WET Tumbling Media options. (Not Stainless)

[BoltActionBrotherhood]

Hey fellas, I realize most of us use the standard stainless steel media that came with our wet tumbler, but what other options are out there?
I have heard people use ceramic media, anyone have any luck with this? Pros and cons? for example Ceramic Media on Amazon
I use my tumbler for my precisions rounds, 6.5 and 338 not so much as a bulk cleaner for 9mm or something.
Basically I am wondering if there is anything out there that will get my brass just as clean inside and out but maybe give it more of a polish/shine.
Any other options?
What do you all use? (Don't need to hear about the dry tumblers out there)
Thanks guys!

 

[straightshooter1]

I started using wet tumbles over 60 years ago, though then it was all about rocks. And there's all kinds of media that can be use for wet tumbling, but for brass, one needs to be careful not to use some kind of grit media, like that used in rock tumbling) that will actually damage brass. Stainless Steel pins or stainless steel shot (like for jeweler's tumblers) or some called chips that won't get stuck in the smaller caliber's throats works quite well. Or one could simply wet tumble using no media at all and the outside will get nice and clean and shinny, but inside will be cleaned "a little" depending on the solution you're tumbling in.

For my .30 cal brass, I wet tumble with SS pins, but not on a regular basis. Most of the time I use my dry tumbler with medium grain rice (regular long grain rice tend to get caught in the flash holes too much). Rice as a dry media does a nice job without any of the dust issues one can have with other dry media and seem to keep the inside of the necks from gripping to much (like in the hard welding issue over time).

 

[ditter]

I used the steel pins that came with the FA tumbler. But I went over to the "chips."

Huge improvement. Cleans better and faster than the pins. Gets in the primer pockets much easier. And inside is a whole new level of clean I hadn't seen since the brass was 1x fired. I really don't care about the shininess of the brass, but they clean the outsides just as well.

As far as the size of the chips, they really are smaller than what I imagined. The best description is that they are the size of sesame seeds. Its really easy to see how more can get inside the case while tumbling as opposed to pins.

 

[Baddog 0302]

ditter;
Do you have the full size FA tumbler ? and the "chips" you mention, which ones from the Amazon site are you using ??

Thank you

 

[BoltActionBrotherhood]

I used the steel pins that came with the FA tumbler. But I went over to the "chips."

Huge improvement. Cleans better and faster than the pins. Gets in the primer pockets much easier. And inside is a whole new level of clean I hadn't seen since the brass was 1x fired. I really don't care about the shininess of the brass, but they clean the outsides just as well.

As far as the size of the chips, they really are smaller than what I imagined. The best description is that they are the size of sesame seeds. Its really easy to see how more can get inside the case while tumbling as opposed to pins.

Do you mean these sorts of "Chips"

Amazon.com: 2 Lb 1/8" Stainless Steel Balcone Tumbling Media Shot Jewelers Tumbler Finishing: Industrial & Scientific

Buy 2 Lb 1/8" Stainless Steel Balcone Tumbling Media Shot Jewelers Tumbler Finishing: Polishing & Buffing - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[ditter]

I have the FA full size tumbler.

I didnt get it from Amazon. I got the ones from Southern Shine Media, which I heard about from this forum. 5 pounds for 26 bucks or so. I sent them an email and they sent a paypal request for payment. They were really nice and shipped fast.

 

[Cryptic]

I run a Thumlers Model B. It originally left the factory with the lower speed "rock tumbler" motor, and I used it like that for a number of years. About a year ago I upgraded the drive motor to the higher speed "case tumbler" motor because I wanted to speed up productivity, which I accomplished with the update. The only downside I've noticed is that the cases come out of the tumbler a little less polished. I'm perfectly okay with that since the insides of the cases and the primer pockets are noticeably cleaner, and that is my only real goal anyway.

I weighed my pins a little while back. I started with 5 lbs dry weight, and I'm still at 5 lbs dry weight. I'm always concerned about losing pins for some reason.