I generally use ground corn cob as brass tumbling media and "rejuvinate" it with the Lyman brass polishing product. This works quite well, but I was wondering: The brass polish looks suspiciously like the same thing you buy at the auto store as "polishing compound", but the auto product is a bunch cheaper. How about it? Can plain old auto polishing compound be used just as successfully?

On a related subject: I don't like crushed walnut because it tends to leave a brown residue inside the case. Ground corn cob is okay, but it seems like it's very over-priced for the waste product that it is. Has anyone found a cheap, commonly available substitute? I tried rice, but it leaves a "gummy" residue. Also tried dry sorghum grain and wheat, which both worked, but are too course for small cases. Let's hear from you fearless experimenters and near-genius inventors.

Saw something somewhere about using ground corn cob from a pet store, the stuff was used as a cage liner for birds or something.

MC

I use plain ground corn cob and add one teaspoon of Hoppe's No. 9 to a tumbler full periodically. Works great.

I found corn cob at a pet shop. It's bird cage and gerbil cage "flooring." The stuff I found was too coarse for tumbling and not all that much cheaper than media from a gun show.

I wonder about a little sand in the mix -- but have never tried it. Everyone I talk to adds plain ol' liquid car wax to walnut media as a "refresher." Seems to work and keeps down the dust.

I don't tumble my match loads. Vibrating cases nick the necks and work harden them. Instead, I soak them in Dawn/vinegar/lemon juice to remove residue, then hand polish the exterior with a soft cotton cloth and some tripoli or rouge.

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PowderBurns Black Powder / Muzzle Loading Forum:

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I'd stay away from the "sand thing" if I were you. I tried that once about 20 years ago. It devoured my cases in only a few hours. That was a standard tumbler that I used at the time, and I still have it. Now I only use that tumbler for really tarnished cases and I use the solution the Powderburns mentioned. One quart water,1/4 cup white vineger and a small squirt of liquid dish soap. I decap them first and they come out factory new in appearance, but you have to wash them for about 10 minutes in fresh water or the vineger will still work the case and discolor them. They also need to be dried carefully in a low heat oven or in the sun. I usually run them in a vibrating type from Midway using corn cob afterwards to insure that they come clean with no chance of continued corrosion from the vineger. I have not experienced the problems mentioned by Powderburns regarding the nicks and work hardening, however his experiences may be different than mine. Regarding the "brown residue" left in your cases from the walnut, this is inert matter and doesn't mean diddly. I've shot thousands of rounds after tumbling in walnut with no misfires, "hot rounds" or any other problems. Any polishing compound that you use should work as long as it does not contain ammonia. I remember reading something in the "American Rifleman" some years back that said that the ammonia will weaken the brass. Have fun.

WallyWorld (a.k.a. WalMart) sells liquid Turtle wax car polish for around $2.50 a 16oz. container. I've been using it with corncob media for a couple of years now and it works as well as anything I've ever tried!

As to a better/cheaper source for corncob media. I�ve done some looking around and unless your willing to purchase what would amount to a lifetime supply for half a dozen guys your better off buying 10-15 lbs. at a gun show or from your favorite mail order house. I did find one abrasives supply house that would sell in 50 lb. Bags but the cost was about the same as what I could get it for at the local gun show, it wasn�t until I was willing to order 500 lbs. or more that the price dropped low enough to make it a �deal�!

Anyone else find a source that is willing to pay you to haul the stuff off, or that is willing to sell in reasonable quantities at around 25-50 cents a pound?

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Abe

If everyone thought like me, I'd be a damn fool to think any differently!

For the last couple years, I've been using walnut media from the pet store. Make sure to get the "fine ground" pet gravel. 25# ran about $16 with tax the last time I bought any. This is less than the gun shows and local shops by a fair degree. It works well but is large enough to sometimes stick in the flashholes. A little Hoppes #9 speeds things up when it starts to get dirty. The pet store stuff seems drier than other walnut media I've used and leaves little, if any, residue. Ed

Having been an Army MP for 15 years gave me access to lots of plain old military brass polish. I re-activate the media in my dillon polisher by adding a capful or two every couple of months and it works just great. The brass comes out just like new. Never had a problem other than bad memories when I find the can.

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Currently I use a two-staged process.

1. Ultrasonic cleaning of decapped brass
2. Corn-Cob media polishing with either Iosso or Lyman Brass polishing agents

My experience: the Iosso develops a low-luster, while the Lyman generates a high-luster.

With the Iosso, you have essentially bare brass left whereas the Lyman tends to place a thin coating on the brass with its agent.

As always, the critical elements to avoid in the polishing process are hydrocarbons (i.e. oils which would destroy primers, sealants or the powder itself) or ammoniates (i.e. the ammonia in Brasso) as they degrade or actually deteriorate the brass.

Best regards,
Alex

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote! - Benjamin Franklin 1759