For case lubes i have used them all. Right now what i do is buy anhydrous lanolin in the phamacy and either mix it at about 1 part lanolin to 5 parts isopropal alchohol (heat) and use it in a spray bottle or just but a little dab of lanolin on my fingers and wipe it on a case. Most of the case lubes out there are based on lanolin and you can buy a tub of it on ebay or at the pharmacy for about 20 bucks that would last the average loader two lifetimes. One shot is convient if you dont want to clean off the lube after you load but ive had enough stuck cases with it to know to be careful using it. The other spray lubes are in my opinion not worth buying. If you want something close to what i use thats allready made try the frankfort arsonal pump spary lube.

 

[ar10]

My first tumbler was the RCBS "rattle can". The second was the really big, 18lb HF that has some kind of composite container. It's about as quiet as you can get, and I'm dumping 800 to 1000 cases in it all the time. When I compared the two the HF die the job faster and quieter than RCBS. I also bought a spare bucket for 10.00 in case the original wore out. After the last batch of range brass, about 100k of cases it's still going strong.
The only down side is it throws out a lot more "dust" using the bird litter, but 3 dryer sheets per load fixed that.

As far as polish, very fine rubbing compound is about a dollar cheaper than NU-Finish, and it cleans/polishes a lot better than the auto polish I used to use. I also don't have to run the tumbler as long. I have about 50k of brass in ziploc bags that I did last year sitting in my basement and it looks just as good as the brass I'm doing now.