Media

[jackinfl]

I have a lot of once fired Hornady Match brass to clean and prep for reloading in the future. I have run 4 batches of 75 pieces through my corn cob media. The media has turned dark and on the inside of the tumbler there is a layer of thick blackish dust. Is this dust the particulate that is coming off of the brass? How many tumbles do you get out of the media before dumping the whole batch and starting over.

Also, Should I clean all of the brass I have or just wait and do batches of 50-100 at a time when I am ready to reload them?
Thanks in advance.
Jack

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: Media

I clean with media until it quits cleaning. With a traditional tumbler 15 to 20 batches before changing media.

Use a cloth / paper towel with a little cleaner or solvent on it to remove the residue and dust. While I have never had it analized, I suspeck it's a carbon compound that sticks to the plastic. Wipe it up throw it in the trash.

 

[jackinfl]

Re: Media

Victor thanls for the response. Can you comment on clean it all at once or just small batches at a time when i am ready to load that number of rounds?
Thanks

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Media

Clean is clean. It really doesn't matter when you clean and then reload it.

The excessive black you are getting prematurely sounds like a msassive over-load of polish.

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: Media

What type and size is your tumbler?

The media I have been using the last few months doesn't have any polish. Just natural corn cob grit. That's why I believe it's carbon of somekind.

 

[jackinfl]

Re: Media

I have the RCBS 3.5 quart vibratory case cleaner and I am using the Lyman Corn Cob green item no. 7631394

 

[19Scout77]

Re: Media

Jack- Lately I have started using the corn cob animal bedding from Petco (cheap) and a dab of Flitz, and I polish a couple hundred 308 or 7wsm cases at a time. The media is rather large and will clog primer pockets, but it works well, is cheap and lasts a long while.

Follow Victor's advice above about keeping it clean and time to change.

 

[Mag 300]

Re: Media

The flitz polish will do this its seems the amonia in the polish is the culprit
Bill

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fuzzball</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Clean is clean. It really doesn't matter when you clean and then reload it.

The excessive black you are getting prematurely sounds like a msassive over-load of polish. </div></div>

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: Media

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jackinfl</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have the RCBS 3.5 quart vibratory case cleaner and I am using the Lyman Corn Cob green item no. 7631394 </div></div>

From the Midway catalog site:

Fast, dry-media case cleaning. Holds up to 400 38 Special or 180 30-06 cases. Removable lid lets you check cases during cleaning. Quiet, powerful motor is thermally protected and 1/4" thick bowl will last a lifetime. Case cleaning media sold separately.

I usually fill my big blue one about 80% with corn cob grit. Then if it holds 3 gallons of media I add as much as a gallon of brass.

If your bowl holds 3 quarts, try 1 quart of brass and see if that's too much. If it's too much the brass will have scratch marks on the outside.

I have mine set up on a Christmas light timer. It's adjustable to 2, 4, 6, or 8 hours. MOST brass I run is clean and shiney after 4 hours. Stained brass will not usually get the cleaned and polished luster finish. But they will be cleaned of the dirt and powder residue.

I usually sort and work on brass in the afternoons and turn the tumbler on when I go in for supper. When I come out the next day I just pour everything into the sifter and start shaking the media out of the nice clean and shiney cases.

I hope this helps

Good luck.