Cleaning Brass

[oldstarfire]

Asking a silly, somewhat odd question - I use a vibratory brass cleaner, with walnut media - It gets brass clean but not shiny.
So - has anyone used ordinary playbox sand for cleaning brass?
Would have to be washed after, of course.
Good?
Bad?
Silly?
Wow?
Thanks.

[RKW]

You can find rouge impregnated walnut or add a small amount of liquid polish to your existing media. It takes quite a bit of experimentation on these sorts of things in order to find what works. You might want keep track of what you try in a small notebook so that you can get the same results later.

[RWO]

Use corncob media if you want shiny brass. I don't like walnut shell media either.

RWO

[deltaenterprizes]

Stay away from polishes that contain ammonia like Brasso. A little automotive polishing compound mixed with mineral spirits added to the corn cob or walnut media will work wonders.

[RetiredFAE]

The corn cob media sold as lizard/gerbil/hamster bedding at pet stores, feed stores and Wally World works well, and is very economical, a 100# sack runs around $10 around here.
A few friends have recently switched to this stainless steel media as offered on this web site:

http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/

see the media down near the bottom of the page.

They are both high volume shooters and reloaders (to the tune of 5k-10k rounds a month fired and reloaded) and both swear that they will never go back to corn cob or walnut media.

I have not tried it as of yet, but have seen their cases after a hour or less in the tumbler, they do come out looking nice!

[gzig5]

To further support RWO and Delta's responses....as I understand it, walnut is a better "cleaner" and corn is a better "polisher". corn is softer and more porus than walnut and will hold rouge or polishing medium better. You can buy treated corn media or make up your own.

[JanvanSaane]

I also use the corn cob media, I leave the cases in for about 12 hours and they come out clean and polished. I don't use anything else, just the dry media. I had a friend that was a retired machinist, taught me about everything I know on reloading. He would put his special cases in a sideways drill press and use steel wool on them for a bright polished look. RIP Bill. Jan

[Jim Shaper]

Steve, what are the stainless steel rods? Is it little roller bearings or drops from something?

I wonder what a tub of bb's would do?

[RetiredFAE]

Hi Jim.
They looked to my eyes like very small, precision roller bearing rollers. Small enough to clean the primer pocket AND the flash hole.
BB's might not clean the inside of a case very well, particularly a small mouthed case like a .223, as they would tend to jam up trying to get inside the case I suspect.
And they wouldn't do a very through job of cleaning the primer pocket either I suspect, as the contact point would be very small, and it couldn't get into the corners of the pocket at all, nor the flash hole.
But they would probably do a fine job on the outside of the case.

[Jim Shaper]

Wouldn't that also work harden the brass by peening it?

[moe1942]

I wouldn't use sand. Too abrasive. I reload regularly and use fine walnut shell with red rouge. In a small tumbler I use a level tea spoon of rouge.

If you want to use a liquid get a small ultrasonic cleaner and use an Alconox product for cleaning brass. They come out shiny and very clean. I have two ultra sonic cleaners but the tumbler is good enough for me.

[RetiredFAE]

Wouldn't that also work harden the brass by peening it?

The BB's might shot peen it, if the tumbler wasn't full so that they could fall some distance and build up enough energy to do so.
Otherwise I don't think that would happen, but then, I've been wrong before, more times than I have been right.

[Jim Shaper]

I've got a vibratory tumbler, so it's not likely to have much impact either way. I mentioned the method to a friend of mine and he thought of the possible peening effect and I'm rather curious about it as well.

I think I'm gonna stick with husks and shells. :)

[smiller6912]

I use corn cob media and "Flitz" Tumbler/ Media Additive( http://www.flitz.com/p-26-tumblermedia-additive.aspx ) and have been very pleased with it.
I restore firearms and use it to polish about everything including, brass, nickel, stainless, case hardened steel, etc.

[BigBoy1]

Sand will give the cases a rough "sand blasted" finish. I discovered the hard way. I tumbled a batch of cases that were pickups from a range that had sand for the base and didn't really clean the sand off that well. The walnut shells and sand gave the cases a very rough finish.

[hwingo]

I wouldn't use sand. Too abrasive.

I agree, I wouldn't try sand.

Harold

[moe1942]

I agree, I wouldn't try sand.

Harold


Just noticed your location. Does Sarah look as good in person as she does on the tube???:D

[hwingo]

Just noticed your location. Does Sarah look as good in person as she does on the tube???:D

Although Sarah lives just down the road from me, I have never seen her up close. I suspect that she is quite attractive. Being active in all Alaskan outdoors activities, she is likely to be in good physical condition as most activities in this area demand physical conditioning.

Harold

[Forestgnome]

I second the corncob and Flitz!

[oldstarfire]

I tried adding some Meguiar's Swirl Remover (non wax auto polishing stuff) to my walnut shell media - seems to work great.