Cleaning Medium?

[Munk]

I think the common pet store lizard bedding is called Zilla or something similar.

And I may just need to look into my semi-local feed stores for some cobb or walnut in bulk. Thanks for that tip guys.

I have heard bad things about rice.

Something in regards to stickiness and a bad residue.

In Christ: Raymond

Yep. Rice is made of starch. ANY kind of moisture or oil (Caselube) will soak into the rice. This can be problematic. Any rice dusting that remains on the case is also a recipe for this problem.

Currently I'm using some plain old Cobb with a bit of lyman polish and it does a fine job. Grimier cases (Milsurp that was fired 20+ years ago and is just NOW being tumbled) take about 6-8 hours to get a decent shine. I'm probably going to have to swap my cobb out for some new media soon... it kinda looks like granules of coal at this point; only took 300 .30-06 and another 100 of other stuff to get fully blackened.

[bumpo628]

I have heard bad things about rice.
Something in regards to stickiness and a bad residue.
In Christ: Raymond

Yep. Rice is made of starch. ANY kind of moisture or oil (Caselube) will soak into the rice. This can be problematic. Any rice dusting that remains on the case is also a recipe for this problem.

Thanks guys. Somebody said they were using it over on castboolits and I thought I would run it past you guys before I tried it. Maybe he was only running pistol brass...

[sargenv]

I prefer the corn cob sand blast media.. personally.. Never care for walnut..

[rsrocket1]

Rice DOES work and it does soak up moisture which can be a good thing. In the UCLA dorms, they put rice in the salt shakers to keep the salt dry and from clumping. Putting an accidentally wet piece of electronics is a good way to dry it out quickly. Bird seed also works, but all these are way more expensive than crushed walnut which I got at $13 for 50# at the feed store.

If you know of places that produce the stuff, its probably virtually free. I recall a place off the Long Beach freeway near the City of Commerce that had mountains of stuff (this was in the 60's and 70's). If the place still exists, you could probably go there with a 5 gallon bucket and get it for next to nothing, but it would cost more in gas than what it would save you.

As an aside, if you keep it in your garage, at least put the bag inside a 5 gallon plastic container and not sitting directly on the floor. Rats/mice/critters love the stuff for bedding (duh) or think there's got to be walnut meat in that bag somewhere.

[LGB Loader]

I heve heard that a little rice in corncob or walnut works great on another forum I frequented for more than a few years (still do).

That said, I have never needed anything more than corncob or walnut or 50/50 of both with some Nu Finish and a bit of mineral spirits + a used dryer sheet cut in 2 - 4 pcs.

2 hours in this mix and I have * BLING * for brass.

LGB

[Nacinator]

I get 50 Lbs of walnut media from sutter orchard supply for $10.45.

I buy 2 bottles of chrome polish for cars for $10.00 ( no amonia) and mix 1 table spoon with a batch of walnut media in my large dillon tumbler.

For less the $25.00 dollars I get 50 lbs of polishing media that makes all of my brass super shiney. I polished 10K of .223 brass this weekend and used only 10 lbs of media.

I then use that media to clean 5k of 40 S&W, 3K of 45 ACP and 9 mm. after the batches are done I toss the 10 lbs of media. (all the brass is one time LE brass from Nov 2010 to Feb 2011).

Nacinator Out

[Markus]

So is the zilla stuff available from their stores or only online?

[bumpo628]

So is the zilla stuff available from their stores or only online?

Both.
In the store, the 5-quart bag costs $8. Online it is 5.59, but the shipping cost is way too high. If you're going to get it from Petco, then it is better to pick it up locally.

I recommend going with the drillspot.com link above. It is about $25 for 40 lbs and it includes delivery.

By the way, does anyone know how much the 5 qt bag weighs?

[bumpo628]

I get 50 Lbs of walnut media from sutter orchard supply for $10.45.

Dang. I read that as "OSH" the first time.
It's an actual orchard supply store...

[rsrocket1]

I get 50 Lbs of walnut media from sutter orchard supply for $10.45.

Ouch, you out-cheaped me! I'll remember Orchard supply in Sutter when I want to replenish my supply of walnut shells (in a couple of decades).

I then use that media to clean 5k of 40 S&W, 3K of 45 ACP and 9 mm. after the batches are done I toss the 10 lbs of media. (all the brass is one time LE brass from Nov 2010 to Feb 2011).

I need to find some sources of brass like that.

[Markus]

I dont think theres a feed store in my neck of the woods. Im actually not 100% sure what a feed store is.

As far as the 40lb bag of blast media goes I suppose I just need that and a polishing compound and im set to go wild with my tumbler? Also about how long would that much media last? Or how many rounds can you do before changing it? Im just wondering with my low volume of reloading if a 40lb bag might be overkill.

[rsrocket1]

You don't need 50# of walnut. A 10# bag will last a long time. I have two loads of about 3-4 pounds worth of walnut that I have poured out of my 50# bag and it has lasted several thousand rounds of rifle and pistol brass and it looks about as good as new.

The trick is to use cut-up used dryer sheets to pick up the walnut dust and the soot/primer blast. The sheets come out dark brown to gray meaning most of the knocked off stuff from the cases is trapped in the sheets and doesn't coat the shells. When I put the finished mix through the sifter, no dust is kicked up at all.

[bumpo628]

I dont think theres a feed store in my neck of the woods. Im actually not 100% sure what a feed store is.

As far as the 40lb bag of blast media goes I suppose I just need that and a polishing compound and im set to go wild with my tumbler? Also about how long would that much media last? Or how many rounds can you do before changing it? Im just wondering with my low volume of reloading if a 40lb bag might be overkill.

You can also pick up some corn cob bedding material in the pet department at Wal Mart for about $2. That was the first thing I bought and I'm still using it. The difference is that the grain size is much larger than the blasting media. The corn bedding material is fine if you tumble before you deprime. Or you can just pick them out if your volume is low enough.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hartz-For-Bedding-Litter-Corn-Cob-10.1-l/11994300

Start with that or get the $8 bag of walnut at Petco.
When you need more consider the Drillspot deal.

[spddrcr]

for anyone using the zilla brand make sure you get corncob or walnut and not the calcium sand which is in the reptile area. calcium sand will destroy a plastic vibratory tumbler bowl in 1 or 2 sessions.

better yet do as other said and just buy corncob or walnut from any feed store for 10 to 14 bucks per 50 pounds.

I can always tell my brass after a match due to how shiny it is I start with walnut and nu finish polish, load the empties with whatever it is im loading at the time and then run it for 15 minutes in corncob that gets used over and over but doesn't get polish, it just collects what is on the shells. have yet to notice any ill affects from polishing loaded brass.