The pet store/feed store corn cob bedding material comes in two grinds,1/4 & 1/8. The 1/4 works great in straight wall cases but isn't any fun to pick out of bottleneck cases, so I'v heard. The 1/8 is what you want.

Merg,
No apology needed. I have the same problem w/ CRN Syndrome(can't remember nuttin'!).

If you're new to handloading and have recently purchased a tumbler, READ THIS!
Some tumbler media is crushed corn cob media and it does a great job of polishing your brass.

DON'T LET ANYONE CONVINCE YOU THAT YOU CAN REPLACE IT WITH BIRD CAGE LINER!!

I made that mistake and it cost me several hundred .223 Lake City brass. The crushed corn cob media that is used in the bottom of bird cages will work it's way into the cases and because the kernels are bigger than tumbling media, you'll have to pick it out with a wire if you can get it out at all.
The media I was using was shot and I decided to replace it. Some moron told me I could use bird cage liner and like an idiot, I tried it. I did manage to salvage about a hundred cases, but the rest went in the dumpster.
I learned the hard way and don't want anybody to go through that.

The bird cage liner that I get at the local pet store is crushed walnut shells. Works just fine with a little 409 orange and Bon Ami. roger

I don't know how much corn was stuck in your brass but the thought occurred to me that you might have loaded the corn filled ones with a reduced load using some of Seafire's data with Blue Dot or some other reduced load and just shot the corn out of the brass. The corn would act somewhat as a filler like some people use with reduced loads. Its just a thought. I realize you probably had different volumes of corn in each case. I am curious as to what caliber the brass was? And thanks for the warning also. Merg

Puncher, I apologize about the caliber question. I guess I didn't study your post well enough to notice you said .223. I haven't got Altimers disease yet but I definitely have sometimers cause I read or am told things and sometimes forget rather quickly . Merg

Yup, me too! BUT I found out this oversized corn cob works great in straight walled handgun brass! Never tried it for 9mm but from .40 on up it doesn't get hung up inside the cases. Takes a little longer to polish, but at the lower price I can cope with it!

Puncher--I detest corn cobb media as it will stick in the primer pocket on every case and have to be picked out. Walnut runs out like sand. Some say that's no big deal as their deprimer will remove it. I guess they are tumbling before sizing--if so and primer is still in place--it wouldn't stick--duh. I tumble after I size as part of the reason is to remove the sizing lube. I too use the walnut media from the pet store and it is much cheaper than buying the same stuff as tumbling media. The walnut media seems to last longer,does every bit as good a job. I do use a lot of nickel cases and it doesn't scratch them. One guy said he adds detergent and water to his walnut media and washes it when it gets old and lets it dry a few days on a newspaper and it's back good as new. I never tried that. The stuff does last a long time and still works for a long time after it has turned black.

Kaytee brand WALNUT bird litter is identical to the walnut sold for polishing cases.

It will pour right out of Lake city 223 brass. I have used Kaytee brand walnut bird litter from petsmart $15.00 / 25 LB. for a while and am very happy with it.

Dunno nuttin about the corn cob stuff...


Travis F.

Puncher been there done that only it was 270,s lost 97 out of 100 oops. i,ll never do that again

From Midway treated walnut media is only $7.99 for
seven lbs (a tumbler full).
and the polish additive is $16.99 for 32 oz.
To me that is too cheap to fool arround with
crap from the pet store.
Lyle

Fortunately I haven't ever had this problem, but wouldn't an inertia type bullet puller work to remove the media quickly?

Mark,
A bullet puller works great for what it's made for, but you can't get inertia to dislodge corn cob particles that have worked their way into the case and lodged. Because of the nonuniform shape of the particles, they turn sideways and hang up. Furthermore, there's not enough weight in the particles to get them going. You have to sit down with an icepick or similar tool and pick them out. Sometimes, you have to turn a 90 degree angle on a small, stiff piece of wire and fish around inside the case 'till you catch the particle and pull it out. WHAT A PITA!!
I bought a bag of crushed wanut shells and will continue to use that for my tumbling media.