Case cleaning/polishing preference ?

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  • Milo

    Plinker
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    Feb 21, 2021
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    Fort Wayne, IN 46808, USA
    As i have been out of this for a long time i am curious as to what the preferences are for cleaning/polishing cases. I have an vibratory tumbler,not sure of the brand off hand, that seemed to work well but was kinda noisy.
    Whats the latest and greatest ?
     

    gregkl

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    Apr 8, 2012
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    Bloomington
    I dry tumble and probably always will. I keep my tumbler in my garage. When I come home from the range, I dump my cases in it and when I have it full enough, I run it overnight. I virtually never hear it.

    The clean cases go to my reloading bench in the basement. This way, nothing dirty makes it way into the house.

    My latest media is a Lyman Corncob Plus. It works fine but doesn't get the brass quite as shiny as the last media I had in it.

    But I have also progressed to the place where clean and moderately shiny is good enough for me.
     
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    Frontiersman

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    Mar 3, 2021
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    East Central Indiana
    I use a lyman vibratory tumbler with corn cob media and a squirt of flitz tumbler media additive. That will bring you a mirror finish.

    If you want something a little flatter, more like the factory, use walnut without the polish.

    I haven't tried wet tumbling, but it has a following. I'm too forgetful to throw my brass in with a bunch of stainless bits. Maybe a timer .... hmmm
     

    cb46184

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    May 10, 2016
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    New Whiteland
    Back in the day when I reloaded a lot I only used walnut media. I tried corncob but it never worked as well whether in a tumbler or a vibratory polisher. When the performance decreased I would add a little liquid jeweler's rouge. Eventually, the media would loose its sharp edges and the time it took to get a good polish increased. That's when I replaced it. Its not rocket surgery. Just like people...the older it gets the less it works.
     
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    ilcaveman

    Marksman
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    Aug 25, 2013
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    elizabeth
    I have a dry tumbler from Dillon it work very well with corn cob and new finish car polish. The dryer sheets help a little. Im not going to wet tumble.
     
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    drm-hp

    Marksman
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    Jan 23, 2019
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    Brownsburg
    I still have my vibratory tumblers although I have not used them since I started wet tumbling about 6 or so years. The only downside that I can find is moisture removal. It is not hard, just not fast.
     

    42253

    Marksman
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    5   0   0
    Jan 25, 2019
    239
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    Portage
    I like vibratory tumbler with corn cobs and lymans turbo bright polish. I clean more than 5000 pieces before I change media. I run mine in the laundry room its not to noisy. It works good for me
     

    crewchief888

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    Aug 13, 2016
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    NWI
    ive been using a dillon CV500 tumbler since '96. always used corncob, but it seems like the last batch i bought didnt clean very well, so i switched to walnut and hornaday polish with a torn up dryer sheet in it. i usually run 45-60 minutes, stop and check the process. if it needs more cleaning i'll run another 45-60 minutes.
     

    Goodcat

    From a place you cannot see…
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    Jan 13, 2009
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    I do both. If I’m batching say 2k 9mm, or 400 6.5 creedmoor, I always wet tumble with stainless chips, not pins. The need to leave carbon fouling inside the case necks for even neck tension and release (and therefore never wet tumble) is a myth, and if one believes in this myth, it’s nothing dry graphite lube can’t fix. When I have smaller batches, or limited on time, I always vibratory tumble in walnut. Both methods work fantastic.
     

    sheepdog697

    Expert
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    Sep 2, 2015
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    Cedar Lake
    I use a lyman vibratory tumbler with corn cob media and a squirt of flitz tumbler media additive. That will bring you a mirror finish.

    If you want something a little flatter, more like the factory, use walnut without the polish.

    I haven't tried wet tumbling, but it has a following. I'm too forgetful to throw my brass in with a bunch of stainless bits. Maybe a timer .... hmmm
    There ya go. Plug in wall timer would be easy.
     

    Chewie

    Old, Tired, Grumpy, Skeptical
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    Dec 28, 2012
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    Martinsville
    I still have my vibratory tumblers although I have not used them since I started wet tumbling about 6 or so years. The only downside that I can find is moisture removal. It is not hard, just not fast.

    I bought a dehydrator at Wally world for about $20. Takes about 15 to 20 mins to dry brass inside and out. Bought some metal window screen cut it to fit the trays and glued it in. Helps keep small brass from falling through the trays.
     

    tenring

    Master
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    Oct 16, 2008
    1,999
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    Martinsville
    I get technical about the whole thing. 1st depends on what state the brass is in. Really nasty gets a mixture of fine sawdust [40lb. bag last for a long time] with a teaspoon of Bar Keeper's Friend. Took a while to get the right mix though. Once fired brass doesn't have to be in the tumbler very long. Roll the brass over some old t-shirts to get any BKF left and then run a load with clean sawdust for a final cleaning. Size the brass, run then through more clean saw dust to remove to any sizing "grease". Most of these come out looking like brand new, even the ones I found on the range that had been lying on the ground and got rained one.
    Almost forget, pop the primer out of the brass primer pocket depth set, and the bit left inside the case where the flash hole was punched is removed. All these steps are marked by keeping each peace in a large plastic coffee can with piece of masking tape for reference. All the brass I've used 1st hand or picked up is done in the winter time and processed during the worst time of winter after deer season to give me some thing to do. Took several years to work up this routine, but it's worth while in the long run.

    YMMV
     

    ljk

    Master
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    May 21, 2013
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    Rifle: Wet tumble
    Pistol: Ultrasonic(with a real machine, not toys)

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    Chewie

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    I use a frankford wet tumbler with the pins and a little dawn dish soap and some lemishine for about 2 hrs. Rinse it all out real good and dump in a cheap food dehydrator for about 1/2 hr. Bright, shiny, ready to go. Of course I deprime first and clean my depriming die in a small ultrasonic about every 3 or 4 sets of reloading. This is for both rifle and pistol rounds. I reload them in groups of about 500.
     

    djeinpoco

    Plinker
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    Feb 5, 2021
    26
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    Michiana Shores
    I dry tumble in crushed walnut with a squirt of NU Finish Car Wax added by itself then tumbled till it is aborbed. It takes at a capfull of the Nu Finish added before the brass and let tumbled about 15-20 minutes. Then add the brass. This cuts the tumbling time in half. I also add a used cut up drier sheet (softener) to keep dust down.
     

    canebreaker

    Marksman
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    Jan 2, 2020
    261
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    Horn Lake
    I have a Frankford and Lyman dry tumbler. One has Zilla desert blend crushed walnut with dryer sheets. Cases from the range go into it first for 2 hours. I decap on a single stage press. Cases are loaded into the other tumbler, corncob with Nu Finish and dryer sheets for 2 hours. Then stored or loaded.
    If cases are stained they are saved until I get a good load for the home made wet tumbler with pins and Dawn. After a rinse they go into a cylinder with screened windows. A squirrel cage fan is set to blow while rotating for 2 hours to cool dry them. Then into the tumbler with corncob, Nu Finish and dryer sheets for 2 hours. Then stored or loaded.
     

    Leo

    Grandmaster
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    Mar 3, 2011
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    Lafayette, IN
    Nothing fancy here. Dry tumbler, corn cob media. When it starts getting too dirty, a few strips of dryer sheet helps clear the black dust. About 1/2 way through the media life, I add some Dillon or Midway polish. If I am out of that, Turtle wax liquid car polish works too.

    I started cleaning brass when I was in a Bullseye League in the mid 70's. I was the youngest by far and all the old timers laughed at me. Between beeswax lube on soft lead cast bullets and light charges of that smokey old Hercules powder, their brass was almost black. That did not stop them from grabbing a .45 pistol with one hand and having the bullet holes touch in the 10 ring.

    I still like clean, shiny is not important, but it is nice.
     

    gregkl

    Outlier
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    Apr 8, 2012
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    Bloomington
    Nothing fancy here. Dry tumbler, corn cob media. When it starts getting too dirty, a few strips of dryer sheet helps clear the black dust. About 1/2 way through the media life, I add some Dillon or Midway polish. If I am out of that, Turtle wax liquid car polish works too.

    I started cleaning brass when I was in a Bullseye League in the mid 70's. I was the youngest by far and all the old timers laughed at me. Between beeswax lube on soft lead cast bullets and light charges of that smokey old Hercules powder, their brass was almost black. That did not stop them from grabbing a .45 pistol with one hand and having the bullet holes touch in the 10 ring.

    I still like clean, shiny is not important, but it is nice.
    Hi Leo! Long time since I have seen you on here. Hope you are doing well!
     
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