Reloading Problems

[rjohnson4405]

My friend and I just started reloading (with LNL Progressive, unreal all the things they thought of) and are having some problems. We bought a frankfort arsenal tumbler and walnut media but when the cases come out they have a dirty film and are anything but shiny. We couldn't get the media out of the brass so we soaked it in soapy water but that just made it stick more.
We thought tumbling would do everything we wanted, but it didn't.
So now the cases are drying out what would you suggest to get media out of cases? We were thinking depriming and blow compressed air in the priming hole and try and get it all out. Is lubing that important on the cases? Our carbide dies says never need lubrication. Also do they need to be shiny/how do you make them shiny?

Thanks in advance. I read the new to reloading sticky post but got nothing for how to clean brass just that we need to.

-Russ

 

[Bula]

I'm assuming straight walled pistol brass? I'd guess there's something funky about your media. Wall Mart carries some fine crushed walnut in their pet aisle. Sold as lizard bedding I beleive. Works great, I add a cap full of NuFinish car polish to the media about 5 minutes prior to adding the brass. As for the stuck media, try soaking them in a 5 gal. bucket of water.

 

[ReloaderFred]

It sounds like you put in the polish and then immediately put in the brass, which causes the media to clump up and stick inside the cases. When adding polish to any media, let it run for several minutes, until it's thoroughly mixed and there isn't any "wetness" to it.

You might try emptying the tumbler of all media and then put the dry cases in the tumbler and turn it on for a few minutes, without any media. This will be very, very noisy, but will dislodge a lot of the stuck media. For the rest of it, chuck an old bore brush in an electric drill and run it into the cases to get the stuck media out.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[rjohnson4405]

Fred: we didn't put any polish in, should we?

Bula: Yeah, straight walled 357 magnum, winchester brass.

It was midway media, VERY FINE, almost sandy, maybe that's why it sticks to everything so much. Also we ran the tumbler all night, is there a too long to tumble?

 

[rjohnson4405]

More thoughts:

We let it sit in the garage after tumbling for 48 hours. I bet moisture and what not got in there and it was able to stick when normally it could not stick if it was tumbling. :banghead: I figure if we remove brass right after tumbling and/or tumble brass without media we'll be good.

Thanks all and keep any suggestions coming, reloading is great!

 

[armoredman]

Don't tumble brass without media, that defeats the whole purpose. Use clean fresh media for this first load, let tumble about 2 hours or so, them remove, tap out the excess media, and go for it.

 

[Steve C]

If you don't buy pre treated media specifically for brass polishing you will need to treat your plain media with some polish. Nu-finish car wax probably works but I use a brass polish made for reloading tumblers that has a cleaner as well as polish. The Franfort Arsenal polish from Midway works well and I've used Dillons too. Midways polish looks suspiciously like Nu-finish mixed with an orange peal based cleaner. The liquid polish keeps the dust down, removes dirt and makes the cases shiny.

 

[eldon519]

I don't know if it is bad for the brass, but sometimes I just use a little vinegar and add it to corn cob media. It shines them up nicely and has worked for me. Of course it smells like vinegar for a while though.

 

[Walkalong]

It won't hurt a thing to run the tumbler all night. If you did not use any polish then you probably have a moisture problem. Freds idea to tumble them without media should shake it all out for sure. Here in HUMID Alabama sometimes my media gets a little sticky.

I use Frankford Arsenal Brass Polish from Midway. It works real well. You don't have to use any polish, but it will shine up your brass faster and better.

Hey aromoredman. I use a square SS screen type basket about 10" by 14" long with a square plastic bin to shake the media into. It works just like your home made setup. Just fine. The basket came from surgery. They use them to hold instriments for a trip through the sterilizer. They were junking a few and I "rescued" them on the way to the dumpster.

That's a Lyman 1200 tumbler with a Frankford Arsenal bowl (on sale) for added capacity. If the tumbler will ever die I'll get a bigger one. I've been waiting for years and years, but it won't die.

 

[TEDDY]

tumbling

if you use treated walnut you dont need any thing else.you might get pieces in the flash holes just pick it out.if the brass is brown you will have to use brass cleaner.or vinegar.you can leave it running all night. the vinegar you have to watch to see when its ready.-------:banghead:

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I don't use any polish -- I want the brass free of crud and so on, but it doesn't have to be super-shiny. I tumble my brass before decapping, so any bit of media in the flash hole is automatically punched out by the decapping pin.

 

[Bronson7]

Way back, when I would give my brass two runs thru the tumbler (once with shell and once with cob) I'd put a dollop of paint thinner in with the shell, It worked great. Do it in the garage or outdoors. Now, I use a 50/50 mix of walnut/cob with a dollop of liquid New Finish cut with mineral spirits. Cleans and polishes in one step with excellent results.
Bronson7

 

[Never No More]

Been reloading for over 40 years now. I use only a single stage Rockchucker.
Use case lube, dont tumble my brass in any media. Never have had a problem of any kind.

 

[E20thLRP]

My Favorite is Cob and Brasso..the brasso cuts everything !! Then sort
by hand 1 at a time then with a Qtip clean the inside....But that's just
me and my 00.2 its a great stress reliever and Some Great Looking AMMO !!
Echo....out

 

[RustyFN]

My Favorite is Cob and Brasso..the brasso cuts everything !!

Be very careful with Brasso, it has amonia and can ruin your brass. I buy the cheap walnut from the pet store. I add one cap full of Nu Finish car polish every othet batch and add a cut up used dryer sheet ( bounce ) to keep everything clean. I tumble for 1.5 to 2 hours. I haven't seen a difference in running longer than 2 hours so it just seemed like a waste of time and energy to me.
Rusty

 

[E20thLRP]

Oh yea...RustyFn you are right only use a cap or two ...But I have some
WCC 44 & 45 I have shot at least 10 times...no damage But I really like Straline and "I" the best !! moderation...any time you use Chemicals on your
BRASS........Echo out

 

[tasco 74]

i gotta agree with the somethings funky about your media.. i use straight ground cob media and nothing added to it.. i dig the cases out while the tumbler is running with a small slotted cat box scoop.. then i put every case over the center threaded stud to make sure the media is shakin out of the inside.. i deprime after they are tumbled because i did have problems with media in flash holes.. try cob media instead of when you've got it might make all the difference.. i've even heard of the problems you're talkin about..

 

[Sunray]

"...the brasso cuts everything..." And damages the brass. The ammonia in it eats brass.
"...anything but shiny..." The brass needs to be clean, not shiny.
"...to get media out of cases..." Let it dry and use a dull nail to loosen the clumping media and dump it out. Make sure there's none left in the case. Forget the air though. Once you've got the media out and everything is dry you'll have to tumble again to get the soap off. The media doesn't need any car polish or magic potions or pixie dust to clean the brass. Just put the cases in and run the tumbler for a few hours.
Pitch what you have and go buy a bag of crushed corn cobs at any pet supply place. Less than $20 for 50 pounds or so .
"...Is lubing that important..." Nope, but it doesn't hurt if you do lube. Lubing with a carbide sizer die defeats its purpose though.

 

[rjohnson4405]

Thanks!

Thanks for all the info guys! I really appreciate it. Now I just have to find time to try all the great ideas I've found on this site.