I have some old tarnished/dirty brass. What is the best way/medium to polish/clean it? thanks capt david

Yep, been there, T Shirt etc. May I hasten to add I'm also very new to this reloading game! I've been in contact with a Johnny Reb who advised the use of a ceramic medium. I'll let you know of any more info I get. I tumbled similar cases to yours with very disappointing results. They did polish up, but with a polished bronzed finish. Not good enough for my mentor's scrutiny. I then dried off some very fine grained sand, and tumbled them for about a day. This gave the cases a satinised "brass" finish. I finished them off in the nut husk medium but they were still satinised. Not terribly impressive to my mentor either!

I first tumble in Lyman treated walnut for an hour (longer if needed) and then tumble in Lyman treated corncob media for an hour.

I hate to tell ya, but I go to PetsMart and buy Hamster bedding made of Wlanut shells. Cheap and works great!

Find an abrasives dealer in your area they have all kinds of corn cob and shell media. that is also cheap!

there used to be a cob media called Grit-O-Cob. A 50 lb bag wasn't very much. You could get it in 3 sizes.

Rusty, Your post was most timely as I was just going to ask about alternative sources, i.e., other than Graf's, Midway, et al, for ground walnut medium. Thanks! ...Maven

Pet stores sellit as bedding for birds or guinea pigs, something like that..You can buy a 10lbs for $5..

If you dont want to go through tumbling etc. then use IOSSO Case Cleaner.
It cleans up any tarnishing or dirt without scrubbing, just soak and rinse.

www.cliffsgunsmithing.com

-Spencer

Any large pet store or pet store chain should have corn cob grit. Don't use it with rifle brass or you will have a devil of a time trying to get it out from inside the case. Someone once posted here they used cheap rice from Costco; have not tried it yet but would be interested if anyone else has...

I have used everything that can be thought of at one time or another. I now use the Pecan medium because it doesn't stick in the primer hole like the Corn Cob mix. It even cleans the primer hole and pocket instead of sticking in it, just takes longer. Good shooting.

You can also get it from here. Prices are reasonable, although not as cheap as the pet store.
www.crankyfarmer.com
He also has other stuff you will probably "need"

I use the walnut media, and add about 2 tablespoons of brasso to it. makes em shiny!

Kaytee brand walnut bird litter.

The exact same stuff as you get from reloading suppliers.

$ 15.00 / 25 LBS at Petco.

Travis F.