Not another brass cleaning post! I promise.

[hdwhit]

Background:

• I tumble brass in walnut media.
• Previously-fired cases are decaped, washed and tumbled.
• When resizing, I use Hornady Unique.
• After resizing, cases are tumbled to remove the lubricant.
• The same media is used for both tumbling operations.
• The media is thrown out when it starts to take a long time to shine the cases.

As walnut media is used, it generates dust.
- - I am aware of using used dryer sheets to control the dust.

Still, the cases themselves have walnut shell dust on them. Handling the cases in subsequent loading steps removes much, but not all, of it. My question is whether anyone has experience with whether or the dust has an effect - good or bad - on the cases stored for an extended period of time (i.e. > 1 year).

Thanks.

 

[Blue68f100]

Should not make a difference. I would suggest adding some car polish (NuFinish) to the mix. Then throw some paper towel strips/squares or cleaning patches. The patches and polish will/should take care of the dust.

 

[thomas15]

I challenge you to a game of checkers.

 

[hdwhit]

I challenge you to a game of checkers.

Me or Blue68f100?

 

[nettlle]

After the walnut gets enough Nu Finish in it the dust goes away. It doesn't take long.

 

[Reloadron]

I just leave the dusty cases out for the maid to dust. Seriously I have brass around here I tumbled and cleaned 15 years ago and put in 1 gallon zip loc bags, including any residue dust. They are just fine and have been over all the years. Never lost any sleep over the dust and no it matters not as far as I could ever notice.

Ron

 

[hdwhit]

Thank you, Reloadron.

I would have guessed it didn't have an effect, but I'm prepping some brass now that could be in storage for a decade or more and I didn't want to go back to it when I was ready for it and find out it was corroded.

 

[John Joseph]

If walnut were corrosive to metal, I don't think we'd find walnut to be popular among gun stock makers.

 

[thomas15]

WOW! got two kings on that board.

 

[Tony k]

If walnut were corrosive to metal, I don't think we'd find walnut to be popular among gun stock makers.

I was thinking he wondered if the media holds moisture, which could lead to corrosion?

Maybe it acts like a desiccant?

 

[Rule3]

Put a few drops of Mineral oil (baby oil, Ballistoil) in the tumbler. The dust will go away.

It is addressed here somewhere, I do not want to search for it again.

https://www.lymanproducts.com/list_faqs/faqs/index/

My media is getting quite dusty. How can I keep the dust down?

Add a few drops of baby oil to the media and run it to evenly distribute. Older media which is becoming dusty will indicate that the media is wearing out.

 

[FROGO207]

I would be more worried about fingerprints causing corrosion than media dust if I did not use some sort of polish in there. I have been polishing brass this way since I got a tumbler in the late 70's and none of my stored brass has been bothered by media dust. But I have found fingerprints on some. None of those either since adding polish to my media though.

 

[hdwhit]

Right on the money, Tony k.

Thanks.

 

[hdwhit]

Frogo207, interesting you should mention that. I was tumbling some cartridges I loaded in the 1980's and I came across a few where the corrosion pattern was unmistakably that of my fingerprint.