Currently using the corn cob media that came with the tumbler from Midway, Frankfort Arsenal, Is there a media out there better than another for cleaning or polishing? Anyone have experience with crushed walnut shells?

The walnut seems a little more aggressive and does not give as high a shine as corn cob media. I personally like the corn cob better and put a capful of Cabela's polish in each tumbler full.

I am currently running the cases through the media for a while, then sift them out and run them through a second time in the polish treated media, Is this a waste of time? I think the directions told me to clean and then polish?

If it works for you then it's not a waste of time. I just use the corncob media and run them for a couple of hours. I always cleaned cases with a Lee case spinner (the bottom of a case trimmer) on the drill press til a couple of years ago when I bought a case tumbler from Cabela's.

It's kind of nice to just dump them in the tumbler and forget them. Now I need one of those crank tumblers to dump the media out of the cases that Midway sells. My kit came with just the pan with the slots in the bottom and it's kind of slow.

I really don't think there is a wrong way to do it.

You can go to one of the larger petshops and find ground corncob and walnut used for litter at a better price than what you can get for reloading.

The walnut seems a little more aggressive and does not give as high a shine as corn cob media. I personally like the corn cob better and put a capful of Cabela's polish in each tumbler full.

Excatly what I do. Run them for about 2-2.5 hours, and most brass comes out looking like new. Those that dont will get one more pass, and if they still aren't new looking they become the most used range brass, until discarded.

Walnut is for cleaning and corn cob is for polishing.

I just use Walnut media to clean, but I also use Lyman "Turbobrite" case polish, the cases get clean of any grime and they are good enough for me. Nobody sees my cases and I haven't ever seen a polished case award at the fair.

I did have some random black gummy streaks on my last batch through, I hope I don't have contaminated media.

IF there was a better media available someone would be marketing it.

There is precious little difference between walnut and corn cob.

I do as jenrob says: walnut to clean, corncob to polish.

Actually, I polish very seldom. If you get them good and clean once and polish them, you only have to clean them over several or even many loadings.

I've also sworn off adding any kind of polish. That's where those ugly black streaks come from, I'm convinced. I use plain media only, except for one batch of Lyman walnut with red jeweler's rouge added. I save that for really tough cleaning jobs such as mil surp brass.

I only use corn cob now with green rouge I change it out pretty often. not that it needs it but I have a 40 lbs. sack of it (same thing nosler uses same supplier) and see no reason to not. Like was said above the only time most people will see my brass is on the ground and I don't think they will be say hey look at that pretty brass. I have tried different polishes (nu-finish, turtle wax and a few others) they work alright but the rouge I can add once every 4-6th time and be good the polishes it was every time or if I was lucky every other time.

There is very little practical difference between cob and walnut.

I use my tumbler to remove the lube after sizing. I use corncob for this because I picture it as being more porous than walnut, so able to absorb more lube. Never actually tried walnut, though, so haven't verified this side-by-side...

I use the same corncob to clean the cases before sizing, so dirt won't wear my dies. Seems to work fine.

:cool:

There is very little practical difference between cob and walnut.

You should watch somebody doing blasting with both. Walnut is a lot more abbrasive than cob is when blasting with biodegradable media you will start with walnut and finish with cob. It's like useing sand paper start with 60grit corse and finish with 220grit fine. Or sharpen your knife with just a fine stone (cob) would take a long time to get the nicks out try with a real corse and not as smooth and fine of an edge.

They will both clean they will both shine but they both have there purpose.