Hey guys I have a Dillon case vibrator and I have been having trouble with the media being "stuck" in the cases when done. Not really stuck but just that in many cases I have to use something to sort of start getting it loose. Is this a sign of the need for new media?

Sounds like your media may have some sort of crap in it that is setting up and hardening. I have no idea what that could be. I wash and dry my cases before I tumble them, or I just use my ultra-sonic cleaner. I like to think getting them clean before I really go after the crap on them helps to get them even cleaner when they're done and ready for the resizer. You can get a ten-pound bag of crushed hulls at any pet store for about eleven or twelve bucks. Some guys here report buying 50-pound bags of it at the feed store for twenty-five bucks. Give either one of those options a try.

What I do when I use my tumbler is to screw the "prospector's pan" type of sifter onto my tumbler with a 1/4-inch hole drilled through its center bottom. Then I flip the tumbler over (quickly) onto a 3.5-gallon bucket, and shake the thing like hell. I swirl it around, back and forth, and shake it up and down. The stuff comes out easily. I usually have zero to very little remaining in any case...



The quarter-inch bolts are drilled and attached to the tub 180 degrees apart. I can hold the tub tight to the bucket with my fingers and shake the hell out of the whole assembly. Works really well...

quote:

Originally posted by rock:
Hey guys I have a Dillon case vibrator and I have been having trouble with the media being "stuck" in the cases when done. Not really stuck but just that in many cases I have to use something to sort of start getting it loose. Is this a sign of the need for new media?

If it didn`t cake in the brass before it`s a good assumption that it is past its usefulness.
I`ve heard some complaints of media packing in bottleneck brass due to it being too big. This is from people that buy from graineries or pet shops. There are various grits sizes and the larger ones are to avoided I guess.

I had that problem too and found it was just "old" and too dirty. After I replaced it, I did not have any problems at all.

Corn cob media stuck a lot more for me compared to walnut shell media. YMMV...

The RCBS Media Separator really speeded things up for me, although I still check each case for pesky media stuck in flash holes.

- mike

quote:

The RCBS Media Separator really speeded things up

Just use a media separator and give it 12 good, slow, revolutions.

thanks for the help guys...

quote:

Originally posted by mho:
Corn cob media stuck a lot more for me compared to walnut shell media. YMMV...

The RCBS Media Separator really speeded things up for me, although I still check each case for pesky media stuck in flash holes.

- mike

I use walnut shell media, and I decap after tumbling. No media in the flash holes, and tumbling never seemed to clean the primer pockets anyway.

craigster says,

quote:

...tumbling never seemed to clean the primer pockets anyway.

Get the 2.5-liter ultra-sonic cleaner from Harbor Freight. Them damned things clean the primer pocket (inside the case, too) like the case has never been fired. I love mine! Sixty bucks on sale; eighty when not on sale. Two-year replacement policy is either five or ten bucks per year-- can't remember which...