Getting ready to get my tumbler and need to know the best all round meida to you. I tried to save some time and do a search, but not all my questions were answered. One guy said that his media cleaned but didn't polish. Why do you need shinny brass -vs- non-shinny??? A satin 6-71 blower makes no more power than a polished one! One guy said that the dead animals don't know the difference and I liked that reply. Does it help in the resizing or is it really just for looks??? Next, I have a big ole air compressor in my garage. Can those come in handy for getting out the meida when you are done tumbling?? Just what is tumbling really doing. I watched a video where a guy actually washed his with dish soap. Please advise.

P.S. Is the H380 powder by "hodgdon"???

Some folks tumble their brass, others wash it in either a chemical bath or with soapy water -point is all will work.
Does the brass have to be shiny? Heck no. Here's what tumbling brass will do for you: keep dirt out of your chamber, prevent dirt from scarring your dies and scratching all your other cases, ensure the longest possible life of components, and it removes sizing lube. That's the answer in a nutshell.
I'll wash shotgun shells, but I don't wash brass because it's a PITA to dry. Think about it -if one doesn't understand the concept of annealing cases, one shouldn't be drying wet cases in the old lady's oven...

I use the corn cob media. I don't know that I'd use a air gun to blast the media out of my cases. Stuff'd go everywhere. I just take my cases out one at a time (yeah I know kinda tedious) and hold them against the side of the bowl (the tumblers still running) for a second and then use a Bic pen tip to pop out any grains that are caught in the flash hole and that's it.
Yes, H360 is a Hodgdon powder. Any powder with a preface of H is a Hodgdon powder, ie H4895, H4350, etc.
I've never washed any cases.

The treated media has red rouge in it. Besides being a contaminant, it is corrosive. The deposits in a chamber can be harmful.

A warm oven will dry the brass without harming it - 225F. Actually, nothing happens to the brass until it reaches 670F.

I prefer the dishwasher. Shiny doesn't count. Does anybody polish LC brass?

If you haven't bought anything yet, Cabelas has ceramic media to be used in a rotating canister style machine. It is a wet process, but very effective. Use the small stuff for high power rifle. The bigger stuff is for pistol and black powder/nitro size cases.

quote:

The treated media has red rouge in it.

Correction: SOME treated media has red rouge in it. I have mostly found it in walnut shell media. I hate it and won't use it as it leaves a residue. Either corn cob or walnut shells work fine. I prefer to buy the untreated media and use something like the Lyman polishing agent or similar. These do not leave residue and require no washing or other step before loading (other than to dump the media from the cases and punch anything caught in the flash hole out.)

If you like walnut, go to Harbor Freight and Tool and buy a 25lb box for a fraction of what you would find same in a gunshop. If you like corn cob, go to a pet store and buy it as rodent bedding material, but be sure that the grind is fine enough.

jewlers rouge is use with walnet shells, which is probably the best, but tougher to come by than is corncob. corncob uses polishing agents. both have lifespans. why polish - do you shoot an auto?? lots easier to find shiny brass than dull

It's been awhile, but I think I paid less than $15 for the 50lb bag of walnut I bought and I still have half a bag left. If I want a brighter shine I just add a polishing agent.

My finish cleaning I do with corncob media. Doesn't leave things nice and polished but cleans away the sizing lube.

By the way, even if you are using rouge treated media there are no issues with that either. It is nothing more then an EXTREMELY fine rubbing compound of iron oxide and wax... The residue left behind is NOT corrosive nor will it harm your action or chamber... For those who think it will, consider that it is still used in optics for a finish polishing using fairly high speed buffing wheels... Never saw a scratch on my glasses from it ... If you want polished brass, it won't hurt anything....

Ken....

My reason for tumbling is different than most. I keep my ammo in plastic boxes,and even when hunting,few rounds hit the ground,thus protecting my dies is not a concern. I tumble after sizing to remove the sizing lube. This means the brass is also deprimed and with corncobb media,a flake will stick in the primer pocket/flashole EVERYTIME. With walnut it usually runs out like sand everytime. So I use walnut media and it is much cheaper bought at a pet store--as litter than it is buying it as media even though the same thing.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
It's been awhile, but I think I paid less than $15 for the 50lb bag of walnut I bought and I still have half a bag left. If I want a brighter shine I just add a polishing agent.

roger