Tumbling - What Media???

[Patronen]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

Skills: Boundless
Motivation: Zilch
Result: "good enough"

... ...

I'm just looking to make them cleaner...The brown brass tarnish seems resistant to tumbling/vibrating...But is very nice as 'patina'...



Is the rouge liquid or powder??? How do you clean it out of bottleneck cases??? Compressed air???

A friend of mine gave me a few shavings off a small block, it is reddish in color. How to clean it out? That's why I really don't use it. 9mm which is primarily what I had used it on isn't so bad but is time consuming to clean it out. I have used one of those .38/9mm cloth type cleaning rod attachments. Bottle neck rifle cases especially something like a .223 would probably be a PITA. I haven't tried to do that yet. If there is a better way than to wipe it out from each case like using air I would like to know?

[sheepherder]

I'm 'cleaning' a batch tonight with crushed corn cobs; tomorrow I'll try a batch with glass beads and then do a side-by-side comparison to see which looks best...Hopefully, pics will show which works best in my vibrator/tumbler...

Originally Posted by Patronen

A friend of mine gave me a few shavings off a small block, it is reddish in color. ...

Here's an example of how my mind works...When I read this, I immediately thought of milling a small block Chevy engine block and saving the shavings...Duh!!!

[Patronen]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

I'm 'cleaning' a batch tonight with crushed corn cobs; tomorrow I'll try a batch with glass beads and then do a side-by-side comparison to see which looks best...Hopefully, pics will show which works best in my vibrator/tumbler...



Here's an example of how my mind works...When I read this, I immediately thought of milling a small block Chevy engine block and saving the shavings...Duh!!!

LOL, I don't know how well that will clean up brass, more like the brass will clean the shavings

[sheepherder]

Just got back from my LGS...No powder or primers in stock...He says none have come in for months...Distributors can't get powder or primers...

No new .223 brass either...But he dug out a couple of old boxes of fired brass, and I dug through a big tub of range-pickups, and ended up with 72 cases...

...Which does me no good without primers...

Someone mentioned 'Powder Valley', a site I had never heard of, so I took a look...Everything there is 'Out Of Stock'...Just like everywhere else...

I keep reading that the shortage is over, and that manufacturers are catching up with the demand...But my practical experience says otherwise...

There is a gun show in January; hopefully I can get a couple pounds of powder and a thousand primers then...

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

...There is a gun show in January; hopefully I can get a couple pounds of powder and a thousand primers then...

Rochester?

Originally Posted by rhuff

A lot of reloaders add NuFinish to their corncob. ... Some swear that the wax layer aids in sizing, and also stops/slows the tarnishing of the shiny brass. I can not confirm that info at this time.

It's a space-age polymer! It is entirely feasible that its residue would help lube and protect; well worth a try.

[rhuff]

A lot of reloaders add NuFinish to their corncob. It is a cleaner/wax designed for autos, and is sold at the local auto assy. shops. It is cheap to purchase, and a little goes a long ways. I purchased some a while back, but have not tried it just yet. Some swear that the wax layer aids in sizing, and also stops/slows the tarnishing of the shiny brass. I can not confirm that info at this time.

[sheepherder]

I finished my comparison of brass 'cleaning' in my Midway vibrator...Pic attached...

All three were 'vibrated' for 8 - 10 hours in the indicated media, with no additives.

(The middle case has a shadow near the base...That case has not yet been resized in the .223 Remington sizing die...It's as-fired...The other two have been .223 resized, and measure .372"/.373", while the fired case measures .385"...It expanded .012" from the sized .223 sized case when fired in my Mauser C96...)

They all turned out acceptably clean, but if I had to choose, I'd say the crushed walnut shells got the cases the cleanest...the insides even look cleaner...