Crushed walnut shell media

[Morrey]

While in a pet store recently, I saw crushed walnut shells to be used as bedding for lizards. It was quite cheap in comparison to media I use in my tumbler, but it looked a bit more finely crushed than normal media. Has anyone ever used this in their tumbler? I was thinking to mix it 50/50 with larger media and stretch it farther. Thoughts??

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

Works fine.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Yes, it works fine but it does produce a lot more dust than commercial media. You can add a little mineral spirits to knock that down a bit.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Works fine...I mix mine 50/50 with crushed corn cob.

I might recommend that you sift it first to remove excess dust

 

[rcmodel]

Zilla Brand lizard litter is all I have used for about 10 years now.

The fine grind is great because it very seldom gets stuck in flash holes!!

I haven't had any excessive dust in any I have purchased.

rc

 

[Morrey]

Excellent advice! Sometimes improvisation makes for the best results. Case in point making my own case lube from lanolin and HEET fuel line treatment. Now I'll try lizard bedding as a tumbler media! Cool Deal!!

 

[Poper]

I use a used dryer fabric softener sheet cut into strips to collect the dust. Gets most of the dirty dust that is knocked loose from the inside of the cases, too.

 

[mdemetz]

Search the gun boards for Lizard Litter .

 

[bikerdoc]

That is all I use.

 

[Artofgolf]

Zilla Brand lizard litter is all I have used for about 10 years now...

Yep, it works great & reasonably priced.

 

[J2FLAN]

lizard litter cleans the brass really good, shinny, not to a mirror shine, but unless you are not going to shoot them and put them on display it is fine.

 

[Sky King]

I use walnut media from Harbor Freight. 25 lbs for $25.00

 

[MDof2]

It's all ever use.
Pet store, or ChinaFreight. $20 bucks for a sack that weighs about the same as a fat baby.

 

[oldreloader]

Zilla Brand lizard litter is all I have used for about 10 years now.

The fine grind is great because it very seldom gets stuck in flash holes!!

I haven't had any excessive dust in any I have purchased.

rc

yes. Same here.

 

[jolly roger]

I use it too. Bounce dryer sheet cut in strips helps to collect dust

 

[SlowFuse]

I do the same as 9mmepiphany, 50/50 mix with corn cob media. Works well for me. My bag of Zilla brand was dusty when pouring but the dryer sheets and polish additives helped with that after a couple runs.

 

[sniper58]

I've been using it for a few years.
When I'm going to change my media, I take the new stuff outside when there's a breeze blowing and pour the new stuff back & forth between a couple of buckets a few times to let the wind blow the fine dust away. Works great!

 

[VINTAGE-SLOTCARS]

The bucket trick works great after the media has been used a few times.

 

[carbine85]

All I use is the crushed walnut shell lizard litter. I usually end up buying the only 2 bags the Pet stores have on hand.

 

[mdi]

My first experience with tumbling many years ago was with PetSmart lizard litter (crushed walnut). It was dark walnut colored and coarser than cob media. It worked great. I then went with corn cob blast media which I still mostly use today. I tried some Zilla Desert Blend walnut litter, but it was light colored (blond) and as fine as cob media. It cleaned no better (actually less) than cob blast media, taking a bit longer than ground corn cob blast media. I have some hard plastic tumbling media, 3/8" pyramids, that are very aggressive and often toss a handful in with the cob media to clean brass a bit faster/better....
http://www.drillspot.com/products/499763/econoline_526020g-40_40_lbs_blast_media

 

[9mmepiphany]

There is an easy way to "de-dust" the lizard bedding if it bothers you.

1. Go outside on a moderately windy day.
2. Hold the bedding bag 3-4 feet above a bucket.
3. Pour the bedding from the bag into the bucket
4. Allow the wind to carry off the dust.

 

[Bob K.]

When using any type of walnut media, I leave the tumbler outside with the lid off. The dust wafts away and pretty much eliminates dust deposits on the cases.

 

[weaselfire]

Zilla Brand lizard litter is all I have used for about 10 years now.

The fine grind is great because it very seldom gets stuck in flash holes!!

I haven't had any excessive dust in any I have purchased.

rc

Ditto. Toss a dryer sheet, used is fine, in the tumbler and you'll cut down the dust sticking everywhere.

Jeff

 

[joem1945]

If you want to get rid of the dust, set the vib tumbler outside, cover off, put a box fan behind it and turn them both on. In a few mins allthe dust will be in your yard.

 

[rsrocket1]

Feed store crushed walnut was $17 for 50 pounds. I've used about 10-15 pounds in the past 4 years while cleaning about 10,000 cases per year. Used dryer sheets are great. No need for anything else. They start out coming out tan while picking up all the walnut dust, after a few cycles, they come out gray from picking up just the soot. No additives like mineral spirits or NuFinish means no soot sticking to the media and it lasts a very long time.