I'm now a first time tumbler owner. I now own a Lyman Turbo 1200 and it works very well.



Any suggestions on what media tp use? I'm sure I can't go wrong with either corncob or walnut but which do you prefere? The media that came with it seems to work well but I'm unsure what it is??



I seen this question up before but wasnt paying attention. TIA

After using corn media for two years, and trying Walnut, I was sold on Walnut in 2 hours of tumbling.

I have seen a lot of places that you can buy it locally for $4 to 5 bucks for about 7 to 10 pounds of it, instead of getting " Hornady or RCBS approved! walnut or corn media"

If Walnut doesn't last as long, I never noticed. I usually fill my tumbler up and go to bed, and dump it out in the morning.

Cheers and Good shooting
seafire

Walnut cleans quicker but does not last as long. Corn is opposite. Both do well!

I mix walnut and corncob 50-50, then add a capfull of Dillon or Midway case cleaner. This works good for me, but it seems most use one or the other.

Walnut works best for me and gets stuck in flash holes a lot less. I buy mine in big 40 or 50 lb bags from a commercial abraisive supplier (i.e. sand blasting) for a fraction of the price. I also use it in a little home siphon blaster to card intricate pieces when rust bluing. If you use relativeley small amounts instant rice works good too.

1 hour with Lyman treated walnut followed by 1 hours with Lyman treated corncob.

I have two of Dillon's tumblers. One loaded with walnut and one with corn cob. The walnut is used to clean brass after firing. I then size and decap rifle spents and throw them into the corn cob to remove the lube.

Walnut cleans up relatively clean cases quickly ... or really grungy cases at a reasonable speed.

Heres another question.



If I was to mail order some, treated or untreated?

Treated, and don't add anything to it!

I just ordered 7lbs of Lyman's Tufnut. I'm pretty limited in what I can get without the hassels of cross border mailorder.

Thanks for your replies all.

I that the reddish colored walnut? If so cancel that order. I bought some and had a hell of a mess. The red treatment they put on it gets all over your hands, lube pad, towels and dies and anything else it comes in contact with. Find some RCBS or Frankfort arsenal treated walnut or any other that is still a lt. brown or tan color. Red stuff bad!

The very Best tumbling media is copper wire and Cream of Tarter tumbled wet.



WHAT?



That's exactly what I said when I heard about it. You have to use a Thumbler's Tumbler or other rotary tumbler that works with water. You fill the bottom of the tumbler with about 5lbs of 3/8" or so inch long copper nails or thick guage wire. I made mine by cutting 1" thick multi-strand copper wire into 3/8" length. Put the cases in, fill about 2/3rds full with water and add a teaspoon of Cream of Tarter and a squirt of dawn dishwashing detergent. Tumble for about 4hrs.

The cases come out completely clean INSIDE and out including the Primer pockets. The local BPCR shooters have started using this method in order to clean nasty black powder out. We shoot the same cases almost indefinately (I've shot mine for 4 years in weekly matches) and have noticed no primer pocket rounding or other detriments. You won't believe how well this works until you've seen it done - I didn't, but now it's what I use to make cases look virgin again.......DJ

I think that gets the 2004 "Cool Post of the Year" nomination for sure! . Who the hell figured that one out; cream of tartar?!

Oh yeah, "The Shooting Chef" on the Kill Your Own Food Network!

Not sure but I think that he used to work at Long John Silvers.... ..DJ

I know it sounds ridiculous, but it works......DJ

Now that I think of it there was two small bags of media and they looked a little different. I think both came with the tumbler and I just mixed them together. Seems to be doing good but what do I know?



Has anyone else tried this Tufnut I'm about to order?

In my advancing years I'm becoming a convert to the K*I*S*S principle.

I buy plain 1/8"-grind corncob (NOT 1/4"....it clogs up in the cases!) from a feed store for (get this) $13.00 for FORTY pounds. My brass goes directly from the range into the Midway tumbler and I add about half an ounce of Turtle Wax "Scratch and Swirl Remover" although regular Turtle Wax works, too.

I don't much care how long the machine runs, often leaving it running overnight. The brass looks like new, except shinier. The Turtle Wax stuff leaves a very thin wax film, I believe from the feel of the cases, and this really slows down any tarnishing tendencies. Bright cases stay that way for many moons in storage.

Cleaning cases before doing any handloading procedures allows for easier inspection, and also ensures that flash-holes are POSITIVELY cleared by the decapping pin when re-sizing.

Regards from BruceB (aka Bren MK1)

I have that tumbler and I am going try it out. It sounds like an end to replacing media forever.

Tuff nut media : walnut with some red stuff.

Used by itself it does make everything red and dusty.
Mixed with untreated media it works great ( a little Tuf nut goes a long way ).

Check the " bird section " of your local large pet supplies shop for " Walnut bird litter ". Petsmart has Kaytee brand at $15.00 for 25 LBS. I swear it's the exact same stuff sold by others for cleaning cases.

Travis F.

2nd on the walnut bird litter. best deal arround that I've found. never used abrasives or additives personally .
Just don't use the corncob from Petsmart.
I spent 2 hours digging it out of .223 cases with a paperclip. It may work on larger cases.

I'll take a look at what the pet shop has in 100 mile house. They are a half hour from here and is my closest town. Kamloops has a Petsmart and other chains. They are 2 hours away and I may be passing through that way in a week.

When do I know the media is done, too dirty? It looks pretty grungy after cleaning all the brass I own, about 500 30 06/7mag size shells. I'm sure it can go alot longer but how munch?

How long ?

Til it takes too long to get the desired result, or it leaves cases with carbon powder on the outside.

Toss in a couple of used dryer sheets with each hopper full, this will reduce the dust level, and keep the media cleaner. They suck up alot of dusty crud.

Travis F.

Good tip, my shells will smell nice too!

Tufnut was terrible for me. It cleans brass fast, but is VERY messy and hard to clean off brass. It also stuck in flash holes worse than corncob for me.

I've heard enough, I'm tearing up that order of Tufnut!

I'm not in a big hurry but there doesnt seem to be a big choice in the catalogs I have and I'm nowhere near any pet supply chains.

I�ve actually been using Pecan shell media, and it works great! It seems to be the best of both worlds. It works fast, and gives a nice shine. My father picked up 4 50lb bags of the stuff a few years ago from a company that used it for pump well casings. They just gave it to him. Anyway, it really works well. I usually add some Midway/Frankford Arsenal polisher in with it as well, just like with corn cob.