jcwit
member
Some of the tumblers come with a lid with holes/vents in them. Not everyone thinks of putting a shower cap on their tumbler. I know I sure wouldn't, we don't even have a shoer cap.
White rice for tumbling media
- Thread starter awfulkanawful
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Some of the tumblers come with a lid with holes/vents in them. Not everyone thinks of putting a shower cap on their tumbler. I know I sure wouldn't, we don't even have a shoer cap.
coyotemoon
Member
Pet smart and buy Lizard Littter=ground walnut shells. 10lbs about $7 bucks
orionengnr
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I tried white rice when I started handloading...
Worked "okay", but I ended up with a number of grains stuck in flash holes, and the brass didn't look as good as it could have.
So I dumped it, bought some corn cob and walnut shell, mixed them 50/50 and left the rice for eating.
YMMV.
Worked "okay", but I ended up with a number of grains stuck in flash holes, and the brass didn't look as good as it could have.
So I dumped it, bought some corn cob and walnut shell, mixed them 50/50 and left the rice for eating.
YMMV.
LiveLife
Member
If white rice is all you can get, it may work to clean your dirty cases somewhat but not for long and may not end up being cheaper than walnut/corn. I did test white rice as a tumbling media but found it only worked OK just for a few batches and I needed to replace the rice in the bowl to keep cases from getting smeared with grayish residue on the case surfaces (especially if you shoot lead bullets) - yuck!.
Crushed walnut/ground corn cob work much faster/better and last longer (cheaper than rice in the long run). Use with NuFinish polish and walnut/corn will do an even better job of polishing the cases (No, you CANNOT use any liquid polish with white rice so no hope of "mirror" polish with rice).
You can get crushed walnut from pet stores (like Petsmart, Petco, even Walmart) and Harbor Freight carries them in two grit sizes. I prefer the fine grit (24) over coarse grit (12) as media won't get stuck in flash holes and seems to clean/polish faster.
Because walnut media lasts so much longer (walnut is so hard, it actually don't "wear" - just gets dirty), even $23/25 lbs HF walnut media will turn out cheaper than $15/25 lbs white rice because you will have to replace the rice more often.
If you want brilliant polish, corn cob and NuFinish will do an excellent job and costs less than walnut ($34/40 lbs shipped) - http://www.drillspot.com/machining/finishing-supplies/pneumatic-blasting-media/
BTW, Powder Valley sells corn cob for $18/40 lbs (Go to Powder Valley > Maintenance > PVI > Ground Corn Cob).
Crushed walnut/ground corn cob work much faster/better and last longer (cheaper than rice in the long run). Use with NuFinish polish and walnut/corn will do an even better job of polishing the cases (No, you CANNOT use any liquid polish with white rice so no hope of "mirror" polish with rice).
You can get crushed walnut from pet stores (like Petsmart, Petco, even Walmart) and Harbor Freight carries them in two grit sizes. I prefer the fine grit (24) over coarse grit (12) as media won't get stuck in flash holes and seems to clean/polish faster.
Because walnut media lasts so much longer (walnut is so hard, it actually don't "wear" - just gets dirty), even $23/25 lbs HF walnut media will turn out cheaper than $15/25 lbs white rice because you will have to replace the rice more often.
If you want brilliant polish, corn cob and NuFinish will do an excellent job and costs less than walnut ($34/40 lbs shipped) - http://www.drillspot.com/machining/finishing-supplies/pneumatic-blasting-media/
BTW, Powder Valley sells corn cob for $18/40 lbs (Go to Powder Valley > Maintenance > PVI > Ground Corn Cob).
4895
Member
Just for anyone's information, I did order the blast media from drillspot a while ago and it is a lot of media. I filled up (2) 5 gallon buckets completely and had plenty enough left to overfill (2) Berry's tumblers with some spilt on the floor after adding brass. It is probably enough for 3 tumblers full. It doesn't get stuck in flasholes at all and polishes to a fine shine in an hour or less when new, about 2 hours when used quite well. I think I paid $26/40 lbs. with free shipping. Good stuff, highly recommended.
FROGO207
Member
Good end use for the rice if you do insist on using it is to feed the mice that get into your house. Lead poisoning without having to load any ammo.
Lots of years ago I tried rice in a homemade tumbler and went back to steel wool and spinning them on a tight fitting dowel using a small hand drill. If I bothered to clean them at all that is.
Now wet SS media is the only way to go.
Lots of years ago I tried rice in a homemade tumbler and went back to steel wool and spinning them on a tight fitting dowel using a small hand drill. If I bothered to clean them at all that is. Now wet SS media is the only way to go.jblackfish
Member
Coming from a person who uses old t-shirts as gun cleaning material (patches and cleaning cloths) I guess I don't understand why people work so hard to come up with some other type of media than the walnut shell/corncob stuff that works so well. Is it really THAT expensive? I'd as soon throw a sack of sand in my tumbler as a bag of rice. When I consider all the expensive items surrounding the shooting/hunting industry, brass cleaning media doesn't rate very high on my list - nearly everything I can think of is more expensive. Do these same people hunt wearing flour sacks that they've "camo-painted" in their garage into the woods and do they kill their prey with spears and/or bats that they've carved from tree limbs? No. They buy expensive camo and shoot with the best firearm they can afford.
I think American ingenuity is great but rice for cleaning media? Rice is food. The only good thing I've heard of that rice can be used for other than eating that made sense to me is putting your cell phone in a bag of it after you drop it in the water - remove the battery 1st of course.
No offense to anyone who wants to try it but rice sounds like it doesn't have any better purpose other than to "feed the mighty hunter" until he puts meat on the table to go with it.
I think American ingenuity is great but rice for cleaning media? Rice is food. The only good thing I've heard of that rice can be used for other than eating that made sense to me is putting your cell phone in a bag of it after you drop it in the water - remove the battery 1st of course.
No offense to anyone who wants to try it but rice sounds like it doesn't have any better purpose other than to "feed the mighty hunter" until he puts meat on the table to go with it.
silicosys4
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Thumlers tumbler is $179 new. Lifetime warrenty. It holds 250 large rifle cases. Stainless steel media costs $40/5 lbs, 5 lbs lasts a lifetime. I'll only ever buy 1 other $40 lb bag of media again in my life, to replace lost media...while you guys are out buying corncob and walnut regularly, and enough rice to feed your family for months
I would seriously doubt its more work, as it takes literally 5 minutes of actual work to clean 1k pistol cases. You put the brass in the tumber, screw the lid on, turn on the tumbler, wait 2 hours (you can barely hear it, by the way) then remove brass and use a colander to separate the media out. Lay the brass down on a towel to dry. No walnut or corn dust. No little bits of media everywhere.
I don't mind letting my brass sit out on my benchtop for a few days to dry.
Sometimes you have to spend money to save money was my motto.
I would seriously doubt its more work, as it takes literally 5 minutes of actual work to clean 1k pistol cases. You put the brass in the tumber, screw the lid on, turn on the tumbler, wait 2 hours (you can barely hear it, by the way) then remove brass and use a colander to separate the media out. Lay the brass down on a towel to dry. No walnut or corn dust. No little bits of media everywhere.
I don't mind letting my brass sit out on my benchtop for a few days to dry.
Sometimes you have to spend money to save money was my motto.
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wgaynor
Member
blackfish,
There are many people that use rice for many reasons. Knock it all you want, doesn't change the fact it works for many reasons.
I have a few hundred pounds of it stored. I think that it would be a cheaper alternative and readily available in my situation. Plus, it does work. It all depends on what you want your end product to look like. My goal, is to produce good bullets. I don't care about it being so brightly polished that it outshines the sun.
There are many people that use rice for many reasons. Knock it all you want, doesn't change the fact it works for many reasons.
I have a few hundred pounds of it stored. I think that it would be a cheaper alternative and readily available in my situation. Plus, it does work. It all depends on what you want your end product to look like. My goal, is to produce good bullets. I don't care about it being so brightly polished that it outshines the sun.
jcwit
member
Yes rice works. A yugo gets you from point A to point B also.
Other media works much better be it corn cob, crushed walnut or stainless steel pins. Just as a quality auto gets you from point A to point B in much more comfort.
But if one wishes to use rice, more power to them.
Other media works much better be it corn cob, crushed walnut or stainless steel pins. Just as a quality auto gets you from point A to point B in much more comfort.
But if one wishes to use rice, more power to them.
osprey176
Member
I used rice for years when I worked for a grocery chain.Any time a bag got damaged,I bought it cheap. The only problem was the kernels got stuck in the primer pockets and had to be cleaned out.The solution I learned was to use short grain rice instead of the regular long grain.Short grain is fatter,and does not fit in the primer pockets.I haven't tried it in my vibrator but may have to.
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